Found Deceased WY - Gabrielle ‘Gabby’ Petito, 22, Grand Teton National Park, 25 Aug 2021 #38

[ce4au]

I’ve been listening to JB’s live stream, & I know a lot of you do, too. There’s been several instances during the search for Brian - & the investigation in general - where they’ve talked about traffic cameras. Brian being caught on a traffic camera or the parents being caught on one during that weird camping trip, etc. I am an engineer at a state DOT (not FL), & I just wanted to put this out there for informational purposes in case some people aren’t aware. Because if I hear why don’t they just pull the traffic cameras one more time I might pull my hair out haha.

Each state is different, but most of the time all traffic cameras do not record. A lot of traffic cameras you are along interstates, etc. are for traffic monitoring purposes (like if there’s a wreck, hurricane evacuations, etc.) someone can log in to look at cameras to see where they have issues. Some states cannot afford all the storage capacity it would take for those cameras to record 24/7.

When you’re talking about tracking someone’s movements…if a set of traffic cameras don’t record (a lot of them are like this) - what I would be more interested in looking at in terms of footage:
1) Rest Area Cameras - a lot of people don’t know that some rest areas have a LOT of cameras. We have one facility that has 10 cameras on- site that do record.
2) License Plate Readers - most of y’all are familiar with those.
3) Virtual WIM (weigh-in-motion) Sites - aka virtual truck weighing stations. Those are usually along the interstate & the trucks use the right lane & they ride over a scale & a camera snaps a picture of the side of the door (where the US DOT number is). So, if someone rides in the right lane over one of these, a picture is snapped. Those are stored.

Sorry for the long post. Just wanted to give some inside knowledge I have about traffic cameras & footage that may or may not be accessible to an investigation.

 

[Yellow Rose]

That would be a clever way to get a message to them but I doubt BL is that smart or creative.

I personally don’t see that happening. Can you imagine that the person at the shop writing that message on a note to deliver flowers wouldn’t tell the cops?

 

[Bertha96]

My guess is that he doesn't want to further leave a digital trail. If he so much as goes inside his Insta (or Gabby's), his position on the planet will be sussed out by the digital experts in the FBI...

If BL has a burner phone, he can't even call his parent on it, much less sign into social media...in fact, it would behoove him not to have one at this point in time...too much temptation to use it.

Unless he is using a burner phone to look at the news, social media etc. As long as he doesn't call or text no one would know he had it.

 

[MLaps]

Josh and JB on WFLA just touched on this and said somebody tweeted it and it's probably taking off.

I’ve been listening to JB’s live stream, & I know a lot of you do, too. There’s been several instances during the search for Brian - & the investigation in general - where they’ve talked about traffic cameras. Brian being caught on a traffic camera or the parents being caught on one during that weird camping trip, etc. I am an engineer at a state DOT (not FL), & I just wanted to put this out there for informational purposes in case some people aren’t aware. Because if I hear why don’t they just pull the traffic cameras one more time I might pull my hair out haha.

Each state is different, but most of the time all traffic cameras do not record. A lot of traffic cameras you are along interstates, etc. are for traffic monitoring purposes (like if there’s a wreck, hurricane evacuations, etc.) someone can log in to look at cameras to see where they have issues. Some states cannot afford all the storage capacity it would take for those cameras to record 24/7.

When you’re talking about tracking someone’s movements…if a set of traffic cameras don’t record (a lot of them are like this) - what I would be more interested in looking at in terms of footage:
1) Rest Area Cameras - a lot of people don’t know that some rest areas have a LOT of cameras. We have one facility that has 10 cameras on- site that do record.
2) License Plate Readers - most of y’all are familiar with those.
3) Virtual WIM (weigh-in-motion) Sites - aka virtual truck weighing stations. Those are usually along the interstate & the trucks use the right lane & they ride over a scale & a camera snaps a picture of the side of the door (where the US DOT number is). So, if someone rides in the right lane over one of these, a picture is snapped. Those are stored.

Sorry for the long post. Just wanted to give some inside knowledge I have about traffic cameras & footage that may or may not be accessible to an investigation.

This is great info, thank you for sharing!

A relative of mine works for the NJ Turnpike - there's cameras ALL over the pike and also at every rest area. There's plate readers as well at all toll stops. Same goes for the Garden State Parkway.

 

[Sassafrass]

Remember in the Moab footage he talked about wanting to go work on an organic farm. He mentioned “woofing”.

World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms | WWOOF

Other than the fact that that would put him in contact/sight/living with multiple people (not a great idea if your face is all over TV news or in daily stories in news online), this would be a great idea. You get a bed and food, and at least some of them tend to have some fairly dodgy folks working there.

 

[NuttMegg]

I personally don’t see that happening. Can you imagine that the person at the shop writing that message on a note to deliver flowers wouldn’t tell the cops?

On the other hand going prominently into the house with a gallon of milk could be a perfect sign. Eat your Wheaties, son, we're with you. IMO

 

[jjonez]

Just mentioned on wfla live

 

[makayla]

This has probably been stated (I had to take a break for a while and still catching up), but it has to be miserable living in that house right now. The isolation, anxiety. Whether they know where he is (fear he'll be found) or they don't (fear that he's dead) - I don't think they truly contemplated the intensity of what would follow in their actions aimed at protecting their son. They valued Gabby so little, probably didn't expect the world would fight for her to such an unrelenting level. Wondering if they are wondering how long they will have to endure and if it's still worth it...

I have absolutely no sympathy for BL’s parents. The minute their son arrived home without Gabby, and the calls or texts starting coming in from her family looking for her, they should have responded to help out. If they knew or suspected their son was guilty of anything, they should have hired a lawyer and arranged a meeting with the authorities. Their behavior has been unconscionable in my opinion. If their son is “missing”, why are they not looking for him? Their reaction to everything is so strange.

 

[Okiruy]

Josh and JB on WFLA just touched on this and said somebody tweeted it and it's probably taking off.

I think it’s appropriate. That was GP’s home.

 

[Sassafrass]

I wonder how we can persuade abusers to leave once the relationship is at a point where they want to abuse. Why do they stay when they feel all that contempt?

Codependency, power, the thrill of control, ego strokes, financial dependency, laziness, can't find better because they have nothing to offer.

 

[Katerz]

Brian Laundrie's family called the police after Dog the Bounty Hunter showed up on their property

Brian Laundrie's parents called the cops on Duane "Dog the Bounty Hunter" Chapman after he showed up at their Florida home over the weekend, police confirmed to Insider Monday.


The North Port Police Department responded to a 911 call from Laundrie's family on Saturday, reporting that Chapman was on the property of their North Port home, police department spokesman Josh Taylor said.

"We did not tell him to leave," Taylor told Insider in reference to Chapman. "He left on his own."

They got some <modsnip> nerve

 

[Woodberry]

I personally don’t see that happening. Can you imagine that the person at the shop writing that message on a note to deliver flowers wouldn’t tell the cops?

Might not raise suspicion if it was a coded message, as long as he didn’t sign it “love, Brian.”

 

[Skigirl]

I’ve been listening to JB’s live stream, & I know a lot of you do, too. There’s been several instances during the search for Brian - & the investigation in general - where they’ve talked about traffic cameras. Brian being caught on a traffic camera or the parents being caught on one during that weird camping trip, etc. I am an engineer at a state DOT (not FL), & I just wanted to put this out there for informational purposes in case some people aren’t aware. Because if I hear why don’t they just pull the traffic cameras one more time I might pull my hair out haha.

Each state is different, but most of the time all traffic cameras do not record. A lot of traffic cameras you are along interstates, etc. are for traffic monitoring purposes (like if there’s a wreck, hurricane evacuations, etc.) someone can log in to look at cameras to see where they have issues. Some states cannot afford all the storage capacity it would take for those cameras to record 24/7.

When you’re talking about tracking someone’s movements…if a set of traffic cameras don’t record (a lot of them are like this) - what I would be more interested in looking at in terms of footage:
1) Rest Area Cameras - a lot of people don’t know that some rest areas have a LOT of cameras. We have one facility that has 10 cameras on- site that do record.
2) License Plate Readers - most of y’all are familiar with those.
3) Virtual WIM (weigh-in-motion) Sites - aka virtual truck weighing stations. Those are usually along the interstate & the trucks use the right lane & they ride over a scale & a camera snaps a picture of the side of the door (where the US DOT number is). So, if someone rides in the right lane over one of these, a picture is snapped. Those are stored.

Sorry for the long post. Just wanted to give some inside knowledge I have about traffic cameras & footage that may or may not be accessible to an investigation.

Great post! Very useful, especially in this case. I hope he stopped at a rest stop, but it sounds like license plate readers and fueling stops are the best bet for tracking his whereabouts in a vehicle.

 

[NuttMegg]

Spending some afternoons rock climbing is not working on a farm all day. He ain't tough enough for that.

 

[Okiruy]

They got some <modsnip> nerve

Right?! And Dog even said he was trying to help them locate BL. You’d think if BL was really missing, they’d want all the help they could get with finding him.. but they know where he is. He’s not missing, he is hiding, most likely with their help.

 

[Sassafrass]

Of course, but there are those that are still out there as the one I posted earlier that is totally off the grid and they proud themselves of that. I would not be surprised if this is the case for BL ... not sure if manpower is there to check these areas or not.

I think there are many flavors. Had a casual chat with someone who knows a lot about them. I was musing about whether something like that would be a cool idea for my daughter (close to GP'S age). His response was absolutely not: a lot of heavy drugs, dodgy pasts; it's not necessarily (in many places) a bunch of do-gooder college kids looking for a cheap way to live somewhere fun - but people with years and decades of needing to be off the grid. Ymmv.

 

[PhoneJockey]

I really doubt that she was killed in the van, or dead in the van for any length of time. The dogs would be able to detect that. Yes, I agree that she was killed on the 27th. It may have already happened, or could have been happening at the same time that the Bethunes were driving by. Their camera was focused on the road and they had been looking for camping spots, so not likely looking out toward the treeless area where Gabby was found. JMO

If she was killed in the van and immediately sealed into a storage tote/bag, that could prevent any cadaverine from affecting the van itself - especially if it was only a short time between her death and moving her body (like just waiting 2 hours for dark).

 

[Katerz]

Right?! And Dog even said he was trying to help them locate BL. You’d think if BL was really missing, they’d want all the help they could get with finding him.. but they know where he is. He’s not missing, he is hiding, most likely with their help.

They don’t want help because HE AINT MISSIN! Lol jmo but he wasn’t posing a threat to them! Can’t just call cops for someone knocking on your door

 

[Woodberry]

Brian Laundrie's family called the police after Dog the Bounty Hunter showed up on their property

Brian Laundrie's parents called the cops on Duane "Dog the Bounty Hunter" Chapman after he showed up at their Florida home over the weekend, police confirmed to Insider Monday.

 

[TwoBlueJays]

Well, I think there's a reason it's known as Van Life. It hasn't "always been" the thing it is now. I say this because I have worked in and for National Parks for years, visit many parks and forests, and...Van Life is affecting my own home town and the way of life here. It has not always been the way it is right now. Sure, people have lived on the road since Kerouac and Steinbeck. But it's different now.

First of all, it's a movement involving thousands of leaders (influencers and others), who have various businesses encouraging people to live on the road. In vans, not traditional RV's. The only place I'd ever seen them, until the past few years, was Yosemite. They take on active environmentalist stance, but there are real fights within this subculture about just what it means to do what they're. doing (gas, use of the outdoors as a toilet, etc). So there are different subdivisions within the culture. Entire businesses have sprung up around converting vans for Van Life. Prices of old vans are going through the roof.

Youtube made it possible for the Small House and Van Life movements to really get off the ground. Dyrt is now a thing, so that Van Lifers can find their way. into every inhabitable portion of National Forests and BLM land (sometimes illegally, it's a PITA for forest officials, it's been easier this year to just shut down forests rather than try to police the massive number of vans and tiny trailers on public lands, often without sanitary facilities.

Just in the past two months, three women are murdered while living the Van Life.

It used to be that these areas saw very few people. One could count on getting some place to throw up a tent, but no more. Volumes of visitors to national forests have tripled in the past 3 years and continue to rise. The average age of an RV user used to be around 60. Van Lifers are in their twenties. I guess soon they'll be in their 30's (although. of course, they give up the van life - but the curious thing is that there are plenty of new Van Lifers to replace them).

Anyway, Van Life is a youth movement similar to the commune-seeking, roadside-dwelling hippies of the 70's, except with vans that are, from my perspective, expensive. Yosemite has had to increase its vigilance about illegal overnight parking and change the rules for Camp Four altogether. I haven't seen so many policy changes in Yosemite since the 70's.

So from my point of view, this is a cultural form that is as distinctive as the Mod movement or the Hippy movement. It has a different history than RVing, and there's no way that there were as many Van Lifers in California 5 years ago, as there are now. My own town had to spend 2 years enacting new ordinances and finding ways to fund enforcement. Santa Monica is still spending so much money on enforcement, but at least now they too have laws against living in vans on its streets. People still do it, but it's lessened.

The number of images that come up if you search for Van Life right now, in late 2021, is astronomically larger than it was two years ago.
'
Van Life is closely associated with influencers or those who have figured out a passive income via the internet. Being able to live off Insta or Youtube is new and precarious, but people are doing it. I know one person who is doing it through Youtube and passive income (investments...guided entirely by a particular online community of which she is a part, perhaps now a leader).

As I write this, I'm once again questioning whether I should alert local LE when I know people are violating our anti-Van Life ordinances. But I know that they know (they have to, right?) but they only do something when a crime is committed in one of the hidden parking lots where the Van Lifers live. Alongside the Van Lifers are also the Bike Lifers, but they are a very small group (living in the same parking lots). And there is crime associated with these places. So now we have different kinds of homeless; the major places where the homeless camp (with their tents, grocery carts, etc) are still the same. But now we have these other homeless populations as well.

When I use the phrase "Van Life" I am referring to this movement - and not to the people who lived in their cars during the Great Depression. Indeed, living in a car is not considered Van Life by Van Lifers.

Thoughts on 'Nomadland'? A similar lifestyle but for some, an alternative to being homeless.