Found Deceased WY - Gabrielle ‘Gabby’ Petito, 22, Grand Teton National Park, 25 Aug 2021 #35

[JayWill]

She also grabbed and scratched him during the Moab sidewalk incident, seen by as many as 6 witnesses, two of whom called LE.

She doesn't say she hit him just once. If he had accelerated any more, he would have plowed into the barriers at the entrances to Arches, clearly a federal crime. There's no mention of him accelerating - he was still going offramp speed for about 50 yards past the 15 mph sign, at which point he stops and then is directed into a parking turn out.

Since Brian had the new scratches on his arm...the witness story from Moab was corroborated. I think the LEO's involved thought these injuries were minor and took into account his "smooshing" (strong arming) her as well - both were involved in (minor) domestic violence that afternoon. He claims he was trying to get into the van to protect himself, and she comes to the driver's window and struggles with him - she manages to regain entry into the van, but now they. are once again in a small space having just had a public altercation.

Well the policeman did ask him if she put her foot on the gas when he lied and said that she grabbed the wheel. And I dont believe that he was getting in her van to protect himself after he had been seen slapping her.

 

[Jessthinkin]

You’re right, he’s oblivious. The FBI and other LE are on this case, ‘Dog’s’ services were not requested.

Right!

 

[Vandalay Industries]

Nope...just watched. He said he didn't have a phone really....she was on the phone with her parents when they are asking him for his ID and then he takes his phone out. SO weird.

IMO I take this to mean, he has a cell phone, but not an active cell service. He uses it for internet via wifi or hotspot. He might use a free service like Google talk or Text Now via wifi.
That is why he was concerned about GP "leaving him and taking her phone, bc then he would be totally stranded" No wifi(hotspot) to connect to outside world.

 

[Vegasgrl]

Isn't Mexico where dog was jailed briefly when he was hunting a fugitive there? Not sure why...

It was the Luster case (Max Factor heir). There's a lot of info online, it was a VERY high profile case. I'm not going to start posting links, because OT. There's tons of info readily available.

 

[Skigirl]

DNA of food? And in what part of digestion track, food was in from Mexican restrurant?

Maybe, but there are better ways... super interesting paper on this here, on analyzing the stomach contents of an Iron-Age era man: The last meal of Tollund Man: new analyses of his gut content | Antiquity | Cambridge Core

 

[Newsjunkiejen]

I find this one of the more intriguing questions. For some reason, I doubt he has a passport (and no chance of getting one now). But if he does have a passport, I do think there are (illegal) ways for him to flee the US to either Canada or Mexico. I think Canada would be prompt in catching him if he tried to fly out of Canada though. So he'd have to go on the lam. In Mexico, he could keep traveling south and would probably find a local airport (I can think of a couple) where he could catch a flight (Cuba won't work - need very specific visas to board a plan or ship to Cuba) or get on a ship (better idea).

(Long post follow...TL;DR...there are several ways to get a fake passport).

I know someone who fled the US and joined the Merchant Marines in Panama. He used his regular ID, no one checked. He lived that way for 2 years before deciding to come back (statute of limitations had run out - it was a fairly minor crime compared to this). I know another person who went illegally into Mexico and couldn't get back (US denied him entry due to various reasons) and spent a year in a legal battle to prove he really wasn't intentionally breaking the law and was in fact a US citizen. I know someone who had a passport already and walked over the border and flew from Juarez Intl to someplace in Europe, where he lived for a year. He was not wanted by LE, but he was attempting to avoid all contact with his parents over a specific situation. I could keep going. As an anthropologist with experience in Mexico and specifically in border towns, these people (or their families) have contacted me for help - I know some people in the FBI who have helped me understand the in's and out's of some of this. This is not an exhaustive list of people I know who have fled.

Getting a new identity is not that difficult if you know a few criminals. Heck, four houses away from me, two people were busted for procuring fake identification. And at one DMV in California, people were busted for accepting bribes to issue fake ID's. In Downtown LA, you can buy them if you know what you're doing. My own identity was stolen about a decade ago, which I found out when I didn't receive my DL renewal notice (someone had changed my address for me and had a replacement DL sent to Texas, where they were also using my credit card from time to time - the bank merely reimbursed me, the DMV asked me for proof of address and reissued the right license - to me; now I have it calendared when I'm supposed to get the renewal notice!)

(I believe the renewal notice was stolen from my mailbox and that we have the person on camera, but the time/date stamp was not correct and the police had no interest in viewing that video whatsoever - they told me to get a locking mailbox, which we did).

Of course, I've lived all my life in a big metropolitan area, so my experiences are not all that unusual. My ex-husband had his identity stolen early in his university years (by. someone with the same name) and unknown to him, that person got a CA DL using his name and my ex's current address - while using his own birth certificate). It was a nightmare getting it straightened out. The guy was wanted for a few property crimes - we found that out when we were screened for a rental and told that my ex was a criminal - not true!)

Someone tried to steal my dad's identity (older people are victims of this all the time) and got a copy of dad's SS card. Once a person gets one valid piece of idea, the next one is easier to get. Actual passports are hard to counterfeit but those passport cards are not so hard - and those can be purchased.

All that being said, a person has to be a determined criminal and of a criminal mind to do this. Seeing no evidence that Brian or his parents fall into the category, I am assuming he'll hide out in the US for a long time. He can hitchhike. He can change his appearance. He probably looks nothing like the photos being shown everywhere on SM at this point in time.

Surely though he's effectively said 'goodbye' to ever seeing his family again, right!?

How long would LE keep an eye on the Laundries!? 3 months? 6 months? A year? That would be a massive resource in terms of manpower to constantly monitor their movements, not to mention the expense.

Is it feasible (assuming BL has changed his appearance and is in hiding somewhere) for him to ever be able go back to seeing his family again or will his parents always be under scrutiny from LE, and he'd be immediately captured should they ever attempt to meet?

MOO

 

[tiara1972]

...ok are you a defense lawyer?????

No, lol. I have been in court a LOT for kids, adults, and families and even businesses over the course of my nearly 30 years in the mental health, intellectual/developmental abilities, and child welfare field. My personal strength lies in problem-solving and I am pretty good at stepping back, removed from emotion, staying objective and playing out both sides with arguments given available facts...not always popular, but it has served me well in my career to stay curious and weigh all sides equally, without prejudice, often includes a lot of research into laws, statutes and policy to find the best path foward and where the pitfalls are in an argument legally. I have NOT gone down that rabbit hole here, more taking in information and internally arguing it, and sometimes sharing. Not terribly popular tho.

 

[PommyMommy]

The figure I've heard is $70k, but it comes with a big asterisk.

$20k was contributed to the reward fund by Boohoff Law, a North Port law firm. There are a number of articles in the MSM beside the linked one verifying this.

But this one's much more dubious... a minor celebrity, a country musician named Ryan Upchurch, is claiming on his instagram (he is a verified user) that he's adding 50k to the reward fund (link is NSFW for cursing.) That's where the 70k figure came from. But so far there is no evidence yet that this is more than just talk. It hasn't been reported or verified by any MSM I can find.

TYSM!

 

[Lexiintoronto]

When was Rose supposed to meet up with her at Yellowstone? Was that something that was really going to happen?

I don’t understand that part of the story. Rose said her birthday was on the 29th, but Gabby didn’t call or meet up with her as planned…but she didn’t follow up with family members or other friends(?)

 

[Sassafrass]

She also grabbed and scratched him during the Moab sidewalk incident, seen by as many as 6 witnesses, two of whom called LE.

She doesn't say she hit him just once. If he had accelerated any more, he would have plowed into the barriers at the entrances to Arches, clearly a federal crime. There's no mention of him accelerating - he was still going offramp speed for about 50 yards past the 15 mph sign, at which point he stops and then is directed into a parking turn out.

Since Brian had the new scratches on his arm...the witness story from Moab was corroborated. I think the LEO's involved thought these injuries were minor and took into account his "smooshing" (strong arming) her as well - both were involved in (minor) domestic violence that afternoon. He claims he was trying to get into the van to protect himself, and she comes to the driver's window and struggles with him - she manages to regain entry into the van, but now they. are once again in a small space having just had a public altercation.

Re the bolded: 6 witnesses? Do you have a cite for that?

And the initial 911 caller clearly described him slapping and hitting her.

Do you know at what point in the stop he stated he got in the van to "protect himself" from her? I'm not recalling that, nor do I recall seeing anyone highlighting that in discussions here.

And I beg to differ - "smooshing" her face, as he said, is not just putting up an arm to block her. It is an aggressive and quite personal and domineering thing to do. And iirc, she characterized it a bit differently than "smooshing."

 

[Doghairrules]

I clearly have no idea. I so wish we had phone and text details....but can hypothesize a scenario.

Maybe, maybe they called it quits. None of us truly know the deal they had together with the van...maybe it really was more of HIS thing. He told the body cam guys it was his idea, I am not saying I believe that, just that he said it.

They MAY have agreed to separate, maybe they both think her Yellowstone friend is going to pick her up and she has a trip home together with that gal. She stays with Yellowstone friend once home in FL while they sort out everything else. Brian goes hiking to spend time up in his own head, he comes back, she is gone, he is worried not realizing she was THAT serious! Waits around....no texts, no calls, no Gabby. He drives home having NO idea that she has been killed while he was out processing this on his own.

I can imagine that they may have co-mingled their funds and, while clearly technically illegal, it may not have occurred to him this was theft. He just wanted to go home, the trip was a bust and he lost the love of his life. Not trying to trigger outrage here, it is only a very, very remote, but possible scenario that I am putting forth.

He goes about his business at home until her parents start reaching out-maybe on the same day that the missing persons "incident" with the LE and Gabby's dad are connected to happens- and then, since he knows exactly what was supposed to happen, realizes she didn't end up where she was supposed to and all of a sudden they get word that the police are asking about a missing person and they get a lawyer because he knows they are on tape from MOAB, where Gabby was nearly charged and thrown in jail and no one trusts anyone anymore, especially seemingly innocent LE involvement.

This is JUST again a very very remote possibility....I would be thrilled to have it ruled out with something I may be missing.

While this would be a very clever defense, I think what’s missing is her immediate contacting of her friend. Why wait? She would have called or texted her as soon as Brian left, if not before, especially if she was upset. And I just will never believe they broke up and she left her van and credit/debit cards with him.

 

[shelbycat]

Have you all seen the body cam footage of Brian being dropped off at the motel the day they fought? Not sure I can post link b/c it’s The Sun. I just happened to come across it. He just seems almost giddy in it, it’s very strange IMO.

It interesting that “the manager of the motel that cannot confirm if Laundrie slept there that evening.”

“Officers brought Laundrie to the Bowen Motel in Moab. KSL TV’s Morgan Wolfe talked with the manager of the motel that cannot confirm if Laundrie slept there that evening.”

Grand County Sheriff’s Office investigating Moab murders & Petito disappearance

 

[10ofRods]

This is the story I remember, that there were fires in the area and it was too smokey to sleep in the van. What if Bl actually succeeded in kicking her out of the van and he had the van and she found her way to the hotel. Then comes back for her because that's what they did - per his sister even. They would have a spat, separate, and then back together. Nobody knows where the van was while she was at the hotel. Logically, it would be at the hotel if BL did fly home.

Air quality. wasn't as bad in SLC as other places (like Reno or Tahoe or Jackson). Why stay so long because of smoke? Just get the heck out of Dodge at that point.

We do not know where the van was when she was at the hotel, or even if that hotel had parking lot cams (I would assume so).

They both had ample opportunity to separate themselves from the other (I do wonder how the hotel was paid for), and the tragedy of this whole story. is the tragedy of the domestic violence cycle. If Brian's parents had been witnessing any of this kind of thing while they were at home in FL, I assume they were a bit concerned about the viability of this relationship. Did they then encourage Brian to leave her? Did that backfire and push him back to her? These are the questions I'd like to know the answers to.

It is a bit too coincidental that Brian (possibly) flew to FL right after the police stop, or at least, not too long after .

I just wanted to answer some questions about stomach contents and DNA. Yes, it is completely possible, but it wouldn't be easy and I doubt they would go through the effort if they didn't need to. It would involve DNA sequencing similar to identifying someone in a database via DNA at the scene of a crime, but more complex because there would be a lot of contributing DNA instead of a single profile. I'm a trained molecular biologist and have done DNA analysis, including environmental DNA. They may have a set of primers or SNPs that they use for gut analysis on human remains so I could be off (I'm not a forensic molecular biologist) but generally to identify something via DNA you either need to match a sample to a known sample using something called primers, or you sequence and run the results through a database. If they sequence the results, they definitely can figure out everything she had in her gut (including bacteria) but I really don't imagine they would go to that extent unless there was a dire need to. Considering the US has a backlog of DNA testing for rape kits, I can't imagine them performing and expediting a test like this if it doesn't really further the case. This is of course only my opinion and I am not a verified expert so the mods may snip. I can provide proof of my knowledge though if they care enough.

Forensic anthropologists know a lot of common sequences to look for. A wide variety of foods can be checked for with very little lab time. Not sure how the gut biome would help, but marrow chambers in the bones should contain evidence of drowning if said drowning occurred in a natural body of water.

It's just not that expensive to run either of those tests, although the line for a PCR machine these days might be longer (I think Gabby's case would be prioritized though). It has nothing to do with backlogs of rape kits - it's not as if a coroner delays an autopsy and waits for all rape kits to processed - the reason there's a backlog is that they are sitting on shelves in LE evidence rooms, IMO. Not where I live, btw. We're all caught up.

If Gabby ate her last meal at that Mexican restaurant, it would be difficult to figure that out, even if stomach contents have degraded.

I know there's a forensic entomologist at UWyo. I can't imagine that they didn't use that technique as well. It would be standard in any autopsy of a woman to check for signs of any sexual activity or rape.

It's worth noting that her tattoos were still visible, so I believe there's quite a bit of forensic evidence still to come.

 

[borndem]

Part of that footage is in the nomadic statik YouTube video. She had a Nissan Sentra they drove and probably stayed in hotels. So it was likely less tight of a situation. Also, maybe one more year in the abusive cycle that seems apparent, some of the controlling stuff BL has been said to do probably escalated. Also, there’s been some talk of his mental state worsening, so if that’s the case one more year of untreatable mental health issue could exasperate things. I think this was not planned out and his abuse escalated and murdered her.

And, if it is so about his mental health worsening, surely Gabby was noticing it, too. Maybe she did some reading or talked to someone who told her not to tolerate it or suggested how to tolerate or de-escalate it. Maybe she thought this trip would be a positive thing for both of them. Sadly, sadly, it was not.

 

[cady]

I just wanted to answer some questions about stomach contents and DNA. Yes, it is completely possible, but it wouldn't be easy and I doubt they would go through the effort if they didn't need to. It would involve DNA sequencing similar to identifying someone in a database via DNA at the scene of a crime, but more complex because there would be a lot of contributing DNA instead of a single profile. I'm a trained molecular biologist and have done DNA analysis, including environmental DNA. They may have a set of primers or SNPs that they use for gut analysis on human remains so I could be off (I'm not a forensic molecular biologist) but generally to identify something via DNA you either need to match a sample to a known sample using something called primers, or you sequence and run the results through a database. If they sequence the results, they definitely can figure out everything she had in her gut (including bacteria) but I really don't imagine they would go to that extent unless there was a dire need to. Considering the US has a backlog of DNA testing for rape kits, I can't imagine them performing and expediting a test like this if it doesn't really further the case. This is of course only my opinion and I am not a verified expert so the mods may snip. I can provide proof of my knowledge though if they care enough.

The pineapple discovered in JonBenet Ramsey's stomach was a critical identification in figuring the time of her death. There was no pineapple at the Christmas gathering, and the only pineapple was fresh pineapple at her home. jmo

 

[Skigirl]

No, that wasn’t what I meant. I wondered if there was any chance that her stomach contents, even though they were visually indeterminate, could still be identified by DNA testing—so, for example, they could determine whether her last meal was pulled pork, (presumably at the Merry Piglet,) or peanut-butter and apples, (presumably a snack after the previous meal had passed out of her system.) Examples invented at random.

I don’t remember having read anything about using DNA in that sort of way, but I’m sure that in theory it could be done, unless the passage of time was too long.

All this just my questions and speculations.

Yeah, sorry. I misunderstood. Maybe you could, but DNA wouldn't be a great way to do it, cells are lysed in cooking and digestion and then there is nothing to protect the DNA, and you'd have a lot of different DNA all mixed together. There are other testing methods to analyze stomach contents, though. The last meal of Tollund Man: new analyses of his gut content | Antiquity | Cambridge Core

 

[Devil In The Details]

Surely though he's effectively said 'goodbye' to ever seeing his family again, right!?

How long would LE keep an eye on the Laundries!? 3 months? 6 months? A year? That would be a massive resource in terms of manpower to constantly monitor their movements, not to mention the expense.

Is it feasible (assuming BL has changed his appearance and is in hiding somewhere) for him to ever be able go back to seeing his family again or will his parents always be under scrutiny from LE, and he'd be immediately captured should they ever attempt to meet?

MOO

The parents would need to first move out of the country and proceed from there...

 

[cady]

I just wanted to answer some questions about stomach contents and DNA. Yes, it is completely possible, but it wouldn't be easy and I doubt they would go through the effort if they didn't need to. It would involve DNA sequencing similar to identifying someone in a database via DNA at the scene of a crime, but more complex because there would be a lot of contributing DNA instead of a single profile. I'm a trained molecular biologist and have done DNA analysis, including environmental DNA. They may have a set of primers or SNPs that they use for gut analysis on human remains so I could be off (I'm not a forensic molecular biologist) but generally to identify something via DNA you either need to match a sample to a known sample using something called primers, or you sequence and run the results through a database. If they sequence the results, they definitely can figure out everything she had in her gut (including bacteria) but I really don't imagine they would go to that extent unless there was a dire need to. Considering the US has a backlog of DNA testing for rape kits, I can't imagine them performing and expediting a test like this if it doesn't really further the case. This is of course only my opinion and I am not a verified expert so the mods may snip. I can provide proof of my knowledge though if they care enough.

The pineapple discovered in JonBenet Ramsey's stomach was a critical identification in figuring the time of her death. There was no pineapple at the Christmas gathering, and the only pineapple was fresh pineapple at her home. jmo

 

[Bertha96]

U

It was the Luster case (Max Factor heir). There's a lot of info online, it was a VERY high profile case. I'm not going to start posting links, because OT. There's tons of info readily available.

Understood. If BL does go to Mexico, that would be the end of Dog's pursuit.

 

[Sassafrass]

I don’t understand that part of the story. Rose said her birthday was on the 29th, but Gabby didn’t call or meet up with her as planned…but she didn’t follow up with family members or other friends(?)

No reason to think RD knew GP's parents or had their contact information. (As an aside, the only friends of my children who have my contact info are their core groups of friends dating back many years, and in most cases in part because I also have relationships and contact with their parents.). I don't think it's a given that a young adult friend would start calling parents if her friend on a cross-country trip blew her off.