Gabby Petito's body found, FBI confirms 'death by homicide'; search for Laundrie continues

A body discovered in Wyoming has been identified as 22-year-old Gabrielle “Gabby” Petito who disappeared mysteriously earlier this month in one of the most high profiles ‘missing person’ cases in the US in recent times. The FBI's field office in Denver confirmed the development on Tuesday in an official statement. However, the statement added that the cause of death remains pending final autopsy results. 

Petito, an Instagram influencer had gone missing during a cross-country suburban trip with her 23-year-old fiancé  Brian Laundrie. She was last seen in Grand Teton National Park in late August. The family filed an official report linked to her disappearance on September 11 after her fiancee Laundrie returned alone driving her White transit van from the couple’s week-long hiking trip.

On Sunday, police recovered a body at a campground in Bridger-Teton National Forest, near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming during the search mission. The body was found on the scene of Moran Vista campsite, which the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) at the time had said was "consistent" with the description of the ‘missing’ girl. The identification had yet to be obtained via autopsy and further forensic inspections. 

Family to give statement after Gaby's body reaches home

Petito family’s attorney Richard Benson Stafford issued a statement: "I want to personally thank the press and news media for giving the Petito and Schmidt family time to grieve. We will be making a statement when Gabby is home.” He also added, "May Gabby rest in peace."

Teton County Coroner, Blue, performed the autopsy on Tuesday and released information after their forensic team completed its search on the campgrounds, the FBI said. It determined that Petitio was killed by her assaulter, whose identity is yet to be established, officially.

"The FBI and our partners remain dedicated to ensuring anyone responsible for or complicit in Ms. Petito's death is held accountable for their actions," the FBI in Denver said in a statement on September 21.

Brian Laundrie, Petito’s fiancee, has been named a ‘person of interest’ by the FBI. The latter had been missing and the FBI has asked the general public to report his current whereabouts if seen. 

[Credit: AP]

FBI office also thanked the public for cooperating in the investigation, and sent condolences to the grieving family, saying:  "FBI Denver appreciates the collaboration of all agencies and personnel who assisted in the search, recovery and identification efforts. We extend sincere condolences to Gabby's family, friends, and all the people whose lives she touched.”

Earlier yesterday, the Moab Police Department released chilling bodycam footage of the ‘domestic incident’ between Petito and her fiancee in Utah on the sidewalk, as they pulled over their converted camper van along the main street. The officers responded to an eyewitness call answered by a dispatcher, who reported a situation between Gabby and Brian on August 12. The man on the phone described an alleged physical altercation between YouTuber Gabby Petito and Laundrie as he said that the man she was with “slapped her and proceeded to hit her.”

[Credit: Moab Police Department via AP]

The hour-long body camera footage, now widely circulated on social media, shows officers responding to a domestic dispute and interacting with emotional Gabby Petito who can be heard saying that Laundrie had asked her to get down off the van and refused to take her along rest of the journey. The couple was headed to reach Oregon by October for Halloween. 

A redacted copy of the police report from the incident obtained by the agencies stressed that the 911 eye-witness reported: “male had been observed to have assaulted the female” near the Moonflower Community Cooperative. He left the area in a van without the girl, but Petito was able to catch up near the entrance to Arches National Park.

[Credit: Moab Police Department via AP]

The responding officer saw Petito crying “uncontrollably” as she said she struggled with mental health and the two had “arguments”. While the officers stressed that they had separated Petito from Laundrie no police action was reported to have been taken against Laundrie even when a redacted copy of the police report described that the girl was crying so profusely that she could not “compose a sentence without needing to wipe away tears, wipe her nose, or rub her knees with her hands.”

[Credit: Moab Police Department via AP]

“I have really bad OCD. I was apologizing to him saying I’m sorry I’m so mean,” Petito told the officer in the now viral Moab Police department footage. "We’ve been fighting all morning. He wouldn’t let me in the car before … he told me I needed to calm down.”

“She just gets worked up sometimes, I try to distance myself from her. I locked the car,” Laundrie can be heard telling the officer as Petito sat in officer's squad car.  

Laundrie told officers that the two had been travelling for months, which created emotional strain and “number of arguments.” The now missing Laundrie told officers Petito had “gone into a manic state.” On Twitter, several users pointed out at Moab police officer allegedly “laughing and fist-bumping” Laundrie instead of investigating the domestic incident.