- 7/5/2025
The Chilling Murder of Gabby Petito | True Crime Podcast
Gabby Petito’s story captured global attention — a beautiful young woman documenting her dream van-life journey, only for it to end in one of the most disturbing and heartbreaking true crime cases of our time.
In this episode of Plot Twist Murders, we examine the timeline of Gabby’s disappearance, the key suspects, social media evidence, and the tragic truth that followed.
🔍 What you’ll hear:
Who was Gabby Petito and what happened to her?
The final footage and Instagram clues
The manhunt for Brian Laundrie
Expert insight into domestic abuse and psychological red flags
⚠️ Trigger Warning: This episode includes real-life accounts of violence and abuse. Viewer discretion is strongly advised.
Gabby Petito’s story captured global attention — a beautiful young woman documenting her dream van-life journey, only for it to end in one of the most disturbing and heartbreaking true crime cases of our time.
In this episode of Plot Twist Murders, we examine the timeline of Gabby’s disappearance, the key suspects, social media evidence, and the tragic truth that followed.
🔍 What you’ll hear:
Who was Gabby Petito and what happened to her?
The final footage and Instagram clues
The manhunt for Brian Laundrie
Expert insight into domestic abuse and psychological red flags
⚠️ Trigger Warning: This episode includes real-life accounts of violence and abuse. Viewer discretion is strongly advised.
Category
🦄
CreativityTranscript
00:00I don't care if we use the actual letter of the law to not charge, but I also don't care because it literally does possibly make perfect sense to go full-on domestic and do the whole thing.
00:12It really stresses me out and I just, this is a rough movie.
00:19It was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime.
00:22In the summer of 2021, two lovers packed their lives into a white van and set off on a cross-country journey through America's national parks.
00:30A road trip documented in photographs, vlogs, and Instagram captions that painted the image of freedom, love, and wanderlust.
00:38But behind the filtered posts and picture-perfect views, something else was happening.
00:42And by the time the leaves began to fall, only one of them would return home.
00:47And what unfolded next would grip the nation.
00:49It was a missing persons case that played out in real time, fueled by media coverage, internet detectives, and heartbreaking silence.
00:57It exposed cracks in our systems, raised urgent questions about domestic violence, and reminded the world just how quickly a dream can turn into a nightmare.
01:05This is a story of a young woman whose voice, though silenced, still echoes today.
01:11This is the story of Gabby Petito.
01:13Crime, conspiracy, cults, serial killers, and murder.
01:16All things that I love to consume, and I know you do too, you sick, twisted, intellectually, beautifully-minded freak.
01:23And I look different right now because I forgot to film the intro for some reason.
01:29So that's why I'm doing this now.
01:30But yes, today we are talking about the infamous case of Gabby Petito.
01:35So without further ado, let's unbuckle our seatbelts, go Mach 5 down the highway, slam on the brakes,
01:39and bust through this windshield into this highly controversial case together.
01:59Gabrielle Venora Petito was born March 19, 1999, in Bluepoint,
02:04a quiet suburb on the southern edge of Long Island, New York.
02:07And her arrival marked the beginning of a story that would one day capture the attention of the world.
02:13Though in those early years, her life was filled only with the ordinary beauty of family, community, and creativity.
02:19And Gabby also grew up in a very supportive and stable household.
02:22She was the eldest of six siblings and half-siblings.
02:26And her parents, Nicole Schmidt and Joseph Petito, separated amicably when Gabby was pretty young.
02:31But both remained very active in her life.
02:33Gabby would spend most of her time with her mother, Nicole, who was a teacher's assistant.
02:38And her stepfather, Jim, in a household where love was quiet but constant.
02:43And her father, Joe, was a warehouse store manager, and he would eventually remarry as well.
02:48And Gabby would grow close to his wife, Tara, maintaining strong bonds on both sides of her blended family.
02:54So Gabby would grow up in a safe, relatively affluent corner of Long Island.
02:59The kind of place where children still rode bikes on tree-lined streets, and neighbors knew each other's names.
03:05And even as a child, Gabby stood out for her compassionate nature and quiet creativity.
03:10She had a very early sense of empathy that seemed to exceed her years.
03:14And at just 14 years old, Gabby and her younger relatives took part in a music video promoting gun violence awareness after the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy.
03:23And it wasn't a school requirement or assignment.
03:26It was just something she chose to do.
03:28Something that really reflected the emotional depth she already carried.
03:31So even then, Gabby was really paying attention to the world's pain and trying, in her own way, to be a light.
03:38So as Gabby went into her teens, she would attend the Bayport Blue Point High School in Suffolk County,
03:44where she became known for her love for art and nature.
03:47And Gabby wasn't really the type to chase popularity.
03:50She was more of a free spirit, as her family would later describe her.
03:55Someone who saw the world in color and tried to paint it that way.
03:58And she channeled that spirit into watercolor paintings, photography, and long walks outdoors.
04:04So Gabby's path at this point just seemed filled with possibility.
04:08The world was her oyster.
04:09She was creative and grounded and deeply, deeply kind.
04:13And in her time at school, she would cross paths with a man named Brian Laundrie.
04:18And they were just friends at first.
04:19It was a quiet beginning.
04:21But soon, the connection would deepen into a relationship that would shape the rest of her life.
04:26So by the time she graduated high school in June of 2017,
04:29Gabby was already beginning to dream bigger than the borders of Long Island.
04:33She had a growing love for travel, a passion for art and storytelling,
04:37and a very gentle magnetism that made her unforgettable to those that knew her.
04:41And somewhere during those late teens, she would reconnect with a familiar face.
04:45A quiet, outdoorsy former classmate named Brian Laundrie.
04:49So though Gabby and Brian did attend the same high school at Blue Point,
04:53their relationship didn't really fully take root until after graduation.
04:57But by early 2019, they were officially together.
05:00They were a young couple drawn to each other by shared appreciation for art,
05:04nature, and what seemed, from the outside, a desire for something beyond the ordinary.
05:10And friends would later describe their relationship in its early stages as intense and very passionate.
05:15Because they bonded very quickly over similar interests and built routines around being creative together.
05:21And Gabby really just found a companion who seemed to reflect her own adventurous energy.
05:25And as the relationship began to deepen even more, Gabby made a very big decision.
05:30And that was that she would leave New York and move to Northport, Florida,
05:34where Brian lived with his parents, Christopher and Roberta Laundrie.
05:38And this move in July of 2019 marked a very pivotal shift in Gabby's life.
05:42She was now away from her family and hometown,
05:45and she was moving toward a future she was building with Brian.
05:48So the couple would move into the Laundrie family household and start settling into their new adult life.
05:53Gabby would get a job working as a pharmacy technician at Publix,
05:56while Brian worked at a grocery store.
05:58And from those watching from the outside, the couple appeared very close, happy even.
06:02One friend described them as couple goals.
06:05Because from the outside looking in, especially into social media,
06:08people would see them often hiking local trails.
06:11They would post nature photos, and they would constantly speak about their plans for the future.
06:15So there was this sense of momentum for the both of them,
06:18of two young people just finding themselves through each other.
06:22And Gabby's parents would later say that they were actually very supportive of the move,
06:25trusting their daughter's judgment.
06:27But they obviously remained attentive because she had a very close-knit family.
06:30So Gabby would call home very regularly.
06:33She even visited New York whenever she could.
06:35So while she was far from home, the connection with her family never wavered,
06:39especially with her mom.
06:40And by the end of 2019, Gabby and Brian's relationship had become central to both of their lives.
06:45So what began as a high school acquaintance had grown into a full-time partnership.
06:50One that, over the next two years, would take them across the country,
06:54through national parks and dusty highways,
06:56and eventually into the center of a national tragedy.
06:59But for now, in that window between teenage dreams and adult responsibility,
07:04Gabby was in love, and she was all in.
07:07So by mid-2020, the world was beginning to change, as we all remember.
07:11The COVID-19 pandemic had swept across the globe,
07:15shutting businesses, stalling routines,
07:17basically upending nearly every sense of normalcy.
07:20And for Gabby and Brian, the pandemic kind of became a pause,
07:23a moment of stillness that offered space for something much bigger.
07:27Because it was during this time, July 2020, that Brian would propose.
07:31And there was no crowd, there was no flashing cameras,
07:34there was no elaborate production,
07:35just a quiet moment in nature along one of their favorite hiking trails.
07:39And as Gabby would later recount,
07:41a firefly even landed on her hand when she said yes,
07:44as if the world itself paused in agreement.
07:47And she announced the news with joy.
07:49She would write on Instagram,
07:50Brian asked me to marry him, and I said yes.
07:54And she would be beaming in this photo of them sharing sushi on their first date.
07:58And she would also go on to say,
08:00you make life feel unreal, and every day is such a dream with you.
08:03It was obviously a massive milestone moment,
08:06a formal beginning to the future they were building together.
08:09But unlike many couples freshly engaged,
08:12they didn't rush towards a wedding date or a venue.
08:14Instead, they set their sights on something even more ambitious,
08:19a life of full-time travel.
08:21And Gabby was overjoyed.
08:23This is exactly what she had been working toward her whole life.
08:26Art, storytelling, the open road,
08:29and someone she believed would share it all with her.
08:31So a wedding could wait, the world was waiting first.
08:34So the idea of this trip had been taking shape for months,
08:38maybe even longer.
08:38Because they had actually at this point already taken a cross-country road trip together
08:42in a Nissan Sentra, camping on the road and falling in love with the rhythm of van life.
08:47And that whole experience had left quite a lasting impact on them.
08:50So they got to work.
08:51The couple purchased a white 2012 Ford Transit Connect van.
08:55It was compact, reliable, and just big enough to become a tiny home on wheels.
08:59And together, they would customize it.
09:01They built out the interior with a handmade bed platform,
09:04installed storage units,
09:05and painted the walls in soft tones that reflected their love for the natural world.
09:10And Gabby added flowers and artwork,
09:12and Brian handled much of the carpentry and logistics.
09:16So it wasn't anything fancy, but it was theirs.
09:18And this was more than just a trip.
09:20They envisioned a shared brand.
09:22A life lived on the road,
09:23documented in photographs and videos.
09:26And they would even go on to launch a YouTube channel called Nomadic Static,
09:31intending to chronicle their adventure and build an audience.
09:34And Gabby would take the full lead on the creative side,
09:37organizing content, shooting photos, and dreaming of growing the channel into a full-on career.
09:42Because she had always wanted to be a travel blogger.
09:44So this wasn't just a vacation.
09:46It was her vision for her entire future.
09:48And by the end of 2020, this plan was in motion.
09:51Gabby would pick up extra hours at Taco Bell and as a nutritionist
09:54to save money for the big departure.
09:56And Brian helped as well by working extra hours at an organic juice bar.
10:00And the relationship, at least in public, appeared pretty solid still.
10:04So the couple planned to leave in the early summer,
10:09charting a few-month loop across the western United States,
10:12with stops at national parks like Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and beyond.
10:17And Gabby's family later discussed the possibility of extending the trip if things went well.
10:21But before their official departure, they made one more meaningful stop.
10:26In late June 2021, Gabby and Brian returned back to Blue Point, New York,
10:31where Gabby's younger brother was graduating high school.
10:33And it was a brief visit, but it was important.
10:37Because it was a moment for Gabby to reconnect with her roots,
10:40hug her siblings, and say goodbye to the town that raised her.
10:43And her family had no idea this would be the last time they would ever see Gabby.
10:48So after that brief trip back home, they were off.
10:51The van was packed, the cameras were charged,
10:53the maps were marked with pins and possibilities.
10:56And on July 2nd, 2021, Gabby and Brian pulled out of Blue Point, New York,
11:01in their white Ford Transit, and pointed west.
11:04And their plan was to explore the American wilderness,
11:07document it online, and build something together.
11:10Because for Gabby, this would be the foundation of her future as a travel blogger.
11:14And the journey began with joy.
11:16Gabby shared her first post from the road trip on July 4th,
11:19a snapshot from Kansas at Monument Rocks.
11:22And over the following weeks,
11:23they zigzagged through Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming,
11:26stopping at national parks and campgrounds tucked beneath mountain peaks.
11:30And they would hike the Great Sand Dunes National Park,
11:32pose for photos beneath the towering canyon walls in Zion National Park,
11:37and smiled from scenic viewpoints in Bryce Canyon National Park.
11:40So Gabby's social media was just filled with soft, sunlit images,
11:45showcasing the beauty of the places they visited as they traveled in their home on wheels.
11:49And in one Instagram post, Gabby would write,
11:51there's no place like the tiny home we built.
11:54So to the outside world, it looked like a dream come true.
11:57But behind the filtered lens of social media, something else was brewing.
12:02So to their followers, Gabby and Brian seemed like the perfect couple.
12:06But those who knew them better saw signs of something darker.
12:09Gabby's best friend, Rose Davis, later described Brian as controlling and jealous.
12:16And according to Rose, Brian had a way of isolating Gabby,
12:20discouraging her from doing anything he didn't approve of.
12:23And she would go on to say,
12:24he also wanted what he wanted when he wanted,
12:27and he'd find a way to get it.
12:29Not in a violent matter, but if he didn't want Gabby to do something,
12:33he'd find a way to make it so she couldn't do it.
12:35And she described a pattern of emotional manipulation
12:38that Gabby didn't always recognize for what it was.
12:41So this relationship was slowly becoming extremely toxic.
12:45And another friend of Gabby's from New York
12:47remembered the relationship as volatile.
12:50And they said,
12:51very high highs and very low lows.
12:54And while on the road, those patterns seemed to intensify.
12:57Because the stress of van life, confined space, constant travel, no breaks,
13:01made everything even more intense.
13:03But Gabby felt pressure to keep their content going
13:06while managing everything else completely alone.
13:09And according to Rose,
13:10Gabby confided that Brian didn't want her to pursue her social media and blogs seriously.
13:15And Rose believed, quote-unquote,
13:17that's a sign of domestic abuse.
13:20And then in mid-August, something spilled out into the open.
13:23Something no amount of Instagram filters could hide.
13:26So on the afternoon of August 12th in Moab, Utah,
13:29a concerned witness called 911.
13:32The caller saying,
13:33we drove by and the gentleman was slapping the girl.
13:35Then we stopped.
13:37They ran up and down the sidewalk.
13:38He proceeded to hit her,
13:40hopped in the car,
13:41and they drove off.
13:42And soon after, Moab police would pull their white van over
13:45outside Arches National Park.
13:47And what followed was captured on a now infamous body camera footage.
13:51The driver is showing some obscure driving, possibly intoxicated.
13:55Knock your engine.
13:56Go ahead and set your keys on the dash for me.
13:58All right?
13:59What's going on?
14:00How come you're crying?
14:01I'm just crying.
14:01We've just been fighting this morning.
14:03And this was a scene that would later be scrutinized by the world.
14:07In the video, Gabby is crying nearly hyperventilating.
14:10Some days, I had a really bad OCD.
14:14Okay.
14:14And I was just cleaning when he was waiting on the back of the van before,
14:19and I was apologizing to him and saying,
14:21I'm sorry that I'm so mean.
14:23And she would apologize profusely to the officer over and over again
14:27for herself for just existing, basically.
14:30And she would blame herself for everything.
14:33And Brian, by contrast,
14:35appeared very calm and composed,
14:36and even giddy at points.
14:39I feel bad that I didn't get so public.
14:41I was just trying to be loud.
14:42You know, I'm trying to make her calm down and be like,
14:45look, everyone's watching.
14:46And I'm like, stop this.
14:49My heart rate doesn't, whenever the lights flash on,
14:52it gets your heart rate up.
14:53If I see my, trust me, it does me too.
14:55And I'm the one.
14:56And he said he'd gotten into the van with dirty feet.
14:59She got upset and things escalated from there.
15:01And he had scratches on his face and his arms.
15:04And Gabby admitted to striking him,
15:06but only because she thought he might leave her behind
15:09when he locked her out of the vehicle.
15:10And he claimed he was attempting to give her some space
15:12so she would calm down.
15:14And after separating them and interviewing them individually,
15:17officers concluded that Gabby had been the primary aggressor.
15:21I've decided I am not going to cite you for domestic violence battery.
15:26Okay.
15:27It was only going to be a class B misdemeanor.
15:31However, the domestic violence portion of it enhances it.
15:36Makes like a major pain in the butt, especially you're 22.
15:40Right?
15:41So I'm choosing not to cite you today.
15:43The report described the event as more of a mental health break
15:46than domestic violence, which is exactly what it was.
15:51And she was not the aggressor.
15:53She was scared, terrified of this very large man
15:58who had struck her and threatened her and gaslit her
16:02and clearly manipulated her over months and months and months
16:07and made her feel very small.
16:09And then this moment happened
16:10and the police didn't do their job, basically.
16:13So instead, police arranged for Brian to spend the night at a motel.
16:17This is Brian Mondry.
16:19All right.
16:19So he's going to get you all set up in your hotel room.
16:22Paid for through a local domestic violent outreach program.
16:25And Gabby took the van and slept at a nearby campground alone.
16:29And before parting ways for the night,
16:31the couple insisted they were in love,
16:33that they didn't want anyone getting in trouble
16:36and that everything would be okay.
16:38But in the body cam footage,
16:39Gabby's tears tell a very different story.
16:42Her anxiety, her fear,
16:44her attempts to downplay the moment to protect Brian,
16:47even in front of police,
16:48saying, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
16:50She just kept saying, I'm sorry.
16:52And it's honestly just heartbreaking to see
16:54because like knowing people that have been in these situations
16:57and being too afraid to get out for the repercussions
17:00if they actually speak up,
17:02it's just heartbreaking to watch in real time.
17:06But unbeknownst to the officers,
17:07the 911 dispatcher hadn't relayed the full details of the original call,
17:12including the report that Brian had been seen hitting Gabby.
17:16And that information could have changed the outcome completely,
17:19but it didn't.
17:20And they deemed her the primary aggressor.
17:23And in hindsight,
17:23that stop at Moab one night apart after weeks of growing tension
17:27was a flashing red flag.
17:30A chance to intervene that just passed by.
17:33And the next morning,
17:34Gabby and Brian reunited and got back on the road.
17:37And they would tell their friends that they were fine
17:39and that everything was under control.
17:40But something at this point had shifted drastically
17:44and cracks were widening and time was running out.
17:47So just five days after the emotional police encounter in Moab,
17:51Brian Laundrie left Gabby alone.
17:53And on August 17th,
17:54he flew from Salt Lake City, Utah to Florida,
17:57according to his family's attorney.
17:58And the reason they said was practical.
18:00Brian needed to retrieve some personal items
18:03and close out a shared storage unit to save money.
18:06But whatever the truth,
18:07he was gone for nearly a week,
18:09leaving Gabby completely alone and behind in Utah.
18:12So Gabby would check into the Fairfield Inn Hotel
18:14in Salt Lake City,
18:15where she stayed alone and waiting.
18:17And while she waited,
18:18she stayed in contact with her family.
18:20And as we know,
18:20Gabby had long found peace in nature and in movement.
18:23So being grounded in a city on her own
18:26felt very foreign and scary.
18:28And during the solo stretch on August 19th,
18:31Gabby posted what would be her first and only video
18:34to the couple's YouTube channel,
18:36Nomadic Static.
18:37And the video was simply titled,
18:38Van Life, Beginning Our Van Life Journey.
18:41And it was a gentle, aesthetically edited look
18:43into travels up to the point that she was at.
18:46And it features shots of their van build,
18:49the Utah landscape, beaches,
18:51and moments of quiet joy between the two of them.
18:53And at the time, it felt like a hopeful start.
18:55But in retrospect, it became an eerie timestamp.
18:59The last creative glimpse she left behind.
19:01And on August 23rd, Brian would return.
19:04And on the 24th, the couple was seen checking out
19:06of the hotel and loading up the van together.
19:08And they were heading north towards
19:10Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
19:12One of the most scenic
19:13and one of the most remote stretches on their entire route.
19:16And two days later, on August 25th,
19:19Gabby called her mother.
19:20And she told her they had reached Wyoming
19:22and they were camping near the Spread Creek
19:24dispersed camping area.
19:26And she said that cell service was pretty spotty there,
19:28but she sounded upbeat and mentioned
19:30they'd likely head toward Yellowstone next.
19:32And that same day, Gabby posted
19:34what would be her final Instagram photo.
19:36A shot of her smiling in front of a butterfly mural
19:39in Ogden, Utah.
19:40It was calm and beautiful and haunting in hindsight.
19:43And at the time, nothing seemed obviously wrong,
19:46but it would be the last time Gabby's voice
19:48would be seen or heard directly.
19:50So on August 27th, something changed.
19:53Around 3 p.m., witnesses saw Gabby and Brian
19:55at a restaurant in Jackson, Wyoming.
19:57It was a very popular Tex-Mex spot
19:59called the Mary Piglets.
20:01And according to witnesses,
20:02Brian was very visibly agitated,
20:04arguing with the staff over the bill
20:06and his tone was aggressive
20:07and his body language was very threatening.
20:09And Gabby, by contrast,
20:11appeared distressed and very apologetic.
20:13We've seen this before.
20:15And this would be the last known sighting
20:16of Gabby Petito alive.
20:18And at some point in the day,
20:20she allegedly reached out to her ex-boyfriend, Jackson,
20:23on Snapchat to say that she was thinking about him.
20:26And according to Jackson,
20:27she had reached out a few days prior,
20:29mentioning that she and Brian were struggling
20:31and that she may break up with him.
20:33And she would call Jackson later on,
20:35but he was unable to answer because he was at work.
20:37In that evening, Gabby's mother received an odd text
20:40from Gabby's phone saying,
20:41Can you help Stan?
20:43I just keep getting his voicemails and missed calls.
20:46And Nicole would freeze.
20:48His Stan was Gabby's grandfather,
20:50but Gabby never called him by his first name.
20:53So the message felt very unnatural.
20:55As if someone else had written it.
20:57And Nicole would later tell authorities
20:59that the text made her feel like something was wrong.
21:01And investigators would later include the message
21:04in a search warrant affidavit,
21:06noting it was out of character
21:07and likely not written by Gabby herself.
21:09And then on August 30th,
21:11one more message came saying plainly,
21:14no service in Yosemite.
21:15And that text too felt off,
21:18not just in the tone, but in the content.
21:20Cause Gabby had told her mother just days earlier
21:23that they were in Wyoming heading toward Yellowstone.
21:26And Yosemite in California made no sense
21:29for the context of their route
21:30because the distance was over 800 miles away.
21:33So it just wasn't fitting.
21:35And Nicole was immediately uneasy.
21:37And that would be the last time
21:38Gabby's phone would be heard from.
21:40And after that, all calls went straight to voicemail.
21:43There was no more FaceTimes, no more texts,
21:45no more Instagram posts, and no updates from the road.
21:48And for a young woman who checked in regularly,
21:50who rarely went a day without calling her mom,
21:53this was a terrifying silence.
21:55And in those final days in August,
21:57the world didn't know yet what happened.
21:59But Gabby's family felt it.
22:01It was a shift in the air.
22:02The vacuum left behind by a voice
22:05that should have been there.
22:06And there was no witnesses to the moment it happened.
22:09No videos, no cries for help
22:11that made it to the ranger station or nearby campsite.
22:14What happened in those final hours
22:15only can be pieced together through forensics,
22:19scattered clues, and eventually,
22:21Brian Laundrie's written confession.
22:23And as of right now, this is what we know.
22:25After being spotted at the Mary Piglet's restaurant
22:28in Jacksonville on August 27th,
22:30where Brian was reportedly enraged
22:32and Gabby was tearful,
22:34the couple returned to their van,
22:35driving out toward the Spread Creek area
22:37where they had been camping.
22:39At the same evening,
22:40a travel blogger named Red, White, and Bethune
22:43would unknowingly capture footage.
22:45And the footage was of Gabby and Brian's white van,
22:49parked off the side of a dirt road,
22:51alone in the forest.
22:52And this was at approximately 6 p.m. on August 27th.
22:56And the van in the footage appeared abandoned,
22:58quiet, still, and partially closed off by the brush.
23:02But this timestamp would later become crucial.
23:04And the world, not yet knowing that she was gone,
23:07was about to start asking questions.
23:10So August 29th, 2021, on the surface,
23:13it seemed like any other day in the West.
23:15And that morning, a woman named Miranda Baker
23:17was driving along the highway
23:19when she saw a hitchhiker holding out a thumb.
23:21And he introduced himself as Brian.
23:24Hi, my name is Miranda Baker.
23:26And on August 29th,
23:28my boyfriend and I picked up Brian
23:30at Grand Teton National Park
23:33at 5.30 at night at Colter Bay.
23:36Instead, he was camping alone
23:37and offered her $200 for a 10-mile ride.
23:41And she agreed.
23:43And at first, the conversation was very polite.
23:45But when she mentioned that she and her boyfriend
23:47were heading to Jackson Hole,
23:49Brian visibly panicked.
23:51He freaked out, Miranda said later.
23:53He asked to get out of the car immediately.
23:56And not long after, another woman, Norma Jean Jalovec,
23:59also picked up a hitchhiker matching Brian's description.
24:01And he asked to be dropped off by Spread Creek Campsite,
24:05right where Gabby and Brian had last stayed.
24:07And she asked if he wanted her to go past the gate
24:09and into the area where they were staying.
24:11But he became agitated when she brought this up.
24:13And he would not let her get any closer.
24:16And he just got out of the vehicle immediately.
24:18And that same evening, Gabby's phone went silent for good.
24:21And a final misleading message to her mother
24:23would go out the next day.
24:25And after that, no contact and no explanation.
24:28And Brian, meanwhile, was already on the move.
24:31So between August 30th and September 1st,
24:33he began driving the white Ford Transit van east.
24:36And Gabby's van was now in his possession.
24:38And along the way, he used a debit card
24:40and withdrew over $1,000,
24:42which was actually a federal crime
24:44that would later be used to issue a warrant for his arrest.
24:47And this included $700 he had transferred to himself
24:49via Gabby's account with a note on the transfer saying,
24:53goodbye, Brian, I'll never ask you for anything again.
24:56The guy's insanely stupid.
24:59Messages were also sent between Brian and Gabby's phone
25:02during the time.
25:03But the timestamps painted a picture
25:05that this was Brian's attempt to establish an alibi.
25:08The shitty one at that,
25:09because he's f***ing stupid.
25:11The activity between the two phones
25:14was almost instantaneous.
25:16Brian was holding both phones
25:18and talking directly to himself.
25:20It was apparent that he was trying to create an alibi.
25:23And then on September 1st,
25:24Brian Laundrie pulled into the driveway
25:26of his parents' home in North Port, Florida, alone.
25:30So the white van was back, but Gabby wasn't.
25:32And Brian just said nothing.
25:34And over the next 10 days,
25:35he offered no explanation to anyone.
25:38Not to Gabby's parents,
25:40not to her friends,
25:40not to police.
25:41And in fact,
25:42Brian refused to speak to authorities at all.
25:45And when North Point police visited the Laundrie home,
25:48they were met not by Brian,
25:49but by his parents,
25:51who handed officers the phone number of their attorney.
25:54Gotta love parents that protect
25:55their f***ing murderer piece of s*** son.
25:58When was the last time that you saw Brian and Gabriel?
26:01Well, Brian is here.
26:02That's why I'm going to say.
26:03Gabby's family obviously began to panic at this point.
26:07And then in a strange twist,
26:08the Laundrie family,
26:09Brian included,
26:10reportedly went on a camping trip
26:12to Fort DeSoto Park from September 6th to September 8th.
26:17When Brian first came home with the van,
26:19him,
26:19his parents,
26:20and his sister Cassie went on a camping trip.
26:23And a neighbor later confirmed
26:24seeing them load up a small camper
26:26and head out as if nothing were wrong.
26:28And this was just days after Gabby's family
26:31had begun publicly pleading for help to find Gabby.
26:34Meanwhile, the white van,
26:36the one so often featured in Gabby's Instagram posts,
26:39sat in the laundry driveway.
26:41And authorities would later seize it for forensic analysis.
26:44So on September 11th,
26:45more than 10 days of silence and growing desperation,
26:49Gabby's parents would file an official missing persons report
26:52in Suffolk County, New York.
26:53And North Point police would name Brian
26:55as a person of interest a few days later.
26:57But still,
26:58no cooperation and no answers.
27:00And then another twist happens.
27:03Because on September 13th,
27:05Brian told his parents he was going for a solo hike
27:08nearby the Carlton Reserve,
27:10which was a sprawling swampy wilderness
27:12stretching over 25,000 acres.
27:14So he would drive the family's Ford Mustang
27:16to the reserve entrance,
27:18park it,
27:18and disappear into the wetlands.
27:20And days would pass
27:22and Brian would not return.
27:23But strangely,
27:24his parents didn't report him missing right away,
27:28which is so strange.
27:29And it wasn't until September 17th,
27:31four full days later,
27:33that they informed police Brian was gone.
27:36We now have two missing young people.
27:38And they said that they had retrieved the car
27:40from the reserve,
27:41but hadn't seen him since the 13th.
27:43And by then,
27:43Gabby's face was everywhere.
27:45Her story had gone national
27:47and the case was unfolding in real time
27:49across TV screens and social media feeds.
27:52Meanwhile,
27:52law enforcement was just scrambling to find Brian,
27:55who had now just vanished
27:56into one of the most difficult terrains in Florida
27:59and who was the only person
28:01who could say what had happened to Gabby.
28:03But he was gone.
28:04And Gabby's body at this point
28:06had yet to be found.
28:07So by the second week of September, 2021,
28:10Gabby's family had gone from worried to frantic
28:13and public interest just exploded.
28:16Social media detectives,
28:17true crime podcasters,
28:18and 24 seven cable news networks
28:20latched onto the story.
28:22And the hashtag find Gabby
28:24began trending across Instagram,
28:26Twitter,
28:26and TikTok.
28:28Her smiling face framed by blonde hair
28:31and golden filter
28:32became one of the most shared images in the country.
28:35And protesters gathered outside the laundry home.
28:37And they would chant into megaphones
28:39and they held signs that read,
28:40where's Gabby and justice for Gabby.
28:42And at the same time,
28:43FBI agents,
28:44local law enforcements,
28:45and search teams were mobilized in Wyoming.
28:48And with the help from cell tower pings
28:50and digital tracking and eyewitness accounts,
28:52the search narrowed into one location,
28:55which was Spread Creek Dispersed Camping Area,
28:57east of Grand Teton National Park.
28:59And then would come the break.
29:01Because those family vloggers
29:02that got that footage of Gabby's truck
29:04would submit that footage to the FBI.
29:07And it matched the vehicle
29:08Gabby and Brian had been traveling in.
29:10And on September 18th,
29:11the FBI and local authorities
29:13began a ground search in that area.
29:15And the very next day on September 19th, 2021,
29:18they made a grim discovery.
29:20So somewhere in the wild stillness
29:22of Spread Creek Dispersed Camping Area,
29:24tucked beneath the shadow
29:25of Grand Teton National Park,
29:27investigators would find human remains
29:29that match Gabby's description.
29:31And she would be partially buried,
29:32left in a shallow grave,
29:34surrounded by brush and wild sage.
29:36Her body would lay about 900 feet
29:38from where the van had last been seen parked.
29:41Gabby Petito, at the age of 22 years old,
29:44full of light,
29:45and just months into an adventure of her life,
29:48was killed.
29:49And her remains lay exposed to the elements
29:51for three to four weeks before discovery.
29:54And the autopsy conducted
29:56by Teton County Coroner, Dr. Brent Blue,
29:59determined that Gabby died by manual strangulation.
30:02In the manner of death of Gabrielle Lenora Petito,
30:07we find the cause of manner to be,
30:09cause death by strangulation,
30:11and manner is homicide.
30:13And he added that her body
30:14had likely been exposed to the elements
30:16for three to four weeks,
30:17and that the time of death
30:18was estimated at around August 27th,
30:21the same day she was last seen
30:22at the Mary Piglet's Restaurant in Jackson.
30:25Just a very brutal and intimate act
30:27requiring sustained force applied by bare hands.
30:31And the report also noted blunt force trauma
30:33to her head and to her neck.
30:35Just further evidence to a very violent
30:37and very personal assault.
30:39And this confirmation just sent shockwaves
30:41through the country.
30:42Gabby Petito, the free-spirited 22-year-old
30:45that had been documenting her life on the road,
30:47was gone.
30:48And the man she had trusted with that journey,
30:50Brian Laundrie,
30:51had not only returned without her,
30:53but was now missing himself.
30:54And news of Gabby's death
30:56sparked an outpouring of grief and anger.
30:58And a makeshift memorial grew rapidly
31:00outside the Laundrie home
31:02with mourners leaving flowers, candles, and photos.
31:05And in Blue Point, New York,
31:06Gabby's hometown at Candlelight Visual
31:08lit up the night
31:09as hundreds gathered to honor her memory.
31:12So Gabby's story had become a cultural flashpoint,
31:15not just because of the tragedy,
31:16but because of how quickly and widely it spread.
31:19And some commentators praised the mobilization
31:22of online communities and helping locate her.
31:24And others criticized the disparity
31:26in media attention compared to the hundreds
31:28of missing persons, especially women of color,
31:31whose stories remained untold.
31:33And still, for her family,
31:34the media firestorm was background noise
31:36to a singular, searing reality.
31:39Gabby was never coming home.
31:41And somewhere, Brian Laundrie was on the run.
31:44So the search for Brian Laundrie
31:45became one of the most watched manhunts
31:48in modern American history.
31:49And by the time Gabby's body was found
31:51on September 19th, 2021,
31:54Brian had already been missing for nearly a week.
31:56And according to his parents,
31:57he had told them on September 13th,
31:59he was going on a hike in the Carlton Reserve,
32:01as we know.
32:02But that delay in reporting him missing
32:04after four whole days raised some questions.
32:07Why wait?
32:09What did they know?
32:10And had Brian really gone hiking
32:12or had he used that window to disappear?
32:15So authorities could only go off what they knew
32:17and they would launch an extensive search
32:19in the Carlton Reserve,
32:20deploying divers, canine units, drones, and ATVs.
32:23And it was a very unforgiving landscape.
32:26It was waterlogged and snake infested
32:28with terrain that could swallow evidence in hours.
32:31And as the days wore on,
32:32the tasks seemed increasingly impossible.
32:34And at the same time,
32:35public pressure was mounting.
32:37Protesters continued to camp outside the Laundrie home,
32:40holding signs up and chanting through bullhorns.
32:43And across the country,
32:44people speculated, theorized,
32:45and tracked every development in real time.
32:48TikTok videos went viral,
32:49analyzing every angle,
32:50and police body cam footage
32:52was dissected frame by frame.
32:54And Brian's face would become
32:55as recognizable as Gabby's.
32:57And on September 23rd,
32:58the FBI issued a federal arrest warrant
33:00for Brian Laundrie.
33:01Not for homicide, though,
33:03but for unauthorized use of Gabby's debit card,
33:07a charge that allowed law enforcement
33:08to pursue him with federal authority
33:11while the homicide investigation continued,
33:13which makes sense in hindsight
33:14because at this point,
33:15they don't have much evidence.
33:17A lot of circumstantial evidence,
33:19but not a lot of physical evidence.
33:20Meanwhile, alleged sightings of Brian
33:22poured in from across the U.S.,
33:24but none were confirmed.
33:25And the FBI continued to focus locally,
33:28believing Brian may have never left Florida at all.
33:30But weeks would pass,
33:31and the search would just drag on.
33:33Tips would dry up,
33:34and for a time,
33:35it seemed that Brian Laundrie
33:36had just vanished into thin air.
33:38But then, on October 20th,
33:40something changed.
33:41Because that morning,
33:42Chris and Roberta Laundrie told authorities
33:44they intended to join the search
33:46at the Maya Kahatchee Creek Environmental Park,
33:49which bordered the Carlton Reserve
33:50and had recently been reopened to the public.
33:52And just hours into that search,
33:54they discovered items belonging to Brian
33:57lying near a previously flooded trail.
33:59So law enforcement would move in.
34:01And nearby,
34:02under a canopy of trees
34:03and partially submerged into swamp water,
34:06investigators found skeletal human remains.
34:09And by October 21st,
34:10dental records confirmed
34:11that the remains were Brian Laundrie's.
34:14And the autopsy determined
34:15that the cause of death
34:16was a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
34:19Just took the easy way out.
34:21And alongside his remains,
34:22investigators recovered a backpack,
34:24a notebook,
34:24and a revolver.
34:25And in that notebook,
34:27Brian wrote a confession.
34:29So the manhunt was over.
34:30And the only person of interest
34:31in Gabby Petito's murder was now dead.
34:33But the story wasn't finished yet.
34:36Because there were still questions.
34:37What had happened on that trail?
34:39And what did Brian's parents know
34:41and weren't telling?
34:42And about how the system had failed
34:43a young woman who was crying for help
34:46long before the world heard her.
34:48So for months after Brian Laundrie's remains were found,
34:52investigators sifted through
34:53every piece of evidence recovered at the scene.
34:55Most notable among them,
34:57a weathered, spiraled notebook
34:58pulled from the dry bag
35:00found just feet from his skeletal remains.
35:02And in January of 2022,
35:04the FBI officially closed the investigation,
35:06releasing key details about what was found.
35:09And the notebook,
35:10stained by water and difficult to read in parts,
35:12contained a handwritten confession.
35:14And in the note,
35:15Brian took responsibility for Gabby's death.
35:17That Gabby had allegedly suffered an injury
35:19during a hike and was in severe pain.
35:22I ended her life.
35:23I thought it was merciful.
35:25That it is what she wanted.
35:27But I see now all the mistakes I made.
35:29And he went on to describe
35:30what he had claimed had happened.
35:31That Gabby allegedly sustained a serious injury
35:34during a hike.
35:35And it was an unspecified incident
35:37that left her in severe pain.
35:39And he wrote that she was shivering
35:40and freezing and injured.
35:42And that she had allegedly asked him
35:43to relieve her of her suffering.
35:45And he claimed that in that moment of desperation,
35:47he killed her out of mercy.
35:49And Brian also wrote his intention
35:51was to take his own life,
35:52citing guilt and despair.
35:55Saying,
35:55from the moment I decided,
35:56took away her pain,
35:57I knew I couldn't go on without her.
35:59And the confession attempted to paint his actions
36:01as tragic but compassionate,
36:04a final act of love.
36:06But investigators in Gabby's family
36:07rejected the narrative completely.
36:10Same.
36:11The cause of her death was strangulation
36:13and nothing remotely
36:14or even close to what he said.
36:16Because the forensic evidence
36:17did not support Brian's version of events.
36:19Because we know that Gabby suffered
36:21manual strangulation
36:22and blunt force trauma
36:23to her head and to her neck.
36:25And the violent nature of her death
36:26and attempt to mislead authorities afterward
36:29with false texts.
36:30And her stolen debit cards
36:32stood in stark contrast
36:33to the idea of a mercy killing.
36:36And Gabby's mother claimed
36:37that he was a liar
36:38and tried to manipulate the story
36:39even after death.
36:40Just a pathetic piece of shit.
36:43And even the setting of confession
36:44seemed telling.
36:45And the FBI concluded
36:46in their final statement
36:47issued on January 21st, 2022,
36:50that Brian Laundrie
36:51was the only person involved
36:52in Gabby's death.
36:53And the investigation
36:54was officially closed.
36:56But the grief
36:56wasn't.
36:58Because Gabby's family
36:59was left not only
37:00with an unbearable loss
37:01of their daughter
37:02but with the weight
37:02of knowing that her final moments
37:04had been violent,
37:06terrifying,
37:07and lonely.
37:07And no explanation
37:08from Brian could change that.
37:10So if anything,
37:11the note only added to their pain.
37:13And for them,
37:13the truth was not
37:14in what Brian wrote
37:15but in what he did.
37:17He left Gabby
37:18in the wilderness,
37:19lied to her family,
37:20drove her van home,
37:21and then disappeared
37:22without a word.
37:23So the confession
37:24didn't bring any sort of closure.
37:25It simply confirmed
37:27what they had already feared
37:28all along.
37:29That the man
37:29their daughter had loved
37:31had betrayed her
37:32in the most permanent way.
37:34But even after the deaths
37:35of both Gabby and Brian,
37:36their story didn't end.
37:38And in many ways,
37:38it only entered
37:39a new chapter.
37:40One filled with grief,
37:42accountability,
37:42and the pursuit of justice
37:43in courtrooms,
37:45not wilderness trails.
37:46And on March 10th, 2022,
37:48Gabby's parents
37:49filed a civil lawsuit
37:50against Brian's parents.
37:52And in the suit,
37:52they accused the Laundries
37:54of intentional infliction
37:55of emotional distress,
37:57alleging that Brian
37:57had informed his parents
37:58of Gabby's death
37:59shortly after it happened
38:00and that the Laundries
38:01then withheld that information
38:02while Gabby's family
38:03searched for her.
38:04And the lawsuit claimed
38:05that while the Petito family
38:07publicly pleaded for answers,
38:08the Laundries remained
38:10completely silent.
38:11And according to the Petitos,
38:12the Laundries' actions
38:13and inactions
38:14were not just hurtful
38:16but knowingly cruel,
38:17which agreed.
38:19And in 2022,
38:20a Florida judge
38:21denied the Laundries' motion
38:23to dismiss,
38:24allowing the case
38:25to move forward.
38:26And in the court proceedings,
38:27shocking new details emerged.
38:29In one entry
38:29in Roberta Laundries'
38:31recovered burn
38:32after reading letter,
38:34allegedly written to Brian,
38:36referenced her willingness
38:37to help him
38:38dispose of the body.
38:40Some of the letter reads,
38:42we will always love each other.
38:43If you're in jail,
38:44I will bake a cake
38:45with a file in it.
38:47If you need to dispose of a body,
38:48I will show up with a shovel
38:49and a garbage bag.
38:51What?
38:52And though the letter's context
38:53and timing were debated,
38:55its language raised eyebrows,
38:58to say the least,
38:59and just fueled
38:59the Petito family's claims
39:01that the Laundries
39:02may have been more involved,
39:04or at least more informed
39:06than they admitted.
39:07And by March 2023,
39:09the Petito family reached
39:10a $3 million wrongful death settlement
39:13in a separate suit
39:14against Brian Laundries' estate,
39:16which was a symbolic victory
39:18since Brian's estate
39:19held few assets.
39:21But the money,
39:21they stated,
39:22would go toward the foundation
39:23in further effort
39:24to support families
39:25of missing persons,
39:27which I will link down below.
39:29And in the wake
39:29of unimaginable loss,
39:31Gabby's family
39:31found a purpose in advocacy,
39:33and they launched
39:34the Gabby Petito Foundation,
39:35which is a non-profit
39:37focused on supporting organizations
39:38that help locate
39:39missing persons
39:40and provide resources
39:41to victims
39:42of domestic violence.
39:43The foundation quickly
39:45became a platform for reform,
39:47raising awareness
39:47about the signs
39:49of abusive relationships,
39:50as well as disparities
39:51in media coverage
39:52that often leave
39:53missing persons cases
39:54involving people of color
39:56overlooked.
39:57They just didn't want
39:58Gabby's death
39:58to be in vain.
40:00So if they could save
40:00even just one person,
40:02then Gabby's story
40:02would live on.
40:03And the foundation
40:04has since partnered
40:05with the National Domestic
40:06Violence Hotline,
40:07also the Black and Missing Foundation,
40:09and other key advocacy groups,
40:11providing grants,
40:12emergency funds,
40:13and public outreach programs,
40:15which I think is amazing.
40:16And I want to add
40:17that all the proceeds
40:18from this video
40:19will be going
40:20to that foundation.
40:21And again,
40:21I will link the foundation
40:23down below.
40:23And Gabby's parents
40:24also testified
40:25before lawmakers
40:26to push the legislation
40:27aimed at
40:28improving reporting systems,
40:30bolstering protections
40:31for domestic violence victims,
40:33and modernizing
40:34law enforcement's abilities
40:35to respond
40:36to missing persons cases.
40:37And several states
40:38have proposed
40:39and passed bills
40:40directly inspired
40:41by Gabby's case,
40:42including Florida's
40:43Gabby Petito's Act,
40:44which created a set
40:45of 12 questions
40:46that are mandatory
40:47for law enforcement
40:48to ask potential victims
40:49during domestic violence calls,
40:52which I think, again,
40:52is so amazing.
40:54Despite public outrage,
40:56Chris and Roberta Laundrie
40:57have not been criminally charged
40:59in a connection
40:59with Gabby's death.
41:00And their legal strategy
41:01has largely remained
41:03one of silence.
41:04And in multiple interviews,
41:05the Petito family
41:06has expressed frustration,
41:08saying that the Laundrie
41:09showed no empathy
41:10and played a role
41:11in prolonging their agony.
41:13So this case
41:13has just ignited
41:14national debate
41:15about parental responsibility,
41:17legal liability,
41:18and how families
41:19of suspects
41:20navigate tragedies
41:21involving their children.
41:22And in the years
41:23since Gabby's disappearance,
41:24the legal battles
41:25have continued.
41:26But so has her legacy.
41:28Because her name
41:29now represents
41:29more than just tragedy.
41:31It represents a reckoning,
41:32a call to pay attention
41:34not only to those
41:35who vanish,
41:35but to the systems,
41:36silences,
41:38and red flags
41:38that often precede them.
41:40So Gabby Petito's voice
41:41was taken,
41:42but her story still speaks.
41:44Gabby Petito's story
41:45is absolutely tragic,
41:47and it's also a reminder
41:48for us to pay attention,
41:49to check in,
41:50to ask again,
41:52to love without harm,
41:53and to cherish the journey
41:55wherever it may lead.
41:56And that is
41:57the Gabby Petito case.
41:58I know this one
41:59was very emotional,
42:01as are every one
42:02of these cases
42:03that I cover,
42:03but I think the awareness
42:04is extremely important.
42:06Just know that
42:07you are important,
42:09you deserve attention,
42:10and you have the right
42:11to speak out
42:12and be heard.
42:13So just know that,
42:14and I hope you all
42:15stay very, very safe.
42:17And remember,
42:17I did link those foundations
42:18down below.
42:19Also, I did put in
42:20helplines as well
42:21if you need that.
42:22But until I see you next time,
42:24I will see your beautiful face.
42:25Okay?
42:26Stay safe.
42:27Bye!
42:27Bye!
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