It is a posthumous confession that puts an end to the mystery. The young American traveler Gabby Petito, who died of strangulation last summer, was indeed killed by her companion Brian Laundrie. On Friday, the FBI said Laundrie had “claimed responsibility” in a written memo, before killing himself. The FBI will therefore soon close the case, because “the investigation did not identify any other person directly involved in the tragic death of Gabby Petito”.
???? Death of Gabby Petito: Brian Laundrie claimed to have killed his partner in the notebook found by the FBI. The FBI has “not identified anyone else directly involved” and will dismiss the case. #gabbypetitohttps://t.co/ErXej8jOsd pic.twitter.com/4hb2q09Yb4
— Philippe Berry (@ptiberry) January 21, 2022
The FBI had discovered the skeletal remains of Brian Laundrie last October, in a marshy area of Florida. The autopsy had concluded to a suicide of a bullet in the head. It was in his notebook, found nearby in a waterproof plastic bag, that Brian Laundrie confessed.
Mobilization of internet users
The disappearance of the young woman, reported by her family on September 11, held America in suspense. Her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, returned alone to Florida from their summer road trip on September 1, was quickly named as a “person of interest” by the police, but not as a suspect. Internet users are playing detective online, analyzing each post left by Gabby Petito on Instagram and TikTok with the hashtag #vanlife.
Quickly, we learn that the Utah police had intervened on August 12 after a serious altercation which they described as a “mental health crisis” and not a domestic incident. The young woman, in tears, explains that she scratched her fiancé, and that the latter “grabbed” her face. Gabby Petito was last seen alive at a restaurant in Jackson, Wyoming on August 27. Witnesses say Brian Laundrie was angry and raised his voice.
Text messages sent after the murder to deceive the police
Brian Laundrie, who refuses to cooperate with the investigators, vanishes in mid-September. His parents took several days before notifying the authorities. Who discovered the remains of Gabby Petito, near a campsite in a natural park in Wyoming, on September 19. The autopsy concludes a murder by “manual strangulation”, committed, given the chronology, between August 27 and 30.
After the young woman’s death, Brian Laundry used her credit card several times. In its press release published on Friday, the FBI reveals a new element: after the death of Gabby Petito, Brian Laundrie sent several text messages from his mobile phone to that of the young woman, “to deceive the authorities and make them believe that Gabby Petito was still alive”.
After weeks of fruitless searches, the FBI discovers human remains in an advanced state of decomposition on October 20. Dental data confirms that it is Brian Laundrie.
If the case mobilized the public as rarely, it remains sadly commonplace. Of the 600,000 Americans reported missing every year, several thousand are never found. And more than 1,000 women are killed by their mate each year.