Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - BURN AFTER READING: Did Brian Laundrie's Parents Know All Along Gabby Was Dead?

Episode Date: February 18, 2023

Attorneys for Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt are suing Brian Laundrie's family and their lawyer for emotional stress. The parents of Gabby Petito allege the Laundries knew weeks before search teams recovered the 22-year-old's remains, that the girl was dead.  According to court documents a letter written by Roberta Laundrie, allegedly contains an offer from Roberta Laundrie to lend her son a shovel to bury a body.   A judge has not yet ordered its release.   Joining Nancy Grace Today: Wendy Patrick - California prosecutor, author “Red Flags” www.wendypatrickphd.com 'Today with Dr. Wendy' on KCBQ in San Diego, Twitter: @WendyPatrickPHD Caryn Stark - NYC Psychologist, www.carynstark.com, Twitter: @carynpsych, Facebook: "Caryn Stark"  Sheryl McCollum - Forensic Expert & Cold Case Investigative Research Institute Founder, ColdCaseCrimes.org, Twitter: @ColdCaseTips Joe Scott Morgan - Professor of Forensics: Jacksonville State University, Author, "Blood Beneath My Feet", Host: "Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan" Laura Ingle - Senior Correspondent, Fox News Channel, Twitter: @lauraingle, Instagram: @lauraingletv  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Beautiful, young, her whole life in front of her. We will always remember the name of Gabby Petito. May she rest in peace. But her case is not over yet. In the last days, a stunning turn of events. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111. First of all, a very eerie and disturbing photo emerges of Gabby Petito. She's bruised and bloodied in a shocking new picture taken after the so-called domestic incident.

And why is it called a domestic incident? Domestic seems like, I don't know, somebody's home and maybe someone's cooking a wonderful dinner and you're all gathered around the supper table talking about the day's events with a fire in the background and good smells coming from the kitchen. This is anything but a domestic incident. Gabby Petito is crying with a black eye, a bloodied face. A new photo showing the slain Long Island girl, Gabby Petito, with blood smeared across her face. Now, this is just weeks before Gabby Petito is found dead in Wyoming dispersed camping far, far away from a plug-in, electric spot, a gas station, a lighting fixture, a port-a-potty, anything. Like, you're out in the wild when you are dispersed camping.

And that is where her body was left to be torn apart by animals by Brian Laundrie, her so-called fiance. Remember the two had gone on a cross-country trip in her van. Then he comes back across country to mommy and daddy in Florida using her van and her credit cards to pay his way.

But no Gabby. This photo was taken after a so-called domestic incident with not one but two eyewitnesses that call 911 describing a white male beating a white female on the street for Pete's sake. I mean, if he would do this on Main Street near Moab, what would he do behind closed doors? What would he do once he is alone with her out in dispersed camping? Well, I think we know the answer to that. Kill her. That is what happened to Gabby Petito. She was bludgeoned and strangled dead by Brian Laundrie.

Remains found at that Wyoming preserve back on September 18. Well, now we learn that the photo was taken by Gabby herself. Gabby took this selfie. Horrible, horrible selfie. I mean, when I look at it, I just, I just want to cry. As a matter of fact, she is crying in, after this beating, decide that she is the aggressor. And they do not separate the two. They let them go. And Gabby Petito goes on to her death.

She is treated as the aggressor, even with her face looking like that. And as a result of that, the Petito family has now filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Moab police. Not only that, another lawsuit going right now. The Petito family now suing Roberta and Christopher Laundrie, Brian Laundrie's parents, and their lawyer, Bertolini, for intentional infliction of emotional distress. Why? Because of a letter that has emerged from FBI files that was taken out of Brian Laundrie's backpack amongst his belongings that he had with him when he committed suicide in Carleton Reserve, about 25,000 acres of mostly swamp.

In it, he not only confesses to killing Gabby, but the FBI also finds a letter written to Laundrie, purportedly by his mother, Roberta Laundrie, stating that not only will she help get him out of prison, but she'll bring a shovel to help bury a body. On the outside of the envelope was written, Burn after reading. The Petitos say they believe Mr. and Mrs. Laundrie and their lawyer, Bertolini, knew full well that Gabby was dead. Refused to answer the Petitos' calls, their texts, pretending like they were hoping Gabby would be found alive, all the while knowing Gabby was dead putting the Petito family through extreme

emotional distress. Gabrielle Gabby Petito's body was found out in a dispersed camping area far far away from home but where was her boyfriend the fiance that she traveled across the country with vlogging, video blogging, the whole way about the van life? If you haven't looked at those vlogs, they're incredible. She's really talented. Wow. He comes home in her van with all of her stuff using her credit cards, but no Gabby. Her family has now sued the family of so-called fiance Brian Laundrie saying they aided and abetted him while hiding the evidence from Gabby's parents as they desperately tried to find their daughter. I mean, when I go pick up the twins at school,

when they start being 5, 10, 15 minutes late, I get out of the car and I go looking for them. Children have disappeared on school playgrounds and school areas. Can you imagine what Gabby Petito's parents went through as they called and they called and they texted and they emailed Laundrie's parents and then they find out the worst. Laundrie's home. Gabby's van is parked in the driveway but no Gabby. How do you think they felt when they find out the Laundries take Brian Laundry on a camping trip?

They go camping and they, what, sit around the campfire and have s'mores? But no Gabby? Nobody said, hey, where's Gabby? Can you imagine that feeling in their gut, in their mind, in their heart when her cell phone goes straight to voicemail every single time and they know, but yet they don't know? I don't even want to think about it. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111.

You know, I used to tell that to juries all the years I tried felony cases. You can't turn away. You cannot turn away from the truth. It is our duty to look at the truth and determine what is just. Joining me in all-star panel to make sense of what we know right now. But first, I want you to listen to our cut one from ABC 7. Two heartbroken families now taking the battle to court. More than six months after the murder of Gabby Petito, her parents, Joseph Petito and Nicole Schmidt, are now suing Brian Laundrie's family. The civil lawsuit filed in Florida on Thursday alleges Brian's parents, Christopher and Roberta Laundrie,

knew their son had murdered Gabby on or around August 28th of last year. Petito and her fiancé left New York early July in a van to travel the country. After several weeks of visiting national parks, Brian returned to Florida in the van without Gabby. When he refused to cooperate with authorities, suspicion turned to him, and then he went missing. His remains were found weeks later. Think about it.

We believe Gabby was killed August 28. Her body was not found until September 19. Think about all that time the family was left hanging, blowing in the wind, wondering where is their beautiful girl. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. In the last days, a selfie taken by Gabby Petito of her bruised and bloodied has emerged after a euphemistically described domestic incident where her so-called fiancé beat her badly. And even after this beating, the Moab police treated her as the aggressor. In addition to that, lawsuits being filed by the Petitos against the Moab police and against Brian Laundrie's parents and his lawyer.

Why? To senior correspondent, special guest joining us fox news laura engel laura does it never end with the laundries does it never end i mean don't you think that at some point they would have held out an olive branch for pete's sake and, listen, we're going to fly to your place this weekend. I know you hate us right now, but let us tell you our side of what happened, what we knew, when we knew it, what we thought we knew, what we didn't know, to set your heart at rest. We knew that this was coming. We knew that the family members of Gabby Petito, the parents, the two sets were going to be filing a lawsuit. It is a civil lawsuit filed against Chris and Roberta Laundrie.

And while there is not a ton of evidence listed in the civil lawsuit about what they knew and when they knew it in terms of just the detail. They do lay out the dates that it is believed that on or about August 28th, Brian Laundrie advised his parents that he had murdered Gabrielle Petito. And on that same date, Chris Laundrie and Roberta Laundrie spoke with their attorney, Steve Bertolino, and sent him a retainer just a few days later, September 2nd. And when you go through this lawsuit, you're right, Nancy. You think about, you're reminded of the dates, of the timing, of the pacing, of when the couple was last seen out west, when Brian Laundrie returned to Florida in Gabby's van without her. And then that radio silence that broke everyone's heart as everyone stood outside of the laundry's home saying, where is Gabby? Do you know something?

Well, this lawsuit, you know, states in black and white, the civil lawsuit asking for damages that they knew and that they did not share that information. And we remember I was at the press conference for Gabby Petito's parents when Rick Stafford came out roll the dice and said, we're not going to say anything because I was in Wyoming when Gabby was found. I went to that campground where her body. I remember that was. And so it was it was beautiful. And the trees had just turned. But it turned really cold and icy and snowy very very soon after so you've got to think did everybody on the laundry side think that if they just stayed

quiet long enough maybe she would not wait a minute you just gave me an idea laura angle first of all talking to you it's like drinking from a fire hydrant it's just so much information at once the idea you just gave me i want to know where we're getting the date august 28th that that's the day we believe brian laundry told his parents i murdered gabby and i can guarantee you technical legal term that that's not what he said he didn't say right i beat her i bludgeoned her head then i strangled her until she died no no no he probably made up some bs about oh she said this and then she hit me and i hit her back and oh she fell and hit her head on a rock and died but you told me august 28 and

i'm assuming we're defining what it's on page page three of the, it's on page three. Think about it. If the laundries knew, if it could be proven the laundries knew Gabby was dead, and they let law enforcement and all of the personnel involved, the U.S. Marshals, the FBI, the local law enforcement at Northport, the law enforcement at the Grand Tinos. Everybody's searching, how much did that cost? And the whole time, they knew she was dead, and they knew where? Could they be prosecuted? Yes, no. In a nutshell, Wendy Patrick? I think yes. And I think that what you're going to find out with this civil lawsuit might yield the type of evidence that criminal authorities might use to build their own case. If they knew something at a time when they could have prevented further harm, when they could have prevented further expense, when they could have spared law enforcement the time and resources.

Think about the resources that were expended looking for Gabby if they knew she was dead. Now, on the other side of that, you could argue, well, what exactly did they know? And I think you queued that up nicely. What did Brian actually say? The lawsuit mentioned text messages back and forth. And that's going to be an important piece of evidence. You're right about that. What, if anything, they could face criminally. Okay, Cheryl McCollum, I hear you trying to jump in. Go. Oh, my gosh. The thing that just drives me insane, the additional element of waiting the 13 days, right, and then the additional eight days before she's actually found. Nancy, the amount of evidence that could have been lost may have been lost.

She's out in the elements. There's going to be animal activity. There's going to be weather. Why do you say animal activity? There's going to be weather. Why do you say animal activity? You and Joe Scott Morgan both do that. Wait a minute. Let's just say what it really is.

Okay? And it tastes like dirt. But animal activity. What you're talking about is Gabby's body lying out in the elements, the Tetons, and animals ripping her body apart and chewing on her and gnawing on her. That's what we're talking about. That is what the Gabby Petito family has to live with 24-7 every day of the year. I mean, that's what we're talking about. All right, so let's just say what it is, Cheryl McCollum. You're absolutely right.

And there is nothing more repugnant and vile, in my opinion. The gates of hell. That's what I'm saying. The gates of hell for letting her family live through that. And now they got to live the rest of their lives. They got to know that's what happened to their girl. That's right. After she was brutally murdered by the very person that was supposed to be taking care of her and the most again repugnant and vile and straight devil when Roberta Laundrie blocked

Gabby's mama's phone number and then blocked her on social media oh I forgot about that Laura Engel that uh the Laundries actually blocked Gabby's family from trying to contact them. Is that true? It is. It is true. It is. That is what we have read about in the reports. We've talked to them and it goes back to that desperation of that time frame that we're

talking about of begging them and to think of that and go back in your mind of the news coverage, the bike riding, the mowing of the lawn, taking trips to the store, the camping trip, all of that. And when you think about what's in this civil lawsuit about how he it is believed that he confessed to his parents. And you're right, Nancy, we don't know exactly what was said. We don't know if he detailed it. And mom and dad, it was an accident. I don't know what to do. I'm scared. I'm coming home. We don't know exactly what was said. We don't know if he detailed it. And mom and dad, it was an accident. I don't know what to do. I'm scared I'm coming home.

We don't know what was said. I think there's something hard, Laura Engel. I think there's something hard. If the documents say AUG 28, they've got hard evidence of that. Is it a wiretap? Is it a text? Is it an email? And hey, happen again, Laura Engel.

Drink from the fire hydrant karen start did you hear laura engel and this is a hypothetical we're talking about what he told his parents and i said i can guarantee you he didn't say hey i murdered gabby and left her body out there to be torn apart by animals he probably said some bs story about she hit me then i pushed her she hit her head on a rock or a tree she died just like that of course that's a lie but wait a minute um Laura Ingalls says well what if he says something like mom dad I'm upset Gabby died I'm so upset I don't know what to do he's not so upset he didn't stuff his pie hole the way whole way home thousands of miles on Gabby's credit card. You think he felt bad when he drove through Burger King and had it his way?

Or is that McDonald's? Yeah, it's Burger King. What about that? He wasn't so upset he couldn't eat. He left a trail a mile wide on her credit card and her debit card. Nancy, he also, on August 30th, remember, he sent a text message from Gabby's cell phone to Gabby's mom. And saying no service in Yosemite in an effort to make her mother believe that she was still alive. You're so right, Laura Engel.

He's not upset. He's upset like a snake after it bites you. Go ahead, Karen Starr, jump in. think about this. When you think about how hard it is to lose a child, to parents, it's something that you never get over. It's not the way it's supposed to be. And then on top of that, it's hard enough to imagine your child dead, let alone being eaten by animals, being abandoned. And there is no doubt in my mind that he said she provoked him. Oh, no doubt in my mind that he said she provoked him oh no doubt in my mind at all no doubt take a listen our cut three our friends from fox 13 parents of the young woman who lives such a colorful life are trying to avenge her death by putting in black and white the horrible details of what they went through the allegations contained

within this the four corners of this complaint they're salacious in arguing that the laundries quote knew they could alleviate at least in part such mental suffering and anguish the potatoes said they believed that on august 28th laundry while still in wyoming advised his parents he had murdered gabby but as the lawsuit points out for several weeks the laundries not only refused to talk to the potatoes they put out statements saying they hoped she could be found alive if they did what is alleged in the four corners this complaint the laundry family acted with indecency they acted not as humans this girl was part of their family the laundries were accused for weeks by protesters of not being forthcoming.

Joe Scott Morgan, professor of forensics, Jacksonville State University, and star of Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan. Jump in, Joe Scott. Going back to Brian Laundrie, you know, one of the things I'm thinking about is there's so much deception, I think, that goes along with where his, you know, his location throughout this whole thing. The car, you remember, we reflect back to how did he wind up out there? Where did he go? You remember how much time we spent speculating about where he may have gone. And, you know, I'm speculating, Jessica Morgan. I call it analyzing the evidence that we need. Well, yeah yeah people were saying

Mexico all these other things and there is a there's a thread that runs through this of deception and it's not surprising relative to you know when we look at what happened to Gabby and his his murder of her and then moving forward, what happened to him? Coming back to his parents, I'm thinking, you know, what is it that they haven't told us about him and his activities? You know, when I looked over the report that we got back was absolutely voluminous. I mean, it just goes on and on and on relative to his body. I don't know that in my memory, I've seen one quite this inclusive of everything. You know, they report that he was

last seen on the 13th. They didn't fill out this missing persons report until like the 17th of September. And he was so far gone by the time the authorities got out there, they could not actually pin down, this is the forensic there, they could not actually pin down, this is the forensic anthropologist, could not actually pin down a specific time of death. As a matter of fact- I mean, they had to get DNA to positively identify that. Yeah, they did, and they were able to recover that. But Nancy, to give you an idea, the best she could do in one of her calculations was, now get this, anywhere from 47 days to 672 days

as an estimation of post-mortem interval. That's how far gone he was. And I still have a major question, again, about this gunshot wound he sustained. He is right-hand dominant. This is a left-handed entrance wound that we have that has been validated by not just the forensic anthropologist, but also the forensic pathologist. And where in the hell did this revolver come from? Who did it belong to? What's the genesis of it? And I don't think that that's been thoroughly addressed as well. Well, I think you're absolutely correct.

Back to the lawsuit did you see to laura engel special guest joining us fox news correspondent senior correspondent laura and specifically in paragraph 31 in civil lawsuits various courses of action sometimes can take several sentences to explain. And typically, each paragraph, it can be one sentence, it can be five sentences, is numbered. This is number 31. Do you see that? Do you see what that says about Christopher and Roberta Laundrie's behavior? Explain.

You know, they say, and to go back a page and this is the number atrocious utterly intolerable but but let me let me tee this up because if you go back one page in item 25 they write on september 14th with full knowledge that gabrielle petito had been murdered by their son the laundry lawyer put out a saying, it is our understanding that a search has been organized for Ms. Petito in or near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. On behalf of the Laundrie family, it is our hope that the search for Ms. Petito is successful and that Ms. Petito is reunited with her family. That's September 14th. And as you go down to fast forwarding to knowing what happened, they write in the lawsuit, Christopher Laundrie and Roberta Laundrie exhibited extreme and outrageous conduct

which constitutes behavior under the circumstances which goes beyond all possible bounds of decency and is regarded as shocking, atrocious, and utterly intolerable in a civilized community. Who could blame them? Well, who could blame them? I mean, you know, you think about the timeline and, you know, if all of this is true and if they knew

those details and then they put out a statement, sure, we hope that she's found and they knew where she was. It just makes your stomach turn. But Nancy, we can prove they knew it. On September 10th, when her daddy went to their house and knocked on the door, and they wouldn't even come to the door, he had to put out in front of God and country on social media, I'm going to the police if you don't tell me something.

So then he goes to the police on September the 11th. They knew it. They knew it, and they acted in one accord. I think I might be able to one-up you. I'm not sure. Okay. Put this in your pipe and smoke it, Cheryl McC to one-up you. I'm not sure. Okay.

Put this in your pipe and smoke it, Cheryl McCollum. You ready? I'm ready. On that day, August 28th, that's the day Christopher and Roberta Laundrie speak with Attorney Steve Bertolino. Absolutely. That's the day. They go, whoa, whoa, what? We need a criminal lawyer.

And then they follow up about two days later with a retainer. That's right. Now, as I always say, there is no coincidence in criminal law. So, Wendy Patrick, what about it? California prosecutor, that's the day they decide they need a high power criminal defense attorney who, P.S., great criminal defense attorneys are usually not seen or heard outside the courtroom. They don't want to be stars in their own right on TV or this or that. Have you ever noticed that, Wendy Patrick? That's true. And it's also true that in this case, the fact that they spoke on August 28th is going to be so important for the timeline because guess what?

Two days later on August 30th is when Laundrie apparently sent an additional text from Petito's phone to Schmidt saying there was no service in Yosemite Park in an effort to believing her to believe Gabby was still alive. So that's after the 28th when the lawyer is hired. And so when you look at what would fuel this lawsuit, that's a huge point. Well, what really is just

think about it, Laura Engel, think about it. So he gets home. They know Gabby's dead and they go for a camp out. The family goes on a little trip and camps out. They sit around the campfire. They grill out. They eat. Other people at the campground, remember it was DeSoto Campgrounds, see them.

I was talking about this this morning about Brian being seen walking around. We know that the sister was there. Now, did they go camping to try and kind of come together as a family and say, what are we going to do? But it doesn't look like it from the pictures and from the stories that we've heard from people who saw them there. It looked like they were genuinely going to the camp. And I bring this up only when I'm projecting, but Laura, I remember when my fiance was murdered. I couldn't eat.

I couldn't sleep. I lost down to 89 pounds. The smell of food made me sick just to smell it. I remember the first thing I finally ate or consumed was a glass of orange juice. It was the first thing that did not make me literally nauseous after Keith's murder. So how in the H-E-double-L is this family knowing that Gabby is dead and being torn apart by animals out in the rain, lying there on the dirt.

How could they go to a campout? How could they do that? There's no explanation. There's none. None of us on this panel, nobody listening could even imagine doing what they did, right? If they knew, and it looks like they did, how could you? You're absolutely right. And it is a point that I believe that Petito-Schmidt's hope will come out in court.

They want to get to a courtroom because there's more. There's more information that obviously wasn't released by the FBI, that wasn't released in the investigation. People want to know more. And if they can push the civil lawsuit and get into that next level, this is a first volley. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace In the last days of multiple lawsuits being filed against Moab Police and against Brian Laundrie's parents and lawyer, as a photo of Gabby Petito emerges, she is bruised, bloody, crying. And even after this beating at the hands of Brian Laundrie,

Moab police still say she is the aggressor. And did Roberta Laundrie send a letter to her son, Brian, claiming she would show up with a shovel or loan him a shovel and help bury a body? Help get him out of prison? Instructing him to burn after reading the letter? According to the FBI, there is such a letter. Is that grounds to support a lawsuit by the Petitos against the Laundries?

After all this family, the Petito family, has been through. Lawsuits flying. A horrific and haunting selfie emerging of Gabby Petito beaten and bloody. That's how she looked. Apparently, when she was pulled over along with Laundrie by Moab police, but they let the two go on their way, and she ends up dead. Experts could easily have predicted that.

The fiancé, so-called fiancé, Brian Laundrie, who is now known to have killed Gabby Petito, murdered her, bludgeoned her, strangled her, and left her body to decompose in the elements. Her family is now suing his family, claiming they knew for a long time that Gabby was dead and refused to tell the parents anything. In fact, thwarting law enforcement and the family as well. Take a listen to our cut for our friends at Fox 13. Police in Northport said they'd not gotten cooperation as to whether they knew anything about where Gabby was.

But the Laundries did tell police Brian had not returned from the reserve where he was eventually found dead. But the new lawsuit alleges the Laundries did tell police Brian had not returned from the reserve where he was eventually found dead. But the new lawsuit alleges the Laundries had been making arrangements for Brian to leave the country. Their family attorney denied the allegations, saying, The lawsuit does not change the fact that the Laundries had no obligation to speak to law enforcement or any third party, including the Petito family.

This fundamental legal principle renders the Petito family this fundamental legal principle renders the Petito's claim to be baseless under the law we have a legal system where people are punished civilly for not cooperating with criminal investigations the lawsuit does not say how the Petito's learned of the facts they allege but they did have several meetings with investigators including at the Tampa FBI office after the investigation was closed. The Petito family attorney said there were multiple conversations between Brian, his parents and their lawyer before he left Wyoming August 30th. So Joe Scott Morgan, we weren't half wrong, right? Because they were trying to get him out of the country.

Exactly what we had thought was going on yeah push push push i you know i i had all kinds of ideas you know back then thinking about how could they facilitate remember when they were at that camping area you know i think a couple of us had thought that maybe by water you know how are you going to get him out of the reach of the u.s. authorities to get him spirited off somewhere? We were thinking about him leaving with gobs of cash so that he could fall off of the radar relative to using any kind of credit cards, which, of course, he had stolen Gabby's and utilized it, and just go abroad with U.S. currency and try to make that happen. But how do you make that happen? I think that that's one of the big problems here when you have somebody that is not sophisticated in a way that criminals work. You know, they don't know, you know, how are we going to get him away from all of this trouble?

And at the end of the day, and at the end of the day, they knew where his body was. I'm very curious as to what that final conversation was like with him. You know, did he actually tell them, you know, mom, dad, I think I'm just going to go out here and end it. And I'm going to tell you specifically where it was. Think about what Max said and what you said. Within 45 minutes, Nancy, in this vast area,

and it is vast. 25,000 acres. Yeah. And where, by the way, let me remind everybody, we've forgotten about this group of people. They've put all of the searchers

at risk out here. Alligators, snakes, dehydration for days, for days. And they put these people out there at risk and they walk right to the body and all of this evidence. And Nancy, I got to say one more thing. The most striking piece of evidence to me, and it's just the old death investigator in me.

Out of everything, you know, we had skeletal remains. We had this weapon that we had talked about, but one of the things that just made me want to bite the head off a ten penny nail is that out there at that scene, they found adjacent to his body a red ball cap. You know what that red ball cap said? It said Moab Roasters. I wonder where he bought that. Out of all the hats he could have chosen, that's the one that he picked up as he was walking out that door for the final time. And he went out there and he took that hat.

And I think that hat left out there was a great big old screw you to everybody. That's what I think. That's where he was caught beating Gabby out on the street, as we all know. You know, to Laura Engel, senior correspondent, Fox News, joining us. Laura, I believe that in point number 14, paragraph number 14, the date is pinpointed of the murder being August 27th. I wonder if that's because

that's the last day that her mother, Nicole Schmidt, spoke with her. What do you think? I do believe it's that, and it also coincides with their sightings. And remember, the Moab incident happens that's been so widely watched with the police body cam footage. But then they make their way, and they're in Jackson. I went to this place. It's the Mary Piglet's, and it's a restaurant that was the last known public

sighting. And we don't know what happened and we've been trying to get our hands on any security footage of this restaurant but there was some kind of a fight some kind of an altercation between brian and gabby an argument they were last seen and so and i and i stood there so you're standing at the restaurant and you look down the long road and down that long road is where the campground was. So they were at this restaurant. They have an argument. They get in the car, the van. They go down to the campground. They turn in. They set up camp. Then, you know, the other bloggers bought the van, which helped us locate where they were.

But it's that last those are the last moments. There was something going on on that date, on August 27th, during the day. And then it was later that night that that's when they believed. And there's forensics involved here, too, in terms of her body, where she was found, how she was found, that it all ties together that August 27th is the date that she died. I want you to listen to our cut 11. This is JB, you know, WFLA News Channel 8. Listen to this. Point number 25. On September 14, 2021, with full knowledge that Gabrielle Petito had been murdered by their son, Christopher Laundrie and Roberta Laundrie, through their lawyer, issued the following statement. Quote, unquote, it is our understanding that a search has been organized for Ms. Petito

in or near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming on behalf of the Laundrie family. It is our hope that the search for Ms. Petito is successful and that Ms. Petito is reunited with her family. Point number 29 and point number 30. As Laura Ingalls told us, full knowing their son had murdered Gabby, they give a public statement. Wow. I hope they find her. I just can't wait till this goes to a jury. We wait as justice unfolds.

Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.