The case of 22-year-old Gabby Petito has dominated American headlines and become a trending topic on social media following her disappearance days ago, while the North Port Police in Florida and the FBI search for her after she went missing during a road trip with her fiancé. Recently, her fiancé, 23-year-old Brian Laundrie, who returned from the trip alone, has also gone missing, and police and FBI are searching for him, with his family stating they haven't seen him since last Tuesday.
Laundrie was on a road trip with Petito across several states using a van before her disappearance. Petito's family attorneys released a statement through NBC News saying that "Brian Laundrie is not missing, he is hiding, and Gabby is the one who is missing." Police described Laundrie as a "person of interest" in Petito's disappearance, stating he "has not been cooperative in the investigation." Laundrie has declined to discuss Petito's disappearance on the advice of the family's lawyer, Steven P. Bertolino, who mentioned that police often focus their attention on the "significant other." Bertolino did not respond to NBC's request for comments on Friday.
Police clarified they are now conducting an investigation regarding "two missing persons," referring to both Laundrie and Petito, and released details including Laundrie's height and appearance, along with a photo of them, while the FBI published information about Gabby.
The story began when Laundrie and Petito embarked on a road trip through national parks last July, documenting parts of their journey on YouTube and Instagram. Police indicated that Brian Laundrie was driving a van with Florida plates and returned to North Port, south of Tampa, on September 1, which was ten days before Petito's family reported her missing. Authorities are searching across the United States for Petito, who has not been heard from since late August, with the last known location believed to be Grand Teton National Park near Jackson, Wyoming.
It is noted that on August 12, police in Utah witnessed an "alleged physical altercation" between Laundrie and Petito. In a video released by police on Thursday, Petito can be seen wiping her tears. The video, which lasts about an hour, shows that Laundrie and his fiancée argued several times.
Petito's disappearance has sparked "intense speculation and media coverage" regarding her whereabouts since her family reported her missing last week, according to Forbes. Petito was reported missing on September 11, ten days after her fiancé returned alone. The road trip was intended to last four months, and Laundrie did not publicly speak about Petito’s whereabouts or why he returned from the trip alone. Laundrie and Petito last posted a video on YouTube on August 19, with Petito last speaking to her mother on August 24, informing her they were heading to Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. Petito's last Instagram post was on August 25, and she has not been seen since.
Search efforts for Laundrie and Petito have been ongoing for days, with reports indicating they were "childhood sweethearts and lived in Suffolk County on Long Island, east of New York City, before moving to Florida in 2019 to live with Laundrie's parents," according to Forbes.
