The Misery Machine - Breaking News: Gabby Petito‘s Body Has Been Found?

Episode Date: September 21, 2021

This week, Drewby and Yergy discuss the timeline of events in the Gabby Petito case, and what we currently know up until the discovery of her remains yesterday in Wyoming. We will update you as this story develops. As of the date of this recording, Brian Laundrie has yet to be located. If you know anything regarding his whereabouts, please contact the FBI tip  line at 1-800-CALL-FBI. A very special thank you to Levi for supporting our show as our highest tier patron! Support Our Patreon For More Unreleased Content: https://www.patreon.com/themiserymachine Buy Us A Coffee! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/miserymachine Join Our Street Team! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1HfRUPQhB6LOqVupZm92OdV5rLDQcIMpHudmUZwt0C24/edit?usp=sharing Levi's Adoption Fundraising Page: https://gofund.me/d658a3a7 Join Our Facebook Group to Request a Topic: https://t.co/DeSZIIMgXs?amp=1 PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/themiserymachine Instagram: miserymachinepodcast Twitter: misery_podcast Discord: https://discord.gg/kCCzjZM #themiserymachine #podcast #truecrime Source Material: https://abc7ny.com/gabby-petito-disappearance-timeline-brian-laundrie/11024821/ https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/20/us/gabby-petito-brian-laundrie-update/index.html https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/19/us/who-is-gabrielle-petito.html https://www.thecut.com/2021/09/disappearance-of-gabby-petito-what-we-know.html https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/17/us/brian-laundrie-gabby-petito.html?smid=url-share https://meaww.com/did-brian-return-to-florida-after-august-12-fight-gabby-petitos-bf-came-home-before-going-back

Hi, we're the Misery Machine. I'm here again. And I'm Drewby and we've received a lot of requests for this and we have some breaking news. There's some updates in the Gabby Petito case. So we figured we'd do this bonus episode this week to let you know what's been going on with the case so far. Absolutely. So I kind of want to give you guys a bit of a reminder here. I think it's really important that we know that there are many many gabbies out there. And while we're extremely happy that her case got the resolution as fast as it did. Remember, there are many out there just like Gabby that need your attention. And as true crime listeners and folks who want to resolve missing persons and true crime cases,

it's your responsibility and our responsibility to keep that same kind of energy for everybody. Your work has never done. No, it's never done. If you want to solve cold cases and missing persons cases, and now more than ever, there's so many people that are working hard to help solve these cases, your work is never done. There's always going to be another Gabby. So I'm really excited to see all these people helping. Please bring that energy to other cases in the future and hopefully we'll get this one resolves shortly. Absolutely. But without further ado, make the case of Gabby Petito.

For the past few weeks, the internet has all been asking the same question. Where is Gabby Petito? The oldest of six siblings, Gabby Petito was a 22-year-old pharmacy technician from New York who was engaged to a 23-year-old man named Brian Laundery, whom she had met the Bayport Blue Point High School on Long Island. The pair began dating after graduation and had moved to Florida two years ago. The couple had been in Blue Point, New York, to celebrate her younger brother's graduation from high school. On July 2nd, the two departed on a planned four-month cross-country journey. Gabby and Brian had gotten engaged, but postponed their wedding plans because of the pandemic and decided to take the trip instead.

The couple were driving Gabby's white 2012 Ford Transit van, which they had converted into a camper to allow them to sleep and cook meals inside as they traveled. According to their social media posts, the pair traveled from Florida to Kansas, Colorado, and Utah, touring and camping at several national parks and natural attractions. On August 12th, police had an encounter with Gabby and Brian, and the pair were described as having, quote, engaged in some sort of altercation, end quote. according to a report released by the Moab City Police Department. Officers were called to reports of disorderly conduct and encountered Brian and Gabby, along with a witness whose full name was redacted from the report. The couple were described as having gotten into a physical fight following an argument, but, quote, both the male and the female reported they are in love and are engaged to be married

and desperately did not wish to see anyone charged with a crime, end quote, according to the report from Officer Eric Pratt. Police later released body camera footage of officers' encounter with the pair, during which Gabby is emotional and crying throughout much of the video. Brian claimed the couple got into a minor scuffle that began when he climbed into the van with dirty feet. Gabby admits that she slapped Brian when she thought he was going to leave her in Moab, and the couple also stated that Brian did not hit Gabby in return. Brian had visible scratches on his arms, face, and neck,

and police took photos of his injuries. Gabby was nearly arrested, but since both parties stated that they were in love and didn't want charges press, the couple agreed to separate for the night. Brian was put up in a hotel by a domestic assault outreach group. Brian was described as polite, and it was noted that he declined several offers of bottled water because he didn't like the plastic. I have to say, even though this case does not end this way, I am very happy to see domestic outreach groups serving men that they perceive are domestic violence victims.

According to reports, Brian flew back to Florida from Utah from August 17th to August 23rd to help his father move his and Gabby's belongings into storage. He then flew back to Utah and the couple checked out of a hotel they were staying at on the 24th. Gabby was last known to be in Grand Teton, Wyoming on August 25th, 2021, heading towards Yellowstone National Park. According to Gabby's stepfather, Jim Schmidt, quote, she would go off the grid doing her van life stuff. exploring these different areas. So it was not uncommon for her to go off for a few days at a time, but she'd always make her way back someplace where she could get on a Wi-Fi connection,

upload to her Instagram, make phone calls, and FaceTime. Gabby's mother, Nicole Schmidt, said that her last text message she received from her daughter came on August 30th. Her family said they do not believe that message was sent from Gabby, and what it basically said was no service here. And that's really all it said,

after several days of not hearing from her. And it should be noted as well that Gabby and Brian are social media influencers, and they've been traveling around doing this since 2019. So even on their social media profiles, it was dead silent on there as well. The last update, I believe, from Gabby on social media was on August 30th, and it was her holding a little crocheted pumpkin. Brian allegedly returned to the Northport home he and Petito shared with his parents on September 1st. He had driven the van there and Petito was not with him.

On September 11th, Gabby's family reported her missing to the Suffolk County Police Department in New York at approximately 6.55 p.m. When police in Florida knocked on the laundry's door that evening, his parents handed them a lawyer's phone number. Their van was then seized and processed as evidence, and a lot of people online find it suspicious that they lawyered up that fast. And again, as I've said many times on this podcast, it's not an omission of guilt to lawyer up. but a lot of people found this suspicious. Another thing I find suspicious is why in the world did he have to interrupt the trip in order to go move things into a storage unit? You think they would do it together, right?

Like when they got back, it's just kind of awkward. And you think it would cost more money and all of that? Yeah, it just didn't make any sense. So on Wednesday the 15th, Brian was officially named a person of interest in Gabby's disappearance and the Northport police said that he was hindering the investigation. Brian has not made himself available to be interviewed by investigators or provided any helpful details. Brian's attorney issued the following statement on his behalf addressing his silence. Quote, many people are wondering why Mr. Laundry would not make a statement or speak with law enforcement

in the face of Ms. Petito's absence. In my experience, intimate partners are often the first person law enforcement focuses their attention on in cases like this. And the warning that any statement made will be used against you is true. true, regardless of whether my client had anything to do with Ms. Petito's disappearance. As such, on the advice of counsel, Mr. Laudry is not speaking on the matter. I have been informed that the Northport, Florida police have named Brian Laudery as a person of interest in this matter. This formality has not really changed the circumstances of Mr.

Laudery being the focus and attention of law enforcement, and Mr. Laudery will continue to remain silent on the advice of counsel, end quote. The following day, police in Northport, held a news conference during which Gabby's father begged for her safe return and for Brian to speak up and stop hindering the investigation. Later, the Petito Schmidt family attorney Richard Stafford read aloud a letter to Brian's parents pleading for their son to speak to them about Gabby's disappearance. Hours later, Brian's sister Cassie broke her silence in an exclusive interview with Good Morning America. Quote, obviously me and my family want Gabby to be found safe, she said, and I

continue. She's like a sister and my children love her and all I want is for her to come home safe and found and this to be just a big misunderstanding, end quote. Despite earlier speculation, authorities in Utah announced Friday the 17th that Petito's case has no connection and is not related to the double homicide case involving Crystal Turner and Kyle in Schult. Police said Brian's attorney contacted authorities Friday, this past Friday, because family wanted to discuss his disappearance. They claimed they had not seen Brian since Tuesday. Police have removed items from the laundry's house to assist in the search for him. According to authorities, it was first time that the laundry family had spoken with them in detail about the case.

Police searched a vast Florida wildlife reserve on Saturday the 18th for Brian. However, the search was called off on Saturday night by the Northport Police due to darkness. They say nothing was found. Meanwhile, the FBI in Denver were coming. conducting ground surveys at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, with help from the National Park Service and local law enforcement agencies seeking clues to Gabby's disappearance as her last known contact with family members was from the National Park. So tragically, and this information came out last night. We're recording this right now on Monday the 20th, and we got this information

actually when we were out at dinner. Authorities announced on Sunday that a body was located in Wyoming and it's believed to be that of Gabby Petito. The FBI said the body was found by law enforcement agents who had spent the last two days searching the Spread Creek dispersed camping area in Bridger-Teton National Forest on the edge of the Grand Teton National Park. An FBI agent said the cause of death has not yet been determined, and an autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday the 21st, which is tomorrow.

Petito's family was notified. Her father tweeted a short time later, quote, hashtag Gabby Petito, she touched the world, end quote. Today, the FBI execute a search warrant at the laundry residence. Despite being a person of interest, officials have stated that he is not wanted for a crime. As of the date of this recording, September the 20th, Brian Laundry is yet to be located. If you know anything regarding his whereabouts, please contact the FBI tip line at 1-800, call FBI. And we're definitely going to keep an eye on this case.

We will update you with whatever we. find there might even be more information tonight that comes out. If so, we'll make an addendum to this episode. Yeah, depending on when this comes out. They're supposed to be, what is her official autopsy is tomorrow? Yes. Okay. So I am happy that this case seems to be moving along pretty quickly. I know when we covered summer wells, we thought we were on the precipice of finding her, but still nothing has really moved along that case since then. They haven't even found summer. here they believe to have found Gabby and hopefully with finding Gabby, if this is Gabby, that this case will move along that much quicker, but we'll keep you updated.

Hopefully by the end of this week, there will be a lot more information on this. Absolutely. If you appreciate this video and you want to keep more up to date on any new cases we come out with, especially this case, please hit like and subscribe. This is the best way to support our channel. Please share this video with anyone that you think we would like it. and please in the very least share any articles having to do with this case, share that FBI tip line just in case somebody knows where Brian Laundry is.

But until next week, we love you. Bye.