Found Deceased WY - Gabrielle ‘Gabby’ Petito, 22, Grand Teton National Park, 25 Aug 2021 #37

[Estelle]

MOO: This potential scenario keeps running through my mind, related to the aftermath of the TexMex: "Brian, That was the last straw. I can't have you keep making a scene at the restaurants and other places we go. That's going to ruin my blog and YouTube business if someone posts a video of you doing that. If told you that before and you keep doing it. I'm done with this; this relationship, this trip, this whole mess. Let's pack up in the morning and head back to Florida." That would likely have triggered a huge episode and response from BL.

I agree. It is what most women do as they think that being straight forward and honest is the best way forward. But I have helped many women with their secret plans to leave a narcissist.

 

[Bordeaux]

Gabby Petito case exposes dark side of ‘van life’.

Paraphrased from the article, something that I personally experienced, and certainly applicable to all campers including GP and BL… “Life on the road camping is ‘high highs’ and ‘low lows’”. It will push the boundaries of the best relationships.

 

[A2FMNST]

I understood the female talking with Gabby was a National Park Service officer. I don't think they wear bodycams. MOO

I recall a Desert news article where she says she had not looked at her body cam yet (this was 20th maybe). I’ll find the link…

Arches park ranger warned Gabby Petito her relationship with Brian Laundrie seemed ‘toxic’

 

[10ofRods]

They didn't want to see it regardless of what the female officer said she said after Gabby was dead.

But we also see her clutching her own arms tight. The dispatch says "hit female." But the marks are not consistent with being "hit." Then, Gabby admits to scratching, slapping and punching Brian - and lo, there is unmistakable evidence of the scratching. Brian admits to "smooshing" her in the face, but all of Gabby's face is pretty pink and splotchy from crying - no evidence of actual bruises.

The Ranger spoke to Gabby before Gabby died - Gabby is sitting in the back of the squad car.

The Ranger did not speak to Gabby after Gabby was dead. You can see her in the bodycam video - she was there. The interview in Deseret News was published later, that's all.

 

[NCWatcher]

Agreed, often times reports can be misinterpreted, people tend overestimate or entwine personal experience and bias when reporting to LE. However the 911 caller did appear to provide an accurate and solid account IMO.

But how do we know that? How do we know "the truth" of that particular situation? We'd have to know exactly what happened to say that the caller gave an accurate account. And too often it seems posts here say (in essence) "the caller was right because Gabby is dead." There's a problem with using an event 2+ weeks later to judge his account. (Not saying you are doing that but some posts have.) Clearly LE didn't have the benefit of knowing what would happen later to judge what happened on the 12th.
JMO

 

[NuttMegg]

As I thought. The dispatcher did nothing wrong.

I was glad to see that report. Seems like the MO is to blame the lowest person who can't fight back. Across all agencies which report to the public, not specific to any one jurisdiction like Moab. Heck, in the private sector too, of course.

 

[sun16]

IMO it means they will soon be calling off the search in the reserve. He's not there. We'll see.

Perhaps they found partial remains. However, I would think we’d hear if they found anything.

 

[Beans]

I can’t watch that video of Gabby and the police officers anymore. Twice was enough. She’s so incredibly distressed and he’s so damn smug and the whole thing is beyond heartbreaking. You just want to reach into the screen and pull her away from it all - and you wait for them to help her but they don’t. Awful.

I wonder sometimes if there’s a slightly over-zealous willingness to believe that women could be the aggressor because it happens quite rarely and there’s that stigma attached to men speaking up about being abused. The narrative is that men are abused too but hide it, and I guess some people - especially in law enforcement - will be conscious of not missing an opportunity to acknowledge that and take action. I don’t think I’ve explained that as well as I could do, but hopefully it’ll make sense.

 

[Mike in WNY]

To me, summing up this whole thing… poor judgement… from seemingly everybody close to the matter.

 

[Seabunny]

Yes! It looks like it's something potentially soft. I can't really make out any hard angular edges on it.

MOO

Large body sponge or cleaning sponge.

 

[Deleted member 222031]

This is controversial; sure. But it’s just my opinion. I think with the incident with the body cam video she was more at fault/the “aggressor” than he was. In that specific situation. Overall; no. But as I’ve said before: hindsight is 20/20. None of us were there.

BBM
I don't understand what you mean by the statement I bolded.
TIA

 

[SandSage]

Forgive me for lowering the tone a little but I wondered if they might have found what they think are human fecal ‘deposits’ in the reserve and might be trying to verify if they are his. Sorry, I hope nobody’s eating while they read this.

Personally, I am really hoping it is something like this. I do not want him to be found deceased. MOO

 

[Serena Angelique]

True. But in doing so, they ignored the least biased account of what happened, which was what the person who saw it happening saw and reported to 911 right away, as close as possible to the time when it was happening. LE gave more weight to what a DV and her aggressor said during the stop, and a written account that happened hours later. We know that DV victims and aggressors don't always give accurate accounts. The only person whose account had no real agenda and no time to have memory distortions was the person who called 911. Which we now know was accurately relayed to the officers.

As someone with expertise in memory, it's fascinating to me. The officers unconsciously edited their memory of the dispatch call to conform with the narrative that they jointly constructed, in collaboration with the DV victim and aggressor, at the scene. Aside from being tragic, it's also a fascinating example of the reconstructive nature of memory, and how biases enter narratives about events.

that’s an excellent point.

 

[Jurisprudence]

We are reading a second hand account of what was said on the phone. Officer Pratt says about the call to "Chris" from the scene is that "the driver...had some sort of argument with the female...as I recall," "As I recall" is a significant hedge.

We don't know what exactly Chris said at the time, which could have been up to an hour and a half later (the stop was a long one, the report doesn't say what time he called Chris, but we don't see him making any call before talking to GP or BL), or what Officer Pratt asked Chris -- and Officer Pratt's report was written from memory ("as I recall") hours (up to a day, since the report is dated August 13) after the fact. That is exactly how inaccuracies in eyewitness memory are introduced, even accidentally.

What we know for sure is that a statement written by Chris 2.5 hours after the stop says one thing, and a contemporaneous and spontaneous 911 call says another. And that the dispatcher accurately reported what the 911 caller said, because we have heard a recording and seen a transcript.

This is a very good post and brings up another very good point. There is no evidence that the witness Officer Pratt spoke with ever called 911. The one and only call could be the one that was released and the caller could have been gone from the scene by the time Officer Pratt arrived. From the report:

"... It wasn't clear, but I believe it was reported the male had been observed to have assaulted the female. I heard other officers report they were off to look for the vehicle, and being that I had to pass the Moonflower in order to get to Main St, I stopped there to see if any witnesses were still in the area. I found one, identified as Chris. I took down his phone number and left the scene ..."
READ IT: Police report from disturbance involving Gabby Petito, Brian Laundrie

He never says that this witness also called it in. Seems more like the witness was simply one of a number of persons who was there and witnessed it.

 

[A2FMNST]

Paraphrased from the article, something that I personally experienced, and certainly applicable to all campers including GP and BL… “Life on the road camping is ‘high highs’ and ‘low lows’”. It will push the boundaries of the best relationships.

I have always told younger couples to first travel together before deciding if they want to get married. To have that intensity magnified by being physically crammed in the back of a van…yikes. Mr. A2 and I may not have made it almost 20 years!

 

[diggndeeperstill]

FBI visits the Florida home of Brian Laundrie AGAIN to retrieve 'personal items' | Daily Mail Online

One picture says the FBI agents were seen kneeling down on the porch to pick something up.

 

[NorthErn2]

Personally, I am really hoping it is something like this. I do not want him to be found deceased. MOO

At this point I'm just hoping they find him at all... :\

 

[borndem]

This just popped into my mind:
Could his parents have gotten their NY atty because they knew him and because that's where BL went?

 

[ctmom]

I've given up reading the 500 posts made when I blinked, but I suspect we're all repeating stuff that's already been said.

I don't see Brian killing himself, voluntarily. He may choose death by cop, or kill himself as the net closes in, but is he didn't feel suicide was an option when he allegedly murdered Gabby and dumped her body, then I think he wants to live.

I'm interested in what his longterm plan is.

He had 3 weeks to decide what to do next. 3 weeks with parents who appear to be willing to cover his back and lie to LE and the FBI.

Neighbours saw the Laundries packing up a camper which they then disappeared with for 2 days. Noticeably, they haven't mentioned seeing Brian, there's just an assumption that he went with them.

I'm not sure he made it home. He could have been met by his parents en route and his parents then took the van.

We know the Laundries have extremely questionable behaviour, so maybe they though a weekend away would be a nice break, but I still think it was potentially for two reasons:

1) To dispose of evidence
2) To prepare for Brian's disappearance.

Gabby's family had by then contacted both Brian and his parents about the well-being and whereabouts of Gabby. The Laundries must have realised that LE could visit them regarding this at any time.

He may have still had some clothing that potentially had Gabby's blood on them. There could have been an item used in Gabby's murder. If they got rid of these things close to home, they may have been found, but items disposed of 500 miles away would be very unlikely to have been connected with Brian and Gabby.

I have no idea where they went, but potentially they could have even bought a cheap car or van from Craigslist for Brian. They could have left food/money/disguises/clothing/a burner phone at various places along a pre-determined route. They could even have booked an Airbnb, hostel or campsites at various places ahead of time.

Remember how that photo of someone who looked like Brian in Florida was dismissed most people solely because the man in the photo had a tattooed arm? All he needs is some temporary tattoos and he grow a beard and he could look very different.

I think it's very likely the camper van left the Laundries home packed with camping equipment and came home empty.

Brian's freedom depends on being unseen, but ultimately this level of press and LE interest won't last forever. If he can lay low for a while and he is somewhere that isn't the swamp, he could be on the run for years.

The issue will be with money. I'm assuming camping out in most of the US in the winter is essentially a death sentence even in a van so he'll need to be somewhere warm to survive the winter or to rent accommodation.

His family aren't going to be able to send him money for an undetermined amount of time, as obviously LE will be watching them. Can they even afford to financially support him long term?

LE will be all over their finances, so will be able to see if they've recently withdrawn a lot of money.

Could there be a friend or extended family member who is helping him. If he's camping, he won't need huge amounts of money which can be transferred in a variety of ways.

The big questions are whether he's planning to go off grid until this calms down, or for ever and is he capable of doing this long term? I think it could be yes for both, assuming he can stay safe and well.
<modsnip - removed image due to no url link to source>

THIS ...
Everything about this!

 

[Estelle]

What the police knew was that there was a domestic dispute between the two with the male as the aggressor. They pull on the scene and he's as cool as a cucumber and she's falling apart. First opportunity of training here is to give better DV training for them to spot what so many of us spotted even in those first few minutes of the video and then what transpired after. Calling her a golden flower and laughing it up with the one who was reported to have hit her is reprehensible. I do not agree with the 20/20 hindsight effect. I see this video as a training video to be used for years to come now to show what mental abuse looks like because it is exactly what it looks like.

And Gabby will not have died in vain. Because of her, there will be lives saved. 22 year old shining beam of a person taken too soon. Her work here isn't done yet though.

I agree with you. I think in the coming years this bodycam video will be played to all new LE officers as part of their training on not what to do in such a situation.