Gabby Petito update – Brian Laundrie sleuths on Reddit and Instagram probe clues about autopsy and cause of death

‘I KNOW WHY YOU CAME HERE’

When he traveled to Wyoming to recover his daughter’s remains, Joe Petito posted the “beautiful view” of a lake near where Gabby’s body was found in Wyoming.

“I now know why you came here. #gabbypetito has a beautiful view from now on. Love you, and miss you,” Joe Petito wrote on Twitter, alongside a picture of a lake surrounded by mountains.

YOUTUBERS EDIT BRIAN OUT OF GABBY’S VIDEOS

Supporters of murdered vlogger Gabby Petito have edited fiancé Brian Laundrie out of her YouTube videos. 

Vlogger Gabby, 22, had been documenting a trip of a lifetime as she drove across the country with her high school sweetheart, Laundrie.

Nomadic Statik is the name of Gabby’s YouTube channel, which she set up with her boyfriend to document the cross-country road trip.

Now, Brian has been edited out of a three-minute clip that strings together footage from her social media. 

Reacting to this, one Reddit user said: “it was all a mirage and an illusion. Why is our society motivating young people to feel they must manufacture such fairy tale imagery in order to be validated by strangers?”

WAS GABBY PREGNANT?

Gabby’s autopsy confirmed that she was not pregnant at the time of her death.

Online sleuths had speculated that Gabby may be pregnant after discovering a Pinterest board titled: “Oh Baby”.

The board was also shared by Brian Laundrie’s mom, the International Business Times reports.

The page contains several links to items of clothing that were previously for sale including onesies and crocheted bibs.  

There are several snaps of toddlers playing on the beach and cute family photos.

SLEUTHS SAY GABBY WAS ‘SCARED’ AND SHARING ‘CODED MESSAGES’

Gabby Petito web sleuths have shared several different signs from her Instagram posts and van life videos that they say show she was scared of her fiance Brian Laundrie.

In particular, they think her blue sky posts with “I’m blue” lyrics were actually coded messages.

After the 22-year-old vlogger posted two pictures of herself on Instagram that appeared to show her outdoors wearing a gray top and white pants and captioned one post: “I’m blue da ba dee da ba daa 🦋 #imblue,” one person commented, “Is she trying to say she’s sad??”

Other believe Gabby posted a knife emoji and picture of her fiancé Brian grinning as a cry for help.

One user commented “Woah…do you think she’s been trying to say something since this post?!”

WHERE WAS GABBY'S BODY FOUND?

On September 19, 2021, authorities in Wyoming announced a body was found in the area where the search for Petito had been underway.

The Petito lawyer later confirmed on September 21, that the body was identified as Gabby.

The remains were discovered in Grant Teton National Park, where she had been camping with her fiancé when she disappeared.

"I want to personally thank the press and news media for giving the Petito and Schmidt family time to grieve," lawyer Richard Stafford said in a statement. "We will be making a statement when Gabby is home. I will contact you to arrange a time and location."

GABBY’S FINAL TEXT

Gabby’s mother believes that her daughter’s last text wasn’t written by the late vlogger. 

The message was sent to Nichole Schmidt on August 30 when Gabby and fiancé Brian Laundrie were still on their cross-country road trip.

The mysterious text read: “No service in Yosemite”

Yosemite is about 800 miles away from Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming where Gabby’s remains were eventually found.

It’s unclear if Gabby was the one who sent the message, but the FBI has pinpointed her date of death to between August 27 to 30.

WHO IS GABBY’S FAMILY ATTORNEY RICHARD STAFFORD?

Richard Stafford is known as a Criminal Trial Attorney, who is also the owner of the Law Office of Richard B. Stafford, in Bohemia, New York.

Stafford is a Pennsylvania State University graduate and has been practicing since 2001.

According to his LinkedIn profile, he “handles all types of criminal cases from driving while intoxicated to murder.”

Prior to starting his own law firm in 2004, Stafford worked as an Assistant District Attorney at the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.

CONSPIRACY THEORISTS SUGGEST THAT BRIAN FAKED DEATH

Online sleuths are claiming that Brian Laundrie is in fact still alive and is now living as a cop, among other wild conspiracies pushed in the wake of his skeletal remains being found.

In one TikTok video, someone posted a blurry photo showing a police officer with a resemblance close to Laundrie.

The man, seen in the photo wearing a baseball cap and glasses, was seen walking next to Laundrie’s father Chris on October 7.

The user, posting under the name conspiracyteacrimetimeee, then captioned the TikTok: “Brian Laundrie’s father seen laughing with officer who looks exactly like his son while on their search in Carlton Reserve.”

SHOCK DISAPPEARANCE AT GRAND TETON (P.2)

Originally from Ireland, Cian McLaughlin was living in Jackson, Wyoming, working as a snowboard instructor and bartender.

According to his mother, he also has a very thick Irish accent that would make him easily identifiable.

On the day McLaughlin reportedly went missing, he was hiking on the Lupine Meadows trail. A witness saw him around 3.45pm in the afternoon.

McLaughlin was an experienced outdoorsman, but the conditions on the trails were particularly dangerous in early June as there was melting snow and ice.

Grand Teton National Park is the same park that the body of Gabby Petito’s body was found last month.

SHOCK DISAPPEARANCE AT GRAND TETON

A mother is searching for her son who has gone missing in the same park where Gabby Petito’s body was found last month.

Cian McLaughlin, 27, has been missing since June 8. He was last seen in the park going out for a hike, NewsNationNow reports

He was first reported missing by his mother, Grainne McLaughlin, who is visiting from their native Ireland to help in search efforts.

“At this phase we have absolutely no idea,” she told NewsNation.

“We are trying to understand what may have happened.”

LAUNDRIE FAMILY ATTORNEY INSISTS ‘NO DEAL WAS CUT’

Web sleuths have similarly speculated Laundrie’s parents “made a deal” with the FBI to reveal what they know about where the location of his body might be on the condition they were free from prosecution.

In a TV interview, Steven Bertolino, the lawyer for Laundrie’s family, said “conversations were had with respect to certain charges” insisted “no deal was cut” after claims were put to him.

But internet detectives believe there were “clearly negotiations” that they claim led to Laundrie’s parents telling authorities information related to where their son’s body was – in exchange for immunity from being prosecuted.

DID BRIAN TAKE OVER GABBY’S INSTAGRAM?

A number of commenters on a July 26 post on Gabby Petito’s Instagram account suggested that they believe Laundrie had taken over custody of her Instagram account from that point on.

They felt an alleged shift in tone and a heavier focus on Brian in later uploads was a nod to that conspiracy theory.

“I think we all think this was most likely her last post,” one said. “All the ones after this one don’t seem the same as all the ones before this one … you can tell the difference between the two of them after reading his posts on his account.”

“Freaky bald-headed creep,” added another.

SHERIFF SAYS BRIAN LIKELY KILLED HIMSELF

A Florida sheriff revealed that Brian likely took his own life, as authorities were desperately searching for the fugitive’s fiancé, Gabby Petito.

The Herald Tribune reported that Sarasota County Kurt Hoffman said Laundrie went out to the preserve ‘and by all accounts probably committed suicide.’

ANTHROPOLOGIST RESULTS BY THE END OF THE MONTH

Laundrie family attorney Steve Bertolino said the results of a forensic anthropologist’s analysis of Brian Laundrie’s remains are expected by the end of this month.

Bertolino said he believes the results will reveal the time and cause of the fugitive’s death.

QUESTIONS REMAIN, CONTINUED

Six days later, on Sept. 19, Gabby's remains were found at a campsite near Grand Teton National Park.

A five-week nationwide search for Laundrie then ensued. While he wasn't named as a suspect in her death a warrant was issued for his arrest on allegations of bank fraud.

That search came to an end on October 20 after skeletal remains were found in Myakkahatchee Creek Park, which is adjacent to the Carlton Reserve, in Sarasota County, Florida.

QUESTIONS REMAIN

Brian quietly returned home to Florida alone on September 1, failing to alert police or Gabby’s family that she was missing.

Gabby was eventually reported missing by her mother in New York on September 11. That came after 10 days of allegedly being stonewalled by Brian and his parents about where her daughter was.

Brian then vanished himself on September 13, telling his parents he was going hiking in the Carlton Reserve. They described him as being "upset" and "out of sorts" when he left their home for the last time.

BRIAN'S 'STRANGE ART'

The 22-year-old van-life vlogger, who would be found strangled to death months later, also sold old clothes, headbands, and custom-made items on her Depop page.

For $5, she sold hand-designed bookmarks made by Brian Laundrie that were splatted with blood.

The bookmarks came in a variety of designs, some of which featured birds, penguins, and even a shadowed outline of the Marvel Comics character Hellboy, a known favorite of Laundrie's.

A second design, a black outline of a dead mockingbird, is also advertised for sale next to a copy of Palahniuk's horror-satire novel Lullaby, which Gabby and Brian spoke about reading during their doomed adventure.

All the items on Gabby's Depop page are listed as "SOLD", though it's unclear when those sales were made.

GABBY SOLD 'HEALING NECKLACES' BEFORE DISAPPEARANCE

The vlogger sold healing necklaces that sought to "eliminate pain, rage and stress" and "provide the strength to move on" just months before her ill-fated road trip with Brian Laundrie, from which only he returned.

Retailing for $10, Gabby sold at least three of the necklaces on her page, which appear to have originally been made by Target.

One of the chains has what's described as a "Gold Howlite Healing stone", which Gabby claimed helped its wearer find stability, patience, and awareness.

"Howlite stone helps teach patience and helps to eliminate rage, pain and stress," the listing reads.

A "Black Agate" necklace was also sold by Gabby at around the same time. That item claimed to contain powers of "Protection. Strength. Alignment."

The third necklace sold, an "Amazonite light healing stone", claimed to represent "self-expression, inspiration and calming vibes."

BUTTERFLY LINK?

Internet sleuths had already alleged that Petito's interest in butterflies could offer clues to her disappearance.

A TikTok video published to the site last month highlighted how 22-year-old Petito used butterflies across her social media, before showing a clip of Laundrie discussing flies to the cops.

Laundrie - who was found dead last month after being named a "person of interest" in the investigation into Gabby's death - says to police in the video, "and the flies here are pretty intense, so the flies have definitely been getting to her".

One person commented on the video, claiming: "I think sometimes butterflies can be used as a signal that someone is experiencing or survived domestic abuse".

LAST INSTAGRAM POST

Gabby final Instagram was also suspicious, sleuths claim, and hinted at signs about "death and evil."

The post - which was shared online on August 25 and captioned with a fly and pumpkin emoji - shows the tragic vlogger standing in front of a butterfly mural.

Questions had already been raised about whether Brian - and not Gabby - uploaded the final post.

Now one sleuth has suggested the use of a fly emoji rather than a butterfly could hint at something more sinister.

They wrote on Facebook: "If Brian did author that last post I noticed something weird.

"Clearly the picture is of her with butterflies in the background. So why is there a fly emoji instead of a butterfly emoji?

"I googled the symbolism behind a fly and it means evil and bringers of death... coincidence?

"Brian seemed like the spiritual one with nature type. So just an observation."

EMOJI CRY FOR HELP?

Web sleuths are convinced Gabby posted a knife emoji and picture of her fiancé Brian grinning as a cry for help.

Instagram users are analyzing a post from Petito's page on January 11 that shows Gabby posing for a mirror selfie with the caption: "Been listening to morbid podcast all morning, and I'm obsessed @morbidpodcast."

The caption also shows a knife emoji before Gabby states how she misses Charleston, South Carolina, and her godmother Flora Rocco. The post currently has over 7,000 likes.

One user commented "Woah...do you think she's been trying to say something since this post?!"

Another said "Ominous [as f**k]" while a third one asked, "but is she trying to hint something?"

MENTAL HEALTH CONCERNS

Gabby shared a number of harrowing Pinterest posts about mental health in the weeks and months before her death including an image that read "existence is pain."

The chilling caption was above a wallpaper image of the artificial humanoid creature Mr. Meeseeks from the sci-fi sitcom Rick and Morty. She also shared a black and white version of the same image.

A pen drawing of a female face, uploaded to Gabby's Instagram last April, has also sparked concern among armchair detectives.

Written around the figure is a series of messages, one of which reads: "I don't like to go outside. I like my bed."

Another says: "To future me: I'm not sleeping I'm just closing my eyes."

Some followers of the case seem convinced that Gabby’s haunting artwork reflected the vlogger’s fears that she would be killed one day.

BAREFOOT LIES?

Gabby had revealed Brian's strange hiking habit to her Instagram followers before she was reported missing.

She wrote: “Laundrie hikes barefoot everywhere we go!

"If it were up to him, he wouldn’t own any shoes! But I just find it funny how many people comment on the fact that he is barefoot.

"As soon as we reached the end of this easy walk, I kicked off my @sanuk, and this woman who seemed very concerned asked me if the crust was hot.

"I was in such a different mindset that this question fazed me. Even if it was boiling lava, I was just so happy to be there that I didn’t think about the sun.”

But Brian later told cops - who were called after witnesses saw them fighting - that the row was sparked by him getting into their van with dirty feet.

BOOK CLUES

Eagle eye spies also highlighted Gabby's June 23, 2020 post, where she shared a picture of Laundrie and herself at Sope Creek Stream in Georgia.

What sleuths questioned in the June 2020 post was the book Gabby was reading, Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club, which follows the experiences of an unnamed protagonist struggling with insomnia.

One person commented: "Interesting book to read…."

Another person added: "If you look at him and the cover of the book theirs some weird Irony going on here."

Gabby also uploaded a photo showing her reading a book about the Zodiac killer just days before she was found dead.

And Brian bragged online about the macabre and violent books he was reading during his road trip with Gabby, including Chuck Palahniuk's Lullaby, which is about a serial killer.

CODED MESSAGES?

Gabby web sleuths think her blue sky posts with "I'm blue" lyrics were actually coded messages.

On July 31, 2020 the 22-year-old vlogger posted two pictures of herself on Instagram that appeared to show her outdoors wearing a gray top and white pants.

Gabby captioned one post: "I'm blue da ba dee da ba daa 🦋 #imblue."

In the second post, she captioned it: "Blue his house with a blue little window And a blue Corvette And everything is blue for him 🧊✈️🤍🔹🦕. #blue."

Sleuths believe the 22-year-old was sending hidden messages about her mood, as one commented: "Is she trying to say she’s sad??"

Another person chimed in, saying: "Blue as in sad???"

Gabby's caption referred to the Eiffel 65 song Blue (Da Ba Dee).