A Timeline of Gabby Petito's Murder
News | Peyton Alch | Sep 29th, 2021.
In June of 2021, 22-year-old Gabby Petito embarked on a cross-country road trip with her fiancé Brian Laundrie. During this time, Gabby was active on social media, posting pictures and videos of her and her fiance all throughout her trip.
In mid-August, the couple were stopped by police because they “engaged in some sort of altercation”. They were separated for the night and seemed to be reunited in the morning.
Petito was very active on social media and had regular contact with her family through the end of August. On August 15, Petito shared her last social media post, a picture of her holding a pumpkin captioned “Happy Halloween”. This sparked concern and confusion among her followers because of how vague the post was in comparison to her usual content.
The last time Petito spoke with her parents was on August 25 through a FaceTime call where Petito said that she was headed to the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. Five days later, Petito sent a text to her mother simply saying “No service in Yosemite.” Petito’s mother doubts that Gabby actually sent this message.
On September 1, Petito’s fiance returned to his home in North Port, Florida in the couple’s white van. Laundrie oddly did not report his fiance as missing. Petito’s family reported her missing on September 11, ten days later. After hearing this, many people took to social media, posting videos and photos of their theories and trying to spread the word of her disappearance.
On September 17, Laundrie’s family reported him missing as well. During this time, police investigated the van the couple was traveling in and also questioned both families.
And finally, on September 19, remains were found in a camping area in the Bridger-Teton National Forest. Later, authorities confirmed that the remains were Gabby Petito. Autopsy reports ruled the death as a homicide. The police have sent out an arrest warrant for Laundrie, who is still missing, for bank card fraud.
This story has enraptured national headlines, capturing the attention of millions. However, Petito’s death has also brought about a new wave of advocacy for the countless missing people of color. According to the Black and Missing Foundation, of the 543,018 people missing in 2020, 37% of them were people of color. USA Today reports that from 2011-2020, 710 Indigenous women disappeared in Wyoming, the same place Petito went missing.