Found Deceased WY - Gabrielle ‘Gabby’ Petito, 22, Grand Teton National Park, 25 Aug 2021 #14

[Herat]

I hear ya. It's not even that pretty of an area. Just a bunch of scrubby trees and fields like you could find anywhere. (The campground itself, I mean). There must be prettier campgrounds where the view is better. It's like they chose the remoteness - or someone did - for a reason, but it wasn't because it made a good Instagramable area. I really do wonder why that campground was chosen.
If they had any money at all, it would have made sense (to me) to be in a better one than that. JMO

Also wonder how many murders occur in campgrounds like that on an annual basis.

That's precisely the kind of country that I think is fabulous and my favorite kind of camping. The beautiful wide open high desert west. Gorgeous scenery, wide open spaces with incredible vistas. Few people. I've camped in the Yellowstone and farther east into the Rockies and the terrain is just incredible.

The dispersed camping is free. It's generally far quieter than the established in-park campgrounds that these days are completely filled with people. People who do this usually observe camping ettiquette and don't make themselves obnoxious. You don't have rangers usually looking over your shoulders. This area isn't even remote. It's plainly marked on signs, on a maintained gravel / dirt road, and has assigned spaces.

This is also in a good location to be traveling around Grand Teton. If you read about Spread Creek, there used to be a large dam there that was used at one time for irrigation. It impeded spawning trout returning to their native spawning grounds upstream. Trout Unlimited developed a project and removed the dam in 2010 (they have a great video about this) and returned the creek to it's more natural condition. It's very interesting and a place I would want to explore.

Wake up here and you are g0ing to smell clean fresh air, sagebrush and pine trees

 

[Newsjunkiejen]

IMO his parents are creating a diversionary tactic with the whole Mustang left at the Reserve, and "he went hiking".

I have to assume that there is SOME good left in their hearts in that they couldn't just 'stand by' whilst their son - who is potentially suicidal - was out in the middle of what I understand is an alligator-infested swamp land with other predators there too!

They have to know he's safe somewhere else, otherwise how could they not be fighting to get out there and search for their child!?

I'm not a parent, but every part of me screams this is wrong, and no matter how large the baying mob outside your house, if your child is in danger you GO! You'd move hell and high water to try and save them.

Their inaction speaks volumes.

MOO

(Edited to correct spelling and bold paragraph)

 

[Skigirl]

Id add he’d be a straight fool to bring any electronic device with him(phone). Credit card/debit card. Anything that can be tracked has to go. Even a car or family car, or rental equipped with GPS. Nothing electronic.

And yes I know about the mustang. I’m just saying/ranting.

I wonder if one of the things he was doing in Colter Bay Village (if the TikToker is correct) was accessing an ATM machine so he would have cash for gas and wouldn't have to pay with a credit card on the way home.

According to this page, the General Store has an ATM. He may have been flush with cash, which would explain why he was offering $200 for a ride.

General Store - Colter Bay Village

 

[kittythehare]

I played it for my son, first at the .25 speed on full screen, then at normal speed. He immediately spotted the white bumper uninterrupted by the black space where the gap would be, if the door was open. If it was a tree or a shadow, it was levitating above the white bumper

I'm not even sure it matters but I do think someone was in that van, and closed the back door as they heard another vehicle approaching.

jmo

That occurred just as she was slowing down the video, I think it's a technical thingy due to her action to slow it down so it could be viewed more clearly.

 

[Gardenkeep]

SBM. That is a great point. When he was reported missing, they retrieved clothing from his house to help scent him for searches. I assume in a missing persons case you can get the info you need from the home to look for them, so Why couldn’t they enter to do that for Gabby, also, since she lived there?

I would guess that they were told "no". LE cannot enter without the permission of the homeowner or a warrant. We need to keep in mind that LE was not made aware of Gabby being missing until the 11th, when the report was filed.

 

[Turkeytrot]

I've wondered if they would have this extensive of a search based solely on info from the parents. I'd think they would want some other proof he went out there, but I don't know. Not sure of any surveillance or anything like that in that area.

 

[GussiedCanoodler]

So is it established that we cannot trust basing a timeline on BL being back in FL on 9/1 as this was just reported by his parents to LE with no hard evidence to support it?

I don't know if I would say established. I, personally, believe LE knows something that we don't know that makes them believe he was back in FL.

 

[dtowndetective411]

I would guess that they were told "no". LE cannot enter without the permission of the homeowner or a warrant. We need to keep in mind that LE was not made aware of Gabby being missing until the 11th, when the report was filed.

True ans she probably wasn’t the homeowner or on an official lease. Ugh.

 

[kittythehare]

This is sort of my recollection too (without going back). She stated she had not spoken to him - I had guessed this was on advice of counsel to protect her from any involvement, but I thought LE should have flat out asked her if she had even seen him to know he was present in the state. Still cannot believe LE let this (not seeing him with their own eyes) slide, even if he said nothing.

Maybe she simply was not living in her parents' home or city.

 

[Yellow Rose]

Good grief, there's not much room in that van at all in the back....did they sleep in the front seats then??
Or pitch a tent every night?

Photos on Instagram showed a tent set up not far from the van….so we can assume they probably used a tent

 

[Harvath]

So Brian left the keys in the car unlocked? If so,it could only mean Brian had no intention of comming back to the car.

I agree I don’t think he had any intention of going back to the car. But I do not read into that as a sign of suicide. MOO I think the car was just the means….to get him away from the house and set him on his way/on the lamb. It was a tool he used and was done with it. After all. Traffic cameras, interstate cameras, police vehicles passive license plate readers etc. Every second spent in that car would be a risk….he’d light up like a Christmas tree in it. He had to get to a point B and disappear. It seems he chose another park/wildlife. The irony. I suppose it’s a decent plan to attempt to fall off the radar. I don’t think it’ll work though. He’s out numbered, has very few resources(including human help-let alone supplies etc)…..that we know of as of right now. I think they find him soon.

I really don’t think he’s suicidal (though I won’t rule it out). Just going on how I’ve interpreted everything we know about him. I think he’s just panicking and running. He’s much more likely to perish via the elements out there than of his own choice. That’s just where I see it as of now. His best bet….is to get as far away from Fl as possible…..but I don’t think he has the skills to pull that off(unless there’s someone that we and LE don’t know that’s helping him).

 

[milkshakedonkey]

Good grief, there's not much room in that van at all in the back....did they sleep in the front seats then??
Or pitch a tent every night?

After looking at far too many van setups when building ours, I'd guess they usually used a tent for convenience, but they probably had a way to use those bins and a wooden top to make a makeshift sleeping area in the back in the case of really bad weather or other necessity. I've seen quite a few setups with something similar.

 

[mitzy]

Not sure, but surely it would be a simple thing for the parents to tell LE to whom the vehicle is registered. They refuse, it seems. That may be significant. imo.

The FBI says it's registered to Gabby.

GABRIELLE PETITO | Federal Bureau of Investigation

"...She and her boyfriend were driving a white 2012 Ford Transit van with a variety of stickers on the back. The van is registered to Ms. Petito with Florida plate QFTG03."

 

[khaki]

My thoughts exactly, they said they were going to go and say hello because of the Florida plates but no one was there so they just carried on.

When they were talking about this in their video, I got the impression they did not even get out of their car to go close up and look around but that it looked like no one was there from what they could tell in their car as they drove by.

 

[kittythehare]

In the van or not, it really doesn't make too much of a difference. It clearly IS their van. imo

It's Gabby's van, for sure, I reckon.
No arguments there.

 

[Deleted member 121463]

I've wondered if they would have this extensive of a search based solely on info from the parents. I'd think they would want some other proof he went out there, but I don't know. Not sure of any surveillance or anything like that in that area.

I feel like after LE lost Brian, they have made a massive effort to appear as if they are ON the case. imo.

 

[Msskeptic]

This family is pretty clever, unfortunately. Their plan worked. He's not in that preserve. He got out via another entrance and another vehicle. They would not have waited three days to report him missing. They would not have picked up his car. There was a plan.

 

[wnk]

Could someone reassure me that LE wouldn’t be out on a wild goose chase at this point? They would verify information they get from BL’s parents, right? I’m sure they don’t want to be on a National stage looking incompetent but BL’s parents seem to have made this really hard for them. If they don’t look and something happens to BL, they get blamed. If they do look and BL isn’t there, they’ll get blamed.

As soon as BL's parents indicated that he was missing, it was basically a given that there was going to be a search in that wilderness area outside of North Port. LE had to look, especially once they knew the Mustang had been there, or they'd be getting a million calls a day asking them, "DID YOU LOOK THERE? WHY DIDN'T YOU LOOK THERE YET?"

However, I'm also going to bet that as soon as they heard that story, they also started looking at the other possibilities -- public transportation, hitchhiking, the closest airport, etc -- because the chances of BL really camping out in the hot, flooded swampland from Tues all the way until Fri? Riiiiiiiighhht....

 

[Newsjunkiejen]

In my opinion I HAVE to think that his parents are creating a diversionary tactic with the whole Mustang left at the Reserve, and "he went hiking".

I have to assume that their is SOME good left in their hearts that they couldn't just 'stand by' whilst their son - who is potentially suicidal - was out in the middle of what I understand is an alligator-infested swamp land with other predators there too!

They have to know he's safe somewhere else otherwise how could they not be fighting to get out there and search for their child.

I'm not a parent, but every part of me screams this is wrong, and no matter how large the baying mob outside your house, if your child is in danger you GO! You'd move hell and high water to try and save them.

Their inaction speaks volumes.

 

[Alkali13]

Good grief, there's not much room in that van at all in the back....did they sleep in the front seats then??
Or pitch a tent every night?

Watch the YouTube video. It shows how they converted the back.