Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Van-Life Girl's 'Boyfriend' Named Person of Interest in Gabby's Disappearance

Episode Date: September 15, 2021

Florida police now say Brian Laundrie, the boyfriend of missing Gabby Petito, is a person of interest in her disappearance. The 22-year-old woman mysteriously vanished while the couple was on a road trip. Gabrielle “Gabby” Petito and Laundrie, 23, embarked on a cross-country road trip this summer, but Laundrie returned to Florida. Petito's whereabouts are unknown. Gabby last spoke with her mother via FaceTime on August 23 or 24.Joining Nancy Grace Today:Joseph Petito - Victim's FatherJames Shelnutt - 27 years Atlanta Metro Area Major Case Detective, Former S.W.A.T. officer, Attorney, The Shelnutt Law Firm, P.C., www.ShelnuttLawFirm.com, Twitter: @ShelnuttLawFirmDr. Angela Arnold - Psychiatrist, Atlanta GA www.angelaarnoldmd.com, Expert in the Treatment of Pregnant/Postpartum Women, Former Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Obstetrics and Gynecology: Emory University, Former Medical Director of The Psychiatric Ob-Gyn Clinic at Grady Memorial HospitalJoe Scott Morgan - Professor of Forensics Jacksonville State University, Author, "Blood Beneath My Feet", Featured on "The Piketon Massacre: Return to Pike County" on iHeartRadioMike King - Host: "ProfilingEvil" on YouTube, Former Police Officer (Ogden, Utah), Former Chief Investigator: Weber County Attorney’s Office, Former Chief of Staff: Utah Attorney General’s Office, Author: "Deceived, An Investigative Memoir of the Zion Society Cult", www.ProfilingEvil.com, Instagram/Twitter: @Profiling EvilAndrea Olson - EastIdahoNews.com, Twitter: @NewsWithAndreaTIPLINE: Suffolk County Police Department 1-800-220-8477  GoFundMe: "Help us find Gabby"  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. 22-year-old Gabby Petito. Where is she? In the last hours, breaking news in the search for Gabby Petito. Where is she? In the last hours, breaking news in the search for Gabby Petito. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. First of all, I want to introduce to you a very special guest joining us. For those of you that do not know him, Gabby's father, Joseph Petito, is with us.

Mr. Petito, thank you for being with us. Thank you. Mr. Petito, we all feel like we're searching for Gabby, too. We will go through all of the facts leading up to this moment, but in my mind, there are two breaking issues right now. Number one, we are learning of an August 12 incident in Moab, Utah, where someone called police and police arrived at the location about an incident between Gabby, your girl, and her boyfriend, Laundrie. They left. They said there was not insufficient evidence to make any arrest.

What was the call about? Was there some kind of an argument? To be honest with you, I don't know. Listen, I don't have information. I just saw it online as well. Gabby didn't let me know about that, but you're not going to tell your dad something like that because what are dads going to do?

I'm going to jump in my car, I'm going to drive down there, and I'm going to handle the situation, right? You're not going to handle it. She's not going to tell me that unless she needed me to. So I honestly can't speak to that. I do not know. Right. We are also learning that the so-called boyfriend,

Brian Laundrie, has been named a person of interest, according to Florida police. Let me just start at the beginning. For those of you just joining us, with me is Gabby's father, Joseph Petito. Everyone, first of all, take a listen to this. An emotional mother holding onto a photo of her daughter is desperate for her to come home. It's scary and it's nerve-wracking. We don't sleep. We her daughter is desperate for her to come home. Scary and it's nerve-wracking. We don't sleep. We're just actively looking for her. Gabby Petito's family reported her missing Saturday to Suffolk County Police. The 22-year-old of Blue Point was on a cross-country

road trip but kept in touch with her mom. At least three times a week we would FaceTime, call, text frequently. She kept me updated on this whole trip. Her mother says they last FaceTimed about three weeks ago. The last text she received was on August 30th. The first couple of days, I wasn't getting responses. I believe she was in a place with no service. It took, it was like day eight, nine that I really became concerned. You were hearing our friends at CBS2. That was Jenna D'Angeli speaking to Gabby's mom. Back to her dad joining us, Mr. Petito. Mr. Petito, what did you think when your daughter first told you

she was going on a cross-country trip with her boyfriend? No, a protective dad, no. I didn't like the idea, you know, but I'm not one. She's a grown woman, you know. She has to like the idea, you know, but I'm not one. She's a grown woman. You know, she has to make her choices, you know, and I'm going to support her choices. That's what a father's supposed to do. And that's what I did. That's what her mom did, you know, and we offered to help in any way and that we can. And she, you know, she did it right too. She had an itinerary, she had a plan. She prepped. I mean, she did everything she's supposed to do before even heading out.

It's not like, oh, we're going to go do this. Let's just do it now. Let's jump in the car and go. That's not how this was. They planned it for a while. And according to the neighbors where they lived, they had worked and worked and worked converting that Ford Transit into really a pretty nice travel van, a camper. They really planned the whole thing out, including redoing the entire vehicle. I mean, this was a big trip, and they planned hard.

I've looked and looked and looked at the videos that she was posting about their trip. And I've said it reminds me of one of those shows on HGTV where you see people traveling in campers. I mean, she did a beautiful job on the inside of it. This is a very well-planned trip. How often was she staying in touch with you? We would always talk. I would talk to her once, you know, twice a week. Her mom, she talked two, three times a week.

My kids, you know, she's talking to often. On her mom's side, she's talking to her brothers and sisters often. I got nieces and nephews that she would, and family friends, she'd constantly be in contact with. So she was always contacting us and talking to us and, you know, letting us know what she did and where she's headed. It's not like, you know, we didn't hear from her for weeks. Oh, and by the way, I did this, this, and this.

We knew where she was headed. You know, we knew what she was doing. When did you realize something was wrong? When we stopped hearing from her. You know, usually, you know, she'll call me. She'll talk to her mom. She'll call my son. You know what I mean? Someone always heard from her you know it usually you know she'll call me she'll talk to her mom she'll call my son you know i mean someone always heard from her then we started asking questions you know have you

talked to gabby have you talked to gabby you know and then more and more got concerned um on thursday uh i guess the eighth i think it's the eighth night maybe the ninth i don't know this september um we started really you know be, listen, we got to figure something out here. And then we waited to the 10th. And then we started, I mean, the, oh, yeah, whatever the Friday was. I don't know the exact day. And we started to, we tried to do the missing person report. I started in North Forth, Florida, because that was a place of residence.

They said you have to go to Utah, which is the last place I thought she was seen at that point in time. And Utah is telling me it's got to be her place of residence. So it really took 24 hours. And I was begging, you know, I may have threatened, you know, doing just do anything to get the missing report file so we can start looking for her. And it was an amazing detective by the name of Tracy who took Nikki seriously and put the report in, and that's how we got to where we are today. Who is Nikki? Nikki is Gabby's mom.

Nicole Schmidt. Nicole Schmidt, that's Gabby's mom. I understand that it's been reported that originally you were blown off, that nobody took the claim seriously. And I've got to say, James Shelnut joining me, 27 years, Metro major case, now lawyer. That drives me crazy, no end. When a woman is reported missing and the family or the reporter gets the runaround they got the runaround for 24 hours are you serious she lives in florida she's missing and florida

says go to utah well yeah i got it i got it outside looking in i'm sure policies like that make sense but when you're emotionally invested into it there are things that just don't make sense you know, and you realize how come they can't do something or how come they can't talk to someone. And when you're emotionally invested, you're like, I don't get it. But when you're not and you, you know, outside looking in and there are reasons for it. So I'm sure, but we did, we were able to find help because we weren't stopping. But she was ultimately reported missing there in Florida. No, no.

The missing person report came out of Suffolk County, New York. Okay. Yes, that makes sense as well, but not Utah. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, we're talking to Gabby Petito's father joining us, Joseph Petito. So after about 24 hours of back and forth, you get her reported missing. When did you learn that her boyfriend,rian laundry had come home i still haven't learned when he came home when did you learn he was home and the van was home he was safe and sound the van is safe and sound but there's no sign of gabby when did

you learn he was home uh you know i i'm not going to speak to when i learned of it to be honest there's investigation and stuff i'm going to let let the FBI and the sheriffs and the police handle all that. You have people all around the country, working tirelessly, and amazing, by the way. I just want to say they have been awesome. Keeping me up to date, keeping me abreast of what they're doing. They're

keeping stuff close to the vest. It's an investigation. I get it, but they've been awesome. But I really, it's just about finding her. You know, if he's not going to cooperate or he's going to talk or sit in the background, which I don't get, you know, so be it. Do you remember when you found out he was home and the van was safe? I do remember, but again, I'm not going to speak to it because it's an open investigation.

And to be honest with you, it doesn't matter, because at the moment, she's not here. Okay. Tell me about the search for her now. I understand that a search is going on in the Tetons in Wyoming now. I'm not going to say again. You know what? I don't want to hinder any type of search parties and stuff, so I'm not going to say where, but there are searches going on.

And until I'm allowed, you know, the FBI says, you know what, Joe? Here you go. You can say this. Done. I got no issues with it. I'll say it. I think yesterday I got a little emotional when I heard their statement.

And, you know, I spoke to the FBI afterwards. And, you know, I was like, you know what? I apologize. I'll try and keep my emotions more in check. When you heard the laundry statement? You know, this is a – to be honest, that wasn't a statement. That was four lines of crap. But, you know, hey, what do I know? If you honestly wish for her to come home, all right, then cool. You know what? Let's sit down and let's ask the questions. Maybe

you got answers. Maybe you don't. But there's a way to find out, right? So talk to us. What's up? No, I got nothing, right? So I got to do what I can. Mr. i got nothing right so i gotta do what i can mr potato what did the statement say uh well let's see what was line one line one is this is very hard for the potato family and the laundry family well there you know what hold on a second maybe it is hard having reporters at your house and and your block kind of shut down i don't know you know that's not happening to me so maybe that is is tough. I can't tell you. But I know what I can tell you is that their son is in their home. They know exactly where he is. I got a child that's nowhere to be found. I don't even know what state to start it. So don't tell me it's hard.

All right, because I guarantee you, I'll tell you what, I'll switch places with you right now. What would they rather do? So the first line is it's hard on the Petito family and the Laundrie family. What was the second line? Second line is talking about the, I think it was, I'm pretty sure, something about there's an open investigation or a search party in Wyoming and stuff. So I didn't have an issue with the second line, other than the fact that it says we're going to stay in the background,

or whatever line that was or wherever it came out. You're going to stay in the background? This girl you love, and you're going to stay in the background? You just traveled the country with this girl for two months, and you're going to stay in the background? You say you love her? I'll tell you what, I've been married to my wife 21 years. I mean, I've been with my wife 21 years married 16 years if she needs me i'm there no matter what i hope to be there

before she even says i need you and we're back you got family members begging and you're going to stay in the background i'm sorry does anybody take that seriously that you care then does anyone on the panel i'm asking everyone on your panel right now do any of you take that serious do you think they care if she's missing if they're going to stay in the background and not help i'm asking i think they care that their son doesn't get in trouble as a parent i think they care about that and they would like her found so their son won't get in trouble i think that's what they care about because if they cared about finding Gabby, he, the fiance, the boyfriend, would be saying, this is the last time I saw her. We got into a fight. She got out of the van.

I drove off. That was that. She said she didn't want to be with me or she fell off a cliff or she wanted to go with this other group or I left her at this hotel in Salt Lake City. Tell me something. If they wanted to help find her, they would at least say where she was last seen. That's how I see it, Mr. Petito. If you're going to get an attorney because you're afraid, no, listen, maybe there are scenarios where he did nothing wrong. There are scenarios. And you got to get an attorney just to make sure

you don't get entrapped in something that you're not responsible for. I get it. I get it 100%. I got no issues with that. But I'll tell you what an attorney is going to do. They're going to talk to you, and they're going to sit next to you as you tell the police your story. And they'll shut down any questions that they don't want you answering because an attorney is supposed to be smart. Not this guy, but he's supposed to be smart. So they'll protect you to make sure that you're okay but at least you're answering questions you haven't gotten you know excuse me what time is it and

you ain't gotten an answer so no no you can't tell me you care you can't tell me you care not even a little bit i understand that either your your ex nicole schmidt that's gabby's mother reached out to the laundry family to try to speak to them and find out where Gabby was last alive, and nobody is calling back. Nobody's giving any information. No return phone calls, no emails, no texts, nothing. We've been doing that since Friday.

Since Friday. I think we did the report on Saturday, Thursday night, and Friday, all day Friday, we were calling on all of them. I had a friend of mine get me the siblings' phone numbers, dad's phone number. No one responded. Still haven't responded. Just an FYI. I still got unanswered calls and texts on my phone from them.

So does Nikki. I don't understand it. Why they can't tell you where he was last with her. You know, I don't understand it either, but it's irrelevant at the moment. At the moment. Yeah, you're right. All that matters is how can we help find Gabby.

For those of you listening, the tip line is 800-220-8477. Repeat, 800-220-8477. Gabby Petito is 22, beautiful, 5'5", 110 pounds, blonde hair, blue eyes, triangle tattoo on one arm, a let it be tattoo on the other arm. And she is a nature lover. I would be looking for her at campgrounds, at RV campgrounds. Mr. Petito, I just took my twins, who are 13 now, last summer during COVID on this exact trip from the Tetons to Yellowstone and all the way back to the eastern seaboard. And it's very treacherous. It's very dangerous territory. There's a lot of land for them to cover. But I would start, I think, at campgrounds and RV grounds and national parks.

Yeah, yeah, anywhere. You know what? Here's what I ask every one of your listeners, every one of your viewers. Go look online. Pull up your page. Just look at pictures of her look at the tattoos she's got look at her facial features you know memorize them i'm begging you i'm begging i'm begging you nancy keep them up as long as you can memorize her face memorize her tattoos

when you're walking down the street when you're hiking a path where it doesn't matter you know if you see something call the tip tip line, let the, let the FBI and the police and the sheriffs handle all their tips. I got, they have people trained to comb through all of them and get the good ones that are, that are factual. Please. I just, that's, that's the only thing I can ask of your listeners and your viewers. Please look at her picture. Please memorize her face. If you, if you to her Instagram or her YouTube videos, whatever they are, and listen to her voice. Look at her mannerisms, the way she walks, the way she holds herself up, you know. And if you see someone that looks like that, I'm begging you, begging you, please call the tip line.

I can't implore that enough. I need, we all need her home. I mean, we're a close family. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Mr. Petito, question to you. I understand the last actual sighting of her was in Ogden, Utah. Is that correct? No.

I think the last time she was seen was in the Grand Tetons of Wyoming. Now, since then, we haven't had contact with her. There were some pictures, I guess, with the butterfly wings, which was in Ogden, Utah, or one of those pictures that you have on our instagram was a bug but the last time she was known to be in was a grand piton so but that's the problem see that's the that's the crux of it right when you say known to be in was she actually seen there yes so that's that's and that's why that's why you know jim's over in wyoming now you know so but that's why Jim's over in Wyoming now. But see that, Nancy, that's the biggest issue right now, right,

is the laundry son is home in their house, and I don't even know exactly what state or where to start. I mean, he's in Florida. They were in Utah. I mean, Wyoming, right? So that means you go down the map. We've got 2,500 miles, three-day drive. Be anywhere.

As a matter of fact, I did. We went through every place, and I'm holding it up right now because I know you can't see me. Everywhere we know they've stopped in routes in between, and there are a lot of them. This is a really long cross-country east-to-west route. And Mr. Petito is saying it's like a needle in a haystack. They don't really know where to even start looking. Boy, I need everybody.

Mr. Petito, is it like her at all to just go off on her own, to be angry at the boyfriend, go off on her own, go camping. Has she ever done that before and been out of touch with you or Nicole? No, she's 22. She's not independently wealthy. You know, no, not at all. I mean, I'd send her money. You know, I spoke to her on the 21st. I sent her food. Not that she needed it and stuff, but just make sure she had it.

You know, at some point she's going to need to talk to somebody or someone's going to have to see her or she's going to need money for food. He took the van home. So what is she doing for shelter? You know what I mean? So no, this is not like her. She's in trouble. You spoke to her on August 21? I last FaceTimed her on August 21st, yes.

And did you say you sent her food? I did. I did. She was having connection issues with ordering food, so I was like, I got you. Don't worry. I sent her food. It's my daughter. It's my only daughter.

To where? In Utah. She was in Salt Lake City, Utah. And I understand that she checked out of that hotel on the 25th? No, I believe it was the 24th. Yes, you're right. It was the 24th yes you're right it was the 24th what did you send her a breach i i actually ordered a domino through my dominoes app you know and got right to her and we were talking as she was eating she was telling me exactly you know what

was going on with her trip where she was headed I helped her with some, she had some like technical issues with the nomadic static page or whatever it was for setting up an email. So I was helping her walk through that. So I mean, no red flags stick out, nothing, nothing, you know, no signs of distress or trouble, nothing like that at all. Just for one one moment you reminded me of the closest person in the world ever to me and that was my dad and just thinking of you ordering her dominoes long distance just really hit me you're so incredibly close to her has she ever gone this long without talking to you? Not even a little bit. Not even her mom.

Jim, your stepfather, Jim, is an amazing dude. Amazing. You know, my wife, Tara, and Gabby's mom, Nicole, have gone out together with Gabby. You know, we didn't play against each other. We never used Gabby as a pawn. It's we're going to do what's best for our child. That is it. Jim loves her like she was his own.

My wife loves Gabby, and Gabby's got the choice. I mean, she's got two families that absolutely love her as if they were her own. She's the oldest of six, and they're all close. You know, the two separate families didn't matter to us and to Jim and Nikki. You know, when it came to Gabby, we were all one. I mean, come on. You can't ask for better than that. She's loved. If you could reach out right now to Brian Laundrie

and his family, what would your message be? First and foremost, tell me, let's answer some questions. Are we in the right spot? You know, I don't care about the other stuff. Right now, I don't give a damn because it means nothing to me if my daughter's not here. All right. Gabby had a tattoo on her forearm. Let it be. be. So right now, let that stuff be. Help us. Help us. I don't even care right now because at the end of the day,

if I don't have my daughter, what does it matter? But they're not helping, so we're doing everything we can. Mr. Petito, did Brian Laundrie board a plane around August 17, 18 and fly home for a week? I can't discuss that.

You know, like I said, there's an investigation. I'm not going to give stuff like that until I'm told to. Mr. Petito, what's your message to Gabby now and for those people searching for her? Call us. Try and, you know, grab somebody's phone and call us. You know, send a flare try and get in touch with someone you know try and take this send a signal out so we can come to you welcome get I don't keep in minutes minutes I will be

there I don't care you know we got people all over this country looking for her and everybody you know I'll tell you something you know it doesn't get enough credit social media has a really bad stigma of being horrible. And I'll tell you, it has been unbelievable how amazing everybody is. Unbelievable. Everybody's sharing. Everybody's doing everything they can. Everybody cares. Maybe they have their own personal interest in it, but at the end of the day, they're looking for her. And that's all I care about. So I'll tell you, it's been amazing. And I need for that to keep happening until she comes home. So anyone that's listening, please keep sharing, put up the tip line number, you know, so people can, you know, memorize it because we got to get her home. And that's all I'm begging

for that. That tip line number is 800-222-8477. Repeat 800-220-8477. 220-8477. Repeat. 800-220- 8477. 220-8477. With me is Gabby's father, Joseph Petito, making a heartfelt plea to everyone to look for Gabby. Mr. Petito, thank you.

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. I will now bring in the rest of our All-Star panel to try and make sense of the facts as they are developing right now. James Shelnut with me. 27 years, Metro major case, now Shelnut Law Firm. Dr. Angela Arnold, renowned psychiatrist, joining me out of the Atlanta jurisdiction at AngelaArnoldMD.com. Professor of Forensics, Jacksonville State University, author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon, star of a hit series, Piked and Masked on I Heart, Joe Scott Morgan, Mike King, joining me, the host of Profiling Evil on YouTube, former cop there in Ogden, Utah, and Andrea Olson, eastidahonews.com. You can find her at News With Andrea.

Mike King, first to you, former cop in Ogden, Utah. What do you make of the call from we believe to be an anonymous tipster police report in Moab, Utah, that there was insufficient evidence? Sounds to me like there was a dispute, an argument between Gabby and the boyfriend. This is on August 12, and the cops show up and leave. But what do you make of it? Yeah, it sounds like probably a domestic violence situation in the campground. Another camper called. Law enforcement came. Probably both parties refused to share any information, and because of that, then law enforcement had to turn around and leave. Really disturbing. It's unknown how much of a case report

was written, how much information, whether the witnesses were actually retained so that there could be follow-up about what the conversation was. So there's a lot there that should be followed up on. I wish we knew, but they are not detailing that 911 call. But having been at many, many campgrounds and many, many RV parks with my children, you can hear a loud argument in a lot of RV and camping sites. Some of them, you're so far away, you can't. But obviously something was heard or seen that someone felt they had to call police and police actually showed up claiming insufficient evidence to make an arrest that's what we are learning right now we are also learning out to angie olson east idaho news.com that florida police have named brian laundry a poi person of interest so to tell

you honestly nancy this is all new, fluid information. I've been trying to talk to Josh Taylor out of Northport currently. There's a lot of new information developing. Straight out to you, Joe Scott Morgan, I agree with Mr. Petito. Gabby's father, that's nothing. What is that? If they care and they want to know what happened to her, then why aren't they speaking to cops? Why isn't he out looking?

Yeah, I got to tell you, Nancy, there's a certain time in life where your own personal self-interest is outweighed by the needs of a missing girl that's out in the wilderness, essentially. That you have no idea what the status of her is. If you have any humanity within you at all, if you have a soul, get in contact with the cops and just give them an indication as to what's going on, because the clock is ticking at this point. To Jamie Shelnut, 27 years Metro major case, now lawyer at the Shelnut firm. Take a listen to our friends at CBS2. They say the inability to speak with Laundrie is hampering the investigation. They've only been given the name of an attorney to ask questions through.

Laundrie's attorney here on Long Island. It's a very difficult time for both the Petito family and the Laundrie family. Stephen Bertolino declined comment on Gabby's whereabouts. On behalf of the Laundrie family, I will hope that Ms. Petito is located and that she's reunited with her family. Police say they are very concerned for Gabby's well-being. The family asks for the public to focus on finding her. Out to you, James Shelnut, why can't he at least state where he was last with Gabby? Probably because he's concerned that it could lead to some type of incriminating information against him. You know, when she's alive and well, what could the problem be?

You know, if you know some of the things that didn't happen also bother me in this case. And this goes to what you're asking. You know, he didn't ask or didn't report to the police that she's missing. He's not reached out to the family. He's not done any of the things that we would normally expect a person to see in an investigation if something innocent was afoot. And I'm not ready to convict this guy yet, but I'm just saying that he is acting completely inconsistent with someone who's had a girlfriend just walk up and leave you know joseph morgan following on what sheldon is saying

we now know that the national park service is coordinating with multiple law enforcement agencies as part of the investigation to potatoes whereabouts that is a big a tall order to start searching national parks but what they could do do you remember and for instance um the laurie valo case there was actually video or stills at a parking lot at yellowstone showing valo and her brother alex co Cox coming in with JJ and Tylee. Remember? Yeah, yeah, you're going to have videography, but another piece to this, as it applies to the National Park Service, is that, Nancy, you know as well as anybody, there are check-in points that you have to meet. That's at a baseline from an investigative standpoint. When you roll through the gate at a

federal park, you have to check in. Now, there's going to be videography there, but there's also all kinds of timestamps that are involved in this. This isn't the 50s where you just roll in, claim a spot, drop some money in a box, and call it done. It's not like that anymore. There are going to be little crumbs of evidence all along the way. They're going to give you an idea as to where they are. Well, when you go into a national park like Yellowstone, first of all, there's a line. You have to go in. You have to go through a guard. A lot of times they get your tag number. You have to pay to get in. There's a lot of clues, just as you're saying, to figure out how far Gabby made it. Another issue straight to

Andrea Olson, EastIdahoNews.com. We know that the police were at Laundrie's home and they left after leaving a pink envelope. What was that, a subpoena? Yeah, so nobody really seems to know what exactly that is. And I'm trying to get confirmation on that today. Let me ask you, Dr. Angela Arnold, I find it interesting that you've got the Florida police, the Suffolk County, New York police, you have the Moab police involved, the Ogden police involved, and now the FBI is involved in the search for Gabby. Let me ask you, what does

that say to you and what do you think is behind Landry's parents' motive in keeping him from police? Nancy, this is so ugly as far as I'm concerned. And in all of these stories that you do, things don't vary much. They are keeping him behind closed doors because he is guilty of something. And if he is her fiancé, then why isn't he overwrought with agony about the fact that this girl is missing? The reason is because he knows why she's missing. Okay. He is the key to everything. And somebody, you're right. And I think the parents motive is to keep their own child out of trouble. I understand Mike King profiling evil hosts. You may have information about the pink envelope. Yes. We actually received the note from someone

that it was the return on the search warrant that was just being returned for the vehicle now i haven't validated that with law enforcement or anything else but that would explain and certainly would fit with law enforcement procedures mike king host of profiling evil on youtube former cop in ogden ut Mike, right now so much is breaking. We have the boyfriend. He is not a fiance. I've clarified that much. The boyfriend has been named a person of interest in Florida. We have the national parks helping on the search. The FBI is now involved, which I find to be very, very telling. What more can you tell us that's unfolding right now? Well, I think as we look at the whole behavior of the whole thing, I mean, we've got

some anchor points. We know that they left Arches National Monument and Moab. We have the police call a week earlier. We get them to Salt Lake City. Salt Lake City undoubtedly has them on video checking out of the hotel. We know they left there. We know they ended up in Ogden, Utah. All of this, as it starts to go from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and now state to state, is a reason why we see the FBI involved. And now with the search going on, it makes me want to think that they may have already served some warrants on forensic information on the cell phone and that that's put that cell phone up into that area. I think the report that I read was that mom had actually talked to her on FaceTime or some social media outlet in Jackson. So we know that she made it to Jackson. And the

next thought was we were going to go to Yellowstone, which is just a short jump from Jackson. And so they've got her up in an area where they're trying to look at the cell phone data. Now it's going to just be interesting from a forensic case what that leads them to and what gives probability of where she was last seen. Well, I've got to say, Nancy, I've really been kind of rolling this over in my mind relative to the van and how it's being processed. You know, the thing about it is they've been living out of this van for a protracted period of time.

And I know your listeners, they're thinking DNA, DNA, DNA, and you're absolutely right. There will be incidental DNA in that van as a result of just day-to-day living. But some of the things that they're going to be looking for are things like a sign of a struggle in there, something that would be such grievous trauma that she would have perhaps blood is in there, tufts of hair, those sorts of things that are left behind in a struggle.

So they're going to have to separate the regular DNA from regular life. And what might be brought about is something that came about as a result of nefarious activity. What about regular things? If you're not going to get a tuft of hair, what about if all of her clothes were in there, all of her belongings? Yeah. And that's another thing, Nancy, you're thinking about this wilderness area. What, what if just where's her camping gear? Was that still in the van of the van and abandoned her in some isolated, and there is a whole bunch of isolated, out in that area and just left her. We wait as justice unfolds.

Again, the tip line, if you have information about Gabby Petito, 1-800-220-8477. Nancy Grace, Crime Story story signing off. Goodbye. You're listening to an I heart podcast.