That would be a wild turn of events.
There have already been plenty of wild turns in the case of Gabby Petito, who was murdered by her fiancé Brian Laundrie during a cross-country road trip in their camper van back in August 2021.
The 22-year old Petito was first reported missing in September after her family wasn’t able to get ahold of her. And then it was revealed that Laundrie had returned home to Florida alone in their van, immediately lawyering up and refusing to cooperate with investigators and family members desperate to find Gabby.
Petito’s body was found in the Grand Teton National Forest in September of 2021, and it was announced that her death had been a homicide caused by strangulation. Naturally Laundrie was the prime suspect, but when authorities went to arrest the man, there was another problem: He had fled too.
According to Laundrie’s parents, Chris and Roberta Laundrie, their son had arrived home on September 1. And on September 6, the family had gone camping with Brian in Fort De Soto Park, returning home on September 7. But by September 17, the parents had reported their son missing, with investigators claiming that they had mistaken Brian for his mother, Roberta, while surveilling the house, allowing their prime suspect to get away.
Obviously this set off a massive manhunt for Brian, that included state and federal law enforcement and even Dog the Bounty Hunter, who said he believed that he knew where Laundrie was hiding.
But on October 23, Laundrie’s parents went out searching for their son and a short time later it was announced that some of his property had been found, along with skeletal remains that were thought to have been Brian.
The remains, which were found in an area that had previously been covered in water, were determined to be Brian through the use of dental records, and a forensic anthropologist determined that he had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Along with the gun that was recovered near his body, authorities also found a note confessing to the murder of Petito, though Brian claimed that he thought it was “merciful” because Gabby had fallen and injured himself and begged him to put an end to her pain.
Investigators dismissed Laundrie’s story, noting that his admission didn’t match the evidence after ruling that Petito had died from blunt force trauma and strangulation. And bodycam footage from a police encounter when the couple was stopped in Moab, Utah days before the murder painted a troubling picture of the relationship, leading many to believe that Laundrie was both physically and emotionally abusive.
There’s been a renewed interest in the case recently with the release of a new Netflix documentary, American Murder: Gabby Petito. And internet sleuths digging into the tragic case have come up with their own theories about what happened – with many coming to the conclusion that Brian Laundrie is still alive.
Many point to the reaction from Laundrie’s parents, who they claim didn’t seem upset when their son’s remains were found. But many believe that he escaped Florida on a boat, thanks to a clue from Laundrie himself: A short video taken when Laundrie accidentally went live on Instagram while he was on the run.
With the entire world searching for him, Laundrie accidentally broadcast a clue in the form of a short video showing that he appeared to be on a boat:
There have been reports of Brian Laundrie allegedly accidentally going live on instagram yesterday for just a few seconds. He appeared to be on a boat in a body of water ‼️ #BrianLaundrie #gabbypetito #justiceforgabbypetito pic.twitter.com/CNODKcOVl4
— Lost Signal with Pixiee (@LostSignalPod) September 22, 2021
Internet sleuths also have problems with the official timeline of Laundrie’s movements in the time before September 11 when Gabby was reported missing. We already know that Laundrie called his parents in late August and told them that Gabby was gone (although they claimed in a deposition that they didn’t know that meant she was dead), and that he told them he needed a lawyer. After that, there were no public sightings of Laundrie, leading many to believe that he was never at his parent’s house like it was claimed.
According to many videos online, they believe that after receiving the phone call from Brian, his parents hit the road and met up with him to bring the van back to their house, with the other parent dropping off Brian to make his escape using the “camping trip” story as a cover. And rumors online regarding the identification of his body claim that the match based on dental records was actually done by Laundrie’s uncle, who is a dentist – providing cover for the murderer to escape.
It’s quite the rabbit hole to fall down if you’re interested in the case, with everyone having slightly different versions of the theory – and some of them aren’t entirely accurate with their evidence, like people claiming that only his teeth were found, when in fact his entire skeletal remains were located.
@nataliexxxreynolds This story isn’t adding up… #fyp
Others take issue with the fact that his body had decomposed so quickly, to the point that only his skeleton remained. But Laundrie was found in a swamp, where he had reportedly been submerged for nearly a month, so that part doesn’t seem too unbelievable to me.
@omgitsssariah What are your thoughts? #fyp #fy #brianlaundrie #gabbypetito #crime
Then there’s the “burn after reading” letter, which Roberta Laundrie sent to her son that said she would help him hide a body or escape from jail. The mother said that it was sent before the couple set out on the road trip and was just a poorly-worded attempt to express her support for her son, but in the context it doesn’t look great.
Regardless, I’m not really buying all these conspiracy theories that he’s still alive, but there are a lot of people out there convinced otherwise.
@drinkbirdiebombs Deep Dive on Gabby Petito & Brian Laundrie Case 🤯
