Gabby Petito

[Sinder]

Gabby was supposed to meet her good friend at Yellowstone on August 31 for the friend’s birthday, so it was weird, and way too out of the way, for her to say Yosemite instead of Yellowstone in that last text, as she had told her Mom in the last phone call that those were her plans. That is partly why Mom never believed the text about Yosemite on the 30th was from Gabby. It may also have been the writing style, too, not sure about that.

Also, Brian got home to FL on Sept 1, but Abby wasn’t reported missing until Sept 12. Either Gabby’s Dad, or stepdad had had a conversation with someone about this (I think it was the police) on the night of Sept 11, and the next day she was officially reported missing. (These are birthdays in my family, that’s why I remembered the dates.)

(Shoot, I had some quotes on my phone but lost them on my iPad. May have to go back as there were some other things I wanted to respond to.)

I didn't know that she had told her mom that she was supposed to meet her friend at Yellowstone. That makes the Yosemite text very suspicious then.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Ok, my dates on the bday meet-up (as opposed to the date reported missing) may have been a little off as I was just trying to remember what I’d read from memory (and didn’t have it in front of me), but I think I found it. I read a lot of things (gotta love insomnia ) and can’t always find the articles later.

Petito, friend planned to meet at Yellowstone

Petito's friend told The Sun, "(The) last time I talked to Gabby was the beginning of August when we were planning for me to meet her in Yellowstone after my birthday." The person believes the park, located mostly in Wyoming was supposed to be Petito's next stop "at least when we planned it." A date for the meeting was not planned, but the friend said Petito was due to call her on August 29 to finalize plans and meet sometime in September. Until her disappearance, the trip to Yellowstone seemed more or less decided, with Petito telling another friend on August 27 via Snapchat she was heading for Yellowstone.

The friend has also cast suspicion on Petito's final text to her mother. "She wouldn’t wander off and not contact her family. I know that for a fact. She wouldn't blow me off either. She's my person," she told The Sun. The friend added, "The whole thing is odd. My birthday is the 29th. I don't know why she’d send that text and not message me." She also said, "I also don't think she'd text her mom 'no service'. She'd call as soon as she had service, in my opinion."

At first, the fact that Petito had not called her didn't worry the friend. "I just assumed she was busy and I had a lot go on with crashing my car and I was struggling with my own life." When she found out that Petito was missing though, the friend was shocked and called it "heartbreaking". Petito was last seen at Grand Teton national park, Wyoming on August 25, where she was heading from Salt Lake City. Although her parents could not confirm where exactly she was heading, Wyoming would indicate a trip to Yellowstone, where she would have met her friend. Instead, Petito's text puts her 800 miles away in California, which while not impossible certainly seems improbable.

The friend has not yet talked to the police, before revealing the information to The Sun. She concluded her statement by saying, "Gabby made sure I kept going when I didn't want to. She shines light on every situation and was always talking about her family. This is so hard on me and especially the family so keep the focus on finding Gabby. Please." Given there is no record of Petito since August 26, it is hard to say if she was actually heading towards Yellowstone or Yosemite.

https://meaww.com/gabby-petito-friend-the-sun-interview-meeting-yellowstone-plan-august-29-call

This friend should have talked to the police before talking to the media.

**Thanks for linking

 

[Lumpy1106]

People get the names of the parks mixed up all the time - even in this thread. I don't think that tells us anything. Could be Gabby sent the text and got it mixed up, could be Brian got it mixed up when he sent the text trying to throw the suspicion off himself (or whatever he was doing). I really don't think either one of them thought they were headed to Yosemite or trying to make anyone think they were doing that. You just wouldn't head to Yosemite from the Grand Tetons without passing through some other major, noteworthy park on the way.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I didn't know that she had told her mom that she was supposed to meet her friend at Yellowstone. That makes the Yosemite text very suspicious then.

I think it does, too. I guess the question, for me, is, if not Gabby, then was it Brian, or someone else, who sent it?

I’m just not ready to hang Brian just yet, although admittedly, it’s not looking good for him.

I‘m just remembering how during the altercation incident with the police, she was deemed the aggressor. So if something bad did happen between them, could it have been an accident, or even self-defense?

Did anyone watch the Nancy Grace show last night on this subject? Long term investigators of this type of thing were saying it would make a big difference how her body was found. Was it hidden? Or placed in a shallow grave, for instance? Were there “drag marks” on the ground? If so, that indicates *possibly* a homicide (I think I’m saying that right, but admittedly it’s not my field of expertise), but not necessarily. Lots of possibilities. But forensics teams, who do this all the time, really needed to study the area completely before her body was removed, then they will need to gather physical evidence tomorrow during the autopsy, then put it all together with the investigative work of dates, videos, phone calls, and all that.

Here it is if anyone wants to watch it: ETA taking out link since there is a political banner on it, but you can google it if you want to watch.

 

[Sinder]

People get the names of the parks mixed up all the time - even in this thread. I don't think that tells us anything. Could be Gabby sent the text and got it mixed up, could be Brian got it mixed up when he sent the text trying to throw the suspicion off himself (or whatever he was doing). I really don't think either one of them thought they were headed to Yosemite or trying to make anyone think they were doing that. You just wouldn't head to Yosemite from the Grand Tetons without passing through some other major, noteworthy park on the way.

That depends on how the trip was going.
Dh and I skipped the Grand Canyon on our cross country trek. We were a couple hours drive away but we had been in a car for a week and just wanted to get to our destination. We figured we'd visit it at another point in our travels.
Obviously I'm not saying you are wrong, but people don't always do what we expect people to do.


If Gabby spoke to her friend and her mother about going to Yellowstone it seems odd to mix it up with Yosemite in a text. However at the same time if she planned on meeting her friend it would seem odd to head to Yosemite and then back to Yellowstone if she was already in the area.
As far as what Brian would do who knows. Anyone that just leaves their fiance across the country and when she is reported missing goes into hiding and then disappears himself is possible of any strange behavior. Including sending a text to her mom with a made up location.

 

[VandVsmama]

An autopsy might also be able to determine approximate date of death. So if the likely date of her death was before the date of the last text message, then it was clearly somebody else (not her) who sent the text message.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Ok, I have a question. I never really saw a lot about this, maybe just a small mention or two.

Didn’t Brian fly back to FL at some time in August? Does anyone have more details about that?

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

If the text was composed and sent without service, like in a remote area of Wyoming, the phone might have sent it as soon as service was established. Unless the boyfriend had the phone (not sure if that has been established/reported) he might not have sent anything. It might have sent itself as soon as the phone picked up service so it is possible Gabby composed and sent the text herself but it wasn't received until much later.

As for why this case gets so much attention it is a mix of:

• She was pretty and young
• The case was interwoven with another murder and the higher the body count the more coverage
• This case has crossed at least 4 jurisdictions including federal so there are more departments involved than others
• The strange situation with the fiance returning home and not talking
• The parents doing everything possible to keep her in the news cycle.

Along with these are the fact that huge search is done to find her remember it did not start as a murder in media but missing person. Missing people cases often grow huge audience as people hope and searches are started for hopeful happy finding of person alive.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

So the friend, who views Gabby as her person, says Gabby didn't contact her to say Happy Birthday, which she views as odd and happened before the text of no service. But she thinks it's plausible that she was just busy and her own life was busy? I mean I get that on the one hand things happen in our lives but this is someone who is your person, who you say wouldn't blow you off it's not their character to do so.

And in all this time you didn't disclose this to the police? She's been reported missing since 9/11 but you'll talk to a news outlet? How did they even know to go to this friend in the first place? Did the friend contact the news outlet or did they get tipped off? Either way girl you should have gone to the police. That seems like information that would have been at least something to mark off that. It doesn't mean Brian was necessarily involved in her lack of contact for the Happy Birthday but rather it could go into the state of mind of Gabby to have missed an event that her friend says she wouldn't have missed or that the timeline of events may need to be reexamined especially when it came to them still searching for her. Your person is out there missing I would be giving all the information I could to police that I could think of.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

An autopsy might also be able to determine approximate date of death. So if the likely date of her death was before the date of the last text message, then it was clearly somebody else (not her) who sent the text message.

I'm hoping that the elements or other factors don't interfere too much with the approximation of death.

 

[Sinder]

What is awful is that we are a bunch of people not related to anyone in this case and look at all the questions we have and how we are speculating. I can't imagine what her family is going through right now. Having her body back doesn't help with any of the why or how's that they are needing to know.
I hope that even if they don't find Brian that Gabby's family gets answers.

 

[Marrila]

Ok, I have a question. I never really saw a lot about this, maybe just a small mention or two.

Didn’t Brian fly back to FL at some time in August? Does anyone have more details about that?

Various net sources say he went back to help his dad clear out a storage locker. Aug 17-23rd.
Reddit, etc

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm hoping that the elements or other factors don't interfere too much with the approximation of death.

They said yesterday they couldn't distinguish between male and female by sight. So I do fear much evidence has been lost.

 

[Heigh-Ho]

What is awful is that we are a bunch of people not related to anyone in this case and look at all the questions we have and how we are speculating. I can't imagine what her family is going through right now. Having her body back doesn't help with any of the why or how's that they are needing to know.
I hope that even if they don't find Brian that Gabby's family gets answers.

Why is this awful? No one has to participate on this thread. I do think everyone feels for family and friends, how could we not? Someone is dead. That doesn't mean people can't discuss it. Maybe I am misinterpreting your comment

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

They said yesterday they couldn't distinguish between male and female by sight. So I do fear much evidence has been lost.

Well that is disheartening to say the least

 

[Marrila]

What is awful is that we are a bunch of people not related to anyone in this case and look at all the questions we have and how we are speculating. I can't imagine what her family is going through right now. Having her body back doesn't help with any of the why or how's that they are needing to know.
I hope that even if they don't find Brian that Gabby's family gets answers.

People discuss stuff on discussion boards.
Personally, I am confident BL will be located. There are plenty of LE officers looking for him.

 

[TheIncredibles!]

Why is this awful? No one has to participate on this thread. I do think everyone feels for family and friends, how could we not? Someone is dead. That doesn't mean people can't discuss it. Maybe I am misinterpreting your comment

I took it as a genuine "oh this is horrible, look at how hard it is for us to even wrap our heads around, I can't imagine how hard it must be for family" etc type of comment

 

[JimMIA]

They said yesterday they couldn't distinguish between male and female by sight. So I do fear much evidence has been lost.

I didn't see that, and it doesn't make much sense.

The FBI supervisor at the press conference yesterday said the body found was "consistent" with being Gabby, and that they had notified Gabby's family of that. Those facts don't match "couldn't tell if the body was male or female."

 

[Pea-n-Me]

They recognized her enough to do a preliminary identification, and notify her family, etc. Tattoos were identifiable. They must’ve been fairly confident for them to do this.

 

[Sinder]

Why is this awful? No one has to participate on this thread. I do think everyone feels for family and friends, how could we not? Someone is dead. That doesn't mean people can't discuss it. Maybe I am misinterpreting your comment

People discuss stuff on discussion boards.
Personally, I am confident BL will be located. There are plenty of LE officers looking for him.

I didn't mean we are awful or discussing it is awful.
I meant that it is an awful thought that her parents have all these same questions and that they are probably discussing all the what ifs and it's reality for them. It's their daughter that is dead....I just can't imagine how they are feeling and dealing with all this.