I have been actively following this case since everything started. I have read news article after news article and watched a number of videos from different outlets of what events happened leading up to and following the disappearance of Gabby Petito.
*All information to follow has been pulled from multiple sources*
In 2019, Gabby Petito started dating Brian Laundrie and moved into his family home with him and his parents in North Port, Florida. They both graduated from Bayport-Blue Point High School in Bayport, Town of Islip, Suffolk County.
Amid the new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in 2021, she quit her job to pursue her dream to become a travel blogger.
July 2: The couple left New York for what was supposed to be a four-month cross-country trip visiting and camping in national parks. Gabby planned on visiting a family friend in Portland, Oregon, around Halloween.
July 5th: Monument Rocks.
July 8th: Colorado Springs.
July 10th: Great Sand Dunes National Park.
July 16th: Zion National Park.
July 20th: Cedar Breaks.
July 21st: Bryce Canyon National Park.
July 26th: Mystic Hot Springs.
July 30th: Canyonlands National Park, Arch Mesa.
August 12th: Petito’s Instagram account shows pictures of her and Laundrie at Delicate Arch, apparently taken on August 9th, but uploaded on August 12th.
A witness saw Petito and Laundrie arguing over a phone while their 2012 Ford Transit van was parked near Moonflower Community Cooperative in Moab, Utah. The responding Moab Police Department officers determined that insufficient evidence existed to justify criminal charges. He told one of the officers that she tried to slap him because she thought he was going to leave her in Moab without a ride. That night, he stayed in a hotel while she stayed with their van.
August 17-23rd: Brian flew to Florida from Salt Lake City to help his dad clear out a storage unit, allegedly to save money since they would be extending their travels.
August 19th: A video depicting Petito and Laundrie’s trip together is uploaded to YouTube. Gabby uploaded a YouTube video featuring a glimpse into her van adventures with Laundrie. In the caption, she explained that after their first cross country trip in a Nissan Sentra, they both decided to downsize their lives and travel full-time, so they handcrafted their 2012 Ford Transit van. In the video, he is briefly seen reading Jeff VanderMeer‘s novel “Annihilation.”
August 21st: Her father placed an Uber Eats order for her because she did not have WiFi due to the power outage.
August 24th: Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie check out of a hotel in Salt Lake City (Fairfield Inn and Suites). Petito facetimes with her mother and tells her she is leaving Utah and heading to the Teton range in Wyoming.
August 25th: There are multiple texts between Petito and her mother. The young woman’s family believes she is in the Tetons on this date. According to the same timeline, Gabby Petito makes her final call to the family, saying she was in Grand Teton National Park. Gabby makes her last post online.
August 27th: There were more texts between Petito and her mother, during which her family believes she remains in the Tetons. Gabby and Brian are seen at The Merry Piglets Restaurant in Jackson between 1 and 2 pm where an agitated Laundrie began arguing with a waitress. Around 4 hours later, travelers saw Gabby’s van at the Spread Creek Dispersal Camping area. Petito’s mother got a text from Gabby’s phone, “Can you help Stan, I just keep getting his voicemails and missed calls.”
According to her mother, Gabby never referred to her grandfather as Stan- it was out of character and concerning. Gabby told a friend via Snapchat that she was headed to Yellowstone because she was going to meet up with a friend.
August 29th: Miranda Baker claimed she and her boyfriend were approached around 5:30 PM and offered $200 to give Laundrie a 10-mile ride to Jackson. He claimed he’d been camping by himself for multiple days while Petito was at their van working on social media posts. Baker noted that he was quite clean to have been camping for multiple days in the wilderness. Baker and her boyfriend ended up dropping Laundrie off at the Jackson Dam after he “freaked out” when they mentioned the name of the area they were driving to. “Nope, I need to get out right now, pull over,” Baker recalled Laundrie saying after they mentioned they were going to Jackson Hole. Watch Miranda Bakers Tik Tok series explaining the event.
August 30th: Her family receives their last text from Petito. They have doubts she actually wrote that text. According to Stafford, the message reads, “No service in Yosemite.”
September 1st: Brian Laundrie returns to his parent’s home in Florida in the van they shared without Gabby Petito.
September 6th: The Laundrie family goes to a campground about 75 miles away from their home in early September, according to county officials. The Laundrie attorney says all three then left the park.
September 11th: After not being able to get in touch with her, Petito’s family — who lives in New York — reports her missing to police in Suffolk County, New York. That same day, police in North Port, Florida, locate the van they were traveling in.
September 14th: Gabby Petito’s parents continue their pleas for information on her whereabouts and say Laundrie is not speaking with authorities. Police in Florida says Laundrie’s silence is hindering the investigation. Brian was seen buying a cell phone. Also, this was the last day his parents recall seeing him.
September 15th: An attorney for Laundrie releases a statement to explain why Laundrie has not spoken with police:
“Many people are wondering why Mr. Laundrie would not make a statement or speak with law enforcement in the face of Ms. Petito’s absence. In my experience, intimate partners are often the first person law enforcement focuses their attention on in cases like this and the warning that ‘any statement made will be used against you’ is true, regardless of whether my client had anything to do with Ms. Petito’s disappearance. As such, on the advice of counsel Mr. Laundrie is not speaking on this matter. I have been informed that the North Port, Florida police have named Brian Laundrie as a ‘person of interest’ in this matter. This formality has not really changed the circumstances of Mr. Laundrie being the focus and attention of law enforcement and Mr. Laundrie will continue to remain silent on the advice of counsel.“
September 16th: In a letter read by the Petito family attorney at a news briefing held by police, the missing woman’s family begs for Laundrie’s family to help in the investigation. Full body camera video of the encounter between Moab, Utah police, Petito, and Laundrie is obtained.
September 17: After several days of both Petito’s family and police pleading with Laundrie’s family to cooperate in the investigation, Laundrie’s family requests that the police come to their home, where they share they haven’t seen Brian since September 14th, according to Taylor, the police spokesperson. Later in the evening, Laundrie’s attorney releases a statement saying Laundrie’s current whereabouts are unknown and the FBI is looking for both Petito and Laundrie.
September 18th: Authorities search the 24,500-acre Carlton Reserve in Sarasota County for Laundrie after a tip from his family. The search is called off in the evening due to darkness. At the same time, multiple agencies search for Petito in the Wyoming wilderness.
September 19th: Human remains discovered in Teton County, Wyoming, are “consistent with the description of” Petito, FBI officials say in a news conference. FBI officials say they believe they found the body of Gabby Petito in Grand Teton National Park. Official confirmation is still pending, as is the cause of death.
September 20th: The parents of Brian Laundrie are questioned at their home by the FBI.
September 21st: Authorities confirm the body found in Grand Teton National Park is Gabby Petito and say the manner of death is a homicide. The cause of death remains pending and could take months before full autopsy reports are released. Meanwhile, authorities continue to search for Brian Laundrie.
September 21-23rd: The Teton County coroner confirms the human remains found Sunday in the Bridger-Teton National Forest were those of Petito, according to the FBI.
While authorities continue their search for Laundrie at the Carlton Reserve, the FBI announces that the US District Court of Wyoming issued a federal arrest warrant.
The FBI says that the warrant was issued pursuant to a federal grand jury indictment for the “use of unauthorized devices” related to Laundrie’s activities after Petito’s death.
The charge in the indictment makes no mention of homicide but rather refers to unauthorized access of a Capital One bank card in the name of Gabby Petito that Brian used.
September 25th: The Petito family announces the creation of the Gabby Petito Foundation as the search continues for Brian Laundrie.
September 26th: More than 1,000 people attend a public memorial for Gabby Petito. FBI arrives at Laundrie home to request personal items for DNA matching.
September 28th: Public suggests the Laundries helped hide their son.
An attorney for Petito’s family said, “The Laundries did not help us find Gabby. They’re sure not going to help us find Brian. For Brian, we’re asking you to turn yourself into the FBI or the nearest law enforcement agency.”
October 5th: In conversations this week with protesters outside her home and in an interview with Good Morning America, Cassie Laundrie said she does not know where her brother is and would “turn him in” if she did. “I hope my brother is alive,” she told Good Morning America. “Because I want answers just as much as everybody else.”
Since Brian’s last known sighting, the reports of possible sightings have varied from Florida to North Carolina, to Mexico, to Canada, to Alabama, and even the Bahamas. Nothing has been a confirmed sighting.
A Hiker called 911 on October 5th, reporting he is 99.99% he had an encounter with Brian Laundrie in North Carolina alongside the Appalachian Trail.
The search still continues, with tips continually rolling in.
