Gabby Petito’s body may have been found in Wyoming, FBI says
Petito disappeared shortly after she contacted her family from Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, authorities said. Brian Laundrie returned home Sept. 1, and Petito’s family recently filed a missing-person report with police in Suffolk County, N.Y., where the couple are from.
Florida police and the FBI were looking for Laundrie in a nature preserve over the weekend, after Utah police released body-camera footage of a traffic stop involving the couple. A Moab officer has pulled them over after they had been fighting, according to the video. Laundrie acknowledged that the couple had gotten into a scuffle after he climbed into their converted sleeper van with dirty feet, body-cam footage shows. He told police that weeks of traveling with each other had placed an “emotional strain” on their relationship.
On Sept. 1, Laundrie, 23, returned alone to a home they shared in Florida. Her family reported her missing Sept. 11 after going more than a week without hearing news from her.
On Wednesday, North Port, Fla., Police Chief Todd Garrison pleaded with Steven Bertolino, Laundrie’s attorney, to arrange a conversation with Laundrie.
“@NorthPortPolice needs your help in finding Gabby Petito. Please call us to arrange a conversation with Brian Laundrie. Two people left on a trip and one person returned!” it wrote on Twitter.
After Sunday’s announcement, the department tweeted: “We will continue to work with the FBI in the search for more answers."
The FBI confirmed Saturday that the agency, in coordination with the Grand Teton National Park Service, the Teton County, Wyo., Sheriff’s Office and the Jackson Police Department, were searching the areas of Grand Teton National Park.
On Sunday, the search for Petito continued in Bridger-Teton National Forest, in western Wyoming.
The case has gained massive interest, in part because the young couple had a heavy presence on social media, recounting their “van life,” which attracted other social media users to try to gather clues of her disappearance and try to solve the case.
On TikTok, the #gabbypetito hashtag has been viewed more than 212 million times and content creators have posted updates and sharing theories constantly since her disappearance.
Timothy Bella contributed to this report, which is developing and will update.
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