Aspiring travel influencer, Gabby Petito, vanished in 2021 summer while on a cross-country road trip with her fiancé, Brian Laundrie. An extensive search for the 22-year-old concluded once authorities found her body in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Forest in September that year. A coroner ruled the official cause of death to be manual strangulation, per ABC7.
The outlet reported that following Petito’s disappearance, Laundrie returned to his Florida home alone in September. At the time, all suspicion fell on him until the suspect himself disappeared into a nature reserve. Police found his remains, amidst other key evidence including a notebook, in October at Carlton Reserve in Florida. He died by suicide of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Gabby Petito’s cause of death and murder location, revealed
CBS News reported that on September 19, 2021, authorities found Gabby Petito’s remains at a campground near the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. Her family had filed an official missing person report about a month and a half before the discovery. A coroner ruled that she died about three weeks earlier of “blunt-force injuries to the head and neck, with manual strangulation”.
The following month, authorities also found the victim’s fiancé Brian Laundrie’s remains at Carlton Reserve in Florida. They discovered his body after a weeks-long manhunt since he was a primary suspect in Petito’s disappearance. The 23-year-old died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Moreover, another key piece of evidence, besides his body, was a notebook, a revolver, and a backpack with a written confession in it.
In the confession, Laundrie reportedly claimed responsibility for the 22-year-old van-life vlogger’s death. The note said, “I ended her life,” thinking “it was merciful, that it is what she wanted, but I see now all the mistakes I made. I panicked. I was in shock. But from the moment I decided, took away her pain, I knew I couldn’t go on without her.”
According to Fox News, Laundrie explained that he killed Petito after she injured herself from a tragic fall in Wyoming. The note further stated, “Please do not make life harder for my family. They lost a son and a daughter. The most wonderful girl in the world. Gabby I’m sorry.”
