Found Deceased WY - Gabrielle ‘Gabby’ Petito, 22, Grand Teton National Park, 25 Aug 2021 #69

[Bluebythec]

This is what I'm thinking.

Maybe they got fingerprints from his art supplies. It's doubtful anyone else had touched them.

 

[RickshawFan]

Since the van was illegally parked overnight, I am pretty sure many people noticed it (it was on a sort of paved side road, but still visible from the main road).

Her body wasn't that far from the road. It's an area that is used for target practice (and it's within the rules to do so there - it's one of the best places near Spread Creek campground where people could do that). Good place for rock hunters - and that's legal in the NF. Great view of the Tetons - that's why there are a couple of day use pull-outs. Lots of picnics there, I bet.

Whether any of this occurred to BL as he drove across the country, I do not know - but I bet not. Combine that with all the dash cam and youtuber footage and yeah, she was going to be found sooner rather than later.

BL is indeed not a practical outdoorsman.

Besides that, BL is very unoriginal (though I'd bet he thinks otherwise). If he had the idea to park at that spot, almost certainly, every night, someone had the same idea, since it was such a busy campground, and it was so hard to get a spot. Sooner or later, someone was going to go to that area where GP was found. I'll bet the fire ring wasn't even theirs; it was probably there already. What I'm trying to say is, I don't get the feel it's "off the beaten track".

 

[Which_pancake]

Where did the information come from regarding BL flying home for a week and the information about a storage locker?
TIA!

From the lawyer.

Brian Laundrie update: Where is the Florida storage unit? - Deseret News

 

[BuySellTrade]

Great information so thank you.
If he's still in that reserve, I also think he went to kill himself. *

Agree on the body disposal site. I also live in a national park in UK and just next to what you'd probably call preserves. There are few true wildernesses here but we have had murders here where no body has been found, just tiny fragments because the local perp knew how & where to dispose of the body.
On the topic of suicide, we've also had unfortunately a couple of cases ( including high-ranking LE!) who climbed mountains here with a few bottles of alcohol in order to go easier through hypothermia.

Anyway, enough of that.
Why do you think he didn't bury her? Do you think he really thought that animals would remove all her remains or he just panicked?

ETA* one caveat on intent to commit suicide. I don't understand why he'd need to take a large back pack ( as described, with a waist strap iirc) if he had made a decision to go into the Reserve to commit suicide

Thank you.

Hyway made a good point:

"You left out the most likely reason her body is where it was and not down a crevice somewhere out of the way. MOO it wasn't planned out. It happened there or very near that spot. He panicked and ran away from the creek and the van, and didn't come back until a day or two later to get the van before he drove home.".

There is a sobering number of bodies found and people that go missing local to me, particularly considering the extremely sparse population. So many there is even a dedicated forum here at WS.

The Emerald Triangle (websleuths.com)

That WS forum is just the tip of the iceberg.

Both panic and the idea that animals would disturb the remains make sense. Gets hard to see what occurred by design and what was just an out of control situation. If one only knew of BL and GP from their social media, hard to imagine how their trip and GP's life ended.

 

[Thinker22]

Well, they have fingerprints on file. I'm just curious how they could be so sure they are his. MOO Lifting them from the van and ruling out GP, and possibly his parents, does not tell you they are his. But, perhaps, lifting them from the van and comparing them to something else he owned and may have exclusively handled - like his missing skateboard - might further corroborate it. I find it interesting and curious. Maybe one day we will learn the ins and outs of the LE investigation. MOO

Any background check would likely have included fingerprinting, iMHO I saw a photo of BL apparently teaching kids how to climb on a rock climbing wall on his SM. A job like that could have included a background check if it were a job at a city rec center or such. An application for a concealed firearm permit would have also included fingerprinting. Heck, maybe his phone or Gabby's phone had his fingerprint stored on it as part of the unlocking protocol, which is common with modern smart phones.

Just rambling here: MOO.

 

[10ofRods]

They could also create an email address (gmail, hotmail) that thy both have the password for and leave messages in the drafts folder for each other.

If they get a warrant for their internet provider, they can look into frequently used email and other SM accounts...not as safe as they may think.

Not if it was scrubbed. MOO. Same with camper. MOO

Well, they sure didn't clean the camper completely - because an agent took a little jar of some biological material out of it...

I'm curious why we're interested in his fingerprints, anyway - he's pretty much long gone and he's easily identifiable with DNA if need be. Because they took a biological sample out of that camper, IMO.

 

[Cindizzi]

My fingerprints are on file due to a Security Clearance for working in an airport and due to being bonded. I don’t have a criminal record.

BL very well could have a record and it wouldn’t surprise me in the least to find out there is something in his background that would precipitate acquiring his fingerprints.

On the other hand, it might be just a job requirement.

MOO

I was a bartender at a large hotel in Nevada for 12 years. All employees who had cash handling duties and/or vault access had to go to Reno PD to be photographed and fingerprinted and give consent to send to FBI.
JMO

 

[Jurisprudence]

If they get a warrant for their internet provider, they can look into frequently used email and other SM accounts...not as safe as they may think.



Well, they sure didn't clean the camper completely - because an agent took a little jar of some biological material out of it...

I'm curious why we're interested in his fingerprints, anyway - he's pretty much long gone and he's easily identifiable with DNA if need be. Because they took a biological sample out of that camper, IMO.

I was curious bc the US Marshals printed the guy on the spot. I found that interesting.

 

[leavetheguntakethecannoli]

I hoped they would be. The US Marshalls are good at what they do---which is searching for fugitives on the run.

I was hoping they were working on this behind the scenes all along.

These threads move fast…USMS involvement was confirmed on Saturday.

 

[Jurisprudence]

Any background check would likely have included fingerprinting, iMHO I saw a photo of BL apparently teaching kids how to climb on a rock climbing wall on his SM. A job like that could have included a background check if it were a job at a city rec center or such. An application for a concealed firearm permit would have also included fingerprinting. Heck, maybe his phone or Gabby's phone had his fingerprint stored on it as part of the unlocking protocol, which is common with modern smart phones.

Just rambling here: MOO.

OH.... was he a registered gun owner?

 

[Thinker22]

Since the van was illegally parked overnight, I am pretty sure many people noticed it (it was on a sort of paved side road, but still visible from the main road).

Her body wasn't that far from the road. It's an area that is used for target practice (and it's within the rules to do so there - it's one of the best places near Spread Creek campground where people could do that). Good place for rock hunters - and that's legal in the NF. Great view of the Tetons - that's why there are a couple of day use pull-outs. Lots of picnics there, I bet.

Whether any of this occurred to BL as he drove across the country, I do not know - but I bet not. Combine that with all the dash cam and youtuber footage and yeah, she was going to be found sooner rather than later.

BL is indeed not a practical outdoorsman.

I don't think any responsible target shooter would discharge a firearm that close to a campground, especially one that is in direct line of sight. A stray shot or ricochet could cost those target shooters thousands of dollars in legal fees and their right to ever own a firearm. A responsible shooter would choose a much better place to shoot. All MOO.

 

[Thinker22]

They could also create an email address (gmail, hotmail) that thy both have the password for and leave messages in the drafts folder for each other.

Patrick Frazee and Krystal Lee Kenney did that and it came back to bite them HARD.

 

[10ofRods]

Besides that, BL is very unoriginal (though I'd bet he thinks otherwise). If he had the idea to park at that spot, almost certainly, every night, someone had the same idea, since it was such a busy campground, and it was so hard to get a spot. Sooner or later, someone was going to go to that area where GP was found. I'll bet the fire ring wasn't even theirs; it was probably there already. What I'm trying to say is, I don't get the feel it's "off the beaten track".

I think he parked it once and once only - on August 27. He knew that if he moved out of it, someone else would take it and go for a camp or a picnic - right next to Gabby's body.

I'm guessing the fire ring was there already, too, and that in prior years, when the rules were looser, it was a "dispersed" site. At any rate, yep, that site would have been taken by someone else.

Sometimes I think that's the reason he goes walkabout for 2 days. Eating melon.

 

[Thinker22]

Mine are on file as an attorney too, but BL is neither. This is what peeked my curiosity.

piqued, maybe?

 

[Jurisprudence]

I'm just so curious about the FBI's timeline asking for witnesses at Spread Creek. Aug. 27 - Aug. 30th.

https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/seeking-info/gabrielle-petito/@@download.pdf

I think it happened on the 27th and he left on the 29th or early morning hours of the 30th. I obviously do not know if this is correct. It's MOO from the public facing information we have to date. They know a lot more than us though. So I believe they have the time down too. My guesstimate of the time on the 27th was after the Merry Piglets, but before the Bethune's passed by at 6. So, I'm at between 2-6 pm. MOO

 

[JudgeJudi]

Gabby’s ashes weren’t scattered by the lake.

Her father Joe and wife Tara and her mother Nichole and husband Jim have been in Jackson since Wednesday afternoon and spent Thursday morning at the campsite where she was found and afterwards, spent the afternoon at the Sheriff’s office being briefed by detectives working on the case.

On Friday, they met with rescuers from the Teton County Search and Rescue team which took part in the hunt for her body and visited Jenny Lake where her van was seen parked shortly before she vanished.

JP posted a photo of the lake on his social media with the caption: ‘I now know why you came here. #GabbyPetito has a beautiful view from now on. Love you and miss you.’

Step-mom Tara tweeted a photo of herself with Nichole at the glacier lake and wrote: ‘Two moms out at Jenny Lake”.

Faces etched with pain, the family made their way out of the Valley Mortuary in Jackson, Wyoming, on Saturday morning clutching an urn containing the ashes - the final stop on a whirlwind trip.

Nichole appeared visibly upset as they left the funeral home, while black-clad father Joe held the white box containing Gabby’s to his chest.

Gabby’s remains will now be taken home to Long Island, New York, for burial.

Gabby Petito's parents are seen collecting her remains in Wyoming three weeks after body was found | Daily Mail Online

 

[Jurisprudence]

Why would he scrub the van of his prints and then park it right in front of his parents' home?

Why would he do just about any single thing he has done? I unfortunately do not have an answer. MOO

 

[carbuff]

I don't think they would necessarily need "official" fingerprints. It could just be presumptive fingerprints from his belongings. It's not like they need to confirm someone's identity with fingerprints before arrest. MOO

His and Gabby's prints would be all over the van, and probably only a few other random ones here and there. It'd be pretty easy to narrow it down to two, anyway.

 

[EvieIvyOver]

From the Cooper Anderson interview with Dr. Blue:

CNN.com - Transcripts
RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL
CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, thanks. Dr. Blue, I wanted to ask you about a text that Gabby's mother received from her daughter's phone on August 30th, and if you look at your timeline, her death would have occurred between August 22nd and August 29th.

So if this text on August 30th that said there was no service in Yosemite came from Gabby's phone, can you say definitively that Gabby Petito could not have sent that text on August 30th?

BLUE: No, I can't. When we talk about timeline of death this far out from a death, that timeline can be plus or minus a week at a minimum. And that is because of different weather conditions and different locations. So it's really very, very rough.

It's not like TV, where they say, oh, they died on this date. It's a very rough estimate, and I know that law enforcement is using other methods to try to determine a most -- a more exact date, but from an autopsy point of view, it is a very rough estimate. COOPER: So -- and Randi, just -- can you explain to our viewers why you asked that question, because I mean, if she was not obviously alive on that day, when they received that text, then it would indicate that Brian Laundrie or somebody else theoretically sent that text to them.

KAYE: Right. I mean, it's key because if she didn't send it and the text said that there was -- it no read, "No service in Yosemite," whoever did send it, the question is, were they trying to make her parents or her family or investigators even believe that Gabby Petito, at some point had been in Yosemite and perhaps, they would have started looking for her there.

[20:05:03]

COOPER: Dr. Blue, can you tell us if Gabby Petito was killed in the location where authorities found her or if she was possibly moved there?

BLUE: That's not for us to determine, that's for law enforcement to determine. But I just want to point out, it's Yellowstone, not Yosemite.

There actually is a Yosemite Peak in Wyoming--in the Tetons--Cascade Canyon, Inspiration Point...not far from Jenny Lake.

 

[Thinker22]

Great information so thank you.
If he's still in that reserve, I also think he went to kill himself. *

Agree on the body disposal site. I also live in a national park in UK and just next to what you'd probably call preserves. There are few true wildernesses here but we have had murders here where no body has been found, just tiny fragments because the local perp knew how & where to dispose of the body.
On the topic of suicide, we've also had unfortunately a couple of cases ( including high-ranking LE!) who climbed mountains here with a few bottles of alcohol in order to go easier through hypothermia.

Anyway, enough of that.
Why do you think he didn't bury her? Do you think he really thought that animals would remove all her remains or he just panicked?

ETA* one caveat on intent to commit suicide. I don't understand why he'd need to take a large back pack ( as described, with a waist strap iirc) if he had made a decision to go into the Reserve to commit suicide

A backpack would be a good container for him to fill it with rocks to weigh his body down in the murky, gator-infested waters. With a waist/hip strap and a sternum strap it wouldn't come off for a LONG time. Just MOO.