Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder and suicide. Reader discretion is advised.
CBS News reported that in July 2021, Gabby Petito and her fiancé Brian Laundrie left for a four-month cross-country trip that would end in tragedy. The case started as a missing person investigation after Petito mysteriously disappeared during the said trip. Strangely, after Petito went missing, Laundrie returned to his family’s Florida home alone. All suspicion fell on him, but he also disappeared shortly after.
Authorities then found Petito’s remains at a campground near the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming on September 19, 2021. The discovery was made more than a month after her family reported her missing. The coroner ruled that she died about three weeks earlier of “blunt-force injuries to the head and neck, with manual strangulation,” per WBMA-LD.
Then, in October, authorities found Laundrie’s remains at Carlton Reserve in Florida after a weeks-long manhunt. He reportedly died by suicide of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. ABC 7 reported that evidence found along with his body included his notebook, among other items. Laundrie’s notebook revealed a detailed confession in which he claimed responsibility for Petito’s death.
How was Gabby Petito’s murder by Brian Laundrie solved?
According to Fox News, Brian Laundrie’s notebook revealed that he strangled 22-year-old Gabby Petito to death at a Wyoming campsite. The FBI first discovered the notebook next to Laundrie’s remains, which they found at the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park, near his home, on October 20, 2021. It consisted of a detailed confession that the suspect left before killing himself.
In his note, Laundrie wrote, “I ended her life.” He called it “merciful” and claimed “that it is what she wanted, but I see now all the mistakes I made. I panicked. I was in shock.” According to the note, Laundrie claimed he killed Petito after she injured herself during a tragic fall in Wyoming. He further wrote, “From the moment I decided, took away her pain, I knew I couldn’t go on without her.”
According to Fox News, Laundrie explained his reason for killing Petito in the note in detail. He also wrote, “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.”
Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie were on a cross-country trip when the former disappeared on August 25, 2021, reported KKTV. Eventually, Laundrie returned to his North Port, Florida, home alone but with his Petito’s van on September 1. He then disappeared on September 17, after authorities started looking into him as a suspect in Petito’s disappearance.
According to People Magazine, authorities discovered Petito’s remains on September 19 at the Grand Teton National Park. Days later, the U.S. District Court of Wyoming issued an arrest warrant. Fox 29 further stated that on September 13, Laundrie sneaked out into the swamp despite hidden surveillance cameras set up around his house. He was not seen alive after that.
During a manhunt, the FBI found Laundrie’s remains in the swamp along with a backpack and his notebook. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. As per Laundrie’s confession, authorities believe he murdered Petito sometime around August 28. She died of manual strangulation and blunt force trauma to the head and neck. Fox News reported that according to the FBI, Laundrie also sent fake text messages from Petito’s phone in an attempt to cover up the crime and stole her debit card.
Another People Magazine report stated that Brian Laundrie’s parents, Chris and Roberta, Laundrie will face a civil lawsuit trial in May 2024. Ahead of the trial, they sat for a deposition last October and spoke under oath. In a shocking revelation during the deposition, Chris acknowledged that his son had made a frantic call to him on August 21, saying, “Gabby’s gone.”
Gabby Petito’s parents filed an emotional distress complaint against Laundrie’s parents in March 2022. In the complaint, they had alleged that the Laundries knew what happened to their daughter and the whereabouts of her body weeks before detectives made the discovery.
An episode of CBS 48 Hours chronicled Gabby Petito’s death case in an episode. Moreover, a Lifetime movie titled The Gabby Petito Story has also revisited the tragic story.
