Gabby Petito’s dad doesn’t expect closure from Brian Laundrie’s notebook
The FBI will have pieced together Brian Laundrie’s “digital footprint” and be aware of his movements and communications in the days before his death, according to one expert.
Laundrie’s remains are being examined by a forensic anthropologist in Sarasota County to try to determine his cause of death.
Authorities are also trying to repair a personal notebook retrieved from a dry bag near his body as part of their investigation into the death of his girlfriend Gabby Petito.
Crucial to their investigation will be Laundrie’s digital communications, including his texts and emails, use of social media, and internet browsing history prior to his death.
NewsNation Correspondent Brian Entin believes law enforcement will already have pieced together much of the puzzle.
“I think the FBI knows a lot of those questions and they will be resolved,” Mr Entin says. “If they close the case those documents will be available through public record searches.”
Ms Petito’s family strongly suspect that Laundrie was impersonating her in text messages after her death to try to confuse them and the police.
Cellphone records should also be able to track Laundrie’s movements between Wyoming and Florida, where he returned to on 1 September.
Mr Entin believes the FBI could release their findings linking Laundrie to Ms Petito’s death before closing the case.
“If they don’t do that, there’s technically a chance that there’s still a murderer out there,” he says.
“I think that would calm the public down and give the Petito’s some kind of closure.”
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1636170040Utah city accused of violating state law to return $3,000 in fees collected for Gabby Petito police body camera
ICYMI: The city of Moab, Utah is returning almost $3,000 in fees it charged several media organisations for the release of body camera footage depicting a police encounter with Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie.
Lisa Church, a spokesperson for the city, pointed out that once the had been prepared for one request, no other entity should have been charged, as the “actual cost of proing a record” would be nothing.
“Even if one person were charged a fee once that document is created, everybody else should not have been charged,” she said.
The Independent’s Graig Graziosi has more on the story below…
Bevan Hurley6 November 2021 03:40
1636166440Gabby Petito Foundation offers advice for domestic violence victims
The Gabby Petito Foundation is now offering advice on where people in violent relationships can go to for help.
Gabby’s father Joe Petito announced the creation of a new foundation in September to help people in dangerous relationships, and assist families locate their missing children.
In an interview last month, Mr Petito said they had been inundated with messages from vulnerable young women who found themselves in similar situations to his daughter, who was strangled in what police have described as a domestic violence incident.
Now the foundation’s website has been updated to include tips on where people can go to for help.
Under the hashtag #justiceforgabby, the site says: “If you or somewhere you know is impacted by relationship abuse, you are not alone. There are many resources available that can support your path to a safer future.”
It’s proed links and contact details for the National Domestic Violence Hotline, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, and the National Sexual Assault Hotline.
Bevan Hurley6 November 2021 02:40
1636162840Internet obsessives scour Carlton Reserve for Brian Laundrie clues in the days after his remains were discovered
ICYMI: After the partial skeletal remains of Brian Laundrie were found in a park connected to the Carlton Reserve, internet-obsessed sleuths have been scouring the area searching for additional clues.
One woman, whose Twitter name is just “Olivia”, claimed she found bones 60 yards from the spot where Mr Laundrie’s remains were located. She shared imaged of the bones, which included long spikes along their edges.
The Independent’s Graig Graziosi has more on the bones’ likely origins and other objects found in the Carlton Reserve in the story below.
Bevan Hurley6 November 2021 01:40
1636159240Forensic anthropologist examining Brian Laundrie’s remains may have results by end of November
Steven Bertolino, the attorney representing the Laundrie family, said that the results of a forensic anthropologist’s examination of Brian Laundrie‘s remains are expected by the end of November.
Laundrie was a person of interest in the disappearance and death of his fiancée, Gabby Petito. His remains were found in the Carlton Reserve, a protected swamp, on 20 October, more than a month after he went missing. Ms Petito’s remains were found on 19 September. Her death was ruled a homicide by way of manual strangulation.
Mr Bertolino told Fox News that he believed the forensic anthropologist’s examination will conclude within two to three weeks.
Graig Graziosi has more:
Bevan Hurley6 November 2021 00:40
1636155640The dark themes that permeate Brian Laundrie’s digital footprint
Brian Laundrie’s final social media post, around the time of his girlfriend Gabby Petito’s death, shows the cover of a book titled Burnt Out, how to cope with autistic burnout.
While it’s unknown whether Laundrie was on the autism spectrum, he and Ms Petito told officers attending a domestic disturbance in Utah on 12 August they were suffering from a mental health breakdown.
Laundrie’s social media posts often feature macabre drawings and references to violent games.
In a separate Pinterest post, text at the bottom of an image reads: “Don’t try to find me,” and “I have finally escaped my ‘master’s’ wicked clutches. To the others I say: JOIN ME. Bite the hand that feeds you. Vive La Liberte.”
Read the full story here…
Bevan Hurley5 November 2021 23:40
1636152040NewsNation reporter Brian Entin: ‘I became obsessed with not missing anything’
NewsNation reporter Brian Entin, who covered the Gabby Petito case from 14 September, told The Independent that he became “obsessed” with it.
“Once I was invested in it, I thought, ‘I’m in this ‘til the end’. I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss any of the critical moments,” he told The Independent.
Mr Entin and his camerawoman had only planned to stay in North Port, Florida – where Petito had lived with her boyfriend Brian Laundrie and his family – for a couple of days. But as the case took off and captured the attention of millions across America and the world, they remained camped out next door to the Laundrie family home, focused on the story for seven weeks.
“There was such a hunger for information in real time it became a challenge, because there wasn’t always confirmed information to give,” he said, talking about the 16-hour days he spent reporting on the case.
“My approach was the same as in other cases, just tweet out information as fast as possible, but make sure it was totally accurate. Stick to the facts.”
Throughout the case, Mr Entin liaised with local authorities, police and the Laundrie and Petito families, covered protests, vigils and searches of the Carlton reserve, and ultimately became one of the most trusted sources of information as the tragic story eventually unravelled.
Bevan Hurley5 November 2021 22:40
1636148421‘Gabby’s law’: Joseph Petito calls on states to make it compulsory to report missing persons cases to national database
Gabby Petito’s father is calling on states to make it compulsory to report missing person cases to a national database.
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) is a federally funded resource centre to help law enforcement track cases.
The site is described by cold case investigators as the nation’s most effective database for tracking missing persons, but many law enforcement agencies don’t use it.
Only 10 states have passed legislation requiring law enforcement to report missing persons cases.
Joseph Petito, whose daughter was killed during a van-life tour, has become a vocal campaigner in trying to improve the way missing persons cases are investigated.
On Wednesday, he asked his 100,000 followers on Twitter: “Should every state make it a law to report to http://Namus.gov or create a site so that all the missing in all states can be found in 1 database? If yes, tag all the politicians to help make it so.”
Bevan Hurley5 November 2021 21:40
1636144895Gabby Petito: Everything we know about YouTuber’s murder on ‘dream’ road trip
Gabby Petito, 22, an aspiring social media star who went missing in late August during a “dream” cross-country road trip from New York to Oregon with her fiancé, was strangled to death, and her body found in a Wyoming national park.
More than a month later, skeletal human remains found inside the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park in Florida were confirmed to be those of her fiancé Brian Laundrie. There had been no trace of him throughout a weeks-long hunt.
“The FBI and our partners remain dedicated to ensuring that anyone responsible for or complicit in Ms Petito’s death is held accountable for their actions,” special agent in charge Michael Schneider said.
Bevan Hurley5 November 2021 20:41
1636139946Abduction survivor Elizabeth Smart on Petito family ‘closure’
ICYMI: Abduction survivor Elizabeth Smart said that the Petito family will not receive the kind of “closure” that she got when her captor was sentenced.
“I mean, I can only speak for me. And I know, when I finally saw that my captor was sentenced, that the trial happened, that it was finished, it really was the closing of a chapter,” she told CBS News.
Smart was 14 when she was kidnapped in June 2002 from her home in Utah by Brian Da Mitchell. She was held captive for approximately nine months before she was found 18 miles from her home. Her captor was subsequently given a life sentence in 2011.
“So, I can only imagine for Gabby Petito’s heartbroken family that there is a sense of loss and lack and they don’t get to receive that. And they don’t get to receive that kind of closure.”
( for Lifetime)
Bevan Hurley5 November 2021 19:19
1636136544Timeline of events in Petito-Laundrie case
2 July – Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie leave New York for van-life road trip.
12 August – The couple is seen arguing in Moab City, Utah. Concerned bystanders call the police, who intervene, capturing the altercation on on the officers’ body camera. One officer describes the incident as a “mental health crisis”.
17 August – Laundrie flies from Salt Lake City, Utah, to Tampa, Florida, alone, to collect some items and close a storage unit as the couple allegedly contemplates extending their road trip.
23 August – Laundrie returns to Salt Lake City to rejoin Petito.
24 August – Petito spotted checking out of a hotel in Salt Lake City with Laundrie.
25 August – Petito has a call with her mother.
27 August – Louisiana couple see Petito and Laundrie involved in a “commotion” at the Merry Piglets Tex-Mex restaurant in Jackson, Wyoming. Last known sighting of Petito.
30 August – last text messages sent from Petito’s phone.
1 September – Laundrie returns to North Port, Florida, where the couple lived, without Gabby.
11 September – Petito’s family launch missing person’s investigation
14 September – Police declare Laundrie a “person of interest” in the case.
17 September – Laundrie’s family call investigators to their home, admit Brian has been missing since 14 September.
19 September – FBI announce that a body has been discovered in Wyoming, believed to be Petito.
20 September – FBI search the Laundrie home, declared it a crime scene.
21 September – Petito family attorney confirms that the body found in Wyoming is Gabby. FBI confirm her death to be a homicide.
23 September – FBI issue federal arrest warrant for Brian Laundrie, related to “activities following the death of Gabby”.
12 October – Teton County Coroner announces Petito’s cause of death was strangulation.
20 October – Human remains discovered in Florida’s Carlton Reserve, alongside personal items that belonged to Laundrie.
21 October – FBI match Laundrie’s dental records to human remains found in the Carlton Reserve.
Bevan Hurley5 November 2021 18:22
