Gabby Petito

[LSUmiss]

And refuse to respond to the family members of your child's fiancé who are frantic with worry about her? Someone who lived with your family prior to this incident? Just seems so crazy to me and lacking in any compassion or basic human decency.

I did forget that she lived with them so that might be difficult if they cared for her. But,
again, if an attorney truly did advise me not to talk to anyone b/c it could negatively affect my son, I wouldn’t.

 

[AndreaA]

And refuse to respond to the family members of your child's fiancé who are frantic with worry about her? Someone who lived with your family prior to this incident? Just seems so crazy to me and lacking in any compassion or basic human decency.

I think the parents are horrible for not making their son come forward and for not just telling the police everything they know and “let the chips fall where they may”. I have a feeling that things would have worked out much better for all concerned (assuming Brian hasn’t actually reached a non-extradition country by now) if a little transparency and honesty had been employed from the outset. HOWEVER, I think we’ve all read stories of people who protect their kids at all costs - heck, frequently parents protect their kids even when those kids have abused and killed their grandkids, so yeah, unfortunately it’s not too surprising even if it is disappointing.

As it stands, what was probably an accidental, heat of the moment homicide, for which he might have gotten a very lenient sentence, has now turned into this full-on media spectacle and quite likely a second death via suicide or drowning/swamp creatures/snakes.

Even if I’m shockingly mistaken, and he’s 100% not-guilty of murder, left her safe in a hotel room, she told him to take the van, he expected her to call her parents... he still did SO MUCH WRONG in the aftermath that it’s impossible to see him as in any way “innocent”. I am not excusing whatever crazy GP had going on, but in the end, she died first, and there are absolutely dozens of things he could have done which wouldn’t have led to all of this additional trauma and tragedy. For example, telling where he’d last seen her back on Sept1, so that her parents wouldn’t need a closed-casket funeral...

 

[tinkerdorabelle]

Why? Well off the top of my head, one reason might be knowing that he wouldn't stand a chance against the assumptions that would be made against him. Lots of examples of "judge, jury and executioner" types even in this thread. I am not saying its right, but, I can see a certain kind of innocent or confused or panicked person fleeing with an outlook of "I am not going down for this, no way".

I could also see parents, who truly believe their son is innocent, trying to help and protect him from the mob calling for his blood.

At this point, no one knows what happened out there.

Come on, she is missing and he doesn't try to help his girlfriend who he has been traveling with, or give any info Whatsoever? What if she had stomped off and fallen. He is at the very very least, and I believe worse, an EXTREMELY thoughtless selfish person to the point of being almost sociopathic in his lack of empathy and that would be if he were innocent. Who in their right mind would do that. And the parents are horrible, they knew he was gone out of the house yet went along with acting like he was there, they knew something was up yet they stayed quiet and really looks like tried to help him run off. I worry this case will never be solved. I hope that isn't the case.

 

[Marrila]

I did forget that she lived with them so that might be difficult if they cared for her. But,
again, if an attorney truly did advise me not to talk to anyone b/c it could negatively affect my son, I wouldn’t.

Are you saying this is a way to handle a situation with a truly missing (endangered) fiance?
Or is this the best way legally to handle it if one has been convinced she's deceased?

 

[mom2rtk]

So now some neighbors have been interviewed saying that the three (mom, dad, and Brian) loaded up their camper and went on a 3 day camping trip at some point after Brian came home and before he was reported missing. That seems odd.

They also said that "camper" was a pick up with a newly installed camper shell. Seems to me like they wanted to take some things somewhere whatever it was being seen.

 

[mom2rtk]

Yes, in general, I agree. I am just saying if Brian was my child & I fully believed he was innocent, I can’t say what I would do. But, I do know my extinct would be to protect my own child.

My instinct would also be to protect my child. But I also think that after an internal battle of will, I would force myself to encourage them to come forward with the information they had. Not just for the benefit of the missing girl, but also as the only viable path out of this.

 

[tinkerdorabelle]

I'd say you have a point, and I think that the answer is heavily tied up in the "missing white woman" phenomenon, and the role of the press (professional as well as amateur) in that. In Duggar's case, he had already confessed to behavior very close to what he is accused of, so it is more reasonable to believe he is a recidivist, and the FBI *had* charged him with the crime when the story broke, but I think the key point is that photos of his alleged victims were not plastered all over the internet to draw sympathy. While child pornography is not a victimless crime, most of the time the victims do not have a public face, and thus the likelihood of mob incitement is less. Also, it doesn't involve a death, which is key. Look at the Larry Nassar case. Plenty of people defended discounting the testimony of minors, and plenty of others were out for blood, but the victims still grew up and still have lives, and some people think that's a mitigating factor, despite the fact that the victims have been actively tortured by the ongoing hearings in this case for YEARS.

The press reports on cases that they believe will make money. She was a popular blogger known by many, and also this case has all the elements of a Lifetime Movie. It's all about the money for the press. There were also 2 other women killed in the same area in mid Aug.

 

[neverlandsky]

As parents, we would be exhausting every avenue to look for our missing adult child. Missing, person of interest, murder suspect, or what not. Whatever it takes to find our missing adult child. We have had and continue to have so many conversations with our teens on how actions can have consequences, some can be life changing, life altering, and yes even life ending. The fact that his parents/siblings hasn't made a public plea for him to return home speaks volumes. Their brief statement of May Gabby rest in piece, is BS.

 

[mjkacmom]

Are you saying this is a way to handle a situation with a truly missing (endangered) fiance?
Or is this the best way legally to handle it if one has been convinced she's deceased?

I think if she was deceased, if my son told me it was a horrible accident after the parents told us she was missing, and the lawyer said to say nothing, I’d listen to the lawyer. As a mother of sons and daughters, I can mentally insert myself on either side. I’d do anything to protect my son, and I’d be ready to strangle them if it was my daughter.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

So now some neighbors have been interviewed saying that the three (mom, dad, and Brian) loaded up their camper and went on a 3 day camping trip at some point after Brian came home and before he was reported missing. That seems odd.

I guess it’s not inconceivable that he came home saying that Gabby had to fly home to see her family in NY [for whatever reason, maybe an emergency], and he had to drive her van back, yada, yada, yada. If he didn’t say anything to them during that time about anything, then maybe they were kept in the dark. Just speaking of these days and not later, when more was known and pleas were going out for them to speak up. My mind doesn’t automatically go to they were all conspiring to hide something, but, of course, that is a possibility, too. We just don’t know for sure until we have more information about exactly what was going on at that time. The possibilities are endless.

It’s an interesting question to think about, as a parent - do you take the lawyer’s advice and remain silent, or do you break rank and tell what you know? I could see myself struggling with what the best course of action would be. I know I taught my kids that honesty is always the best policy, and try to live by that notion myself, but I’ve never had to deal with anything even close to this with my kids, so it’s pretty hard to say with absolute certainty what I would do. I know I would respect what an attorney has to say, if it was a good one, but I’m pretty sure I would, at the same time, want to lessen the pain of the family whose child I loved and was missing, too, so I think I would try really hard to find a way to do that somehow. Again, impossible to say with any certainty since we don’t know exact details of what was going on at that time.

Hopefully it will all make sense some day. I hate to see people, who were probably regular parents just like most of us, have the rest of their lives ruined because they were callous and unkind. (Though that is not my gut sense of who they are. I know others here vehemently disagree so I’ll give you that; you don’t have to ream me.) I’ve worked with families in crisis for a lot of years myself and am usually a pretty good judge of character. I certainly could be wrong here, though.

 

[LSUmiss]

Are you saying this is a way to handle a situation with a truly missing (endangered) fiance?
Or is this the best way legally to handle it if one has been convinced she's deceased?

I agree it’s not necessarily the right way, but I can understand got themselves in this situation.

 

[Marrila]

I agree it’s not necessarily the right way, but I can understand got themselves in this situation.

I understand better now what you are saying. Thanks.

 

[mom2rtk]

I think if she was deceased, if my son told me it was a horrible accident after the parents told us she was missing, and the lawyer said to say nothing, I’d listen to the lawyer. As a mother of sons and daughters, I can mentally insert myself on either side. I’d do anything to protect my son, and I’d be ready to strangle them if it was my daughter.

Everyone keeps talking about them taking the lawyers advice to remain silent. Unfortunately that’s not all they did. They took his advice to remain silent and they helped their son run away. I doubt any lawyer wanting to keep his license advised Brian to run.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

I'm not sure she was a popular blogger. She posted mostly to Instagram. Not sure how many followers she had. She posted only one video to the YouTube channel, on 8/19. I understand she also had a blog site, which wasn't active. She was pretty much just starting out.

 

[Dentam]

For those who were wondering what friends of theirs are saying, I just read an article with interviews of their friends describing a historically bumpy relationship: https://people.com/crime/gabby-petito-brian-laundrie-inside-relationship/

 

[Lumpy1106]

I mentioned this in another thread, but I am listening to the "In Your Own Backyard" podcast and it is PHENOMINAL. It's about a college freshman who goes missing and is allegedly killed on her way home from a party. The case has been open now since 1996 and may well never be fully solved, as the only one who really knows what happened is Paul Flores, the guy who PROBABLY killed her. The guy who produced the podcast did so primarily so the case would not be closed. It is maddening to hear the details he has revealed.

Here's the thing though;
This case may very well never be resolved because they cannot make Paul Flores talk - 5th Amendment, done. Same goes for Brian. Unless there is a whole lot of physical evidence we haven't been told about, he's the only one that knows. There are no other witnesses. Assuming he is alive, you can't make him talk.

It's maddening, but that's the system we have.

 

[neverlandsky]

I'm suprise that there wasn't a separate attorney for the parents from the adult child/person of interest due to attorney-client privilege, integrity, and to prevent obstruction of justice. Also due to the fact that parents are not able or are they responsible for to keep 24/7 tabs on adult kids.

 

[mom2rtk]

I mentioned this in another thread, but I am listening to the "In Your Own Backyard" podcast and it is PHENOMINAL. It's about a college freshman who goes missing and is allegedly killed on her way home from a party. The case has been open now since 1996 and may well never be fully solved, as the only one who really knows what happened is Paul Flores, the guy who PROBABLY killed her. The guy who produced the podcast did so primarily so the case would not be closed. It is maddening to hear the details he has revealed.

Here's the thing though;
This case may very well never be resolved because they cannot make Paul Flores talk - 5th Amendment, done. Same goes for Brian. Unless there is a whole lot of physical evidence we haven't been told about, he's the only one that knows. There are no other witnesses. Assuming he is alive, you can't make him talk.

It's maddening, but that's the system we have.

Did Flores run?

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Verification in the deer cam dude was not Brian.

https://www.fox13news.com/news/hike...s-not-brian-laundrie-florida-deputies-confirm

 

[a1tinkfans]

Imho…
And now some couple said they allegedly saw Brian arguing with a waitress hours before gabby went missing. Some restaurant.
what I found interesting was that they announced their names, their smiling faced pix and her first reaction to being prompted by her boyfriend about it being Brian… was that she, totally forgot about that!
Well.. tells me that it could not have been anything quite so loud, scary or traumatizing as she forgot about it. That and grabbing “ screen time” I mean people will take whatever notoriety they can…. It could have been stated to State Police, FBI but instead it’s already “ posted” oh… and the restaurant says they have no recollection as it’s a busy place and nothing stood out to them. They I believe thought gabby was in the van as he kept going in and out.
My guess… there may never be a resolution because Brian is gone, there’s likely no way to prove he specifically did anything and the Tragedy continues … for all the families and friends involved. Next up… some awful movie making $$ off of it . Sad tragedy.