00:00:00
[audio logo] [upbeat music] Tiffanie Richards: Gabby
really wanted to start a vlogging YouTube channel.
00:00:16
She wanted to show the world
what it was like to travel. And, Brian, he was not
so in love with the idea.
00:00:23
J.B. Biunno: She
was a free spirit. Gabby was trying to build
her social media following.
00:00:28
I think that she
wanted to share her adventures with people. narrator: Online, they
were the perfect couple.
00:00:34
But behind the posts, a very
different reality unfolded. - She sent me a photo. There was blood on her face.
00:00:40
Jim Schmidt: The last
couple text messages just didn't seem right at all. Joseph Petito:
Hey, listen, it's
00:00:45
been almost a week since I
haven't heard from Gabby. Have you heard from her? - Panicking and freaking
out, having nightmares.
00:00:51
I put her up on Facebook, I
blasted it out to everyone. And 24 hours later,
the FBI was calling me
00:00:56
and she was almost worldwide. J.B. Biunno: She was
so visible on social media until she just vanished.
00:01:03
I mean, she just disappeared. People just couldn't understand
how that could happen.
00:01:08
I think people just wanted her
to be found safe and sound. And every day that wore on,
more and more awareness grew.
00:01:15
It was global. It was-- it was
around the world. [theme music] ♪ ♪ sheriff's office: Grant
County Sheriff's Office.
00:01:37
Witness: Hi.
Can you hear me, sir? Sheriff's office:
Yeah, I can hear you. Witness: We're driving
by, and I'd like
00:01:41
to report a domestic dispute. Florida license
plate, white van. Sheriff's office:
What were they doing?
00:01:46
Witness: Well, we drove
by, and the gentleman was slapping the girl. Sheriff's office:
He was slapping her?
00:01:51
Witness: Yes. And then we stopped, they
ran up and down the sidewalk. He proceeded to hit her, hopped
in the car, and they drove off.
00:01:59
Sheriff's office: OK, you
said it's a white van? [upbeat music] Nichole Schmidt: Gabby,
she was such a character.
00:02:10
She came into this
world full of light. She was loud. She was always
a presence in the room.
00:02:15
Artistic from the moment
she could pick up a pencil. [camera clicks] Joseph Petito: Photography,
drawing, artwork, traveling.
00:02:23
We traveled a lot. She always loved to come
with us and take pictures and just try to immerse
yourself into whatever
00:02:29
cultures we were in. Jim Schmidt: She was
just always going. She just liked to be
out doing things.
00:02:35
She was very independent. When she got something in her
mind, she wanted to do it.
00:02:38
Very gifted, very talented
and very determined. Joseph Petito: She was
very bubbly, easygoing,
00:02:43
and she wanted
to see you smile. Let's make the most
of today, because why not? Tara Petito: She was
about a year and a half
00:02:51
when we first met. And she was just
amazing because she was just a ball full of fun.
00:02:59
Tiffanie Richards:
She was the only child for Nichole and Joe Petito. They actually split when
she was six months old,
00:03:06
and they both ended up getting
in other relationships. But all four of them played
a huge role in Gabby's life.
00:03:13
Nichole Schmidt: She
had a few different dreams in her early 20s. She grew up in Blue Point.
00:03:19
It's a cute little town, very,
very close knit community. Gabby met Brian in high
school, and they were friends.
00:03:30
I would say not
best of friends, more like acquaintances. He was part of a friend
group that she hung out with.
00:03:36
And I remember her referring
to him as the weird friend. Tiffanie Richards:
Brian graduated in 2016
00:03:43
and Gabby graduated in 2017. So it wasn't until 2019 when
they actually start dating.
00:03:51
Nichole Schmidt: They
ran into each other and just started chatting,
hanging out pretty
00:03:56
frequently pretty quickly. I said, oh, are you guys
like seeing each other? Are you dating?
And she said, no.
00:04:01
She said, we're just friends. And then they went
on the road trip in her car all the way
to Portland, Oregon,
00:04:06
and back, and then
they were dating. And I had a feeling. I was like, I knew that
was going to happen.
00:04:13
You can't go on a road trip
with someone and come back and you're not dating. But I liked him.
00:04:19
He was interesting,
very artistic. They seemed to do
well together. He was always
around, and he was
00:04:27
kind of always giving
her what she wanted, and that made her happy. And I didn't see too much
of a problem with it.
00:04:35
Tara Petito: When she
came home from that trip, her and Brian decided that they
were moving down to Florida.
00:04:44
And that's when I saw
a shift in Gabby's behavior. Tiffanie Richards:
Brian wanted to move
00:04:51
to Florida because that's
where his parents lived and his sister. He wanted to be
closer to his nephews,
00:04:58
and he asked Gabby
to move with him. Tara Petito: It was
the perfect storm of isolation.
00:05:03
They were in Florida. We're in New York. We weren't seeing things that
were happening day to day.
00:05:09
Tiffanie Richards: When Gabby
moved to Tampa with Brian, she got along with
his parents very well.
00:05:17
But it wasn't long
after, she started to feel a little unwelcome
by his mother, Roberta.
00:05:22
She was a little
jealous of the time that they would
spend together, and she thought that they spent
too much time together,
00:05:29
which Gabby's parents thought
was a little weird because, why would you be jealous
of his girlfriend?
00:05:36
Nichole Schmidt: I don't
think Gabby was talking to many of her old friends. It was almost like she was
just living a completely
00:05:45
different life down there. And she talked to me
pretty regularly, but I don't know who else
she kept in touch with.
00:05:54
Narrator: Tired
of feeling isolated in Florida, Gabby
takes to social media to make new connections.
00:06:00
Here, she met her friend Rose. - For Gabby, she's
leaving everyone she knows and she's moving to Florida.
00:06:08
That's a big step, but it
means she's isolated. She doesn't have family
and friends around her.
00:06:14
Isolation is
a high risk factor. And I heard from Rose say they
met on Bumble because neither
00:06:19
of them had many friends. But Brian didn't want
Gabby having friends, and that's what Rose said.
00:06:24
Rose said, we had this
great time together, we had this real connection,
and then there was Brian.
00:06:31
So even when she met
Brian, she thought he was odd-- that
they go to the beach and he sits up
in the hammock, he's
00:06:35
like watching them
and observing them. And he clearly is unhappy about
Gabby spending time with her.
00:06:45
narrator: Despite their growing
difficulties offline, Gabby was documenting her
picture-perfect relationship
00:06:51
on social media. And almost six months
after her move to Florida, she announces their engagement.
00:06:59
Nichole Schmidt: Brian did
not ask for permission. He didn't ask any of the dads,
and he didn't even have a ring.
00:07:04
He just-- they were camping
and he just asked her. Joseph Petito: I found out
through a Facebook post.
00:07:09
Tara Petito: I showed
it to Joe and I was like, what's going on here? We didn't know
anything about this.
00:07:16
And then you contacted
Nicky, and Nicky didn't know anything either. Nichole Schmidt: It wasn't
so much the age for me.
00:07:23
It was how quick it was. And I remember calling
her and saying, you might want to tell
the rest of the family.
00:07:29
Are you sure about this? And she seemed really happy. But I said, just
remember you're young
00:07:35
and you do not have
to settle down right now. Joseph Petito: I saw her happy,
and that's what made me happy.
00:07:43
If she was happy, I was happy. Tara Petito: We actually
took a trip down in 2021 to Florida
to see her for Easter,
00:07:53
where something was off. It wasn't that she
looked unhappy. She looked very, very happy.
00:07:57
Gabby was with us pretty
much the entire trip. She stayed
in the hotel with us. She spent a lot of time
with her brothers,
00:08:04
but he was not there. And his parents never
invited us over. His family didn't say,
well, we'd love to meet you.
00:08:13
I'm not going to invite myself
over to somebody's house. They did not invite us
at all, and I felt that that
00:08:20
was very strange to me. - It really just speaks to the
type of people, in my opinion,
00:08:26
that they were. Tara Petito: That
trip that we were on, it was actually
the deciding factor of why
00:08:33
we moved down to Florida. Joseph Petito: True. - We moved down to Florida
in 2021 to be closer to Gabby.
00:08:40
Nichole Schmidt: I notice
it now, looking back, how her attitude changed. She became very aggressive.
00:08:47
She was kind of confused,
very angry, crying a lot. She would call me crying. I just thought
because of COVID that she
00:08:56
was kind of stuck
down in Florida, didn't have any friends. She was lonely. And I told her she could
come home anytime she wanted.
00:09:03
But then she said
she made friends and she met her friend
Rose, and she was starting
00:09:08
to love being down there. But once she went on the trip,
her attitude changed again.
00:09:16
narrator: Gabby
decides to buy a van. Her plan is to convert it
with Brian so that they can go
00:09:22
on a cross-country road trip. She hopes they can earn
an income by becoming travel influencers.
00:09:28
- Gabby Petito never
goes outside. [laughs] Tiffanie Richards: She
wanted to travel the West.
00:09:35
She wanted people
to be able to see it. She was hoping that this
channel would take off,
00:09:40
and maybe that's what she
could do for a career. And Brian, he was
not so in love
00:09:46
with the idea of taping
their entire trip, but he went along
with it because it meant a lot to Gabby.
00:09:53
Nichole Schmidt: I asked
the basic mom questions. How are you going
to pay for it?
00:09:57
How are you guys
going to do this? And she said, we have a plan. We're going to save up.
00:10:02
But it happened a lot faster
than she said it would. So, the van came quickly,
it got done quickly,
00:10:09
and then all of a sudden
it was like, we're going. And I couldn't believe
how fast it was.
00:10:14
And I said, are
you sure you have-- I thought you needed like
a year or two to plan this out.
00:10:18
And she said, no,
no, we're ready. And then she planned it so she
would come up to New York
00:10:23
and see her brother graduate,
and then they would take off. We were in the driveway and she
hugged me, and she was crying.
00:10:32
And she was, like,
crying so hard. And I remember
saying, Gabby, what-- why are you crying?
00:10:38
And she said, I don't know. And in that moment, I
just thought she was excited and a little nervous.
00:10:47
Now I think I know that
there was something else that she was crying about. I think she was scared.
00:10:52
She was probably scared
of being alone with him all that time, and it
makes me so angry
00:10:58
that we didn't know the signs
and we didn't see it. - She was a free spirit. I think that Gabby
was trying to build
00:11:10
her social media following. I think that she
wanted to share her adventures with people.
00:11:14
I think Gabby really had a fun
plan for what she wanted to do. She wanted to be
a content creator.
00:11:20
Gabby Petito: Hello,
hello and good morning. It is really nice
and sunny today. It's only 10 o'clock
in the morning,
00:11:31
but it rained all
afternoon yesterday. [raining] Oh my God. Tiffanie Richards: When she
started her YouTube channel,
00:11:42
they named it
Nomadic Static, and that was to be of all
the places that they went.
00:11:48
She wanted this to be
a full-time job. She loved it. It was creative works. Gabby was very creative,
and this was just another way
00:11:56
that she wanted to do that. Nichole Schmidt: People
can be YouTubers these days and make a pretty good
living, so I think
00:12:03
that that's what's her goal. But she also really
enjoyed the traveling and experiencing all
the national parks
00:12:10
and seeing
the beautiful places. I spoke to her a few times
a week, we texted almost daily,
00:12:19
and we FaceTimed
every couple of weeks. Yeah. She liked to show
me where she was,
00:12:24
but I was also watching
on social media. On August 12, I had gotten
a phone call from Gabby,
00:12:31
and she was crying. And she said her
and Brian had an argument, and she sent me a photo.
00:12:36
There was blood on her face. And I flipped out
as a mother, and I was like, what
the heck is going on?
00:12:42
Tell me what your location is. I actually called
the police department there, and they said that somebody
else had already called 911.
00:12:51
[police siren] [audio logo] [audio logo] narrator: August 12, 2021,
22-year-old Gabby Petito is
00:13:13
in a cross-country
road trip with her boyfriend Brian Laundrie. In Moab, Utah, police
receive a 911 call
00:13:20
about a domestic
incident where a witness reports seeing a man
hit a woman before they
00:13:26
drive off in a white van. Nichole Schmidt: The police
pulled them over. I didn't talk
to her until after.
00:13:32
She told me that it was
just kind of a bad day. That she had had
a rough morning and she
00:13:38
was stressed out,
and she was the problem. I said, maybe you should
think about ending the trip.
00:13:43
Maybe you guys are spending
too much time together in a van and it's hard. And I felt like, as a mom,
there was something more,
00:13:51
but she didn't
open up about that. Joseph Petito: We
were led to believe that everything was fine.
00:13:58
It was just a misunderstanding. So we were going by the word
of Gabby, who was trying
00:14:03
to hide it at that time to us. Jim Schmidt: I know
Nichole was definitely contacting her a lot more.
00:14:08
She was speaking with her more. But there would be times
where they would be out and
00:14:12
about with no service, but then
she would get into a town and then have cell
service, and/or Wi-Fi,
00:14:17
and that's where she would
upload a lot of her stuff too, and then that would be where
we would speak to her often.
00:14:22
narrator: On August 26, Gabby
posts a photo on Instagram. This is her last post before
her social media goes quiet.
00:14:31
Then Nichole receives some odd
messages from her daughter. Nichole Schmidt: I was texting
with her on the 27th, but now
00:14:39
I don't believe it was her. Jim Schmidt:
The last couple text messages that Nicki got, she
just didn't seem right at all.
00:14:46
Nichole Schmidt: Tell Stan--
which is grandpa-- to please stop calling us. Tiffanie Richards: Stan
was her grandfather
00:14:52
and Gabby never called
him by his first name. This raised major
concerns for Nichole.
00:14:58
Joseph Petito: About
September 8 of 2021, Nicki had called me up. Hey, listen, it's been
almost a week since I
00:15:05
haven't heard from Gabby.
Have you heard from her? It's like, I don't
think I have.
00:15:08
I tried calling her. I got no answer. I texted the parents,
I texted Brian, I guess Brian's
sister, no answer.
00:15:17
Nichole Schmidt: I sent-- before I reported her missing--
one single text to his phone
00:15:22
and I did not get a response. I sent two texts to his mom's
phone, did not get a response.
00:15:28
The detectives, my friend
who's a police officer, people tried to call her
phone, she wouldn't answer.
00:15:33
It would go right to voicemail. She deleted me from Facebook. They were ignoring us, and I'm
panicking and freaking out.
00:15:41
I'm having nightmares. I started making phone
calls to all the parks. They said they could
not report her missing.
00:15:47
I called Florida where
she had an address. They said they could
not report her missing,
00:15:53
and I didn't know what to do. So by September 11,
I called her dad. I said, I'm going to the police
station in New York, you know.
00:16:01
And this is on Long Island. I walk in, and I speak
to a female detective, and she finally
takes the report.
00:16:09
And I was so grateful
for her because that's the moment when I was able to
finally do something about it,
00:16:14
and put her picture out there,
and say that she was missing. That detective, she
called Northport, Florida,
00:16:21
and asked them
to go to the house where Brian's parents live,
where Gabby was living.
00:16:26
police officer 1: I have
the detective on the phone. - I ain't talking to nobody.
00:16:29
police officer 1: You
don't want to talk to us? OK, she's on the phone. You don't want
to talk to her now?
00:16:34
Christopher Laundrie: No. police officer 1: OK. Is-- when was the last time
that you saw Brian and Gabby?
00:16:43
- Well, well, Brian is here. police officer
1: Brian is here? - Yeah. And that's all I'm saying.
00:16:48
police officer 1: And that's
all that you're saying? - Yeah.
We have an attorney.
00:16:52
They've been calling.
I don't know. Nichole Schmidt: That
night, September 11, it was about 11:30.
00:16:58
The detective was on my stoop. She said that Brian came home
on September 1 with the van,
00:17:05
and Gabby was not with him. I dropped to my knees and I
said, where's my daughter?
00:17:11
And she said, I don't know. And I could tell with
her eyes that she knows something's really bad.
00:17:18
From that moment on, I
sat down at my computer, I put her up on Facebook, I
blasted it out to everyone.
00:17:24
And 24 hours later,
the FBI was calling me. And she was all over
Facebook, all over Instagram,
00:17:30
all over TikTok. Like, at that point, it was
within a day or two that she had been almost worldwide.
00:17:37
J.B. Biunno: It came
in to our local newsroom like any other
missing persons case.
00:17:41
And then it was actually
after a phone call that I had with one
of our reporters
00:17:44
here when I found out a little
bit more about the story. And the fact that
Brian returned home
00:17:50
without his fiancée
and that she was nowhere to be found, really, was
what set off the most
00:17:55
alarm bells, for sure. Tiffanie Richards: Internet
sleuths and podcast enthusiasts, true crime
enthusiasts, everybody,
00:18:04
was on the hunt for Gabby. ♪ So #FindGabby was everywhere. You couldn't go
anywhere without seeing
00:18:12
something on this case. Everyone was
trying to solve it. - The first I heard about Gabby
was the missing person picture.
00:18:23
"Can You Help?" was
written above it. And I saw it
on Instagram, and I then continued to track the case.
00:18:29
I had a sense that things
were not going to end well. narrator: The story of the
missing 22-year-old quickly
00:18:36
spreads across media
and social networks, drawing international
attention and widespread
00:18:42
suspicion toward Brian. - Their nationwide travels
definitely helped in that. It started off
as something in Long Island
00:18:49
because they lived
here, but they traveled all over the country. They were in Florida,
they were in California,
00:18:54
they were in Arizona. So I think once it
started blowing up, these people in these
other states that
00:18:59
started recognizing
them, it just all started coming together. And then it all just
started building up
00:19:04
into what it was, into this
nationwide manhunt that all pointed
in one direction.
00:19:09
J.B. Biunno:
Gabby's case was so unique in that she was
so visible on social media
00:19:17
until she just vanished. I think people just wanted her
to be found safe and sound.
00:19:21
And every day that
wore on, more and more people, not just in this
country, but more and more
00:19:27
people around the world
would be thinking, oh man, I wonder if they
ever found that girl.
00:19:32
Tara Petito: Because they
put so much coverage on her, they put so much
out there that I
00:19:40
think it really put pressure
on law enforcement to find her. Not every person gets
that same coverage
00:19:48
where they put this
pressure on law enforcement. Sometimes you have
to do it yourself.
00:19:52
Joseph Petito: We
were all strategically placed in the country. We were in Florida, I guess,
where the investigation
00:19:58
was being run out
of the Tampa office, but the investigation started
in New York where Nicki was.
00:20:03
Jim's like, I can't
stay in New York. I have to go to Wyoming. So he went to Wyoming
to help out.
00:20:09
Jim Schmidt: She shared
a lot of her apps with me for like hiking
and camping and stuff.
00:20:14
So I started going
through them feverishly. And for some reason I
said, she's in Wyoming.
00:20:19
I knew she was
going there, so I'm going to go find our daughter. I'm going to bring her
home no matter what.
00:20:25
Maybe she's injured, maybe
she's a Jane Doe in a hospital somewhere, maybe she's lost.
00:20:31
I got to have a meeting
with the sheriffs out there. So it was the Teton
County Sheriff's
00:20:35
Jackson Police Department. I got into, like, one
of the ranger stations. I got a map of the area,
and I asked the ranger, tell
00:20:41
me some stuff about the area? And she went through all
the campgrounds in the park.
00:20:45
The one that she was
describing, Spread Creek, she goes, oh, this
is really nice.
00:20:47
It's kind of towards
the middle. I circled that area and I
said, if I know Gabby,
00:20:51
this is a place
that she would camp. And so when I went
to that meeting that day,
00:20:55
and I walked in and I
said, I'm here to tell you about our daughter
and her camping habits.
00:20:58
And if I had to guess,
the Spread Creek area would be an area that
she would like to camp.
00:21:03
They didn't say
a word, but there was just kind of like
glances at each other from the other
side of the table.
00:21:08
They were kind
of looking at each other. Unbeknownst to me
at the time, they were already looking in that
area with the information
00:21:13
they had. narrator: On September 16,
body cam footage of Gabby and Brian's encounter with Moab
Police is released to the media
00:21:24
and quickly goes viral. Nichole Schmidt: I saw it
with the rest of the world, and that's when I realized
that that day was a lot
00:21:31
worse than she had told me. Brandon Cruz: There
were definitely tons of red flags throughout there.
00:21:36
Normal viewers at home
that were watching it were able to catch
the red flags that you would think
that the police
00:21:40
would be able to as well. Tiffanie Richards: When
the 911 call was made, it was from a passerby,
and because he
00:21:47
saw Brian strike Gabby. But when they pulled them
over, Gabby pretty much took all the blame.
00:21:56
She was looked
at as the perpetrator. Laura Richards: So Officer
Robbins is in his truck.
00:22:03
He's driving along,
he's picked up the van. And then he says, oh,
it's hit the curb.
00:22:07
The van's driving erratically. There might be alcohol. When he stops
the van, you see Gabby
00:22:13
apologizing multiple
times, but she's upset, she's dysregulated. And you see Brian very
calm, also apologizing,
00:22:22
but Gabby getting
more and more upset. - I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I hit the [muted] bump there.
00:22:27
- I was distracting
him from driving. I'm sorry. I was just saying I'm
sorry if I'm in a bad mood.
00:22:34
I'm just really stressed. I've had so much work I
was doing on my computer this morning,
building my website.
00:22:40
I've been really stressed,
and he doesn't really believe that I could do any of it.
00:22:44
I don't know. We've just been fighting
all morning and-- - She was attributing
things that I
00:22:49
felt were things that Brian
had been saying to her, and saying that it was all her.
00:22:55
And that he didn't believe
she could do her website. What she was
telling the officer
00:23:00
was that he was putting her
down and belittling her. - And he wouldn't let
me in the car before.
00:23:06
police officer 2: Why wouldn't
he let you in the car? Because of the OCD? - He told me I
needed to calm down.
00:23:11
- She says that he
locked her out the van and wouldn't let
her go in the van. It was actually Gabby's van.
00:23:16
So I'm like, OK,
hang on a minute. This guy was controlling her
time, space, and movement.
00:23:22
That's coercive control. And then when I
started to see how he interacted with
law enforcement,
00:23:27
he threw her under
the bus immediately. He said that she got worked up
and he had to distance himself.
00:23:34
And she was swinging at him. - She just gets worked
up sometimes and I try and really distance
myself from her.
00:23:40
So I lock the car and I
walked away from her. police officer 2: You want to
tell me about those scratches
00:23:44
on your face?
- I know I shouldn't push her. I was trying to push
her away to go,
00:23:47
let's just take a minute,
step back and breathe. And, see, she got
me with her phone.
00:23:52
narrator: Despite both Gabby
and Brian having scratches indicating a physical
confrontation,
00:23:58
it's Gabby who officers
contemplate arresting for domestic assault. police officer 2: So of the
witnesses saying-- the witness
00:24:03
says I never saw him hit her. I saw him shove
her, but I couldn't tell if it was
an aggression against her
00:24:09
or a defense against her. Sounds to me like she
is a primary aggressor. We can't treat this
differently than if it was
00:24:17
a male and female violence. And we're going
to have to charge her. Laura Richards: It was
incredibly disappointing to see
00:24:23
them grappling with things,
even though Gabby was being clear about what happened,
and in particular when she
00:24:29
says to Officer Pratt,
he put his hand-- and she acted it out-- around my face and neck.
00:24:37
And Officer Pratt
is listening to her, doesn't ask her
to get out the vehicle so he can examine her face.
00:24:42
He just changed the subject. police officer 2: Did he
slap your face or what? - Well, he, like, grabbed
me, like, with his nail,
00:24:48
and I guess that's
why it hurts. I definitely have a cut. I can feel it. police officer 2: Yeah.
00:24:53
- It hurts, but-- police officer 2: Go ahead. Ma'am, so have
you been drinking? - No, we didn't drink.
- OK.
00:25:02
What was up with his driving? He wouldn't stop? He said he hit a curb? Laura Richards:
If you've been trained,
00:25:07
you would never change
the subject at that point. You would ask about
strangulation and suffocation,
00:25:11
because we know that
correlates with high risk. We know that increases
the risk sevenfold to homicide.
00:25:18
narrator: They
decide not to charge Gabby with domestic
assault, instead opting to separate
the couple in accordance
00:25:25
with the domestic assault code. police officer 2: Tomorrow-- - I don't want to be
separated and--
00:25:32
police officer 2:
You have anxiety? - Yeah, yeah. No, we're a team, please. police officer 2:
There's no what?
00:25:37
What is it? - Gabby's saying I don't want
to be separated from him. That's her default because she
feels so dependent on him
00:25:43
because he's made her
feel dependent on him. police officer 2: She was
the primary aggressor,
00:25:48
and that she was striking you
and you have received injuries. You haven't admitted
to striking her,
00:25:53
she has not admitted
you striking her. The witness did not
see you strike her. So at this point, you're the
victim of a domestic assault.
00:26:00
Even if you-- --even if you didn't
want to pursue this, we don't have a choice. - In 30 years, I've never
seen a bona fide victim laugh
00:26:11
at the point an officer
declares them a victim of domestic abuse. - I wanted to jump
through the screen--
00:26:17
I say this all the time--
and rescue her. And I couldn't
believe that there were so many adults
there, supposed
00:26:22
to be trained adults that
could have helped her that day, and they failed her. Narrator: Gabby is given
the keys to the van.
00:26:31
Meanwhile, Brian is taken
to a hotel for victims of domestic assault,
where he is allowed
00:26:37
to stay free of charge. [audio logo] [audio logo] [ominous music] September 17, 2021,
22-year-old Gabby Petito has
00:27:02
now been missing for six days. The body cam footage
of the Moab Police Department
00:27:06
has sparked public
outrage, and the case has gained global
attention via social media.
00:27:15
Brandon Cruz: I
mean, at that point, everybody thinks the same thing
when the news says that they
00:27:20
went on a vacation together
or this road trip together, and he comes home
by himself without her
00:27:26
and has no real explanation
for where she is. J.B. Biunno: We were
live streaming for hours,
00:27:31
hours a day without a break. The biggest difference
is that I can actually communicate with our audience.
00:27:39
There were so many people
online that had theories and questions, and it just grew.
00:27:44
I remember there was a point
where I was looking down and we were getting, on average, 800
to 1,200 questions per minute,
00:27:51
per minute. I remember there
was one point where the comments were scrolling
so fast on my screen,
00:27:56
I couldn't keep up. I actually had
to screenshot my monitor just to isolate some comments.
00:28:05
I have to try to give
people as much hope as possible because I want
her to be found safe and sound.
00:28:10
But every day that went
on, I knew in my gut that the odds were
going against us.
00:28:19
narrator: Brian Laundrie
is believed to be hiding at his parents' home. But on September 17,
2021, they report him
00:28:27
missing, claiming he left
for a hike three days earlier and hasn't been seen since.
00:28:34
The next day,
a full-scale search for Brian in Myakkahatchee
Creek Environmental Park
00:28:39
in Florida begins. - The amount
of hatred that existed for Brian was so palpable
in our comment section,
00:28:48
really, universally
across social media, it just became about,
where is Brian? narrator: With both
searches well underway,
00:28:56
police are now analyzing
the couple's cell phone usage in an effort to aid
their investigation
00:29:02
and piece together
what may have happened. Tiffanie Richards: It became
very clear that on August 28,
00:29:08
Brian had both phones. They were both pinging
off the same tower right next to each other.
00:29:16
Brian sent Gabby
a message saying, "Hey honey, I'm
just letting you know I made it to Colter Bay."
00:29:22
Another one also
said, "I can't wait for you to see the mountains
across the water."
00:29:27
When he was sending
these texts, he was actually at another
place in the park. And it wasn't until
when he got back
00:29:33
to the van is
when Gabby's phone started responding to his. On Brian's way home,
he sent himself $700
00:29:42
from Gabby's Zelle account. In the memo
for the Zelle payment, he said, goodbye, Brian.
00:29:48
I'll never ask you
for anything again. J.B. Biunno: You do
have a general idea as to where Gabby might be.
00:29:57
It's a large area, but you
have an idea, a starting place of where Gabby might be.
00:30:02
But at the same time,
it's so vast of an area. You talk to people who
were looking out there,
00:30:08
it was just wilderness. There were tips coming
in every minute of every day when this story really
hit a fever pitch.
00:30:16
Jim Schmidt: The area that
she was in is so transient. There's so many
vacationers and travelers
00:30:21
coming through
that place that I don't think if it wasn't
for a lot of that social media,
00:30:27
it wouldn't have
gotten into the hands of a lot of those people. And a lot of those people ended
up going back and said, hey,
00:30:32
I was in Jenny
Lake at that time. Tiffanie Richards: One person
actually even picked Brian up.
00:30:37
He was hitchhiking,
and they were headed to another Jefferson. He wanted to go back
to Jefferson, Wyoming,
00:30:44
and they were going
somewhere else. And they said that he kind
of panicked in the car
00:30:50
and was like, just
let me out here. There was a YouTube channel
of another couple that was
00:30:57
also vlogging their travels. And in that video,
their white van is seen. So that YouTube video did
show Brian's movements
00:31:07
on August 27, 2021. Jenn Bethune: We came
across a white van that had Florida plates,
a small white van.
00:31:15
We were going
to stop and say hi because we're from
Florida too, but the van was completely dark.
00:31:23
There was nobody there, so we
decided to continue on our way. Kyle Bethune: Kind
of freaky, but we
00:31:28
just kind of had a brain fart. Oh my god, there's that van. So if you think
anybody can help,
00:31:32
I know the FBI is
looking for all the help they can get on the case. Joseph Petito: The FBI really
had a good indication of where
00:31:38
she was, but the Bethunes
were able to really pinpoint an exact location
of where her van was,
00:31:45
and they were able to then
take it from there. Jim Schmidt: I
mean, I can tell you
00:31:51
every waking
moment of that day, I could see out
the front window. And I saw the two SUVs
pulling up, lights and sirens.
00:31:58
And I saw Rita and Charlie
Jones, one of the FBI agents, getting out. And they came in.
00:32:04
And that's when
they said they found remains consistent with
our daughter, Gabby.
00:32:13
[somber music] Nichole Schmidt: I
knew the phone call was going to come eventually,
but it was definitely
00:32:23
the worst moment for me. I was home, my husband was
in Wyoming, but he called. He got me, Joe
and Tara on the phone,
00:32:33
and he identified
her, positively identified her based
on what she was wearing, from a photograph.
00:32:39
He didn't have to, thankfully,
identify her in person. Even worse than that was
having to tell my kids.
00:32:48
It was just a nightmare. And then we had to have
a very public service, which because of social media
and everybody's support,
00:32:55
we felt like we needed to do. It was an amazing
moment to see people come together for just Gabby.
00:33:01
I just can't believe still
today, the power that she has and how her light blesses
so many people to this day.
00:33:13
narrator: The autopsy
reveals that Gabby was most likely murdered
around the 28th of August.
00:33:19
The cause of death is
ruled as a combination of blunt force trauma
and manual strangulation.
00:33:26
Tiffanie Richards: I
believe that Brian snapped. It was later found
that he had flown back
00:33:34
to Tampa for a short
period of time, and Gabby was staying
in a hotel room. And she was actually
communicating
00:33:41
with an ex-boyfriend. I honestly believe he
might have found that out, and because he was
so controlling and jealous,
00:33:50
that's what ended up happening. Gabby was speaking
with her ex-boyfriend because she was having
difficulty in her relationship,
00:33:58
and she needed someone to turn
to, and she trusted him. She was looking for advice.
00:34:03
I think Gabby was very lonely. And I think a part
of her was scared. I think a part of her probably
just wanted to go home.
00:34:13
narrator: On September 20,
a search warrant is issued for the Laundrie family home.
00:34:17
In this search, the FBI uncover
a letter written to Brian from his mother, Roberta.
00:34:24
Laura Richards: It blew
my mind reading that letter from Roberta Laundrie
saying, effectively,
00:34:28
it doesn't matter what you do. You could kill
someone, I'll be there to help you with garbage bags
and a spade to hide the body.
00:34:36
And I will always love
you no matter what. Do I believe the family knew? I find it highly
suspicious if they didn't.
00:34:43
Come on, you're in close
confines in a house. You're not leaving the house. I mean, Brian, people didn't
see him leaving the house,
00:34:50
as in going about his business
once there was the whole siege of people outside their home.
00:34:56
That's how strongly
people felt about it. Did they have a conversation
about what would happen next?
00:35:01
Most likely. narrator: Brian Laundrie is no
longer just a missing person. He's now a federal fugitive
wanted for homicide.
00:35:12
A nationwide manhunt unfolds,
fueled by internet sleuths sharing tips and theories
in real time.
00:35:19
Could finding Brian be the key
to uncovering the truth about Gabby's final days?
00:35:26
[audio logo] [audio logo] [gentle music] On September 19, 2021,
the body of 22-year-old
00:35:47
Gabby Petito was found in Grand
Teton National Park in Wyoming. She had been traveling
cross country in a van
00:35:54
with her boyfriend, Brian
Laundrie, who was now missing. The cause of death was ruled
a homicide by blunt force
00:36:01
trauma and strangulation. And investigators believe
Brian is responsible. The case has sparked
a global media frenzy, with,
00:36:10
"Find Brian," trending
across multiple social media platforms. J.B. Biunno: It was
an all-out manhunt.
00:36:18
To see local, state,
and federal teams pursuing one person with
that much vigor,
00:36:26
I've never seen
anything like it. Every tool was at the disposal
of law enforcement
00:36:29
to find Brian Laundrie,
wherever he may be. A majority of people
were of the opinion
00:36:35
that he had left Florida. People thought he was gone. People thought
that he had slipped
00:36:40
past the police
perimeter and that he had found a way to escape Florida. There were-- theories abound.
00:36:46
I remember thinking,
as a reporter, there's no way they are pooling
this amount of resources
00:36:53
on Myakkahatchee if they
weren't pretty darn confident that he was in there. What really complicated matters
is just how swampy it was.
00:37:02
We had showers, rain that fell
on Myakkahatchee for weeks that made the search
so much more difficult.
00:37:11
I've seen pictures
of deputies and officers in waist-deep water. We get the news that day
that Roberta and Chris--
00:37:20
Brian's parents--
are going to go to Myakkahatchee to check
out some of the spots
00:37:25
that they knew that
Brian liked to visit. No one really thought that
there was any chance whatsoever
00:37:30
after they had spent
weeks canvassing every square foot
of Myakkahatchee that Chris
and Roberta were just
00:37:36
going to happen to wander
in there and find their son, find Brian. And then, lo and behold,
that's exactly what happened.
00:37:43
Chris and Roberta go
into Myakkahatchee, and to the shock and awe
of just about everybody,
00:37:49
they find Brian. They find his remains. A confirmation that
Brian Laundrie is dead.
00:37:55
Gabby Petito is dead. It all, of course, now comes
back to the Justice for Gabby
00:38:03
calls online,
the Justice for Gabby calls that you heard
yesterday at the conclusion--
00:38:06
Tiffanie Richards:
Brian was killed by a self-inflicted
gunshot to the head. His body was pretty
badly decomposed
00:38:12
by the time they found him,
so they used dental records to confirm that it was him.
00:38:17
They also found
a notebook where he had written that he
did, in fact, kill Gabby,
00:38:25
and that he could no
longer go on living. It wasn't because he was
scared to face prosecution,
00:38:33
but it was more that he just
could not live without her. - It was a total shock.
00:38:40
And there was anger. There was resentment. There was disbelief. People didn't want
to acknowledge
00:38:48
that it was really him. People wanted justice
for Gabby so desperately. And so for Brian's
remains just to be
00:38:55
found there
so unceremoniously after all those weeks
of searching, people didn't want to believe it.
00:39:03
And it just wasn't the result
that people wanted. narrator: Despite the crushing
realization that Brian will not
00:39:09
face justice
for Gabby's murder, her family are comforted
that they were at least
00:39:13
able to find their daughter. Joseph Petito: Yeah,
we say it all the time that it could have been worse.
00:39:19
People ask us how,
and we're like, we could have not
have brought her home. For us, I think we're very
fortunate, believe it or not.
00:39:25
Nichole Schmidt: I wish that
every missing person would be able to have what Gabby
had because it really
00:39:32
does put pressure on law
enforcement to solve the case, to find the person. I don't know
if things would have
00:39:39
moved as quickly without that. If I didn't post
her on Facebook and blast it out
that night, I don't
00:39:46
think we would have found her. Jim Schmidt: When
you go back and you look at major
missing persons cases
00:39:51
in the United
States, there tends to be a focus on a certain
type of a person as well.
00:39:56
And they tend
to look like Gabby. And I think that also
had a lot to do with it.
00:40:01
And missing white
woman syndrome is definitely a term that is-- we heard and we're
like, you know what?
00:40:08
No, you're right. There is all these
people that get this type of attention over here.
00:40:14
But then if you look like
this, or you come from here, or maybe you might have
some mental health issues or
00:40:20
substance abuse issues, they're
not getting it the same, and yet that's still
somebody's loved one.
00:40:25
And so that's one
of the things we try to focus on now for the
foundation is trying to bring
00:40:29
attention to all cases. Nichole Schmidt: We started
the Gabby Petito Foundation.
00:40:33
And we did that not only
to honor Gabby's legacy, but because we had
to do something
00:40:39
to prevent this from
happening to other families. And we believe that that's
how we keep her memory alive.
00:40:47
I very much enjoy
teaching people, and so I took a strangulation
training course.
00:40:54
I've taken domestic
violence 101. I'm out there trying
to tell people about the warning signs
and the red flags, the things
00:41:01
that I didn't know that
I wish I had known. Tara Petito:
There's no closure. There's never going
to be closure.
00:41:07
We're never bringing her back. It's not something
that we can ever do. But through the foundation,
we can try to help others.
00:41:16
Joseph Petito: Tara
and Nicki literally travel the country
when it comes to prevention and education and
awareness to domestic violence.
00:41:23
Jim does a lot
of the training when it comes to the first
responders and stuff. I do a lot
of the legislative work.
00:41:31
We also, we all
help when it comes to missing people and raising
awareness for those stories.
00:41:36
But those are the things
that we really tend to focus on--
education, awareness,
00:41:41
prevention, legislation. Nichole Schmidt: I
believe-- and we all do-- if the police were
trained better
00:41:50
and were able to use
the lethality assessment and connect Gabby
to an advocate that day,
00:41:55
if there was someone that knew
domestic violence could talk to her, she'd be here today.
00:42:00
I truly believe that. Tara Petito: There are signs
that police officers might miss, and that's
why we fight so
00:42:10
hard to try to get
laws changed, that they have to utilize this
lethality assessment protocol.
00:42:16
- It is an 11-question
questionnaire that when there is a 911 call or when police
are called to a domestic
00:42:23
violence situation, they
will come and they will ask a series of questions. And based on how
you answer, will
00:42:29
help them determine if you are
in a lethal situation or not. And if you are,
what they would do
00:42:34
is they will either
get you in contact or give you
the information to speak with advocates and resources
that you have at your disposal.
00:42:43
Because that's the number
one thing that we find is that most people
don't even know
00:42:46
where to go when they're in a
domestic violence situation. Nichole Schmidt: People
contact us pretty frequently,
00:42:52
letting us know that
because of the work we do or because of Gabby's
story, that they are safe
00:42:58
or their loved one is safe. And that really-- that
really gives us so much hope that we're doing
the right thing.
00:43:08
I hope Gabby's proud. I know she is. She gives us a lot
of signs, whether it be through feathers or numbers
or rainbows, butterflies.
00:43:18
When we need it the most,
she always lets us know she's there and to keep going.
00:43:22
So, yeah, I'm-- I think
she's proud of us, yeah. Joseph Petito: Eventually,
I'll get to see her again.
00:43:29
And I'm going to ask her,
did I make you proud? So that's why I do
the work that I do.
00:43:34
Tara Petito: She
gave us this platform to reach other
individuals and try to help other individuals
that are going
00:43:40
through similar situations. Jim Schmidt: She
was always smiling. She was always happy.
00:43:46
She was always
just a lot of fun. And she was just full of life. And she was fearless
and adventurous, doing things
00:43:53
that most adults only
hope they can do when they-- maybe when they retire. She was doing it when
she was young and able.
00:44:00
And I just think maybe that
story is just some inspiration to others, like, don't wait.
00:44:05
Like, live in the moment,
be in the moment, be happy, and live your life. Live your life to the fullest.
00:44:13
[cheerful music] ♪ ♪ [theme music] ♪ ♪