Gabby Petito

[nicolita3]

I’ve been reading about this case a little bit today and trying to understand the timeline. If I had to guess, I would say she was killed August 27th. If the witness reports are true, a few interesting things happened that day.

• A couple claims to have seen Laundrie in a Jackson Hole restaurant agitated, arguing with employees around 1-2pm. Petito was there, allegedly, and apologized for his behavior.
• 4-5 hours later, another couple picked up footage of Petito’s van with their dash cam in a camping area near where Petito’s body would later be found. An enhanced version of this video supposedly shows the van door being pulled closed as the couple’s car approached.
• Petito’s mother received an odd text from Gabby referring to her grandfather as “Stan,” something she never did. (Her mother seems to think this text came from her daughter — I wonder if it came from Laundrie which might explain his slip up in calling the grandfather by his name. I can’t find info about what time the text was sent that day. And, did her mother not respond to it?! This whole bit is weird to me.)​

Yet another couple claims to have picked up Laundrie hitchhiking on August 29th in an area just a bit northwest to where the van was seen and Petito’s body would later be found. He told them he had been camping alone for days and his girlfriend was back at their van working on her social media stuff. He offered them $200 to drive him 10 miles to Jackson. Once on the road, he “freaked out and insisted on getting out of the car” when the couple mentioned their plans to go to Jackson Hole themselves. They pulled over and let him out by a dam not far from where they picked him up.

August 30th was when the suspicious “No service in Yosemite” text was sent to Petito’s mother.

On the morning of September 1st, the van is picked up on a license plate reader driving into North Port, Florida.

I want to know, when was the last time he was seen in Florida? Have police ever laid eyes on him? When was this camping trip the Laundries took after he returned, before Petito was reported missing? His parents claim he was in their home until the 14th, but can anyone verify that? For all we know, he called them from Wyoming and told them what happened, whatever that may be, and they told him to come home. (Why was he trying to go to Jackson? Perhaps heading to the airport, then changed his mind and decided to go pick up the van and drive back instead?) Then, he and his parents take off in a new camper for a few days to… get him to a port… the Texas border… a remote family cabin in whoza-ma-whatzit, Michigan…???

By the time the police make their first visit to the Laundries on Sept 11th, they are already lawyered up and saying their son has nothing to say. His parents finally contact the police on the 17th to say he’s been missing since the 14th and point them in the direction of a nearby nature preserve for his whereabouts. But what’s to say they didn’t help smuggle him out-of-state weeks ago?

I’ll edit to link my sources for this info in a few minutes after I get it posted. If I’ve made any mistakes please let me know — it’s a lot to keep straight!

https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/16/us/gabby-petito-timeline-missing-case/index.htmlhttps://www.foxnews.com/us/gabby-petito-brian-laundrie-argued-in-wyoming-restaurant-eyewitnesseshttps://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/f...0210921-rvzf7mpayvdjnk6uk2pugriiaa-story.htmlhttps://www.newsweek.com/gabby-peti...k-door-closing-car-filming-approaches-1630795https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/loc...ge-as-brian-laundrie-remains-missing/3282127/https://www.wfla.com/news/sarasota-...s-final-odd-text-to-her-mom-raised-red-flags/https://people.com/crime/brian-laun...and-teton-national-park-gabby-petito-missing/

I saw an interview of a neighbor saying the car that was supposedly left at the swamp never went anywhere and that it had been parked there for weeks. So who knows if he's even where they think he is.

 

[JimMIA]

Sam Sheinbein was sent to Israel by his father to avoid being tried as an adult and the death penalty, which Maryland still had at the time. There was a huge dust up between US and Israel over his extradition. It was agreed that Israel would try him, since they allowed him to claim citizenship. He entered a plea bargain and got a pretty severe sentence for Israel which of course wasn’t close to what he would have gotten in the US. He did get killed trying to break out of prison after someone smuggled him a gun.

Call me a cynic if you must, but the bolded part makes me go "WHAT???"

 

[Dentam]

I saw it. It has nothing to do with Brian Laundrie or understanding the difference between "deranged" and sociopath.

Still missing the point of what I posted but I think we are on different planes of thinking at this point. I wasn't meaning to get into the minutia of psychiatric labels but I guess I should have known it would go there. My mistake.

 

[Sinder]

I saw an interview of a neighbor saying the car that was supposedly left at the swamp never went anywhere and that it had been parked there for weeks. So who knows if he's even where they think he is.

That should be easy to verify. Police supposedly left a note on the car.
The weird thing of course is that his parents went to look for him there on Wednesday, and then returned on Thursday to get his car.
So again, they were worried about him enough to go looking for him, and still took his car home. Well how was he going to get back home then? Why would you take the car if you still expected him to go back home? And you are so worried you go looking for him on Wednesday, then take his car away the next day and then still wait another day to report him missing to the police.

 

[AndreaA]

Call me a cynic if you must, but the bolded part makes me go "WHAT???"

Yeah, well that was after being allowed to go on furloughs and buying a gun himself, and getting transferred to another prison, etc., etc.. The guy clearly had no intention of remaining quietly in prison...

 

[Carol_]

This dude is so very much in Mexico by now…

 

[LSUmiss]

I don't think any of us would really know unless we were put in that horrible situation.

Obviously we all love our kids. Equally obviously, we also have morals and standards for our personal conduct. Those of us who have kids would probably also be in the "I can't imagine what it's like for that victim's family." It's the ultimate horror for a mom or dad. But we love our kids.

I think we'd all be very conflicted and can't honestly say what we would do. I know I can't.

That’s exactly it. Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.

 

[LSUmiss]

When my wife was pregnant with our first child, my Dad told me, "You don't know what love is...until you have a child."

He was right.

Absolutely.

 

[NotUrsula]

I'm gonna chime in here with an opinion that seems unpopular. I have 2 sons. They are both autistic. I am fiercely protective of them. I probably protect them too much, at times. Heck, just this afternoon, I was spiraling out with anxiety because their bus was late bringing them home from school. I had been warned the bus was late, but it was MUCH later than I had been told. I could see my kids on Google Maps, as the bus ran them all over our side of town dropping kids off, but inexplicably, an hour after they SHOULD have been home, they were still miles away. I called the bus dispatch to find out what the heck was going on. They assured me everything was fine, but the driver was dropping off 2 routes worth of kids, so it was taking longer than they expected. I was still worried about them. I tell you this so you understand how I worry about them. They are 15 and 17, FWIW.

That said, I have LONG maintained that I will love and support them unconditionally, EXCEPT if they do something criminally heinous. At that point, they are no longer my children. They would be on their own. I would withdraw all support and would under no circumstances cover for them, lie for them, or keep my mouth shut if I knew something. I wouldn't pay for a lawyer. I wouldn't visit them in jail. I'd be DONE. I cannot fathom supporting a murderer or rapist or child abuser. Nope. I would mourn them as if they had died.

Thankfully they are both very good young men who care a lot about others and have never once even broken a rule or lied to anyone about anything. They are very much rule followers with a black and white sense of right and wrong, so I hope to high heaven that I never find myself in the unfortunate situation of being the mother of a criminal. My husband has said he feels the same way.

I will always protect my kids from any real or perceived dangers, but I will never protect them from the consequences of their own actions.

Autism can really muddy the waters when people are accused of crimes. There is a tendency these days on the part of many people who know little to nothing about autism to believe that most autistics are "ticking time bombs" who are likely to mentally snap and become violent under stressful circumstances. We had to have a version of "the talk" with our very white Aspie son about what to do if he is ever stopped by the police and/or questioned about a crime, because he might have inadvertently reacted in a way that made them believe he was involved.

For instance, as a kid he had a habit of always carrying his own water bottle. One day when he was in high school we stopped at a sandwich shop for lunch; I was still standing back looking at the menu when he stepped up to order. He was wearing his usual leather jacket and color-changing glasses, and as he approached the counter to order he reached crossways to the inside pocket of his jacket for the water bottle, because he was going to ask for some ice. Two cops standing at a counter table on the far side of the room pulled their guns when they saw him reach into his jacket. Luckily he was a regular at the shop and the counter clerk knew him and greeted him, causing the cops to stand down immediately; otherwise the situation might have gone south really quickly, because they clearly initially thought he was going for a weapon. One of them even came over to our table later and said, "Son, you might want to find another place to keep that water bottle." I had to explain why he said it.

 

[Dentam]

Autism can really muddy the waters when people are accused of crimes. There is a tendency these days on the part of many people who know little to nothing about autism to believe that most autistics are "ticking time bombs" who are likely to mentally snap and become violent under stressful circumstances. We had to have a version of "the talk" with our very white Aspie son about what to do if he is ever stopped by the police and/or questioned about a crime.

For instance, as a kid he had a habit of always carrying his own water bottle. One day when he was in high school we stopped at a sandwich shop for lunch; I was still standing back looking at the menu when he stepped up to order. He was wearing his usual leather jacket and color-changing glasses, and as he approached the counter to order he reached crossways to the inside pocket of his jacket for the water bottle, because he was going to ask for some ice. Two cops standing at a counter table on the far side of the room pulled their guns when they saw him reach into his jacket. Luckily he was a regular at the shop and the counter clerk knew him and greeted him, causing the cops to stand down immediately; otherwise the situation might have gone south really quickly, because they clearly initially thought he was going for a weapon. One of them even came over to our table later and said, "Son, you might want to find another place to keep that water bottle." I had to explain why he said it.

Wow, that must have been so scary for you! I'm glad it all turned out okay.

 

[LSUmiss]

I'm gonna chime in here with an opinion that seems unpopular. I have 2 sons. They are both autistic. I am fiercely protective of them. I probably protect them too much, at times. Heck, just this afternoon, I was spiraling out with anxiety because their bus was late bringing them home from school. I had been warned the bus was late, but it was MUCH later than I had been told. I could see my kids on Google Maps, as the bus ran them all over our side of town dropping kids off, but inexplicably, an hour after they SHOULD have been home, they were still miles away. I called the bus dispatch to find out what the heck was going on. They assured me everything was fine, but the driver was dropping off 2 routes worth of kids, so it was taking longer than they expected. I was still worried about them. I tell you this so you understand how I worry about them. They are 15 and 17, FWIW.

That said, I have LONG maintained that I will love and support them unconditionally, EXCEPT if they do something criminally heinous. At that point, they are no longer my children. They would be on their own. I would withdraw all support and would under no circumstances cover for them, lie for them, or keep my mouth shut if I knew something. I wouldn't pay for a lawyer. I wouldn't visit them in jail. I'd be DONE. I cannot fathom supporting a murderer or rapist or child abuser. Nope. I would mourn them as if they had died.

Thankfully they are both very good young men who care a lot about others and have never once even broken a rule or lied to anyone about anything. They are very much rule followers with a black and white sense of right and wrong, so I hope to high heaven that I never find myself in the unfortunate situation of being the mother of a criminal. My husband has said he feels the same way.

I will always protect my kids from any real or perceived dangers, but I will never protect them from the consequences of their own actions.

So what if one told you something really bad happened accidentally & the attorney told you your son would likely go to prison for a long time for something that wasn’t his fault? Who knows if that’s what he told his parents. And since your sons are good kids, don’t you think it might be hard to fathom that they did something heinous if they said they didn’t?

 

[LSUmiss]

Sociopath or just plain psychotic? With his “I’m the Prince of God” talk, one wonders...

Yeah you can be both but with that being his last words, sure seems delusion to me.

 

[LSUmiss]

This is a different discussion. If my kid was being accused of something I KNEW he didn't do, without a shadow of a doubt, I'd pull out all the stops to protect him. But this isn't that. His parents can't possibly know with certainty because they weren't with him. And we are talking about what we would do, given a situation similar to what the Laundrie parents are facing right now.

But don’t you think you would be likely to believe your child unless you had a real reason to suspect otherwise?

 

[Marrila]

But don’t you think you would be likely to believe your child unless you had a real reason to suspect otherwise?

Nope. I would listen with an open mind to all possibilities.
My teens were not always angels from the realms of glory.
However, we never deal with any issues anywhere near as serious as those with BL.

 

[LSUmiss]

Nope. I would listen with an open mind to all possibilities.
My teens were not always angels from the realms of glory.
However, we never deal with any issues anywhere near as serious as those with BL.

Not being angels & killing someone are way different. As previously mentioned, I think it would be difficult for any of us to accept that our child murdered someone & would be likely to believe him/her if they had a plausible story.

 

[Marrila]

Not being angels & killing someone are way different. As previously mentioned, I think it would be difficult for any of us to accept that our child murdered someone & would be likely to believe him/her if they had a plausible story.

Well, leaving room for truth is important.
Listening, but being open to the possibility there is much more to the story. Or not.
I think sorting through something like this would be nightmare parenting for sure.
But just automatically assuming adult child is giving the full straight scoop in something potentially criminal might be worse in the end.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

A couple other things…

Regarding the Laundries’ camping trip:

The Laundries’ neighbors say Brian and his parents left on Sept 11th and were gone 3 days. At the time, they thought it was odd the Laundries and their adult son would go camping together in such a tiny camper. Petito was reported missing on the 11th and the police first showed up to the Laundries’ home that same day and the Laundries refused to let them speak to Brian. So, if the neighbors are correct about these dates, that means the Laundries packed up and left right after the police came knocking on their door. The neighbors saw Brian leave with his parents but don’t know if he returned with them because they never saw him after that.

Regarding the incident when the police were called for the domestic dispute in mid-August:

I remember reading that Laundrie was taken to a shelter when the police separated the couple for the night because they couldn’t afford a hotel. A couple weeks later, he’s hitchhiking and throwing $200 at a couple to drive him 10 miles down the road. Maybe they lied to the police about what they could afford simply because they didn’t want to spend the money on a hotel. Maybe Laundrie was so desperate to get to Jackson for whatever reason that he was willing to give every last dollar he had to get a ride. Or, maybe he was suddenly flush with cash because his parents wired him money to get him home ASAP. I’m very curious to see if we get any financial clues in this case. Personally, I think his parents are deeply involved in aiding his disappearance.

 

[DLgal]

So what if one told you something really bad happened accidentally & the attorney told you your son would likely go to prison for a long time for something that wasn’t his fault? Who knows if that’s what he told his parents. And since your sons are good kids, don’t you think it might be hard to fathom that they did something heinous if they said they didn’t?

I said if I KNEW they were guilty. I would have to know for sure before I would turn my back on either of them.

I honestly believe my kids are incapable of lying. They literally never have, about anything. They don't even tell white lies. They are honest to a fault (don't ever ask them if your outfit makes you look fat). The concept of lying just doesn't compute in their brains. At this point, if they did something terrible, it'd be pretty easy to convict them. They'd rat themselves out.

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

Confessions are seldom important in murder trials. In fact, they are often recanted. More importantly, they just tell us what we already know from the physical evidence.

Where they are very important in murder cases is locating bodies, weapons used, etc. Locating the bodies is critical to closure for the families, and both come back to haunt the killer when they try to recant their confession in court. But they are icing on the cake.

People find it extremely hard to give a ‘no comment’ interview. In the U.K. at least, even if the police have been informed by the DP’s solicitor that the DP is going to give a ‘no comment’ interview, the police proceed with the interview and ask questions. Listening to every question and not responding or reacting in any way is difficult. I have seen people say ‘no comment’ whilst still nodding or shaking their head. A lot of DPs just want to get everything off their chest because remorse and empathy for the victim kicks in, or they are sufficiently unwell that that don’t understand that what they have done is wrong.

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

Not being angels & killing someone are way different. As previously mentioned, I think it would be difficult for any of us to accept that our child murdered someone & would be likely to believe him/her if they had a plausible story.

I agree that it is in the nature of most parents to want to believe the best of their children. Also, giving a child up to the police, requires having 100 percent faith in the legal process and the judicial system, the police, lawyers, the Judge, expert witnesses, the jury etc. Even in countries such as ours, that is quite a big ask. Easy perhaps when we can be objective, but not so easy when the person accused is one of our own.