What Happened to Gabby Petito?

by Atisse Robbins, age 14

Gabby Petito was a YouTuber who documented her life living in a van and going on adventures with her fiancé, Brian Laundrie. Gabby and Brian met in high school and were sometimes described as “high school sweethearts." The couple planned a four-month road trip during which they would travel to several National Parks, including Grand Teton in Wyoming.

Halfway through their trip, they came to a stop when a passerby reported seeing Gabby and Brian arguing on the road. The passerby called the police, and officers soon arrived. Dashcam footage showed police pulling Gabby aside. While the officers spoke with Gabby, she was visibly upset and crying. She told them, “we have been fighting all morning.” The police also spoke with Brian, who claimed the argument escalated and that Gabby had slapped him.

The officers decided the couple should spend the night apart. Gabby stayed in the van while Brian went to a hotel arranged by police. After this incident, their travel content stopped, and this was the last confirmed sighting of Gabby alive. Weeks later, Brian returned alone to his parents’ house in Florida, where he and Gabby had been living before the trip. When Gabby was not with him, her parents grew suspicious, and she was soon reported as a missing person.

Gabby’s body was discovered on September 19, 2021, at Grand Teton National Park near the Bridger-Teton National Forest, ten days after she was reported missing. An autopsy later confirmed that she had died from strangulation. Public attention quickly focused on Brian since he was the only person traveling with her. Shortly after suspicion grew, he disappeared from his parents’ home and was reported missing as well.

The FBI issued a warrant for Brian’s arrest, not for Gabby’s death directly but for unauthorized use of her debit card after she was last seen. Police searched his parents’ home as part of the investigation. After a month-long manhunt, Brian’s remains were discovered in October 2021 in the Carlton Reserve, Florida, along with a notebook in which he admitted responsibility for Gabby’s death. Officials determined he had died by suicide.

The story received widespread media coverage and was later the subject of documentaries, including one on Netflix. Gabby’s mother emphasized the human toll of the tragedy, saying, “Remember that it's not just a story, it's not entertainment for you, it's not just true crime. Remember that there are always real lives involved and that these things can happen to anyone.”

[Source: BBC]