Murder In America - EP. 34 GABBY PETITO (A Body Has Been Found)

Episode Date: September 20, 2021

Unfortunately, a body has been found. Reports are coming in that the body belongs to 22 year old Gabby Petito. Gabby has been missing for weeks, and the circumstances behind her disappearance are shocking. Add into this the fact that her ex-fiance, Brian Laundrie, the lead suspect the investigation has vanished into thin air, and you have one compelling mystery. This, is the story of Gabby Petito. And you're listening, to MURDER IN AMERICA. - Listen to our podcast on AUDIBLE (and enjoy a 30-day FREE TRIAL, on US!) at the link below!: https://audible.com/state/ - Clear up YOUR acne (and dramatically improve your skincare routine) with APOSTROPHE! Just click on THIS LINK and use code "STATE" at checkout!!: https://www.apostrophe.com/pod/STATE/ - Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Warning, the following podcast is not suitable for all audiences. We go into great detail with every case that we cover and do our best to bring viewers even deeper into the stories by utilizing disturbing audio and sound effects. Trigger warnings from the stories we cover may include violence, rape, murder, and offenses against children. This podcast is not for everyone. You have been warned. The disappearance of Gabby Petito. This story doesn't really need an introduction. If you're fans of true crime, you definitely have heard this name by now.

And if you haven't, we are going to take a deep dive into this case today and give you all of the information we possibly can. Sadly, in this case, we have no real clues, no hard evidence as of now. We have nothing but speculation, some facts, and some short segments of video. Her name is one that has recently been plastered all. across every news outlet out there, every news website, and every true crime TikTok, the story of Gabby Petito. We don't have answers to this case.

We don't have a resolution yet, but I'm sure we'll soon find out exactly what happened. But until then, we are going to share the story from beginning to sort of the end. We are also going to discuss the two murders that occurred near where Brian and Gabby were camping, but we don't think that they're connected, but it is weird that these two incidences happened in such close proximity. We do want to point out that as of now, the podcast is updated with all of the information that we have been given, but a recent discovery has been made, one that may change the entire course of this horrific story. This is the story of the currently unfolding mystery behind the disappearance of Gabby Petito.

I'm Courtney Shannon. And I'm Colin Brown. And you're listening to Murder in America. I just want to state straight out of the gate that we don't really know that Gabby is deceased. Although a recent development has shaped the way we are viewing this case right now, we're watching it unfold live and we don't know if the body that was recently found really belongs to Gabby Petito. A lot of the facts and parts of this story that we're about to cover in this podcast are unfolding as we speak. However, we're going to try cover the story of another couple of.

unsolved murders that occurred recently in this very podcast. Stay tuned to hear that tragic unsolved story later on in the show. Unfortunately, at the time of this podcast's writing, we didn't know much about the life of Gabby before her disappearance. Gabby was born on March 19, 1999, in Suffol County, New York. She was a bright child and grew up surrounded by a loving and supported family. You will see later in our story that Gabby's family deeply carries. about her and she had a really good support system.

She graduated from Bayport Blue Point High School in 2017, and in 2019, she allegedly moved in with the family of her childhood sweetheart, a young man by the name of Brian Laundry. Just to state here outright, we are not alleging that Brian did anything in this podcast. We are simply reporting on facts and relaying to you guys a complete report on all that we know right now. Obviously, if you're listening in a few months, there are going to be plenty more developments in the story, and there's going to be a lot more information available. But at this very moment, we felt like this story was extremely important to tell right now.

When we find out more about this case, we'll update this podcast and tell you the complete story. Now, like I said, this part of the story is pretty bare bones, but we're going to include as much detail as possible. At one point in 2020, allegedly, Gabby and Bryant got engaged. They were deeply in love. At this point, Gabby was living in Florida with her fiancé Brian. The two had a seemingly normal, loving relationship from the outside looking in. But now, in hindsight, their relationship was far from perfect.

At one point, Gabby and Brian decided that they wanted to take a cross-country road trip, and so they did. and that's what leads us to this mystery. In June 2021, Gabby and Brian began their journey. They decided to travel in a white 2012 Ford Transit Connect van that belonged to Gabby. Reportedly, the two began their travels in Blue Point, New York, at Gabby's Brothers High School graduation. It was from there where the couple's cross-country road trip began.

They allegedly intended on heading to the west coast, headed towards Portland for Halloween, planning on visiting national parks and nature areas along the way. But this trip would not go according to plan. Here are a few of the locations that the couple allegedly visited on their trip. On July 10th, Gabby and Brian, according to an Instagram post, visited the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in Colorado. And it looked like the two were having a great time.

On the post, Gabby was seen riding a sandboard, and it looked like everything in the world was going to be. going right. On July 16th, Gabby posted a series of photos from Zion National Park in Utah. She talked about how beautiful their time spent there was as they hiked, camped, and watched a beautiful lightning storm pass over above. On July 21st, Gabby posted a photo tagged at Bryce Canyon National Park with the caption, quote, Zion, Cedar Breaks, Bryce, end quote.

Apparently, the couple was traveling frequently and visiting a bunch of parks in a short amount of time. On July 30th, the couple was apparently in the Canyonlands National Park once again in Utah. And again, they seemed happy in their photos, playful, and the mood to explore. By August 12th, the two had made it to the Arches National Park outside of Moab, Utah. And this is where the story starts to get strange. August 12, 2021, the couple is pulled over in the van that they're traveling in by the police. Body camera footage captures most of this interaction. The footage is almost eerie.

In the video, Gabby seems extremely distressed. She's crying and apologizing profusely. I'm sorry, Gabby says, after the officer asks her why she's crying. We've just been fighting this morning, some personal issues. As the officers separate the two, they can definitely tell that the both of them have been fighting. Brian in the video seems to have some scratches on his body sustained during the couple's physical altercation and fight. It was a long day. We were camping yesterday, Brian told officers. The body camera footage is almost an hour long.

In the video, both Brian and Gabby admit to arguing all morning. At one point, the officer asks Brian about the bloody scratches on his face. He responded by saying, She had her phone and was trying to get the keys from me. I said, let's just step back and breathe. and she got me with her phone i'm going to include some audio from the body camera footage here here's gabby herself speaking about what was happening his names gabby brian okay what's going on what can you're trying some words from brian his version of the story

i didn't give it i didn't get it really physical i just try to keep her way and not get it and then i got really loud and then that's like you ever get some reds going you said you push her to create some distance obviously right we got the scratches on here you push and she's like a push and she jumped. I mean, she was already swinging. The report written by responding officer Eric Pratt, quote, and female reported that they are in love and engaged to be married and desperately didn't wish to see anyone charged with a crime.

The authority set Brian up with a hotel room and gave Gabby control over the van that the couple was traveling in. And it seemed like nobody at the time had any idea what would happen next. I mean, how could they? So obviously you guys love listening to stuff, listening to podcasts, books, comedy shows, you know, audio programming of any sort. Obviously, yes, we do. I'm more of a podcast listener myself. I'm actually the one that got Colin into podcasting. So, yeah, I'm pretty experienced in this realm.

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Just head to audible.com slash state or text-state to 500-500-0. Anyways, thanks for listening, everybody. Now let's get back to today's currently unfolding story. But why did the two get pulled over in the first place? Well, earlier that day, an anonymous caller had dialed 911 and reported a domestic dispute that was taking place outside of the Moonflower Cooperative grocery store in the heart of Moab, Utah.

The couple having the domestic dispute was none other than Gabby and Brian. Apparently, their fight was so shocking, so potentially violent that somebody had phoned the incident in to the police. This grocery store, the Moonflower Co-op, plays an important role. in our story. For you see, this grocery store was the workplace of 24-year-old Kylan Schulte. Kylan was a young woman with a long life ahead of her. She had recently gotten married to her love. 38-year-old Crystal Turner, and the two were very happy. You see, in Moab, Utah, it's a small town. No one bothers each other, and crime is virtually non-existent, with a population of barely over 5,000 people

it seems to be a place where almost everyone knows each other. So when Crystal and Kylin went missing after heading off to a camping trip in the area on August 14th, 2021, friends and family took notice immediately. Sadly, the story of Kylin and Crystal does not end well. After going missing for a few days, on August 18th, 2021, the bodies of Kylin and Crystal were found near the South Mesa area of LaSalle Loop Road in Grand County, Utah. According to the the Grand County Sheriff's Office. Both Kylin and Crystal were discovered in states of undress, with multiple gunshot wounds in their bodies. They had been murdered, and still, to this day, there are no suspects in the case. Now, we do want to come out and say that it has been determined

that these two murders are not connected to the Gabby Potato case. And although it isn't connected, we do want to mention it because we just think it's strange and their cases matter too. So here is what we know about their case. Kylin and Crystal had gone camping on that fateful weekend and allegedly they had communicated some strange things to their peers while out in the woods. Apparently, while camping, the couple complained to their friends about a strange man behaving in a creepy manner behind their campsite. Kylin's aunt, Bridget Calvert, revealed to reporters after the murders that, quote,

they said they were going to go move. They were going to go pack up and move their campsite, that he was still creeping them out. End quote. Later, a now public police search warrant revealed that, quote, investigators were informed that Kylin had mentioned to her friends that if something happened to them, they were murdered. Kylan had continued by saying there was a, quote, creepy man around their camp. and they had been intimidated by him."

End quote. According to a warrant, when obtained by local news in Utah, when officials from the Grand County Sheriff's Office arrived at the campsite where Crystal and Kylin had been camping, they found a Kia Sorrento, a camping tent, amenities and items intended for use at a long-term campsite and a makeshift rabbit shelter. In a sad turn, Kylin and Crystal Head, while alive, enjoyed camping in the wilderness with their pet rabbit. Crystal and Kylan were beloved members of the community of Moab.

And as published in The Daily Mail during an interview, Kylin's grandmother said that she was, quote, like sunshine brightening any room she walked into and loved to laugh. We will never get over this tragedy, but we'll let the joy of her memories take over, end quote. We're going to stop the podcast at this point, and add in here that anyone with information about who may have possibly murdered Crystal and Kylin is asked to contact a Grand County Sheriff's Office at 435-259-8115.

So, how do the murders of Crystal and Kylin tie into the disappearance of Gabby Petito? Well, it's actually quite the connection. Remember when a random stranger called into the police to report a domestic disturbance between Brian and Gabby? Well, they were allegedly fighting directly outside of the Moonflower Co-op where Kylin Shulte worked. Just days after this fight, Kylin would be murdered outside of Moab, Utah, where the store is located. Even though this is an interesting twist in the story, just a few days ago, the Grand County Sheriff's Department released the following statement, saying it has been determined that the Gabby Petito missing persons case is not related to the double homicide case, including Crystal Turner and Kylin Shulte.

It seems like the murders of Kylin and Crystal will remain unsolved for now. So now we get to the disappearance of Gabby Petito. And this is where our story starts to get strange. On August 19th, 2021, a video was uploaded to a YouTube channel titled Nomadic Static. In the video, Gabby Petito and Brian Laundry are seen traveling the country in their van. They're smiling, discussing their trip, enjoying a few snacks along the way, and just enjoying life. Early, this video would provide fans. and investigators with some of the last known images of Gabby.

In an interesting twist, allegedly, Brian flew home to help his dad unload and clean out a storage unit in Florida from August 17th to August 23rd and left Gabby alone in Salt Lake City, Utah, with her van. She reportedly spent this time in a Fairfield Inn and Suites in Salt Lake City, a hotel, which, sadly, was located just two blocks away from a local FBI office. When Gabby and Brian checked out of this hotel on August 24th, this would be the last time that Gabby was publicly seen alive. After she was reported missing on September 11th, 2021, Gabby Petito's family told authorities that she had kept in contact with them through the end of August. According to Gabby's family, this was the timeline of Gabby's final attempts to contact them.

This 24th, Gabby, who still seemed to cheery and normal, called her mom on Facebook. and told her that she was at the time leaving the state of Utah and heading for the mountain ranges in Wyoming. On August 25th, the very next day, multiple texts are shared between Gabby and her mother. Her family genuinely believed that she was in the titans on this date and that everything was going well. On August 27th, suddenly Gabby stops communicating with her family over text and FaceTime. Although her family hears nothing from her, they believe that she's safe and she's traveling through the mountain ranges where at times, self-service and reception can be pretty spotty, so it's not too concerning at first. And on August 30, 2021, Gabby's family out of the blue receives their last text message and communication in general from Gabby. At the time of recording this podcast, Gabby's family is stating to the news outlets and authorities that they're not.

They are in doubt that Gabby herself sent this message. Allegedly, this final message that Gabby sent read, quote, No service in Yosemite, end quote. Skin care. It can literally be the most frustrating thing in the world sometimes. It seems like acne and blemishes show up at my worst times. I've tried a billion skin care products, it seems like, and some of them are so expensive and after using them on your face,

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head to these websites of our sponsors, engage with them, purchase something. We here at the show, don't promote products that we don't believe in. We've tried them all. So head to apostrophe.com slash state and help us out today. You won't regret it. Anyways, let's get back right now to this story that currently at this very moment is developing. Now, if that wasn't strange enough, get this. On September 1st, 2021, Gabby's boyfriend slash fiancee Brian Laundre, abruptly returns home to Northport, Florida, to the house that Brian and Gabby shared with Brian's parents. But even though Brian is driving that same white 2012 Ford Transit Connect van that belonged to Gabby, Gabby was not with him. Soon after, on September 11, 2021,

Gabby's family in New York reports to authorities that she's missing. On the same night that Gabby is reported to be missing, police officers in Florida head to Brian's home. But unfortunately, Unfortunately, Brian refuses to talk to authorities. Officers are essentially handed the contact information for Brian's attorneys, and they are turned away from the home. Authorities have since stated that Brian is a person of interest in the disappearance of his girlfriend Gabby Petito, and Brian Laundrie and his family have basically refused to cooperate with the investigation.

They haven't given any details from the trip, no clues as to where Gabby may be, and are choosing to remain silent. After trying to find where Gabby Petito was and the laundry family continued to remain silent, Gabby's family's attorney issued a statement. Here are a few of the quotes from these statements. Brian left Gabby in the wilderness with grizzly bears and wolves while he sits in the comfort of his home. In his home, Brian, your silence is reprehensible.

We beg you to do the right thing and help us bring Gabby home. Brian, whatever happened in Wyoming, happened. The only thing you can control is what you do now. Tell us where Gabby is. Since this case has received so much attention and has thrust the story of Gabby and Brian into the public eye, a number of internet sleuths have come forward with theories on what may have happened and provided their own two cents.

While a lot of these reports have been filled with hearsay, a number of people have actually provided important clues as to where Gabby may be and clues about what Brian Laundrie may have been up to after she went missing. Let's start with a woman named Miranda Baker. She recently took to TikTok to tell a strange story about one night in late August when she allegedly picked up Brian Laundry, who was hitchhiking alone through the Grand Teton's National Park,

the last place where authorities have been able to place Gabby Petito. In the TikTok video that she posted, Miranda Baker claimed that Brian, approached she and her boyfriend around 5.44 p.m. local time on the evening of August 29th and asked them for a ride to Jackson, Wyoming. Miranda in her video stated that Brian allegedly offered she and her boyfriend $200 for the 10-mile drive. They accepted the money and allowed him to tag along. It should also be pointed out that at one point Brian mentioned to local law enforcement when he was being interviewed that he didn't have enough money to pay for a hotel room. So how did he produce this $200?

That is a mystery. Allegedly, while they were small talking in the car, Miranda claimed that Brian had mentioned that he had been camping for, quote, multiple days without his fiance, end quote. And he said that she was, quote, working on their social media page back at their van, end quote. When Miranda at one point mentioned that her and her boyfriend had their own plans to visit nearby Jackson Hole, she said that Brian allegedly freaked out and demanded that they let him out of the car. Miranda went on to say that she pulled over at the Jackson Dam, not far from Colter Bay, at 6.9 p.m. that night and let Brian out of the car. She said, quote,

he kind of like hurried out of the car and was like, okay, I'm just going to find someone else to hitchhike with. And we were like, okay, it was a weird situation, end quote. Allegedly, on the day that Miranda and her boyfriend picked up Brian, she claimed that he was wearing a backpack, hiking boots, and a long-sleeved shirt. Even though he had some scruffy facial hair on his face, Miranda claimed that Brian didn't seem to look or smell dirty. He seemed pretty normal. The FBI and other authorities have been in contact with Miranda and have reportedly used the information that she provided in their search. A man on TikTok also posted a video alleging that around this time at the end of August, he ran into Brian in a restaurant slash bar called Bullwinkles in the area.

Allegedly, the man stated that Brian told the group that he was from New York, his name was Brian, and the man also stated that Brian seemed visibly irritated at the time. Brian's demeanor in the bar was so strange, in fact, that the group, upon leaving, allegedly discussed how he had made them very uncomfortable, and even brought up the idea that they may have encountered a serial killer. We aren't sure if this is a hundred percent fact, but if it is, that is pretty strange. And now for an even more disturbing twist. A video was recently uploaded to YouTube titled,

Is this Gabby Petito's van caught on YouTuber's camera? In the video uploaded by a couple, Jen and Kyle Bethune, the two are traveling cross-country on August 27, 2021, just a few days after the last confirmed sighting of Gabby Petito alive. in their RV with their three children and four dogs as they crossed through the Spread Creek dispersed camping land in Grand Teton National Park. Suddenly, as they're filming on the dashboard, they pass a white van with Florida plates. Since the family was from Florida, they made note of this van and thought that maybe they could stop by and say hello to these fellow Floridians. But at the time,

nobody seemed to be around. The van has allegedly been linked to Gabby and Brian, and the footage itself has almost a spooky quality to it. Nobody's around. The van is dark, and it almost feels evil. On the dashboard, avid watchers have pointed out that one can see Gabby's hat, the same hat that was captured days earlier in a police body cam footage from when Gabby and Brian were pulled over. Also, others have noticed that next to the van, there appears to be a flip-flop. The same style of flip-flop that is allegedly seen lying outside of the van seems to match the same flip-flop that Gabby is seen wearing in photos on her Instagram before her disappearance. Others have noticed that a cargo bag was seen atop the van, in post on Instagram and in the couple's

van life YouTube video is suddenly missing. While the bag could have potentially been stored inside or beneath the van, it also could have been used for the disposal of her body, which is what some people are assuming again, we aren't 100% sure. On Friday, September 17th, 2021, police in Florida were called to the home where Brian and Gabby once lived, where Brian's parents still continue to reside. They requested to speak with the police and supposedly provided some information. But when the police searched for Brian with whom they wanted to speak, he was gone. At this time that we're recording this podcast, nobody knows where Brian Laundry is.

His lawyer, his family, the police, they all seem to be clueless. Brian has disappeared into the night. And to us, the hosts of this podcast, this seems to be some sort of proof that indeed he knows something about what happened to Gabby Petito. And now there's another twist in the case. Like we said, we are releasing this podcast as it's unfolding. So if you're listening to this at a later date, more information may be available to fill in the gaps.

But as of this time, on September 19th, 2021, Brian Laundry himself is now missing. Or, as a lot of people are saying, he's hiding. Brian's parents later alleged that earlier in the week, Brian had left to go camping in the 25,000-acre Carlton Reserve, a natural area full of swamps and forests just outside of Sarasota, Florida. He has made no contact with his family since he left, and for the past few days, authorities have been vigilantly searching for him. But there are no signs of Brian. Brian's family has since stated that they fear that he's in danger, that he may have harmed himself.

K-9 units have been deployed. There have been authorities searching on the ground, in the air, and even in the water. And still, Brian Laundrie is nowhere to be found. The police spokesman in Florida, after learning this, issued the following statement. Quote, we've been trying all week to talk to his family, to talk to Brian, and now they've called us here on Friday. We've gone to the home, and they're now saying that they have not seen their son. It's another twist in this story. End quote.

The attorney for the laundry family, Stephen Bertolino, stated on CNN on Friday, that, Quote, the whereabouts of Brian Laundry are currently unknown. The FBI is currently at the Laundry residents removing property to assist in locating Brian. As of now, the FBI is now looking for both Gabby and Brian, end quote. And now for the end of the story, or maybe the beginning of the real story. Right now, it's 5.45 p.m. on Sunday, September 19th, 2021. and headlines are just now starting to appear, claiming that the FBI has located a body in Grand Teton National Park. And authorities are confirming to the press that indeed, this body that they have found matches the description of 22-year-old Gabby Petito.

Although DNA has yet to confirm that this body belongs to Gabby, the Northport Police Department is making statements saying how sad it is that they've found Gabby's remains. the FBI is offering condolences to the Petito family. It seems that by waiting to put this podcast out, we waited just long enough. It looks like Gabby has been found, but she wasn't found in the way that we would have liked her to be. But at the end of the day, we really don't know yet if this truly is Gabby. We are assuming here at this podcast that the body does belong to her based on the facts, but this is all just alleged information that we're reporting on as it happens.

If this body does belong to Gabby, it still raises so many more questions. We don't truly know how she died. If Brian was the one responsible for her death, or how all of this went down. But at this moment, to us, it really does seem like they've found Gabby Petito. And we here at Murder in America are eager to do. find out just what happened to her, how it happened, and who is responsible. At the end of this podcast, we really would like to offer our condolences from Courtney and I to the Petito family. We want to thank everybody that was involved in the search, and we're

very glad that these developments, this progress, has been made in the case, although it's a sad ending to a sad story. Hopefully, in the near future, they can find Brian, they can determine what happened, how it happened, and they can find justice for Gabby Petito. Hey everybody, it's Colin here. And Courtney? Sorry about having two episodes this weekend. We really wanted to highlight the Madisonville Jane Doe on the anniversary of her discovery. And obviously Gabby Petito, this case is developing right now.

Literally, we added in the part about her supposed body being discovered as it was happening. Like, this just happened right now, isn't it? It's just crazy, isn't it? Yeah, we were about to record, and Colin was like, oh, my God, they just found her. And we were like, wow, like, I can't believe that happened right before we recorded it. Yeah, so that's our job here as podcasters. We want to thank you guys for listening every single week. All of you guys are amazing out there.

Next week, we're going to be back with a very brutal, very shocking case. If you want to follow us on social media, go to Instagram, Twitter, at Murder in America. We're trying to hit 10,000 followers on both of those platforms by the end of the year, so every follow counts. If you want to become a Patreon member, you can become a patron. We have bonus podcasts on there. The last one was about stalking and murder and family annihilation. That podcast? Podcast.

Well, that's crazy. So you just have to go to patreon.com slash a murder in America. We love talking to you guys on there in the exclusive group chat. It's awesome. Courtney, do you have anything left to add? No, I just hope that we get some. answers here in the near future about where Brian is. Condolences once again to the Petito family.

We're so sorry that all this happened. And as always, everybody, it's Colin here. And Courtney? And no matter what, everybody, keep asking yourself that same question that we say at the end of every show. The dead don't talk. Or do they? Thanks for listening to everybody.

And we'll see you next weekend.