After a missing-persons report from her parents more than a week succeeding her disappearance, Gabrielle Petito was speculated to have gone missing while traveling with her fiancé around the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. 

Gabby Petito, and her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, left New York for what was originally supposed to be a four-month trip spent camping in and visiting national parks. Considering Petito’s and Laundrie’s influencer status, they both were expected to have documented their travels. When Petito suddenly stopped posting, however, fans were concerned. 

On September 1, 2021, Brian Laundrie returned to his Florida home without Ms.Petito; ten days later, her family reported her disappearance. The local police began an investigation and later began working with the FBI to solve this mystery of what truly happened to Gabby Petito. 

During their trip, an anonymous individual placed a 911 call on the couple, reporting a confrontation between them. The caller had mentioned that he saw Laundrie hit Petito, but no arrests were made. The bodycam footage discloses Gabby Petito crying and evidently distressed. The couple was then separated for the duration of the night, with Petito staying in their travel van and Laundrie checked into a hotel. 

On August 24, 2021, the couple was spotted leaving a hotel in Salt Lake City. The next day, Petito posted one last time on her Instagram. 

Twenty-two-year-old Gabby Petito was initially reported missing on September 11, 2021. Confirmed by the FBI on Tuesday, Gabby Petito’s remains, which were first discovered on Sunday, September 19, but not verified to be hers at that particular time, were found at a campground in Bridger-Teton National Forest. The death of Ms. Petito has recently been ruled a homicide.  

September 15, the North Port Police were interrogating Laundrie and said that he had been refusing to cooperate, later naming him a person of interest. On September 17, Laundrie’s parents requested the presence of police at their house, stating that he has been missing since the 14 and left both his phone and wallet with them. The FBI has searched over 24,565 acres of the Carlton Reserve in Sarasota County, and there is still no sign of him. On September 23, a federal arrest warrant was made for Brain, charging him with debit card fraud. “I believe he killed her, there is no way he would just go back to Florida without her and not be worried,” said Jenna Daghanstani, a Junior at Wayne Hills High School.

There are still many questions that are left unanswered in regards to this case. Where is Brian? Does his disappearance prove that he is guilty? Why are there so many time disparities in this case? Do people only care because she is white? Will this sudden publicity force the police to acknowledge other missing marginalized individuals?

Although there are an abundance of questions that are unknown, and will remain undisclosed, twenty-two-year-old Gabby Petito is no longer alive, and justice is awaited.