Found Deceased WY - Gabrielle ‘Gabby’ Petito, 22, Grand Teton National Park, 25 Aug 2021 #75

[Kristin Esq.]

GBs parents could probably sue BLs estate for wrongful death but I’d be surprised if it’d be worth their time and energy in terms of potential assets. He clearly didn’t have the wealth nor fame of OJ.

Or they could do it just to gain more information.

 

[Lillymac]

From prior thread-

But why would he want his body concealed, is (one of my) question? It seems reasonable not to want to be on display, but knowing that there was or would soon be a manhunt, I guess I'd expect him/someone in his position who'd decided to kill himself to want to be pretty easily found - ie not actually in/under swamp water.

Do you really think he was thinking about that? I don't. He just wanted it over with.

 

[Floridagirl1006]

Thanks for that information. In Australia, our crocodiles take every opportunity to grab a person or dog etc.
So when the waters receed, where do they go?

I’d love to go to Australia some day! Thank you for letting me know about your crocs! Once the waters in lowlands recede in FL they return to the lakes, canals, etc. nearby. Rainy season is the only time we have waters rise. It is ending now so that’s why some of that water was lower and it will eventually dry up completely for dry season.

 

[Diogenetic]

True - but each time it was used, it would still ping off tower where it was used. It would still give a pattern of whereabouts of someone (so criminals learn to destroy them/toss them). People do buy phones like this and then resell them at swap meets or similar...very hard to trace.

Yes. Just <modsnip> read up. Fairly easy to get a burner and know the half dozen things to avoid doing that will compromise it (having your regular phone and burner on at same time in cell spoofing areas). intercept has a good overview How to Prepare a Cheap Burner Phone for Protesting but there is a lot more detailed stuff out there from last year and prior protests.

In any case I do not think there is a likely criminal case against the parents of Brian Laundrie. There are quite a few things they could claim that would create plausible deniability on aiding and abetting, accessory after the fact or even withholding or obstruction. If they got good legal advice before the determination of homicide or federal bank charges they are probably safe from prosecution. Now civil suits are a different thing. Lower burden of proof (preponderance instead of beyond reasonable doubt) and that suit does not have to do with death or investigation but perhaps just pain and suffering from the victim's body being found being delayed by any amount

 

[Amster]

Speaking of which, Since the parents don't speak to Cassie, did anyone do the right thing by informing her privately, or is she just out there on her own to grieve her loss? jmo

I wonder what the L’s grandkids are feeling?
Abandoned by grandma & grandpa? Wonder if they’ve even seen them since the bizarre s’mores party?

 

[Satchie]

I don’t know what standard practice is in the US. Do you think the FBI will share more details over time?

Things like what Brian bought with Gaby’s card, any data of interest from the notebook, just missing pieces and answers to all the questions a lot of us have.

I don't know about the US but in Canada, when the case of two teens on the run ended in suicide, there was a final report and news conference a few months later that revealed all the evidence, timeline, etc. I think homicide is a 'public' issue that affects the community, and police need to announce that they've identified a culprit, and how, even if he's dead. They also need to show they conducted the investigations properly. JMO

 

[orchidaceaes]

Do we know if the Schmidt/Petito families have Gabby's stuff back yet?

 

[Claire182]

Anyone thinking maybe the L’s kept SB as their lawyer because they suspected BL wasn’t alive anymore? No need for a better lawyer under those circumstances. Might explain them keeping him around JMO

 

[Sassafrass]

I can think of a lot of reasons, people's minds work differently. As I said in an earlier post, the desire to "disappear completely" leads people into natural or remote places to suicide every year. It's a symbol or metaphor for them wishing they could undo what they have done in their life.

Most of us have done something we wish we could undo. For most of us, it's minor - we broke something precious to ourselves or to someone else. But the desire to undo or unmake is part of rite and ritual for humans all over the planet. Grief alone makes many persons wish to be gone from this plane and to be invisible.

Then, in this case, there's the additional possibility that either BL simply doesn't understand how much harder it would be for Gabby's family. and for his own family if he couldn't be found. I do not think BL had a strong theory of other minds. I think he was very much inside his own head, had lots of intricate fantasies.

There are other possibilities as well. Of the many people who go missing every year, many are not found and do not want to be found. I believe that one of my. childhood friends committed suicide and did not want to be found. It's been 35 years and he's still listed in the Charlie Project. He's out in the mountains near where I live - somewhere.

Yes, I understand that many suicides do not want to be found.

And obviously we don't know BL's state of mind or thoughts on it. However, for someone who made a point to go home, spend time with family (clearly loved them), and who also knew that there was or would likely be a major hunt for him, and who also knew that his fate would also be of extreme importance not only to his own family but to GP's, it seems a curious choice. Perhaps it could have been just pure shame/wanting to disappear, and that overwhelmed any sense of guilt/wanting to at least give some level of closure or ending to everyone. Still, it seems remarkably cruel, even respecting possibly very disordered thinking at that point.

 

[1127pilot]

Each device has a unique ID number, though, and that is traced to where it was sold and right to the very cash register where it was paid for. Many stores keep their security footage indefinitely. Others only keep the footage a couple of months. That's why some people buy them and then store them for a year before using (or longer).

Ok, but it's still a burner. Wear a hat and sunglasses. Send somebody else to buy it. Whatever the case, a phone not tied to a person is a burner. I've never heard of anybody storing a phone for any length of time before using it, but I haven't associated with people that would use a phone in the burner sense (use it for a week or so, and then "burn" it) for many years now. Maybe that's a new thing.

 

[10ofRods]

I think the idea being suggested is to have BL's parents deposed, to find out what they knew and when, and what actions they may have taken to shield their son (ultimately leading to him being unavailable for trial due to his death). We're all just spitballing on these things, very few of us are lawyers of course. (Not a lawyer myself, MOO.)

I can't think of any wrongful death cases where parents (who were thousands of miles away when the death occurred) have been deposed. And if a lawyer went down that path, it would a series of expensive and lengthy counter-maneuvers, including attempts to depose members of Gabby's family.

I do not see how "shielding" their son after the fact could enter into a wrongful death suit. If a theory was developed that the Laundries somehow caused BL to do what he did, I suppose they could be deposed.

What is more likely to happen is that all of BL's financial records would be subpoenaed and written questions to the parents might be used (interrogatories) to determine what's in his estate. The van now belongs to Gabby's family anyway. It doesn't look as if BL had any bank accounts - but a judge might allow written questions.

No one deposed OJ's mom or siblings in the wrongful death case, IIRC. I've never seen a wrongful death case where the parents of the person who is alleged to be responsible for the wrongful death are forced to be part of the action of the case. Maybe one of our lawyers will weigh in - perhaps in the case of some minor child, the parents have been brought in through negligence.

But BL's parents are not negligent for allowing BL, an adult, to drive across country when he was mentally unstable in some way. He didn't use a weapon belonging to them.

 

[kittythehare]

GBs parents could probably sue BLs estate for wrongful death but I’d be surprised if it’d be worth their time and energy in terms of potential assets. He clearly didn’t have the wealth nor fame of OJ.

They wouldn't necessarily be doing it for money..it could be about catharsis for them.
They're embarking on a truly difficult road with the Foundation and all in ensues. They will be witnesses to the most horrific mental emotional and physical pain on this road.
I think that if they go ahead with it they are doing it for good reasons.
I'd be very supportive of any choices they make now. I really and truly wish with all my heart that Gabby's Foundation becomes a beacon of hope for all suffering humanity.
MOO

 

[bluwaters]

Go after the Laundries for what? As best we know they have done nothing wrong whatsoever. They even began partially cooperating with the FBI on the day Brian went missing.

Some feel strongly that the Ls obstructed justice and tampered with evidence.
I don't believe they did but that's just mho.

 

[Diogenetic]

I'm putting this out here again as an example of what bad legal advice can accomplish.

Brian could have been salvaged, but nobody surrounding him had the skill to accomplish that very simple task.
The law was on his side. He had an opportunity for mental health care and meditation upon it.
He had an opportunity to use solitude, with guidance, to heal himself.
He had an opportunity to build a new self upon a foundation of hard won forgiveness.
He had an opportunity to live a very long time and become a better teacher than he could ever have imagined.
Didn't anyone tell him this?
Sometimes, being broken down to nothing is the beginning of wisdom.
Brian was salvageable
life a valuable lesson.
JMHO

I don't want to be the attorney's pal, but there is nothing he has done that we know of that would approach an ethical or legal breach

 

[passionflower]

A few days ago the laundries went to AT& T. Could they of been alarmed no contact from BL? A code like 1 ring and hang up to say you are ok? Never got any and went for information? I don’t know anything about burner phones

 

[MistyWaters]

Or they could do it just to gain more information.

A lawsuit shouldn’t be necessary to gain information….aside from police files the person responsible is dead. The purpose of a civil suit is to seek compensation for being harmed.

There never will be a good answer as to what happened. If GP knew BL was capable of murder she would NOT have planned a cross country adventure with him. Sadly sometimes in life there just isn’t always answers, it just takes time to move on.

 

[BreakingNews]

Everybody has an estate.

What would Brian have in his estate? A pair of flip flops!

 

[Sassafrass]

I can think of a lot of reasons, people's minds work differently. As I said in an earlier post, the desire to "disappear completely" leads people into natural or remote places to suicide every year. It's a symbol or metaphor for them wishing they could undo what they have done in their life.

Most of us have done something we wish we could undo. For most of us, it's minor - we broke something precious to ourselves or to someone else. But the desire to undo or unmake is part of rite and ritual for humans all over the planet. Grief alone makes many persons wish to be gone from this plane and to be invisible.

Then, in this case, there's the additional possibility that either BL simply doesn't understand how much harder it would be for Gabby's family. and for his own family if he couldn't be found. I do not think BL had a strong theory of other minds. I think he was very much inside his own head, had lots of intricate fantasies.

There are other possibilities as well. Of the many people who go missing every year, many are not found and do not want to be found. I believe that one of my. childhood friends committed suicide and did not want to be found. It's been 35 years and he's still listed in the Charlie Project. He's out in the mountains near where I live - somewhere.

Re the bolded - I'm reading Fight Club right now. If , as has been suggested, it's important book for him, this could be one of the resonant aspects.

 

[DeDee]

I suppose the most perplexing thing for me may always be this:

Brian takes the Mustang out to the Wildlife Preserve allegedly to hike. His parents go a couple of days later to get the parked Mustang and drive it to their home; thereby, leaving Brian without a way to travel when or if he decided to leave the Wildlife Preserve. How does one actively abandon one's own child?

I cannot make sense of that movement. I do believe had it been my child, I would have stood beside the Mustang until the FBI dragged me away with wild horses.

This has indeed been one of the most traumatic months spent in true crime. As a proud grandmother, it's difficult to realize that Gabby will never present her precious newborn babies to her parents for mine are truly mighty fine gifts.

May Gabby's sweet soul rest in peace.
.

 

[10ofRods]

Ok, but it's still a burner. Wear a hat and sunglasses. Send somebody else to buy it. Whatever the case, a phone not tied to a person is a burner. I've never heard of anybody storing a phone for any length of time before using it, but I haven't associated with people that would use a phone in the burner sense (use it for a week or so, and then "burn" it) for many years now. Maybe that's a new thing.

I didn't say it wasn't a burner. I just said that the doings of the phone are still traced back to its unique ID number. Drug dealers like to have 7 or 10. Most people do not do this. And many people forget that they are on camera in many places, so that they are not completely safe from LE inspection.

I do suppose that some people might wear disguises frequently and carry phones that don't trace to them - but I think it's very rare indeed.