‘SHE TOUCHED THE WORLD’
Father’s tribute as Gabby likely found dead
A body found in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park matches the description of Gabby Petito, the FBI said yesterday, offering condolences to her Long Island family. The news prompted her dad to post this heartbreaking tribute to his angel. Meanwhile, her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, the primary person of interest in the case, was still nowhere to be found.
A body found in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park is “consistent with the description” of Gabby Petito, the FBI said on Sunday, as her father remembered his adventurous daughter as an angel.
Joseph Petito, posted a photo of his 22-year-old daughter as she posed in front of a mural depicting angel wings in Colorado City.
“She touched the world,” the grieving dad wrote on social media along with a broken-heart emoji.
His tribute came shortly after the FBI announced the discovery of the remains, likely capping a multistate search for Gabby more than a week after she was reported missing.
“First and foremost, I would like to extend sincere and heartfelt condolences to Gabby’s family,” Charles Jones, a supervisory senior resident agent with the FBI office in Denver, said at a press briefing.
“Earlier today, human remains were discovered consistent with the description of Gabrielle ‘Gabby’ Petito.”
Authorities had been hunting for the Blue Point, LI, native who was last heard from in August while on a cross-country trip with her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, 23.
The remains were found in the Spread Creek Dispersed Camping Area in the 3.4 million-acre park, near where the couple’s white 2012 Ford Transit van was spotted parked on Aug. 27.
“Full forensics identification has not been completed to confirm 100 percent that we found Gabby,” Jones said, “but her family has been notified of this discovery.”
Jones said that a cause of death had not yet been determined.
The coroner’s office said an autopsy was scheduled for Tuesday.
Police in North Port, Fla., where Gabby had lived with Laundrie, also expressed condolences.
“Saddened and heartbroken to learn that Gabby has been found deceased,” the Police Department tweeted. “Our focus from the start, along with the FBI, and national partners, has been to bring her home. We will continue to work with the FBI in the search for more answers.”
The heartbreaking discovery came after a futile two-day search in Florida for Laundrie, 23, who himself has gone missing.
Laundrie was named a person of interest last week after returning alone to the couple’s North Port home in their van on Sept. 1 and immediately lawyering up.
Petito’s mother, Nichole Schmidt, said she tried to speak to Laundrie and his parents without success, and called Suffolk County police on Sept. 11 to report her missing.
On Friday, Laundrie’s parents told North Port police that their son left to go hiking at the nearby 25,000-acre T. Mabry Carlton Jr. Memorial Reserve three days earlier and never returned.
That kicked off a manhunt, which was suspended for the day shortly before 6 p.m. on Sunday.
Laundrie’s attorney, Steven Bertolino, said there were no updates on his client’s whereabouts, but he did address Petito’s likely death.
“The news about Gabby Petito is heartbreaking,” he said in an e-mail. “The Laundrie family prays for Gabby and her family.”
The Petito family’s attorney, Richard Stafford, thanked authorities for their search efforts.
“Your tireless work and determination helped bring Gabby home to her parents. The family and I will forever be grateful,” Stafford said in a statement.
The case has drawn international attention, with media coverage assisting the FBI in locating possible witnesses.
Two YouTubers shared a video of what is believed to be Petito’s van on Spread Creek Road, near the camping area, on Aug. 27, saying the vehicle, with Florida plates, looked “abandoned.”
“We were going to stop and say hi because we’re from Florida, too,” said Jenn Bethune, who caught the
van on camera while recording a travel blog with her husband, Kyle.
“But the van was completely dark,” she said in a YouTube post from Sunday. “There was nobody there, so we decided to continue on our way.”
In another reported sighting, a shop owner in Idaho said Petito and Laundrie were in his store on Aug. 25 or Aug. 26.
“They told me they were traveling from Florida,” the owner of the Rustic Row in Victor told East Idaho News. “They had just been to Teton Park, and they said they were interested in going to Yellowstone.”
Victor is 29 miles from Petito’s last known location at Teton.
“They seemed happy and when they left,” the owner recalled. “She hollered back from the door that they were engaged, and then I said congratulations.”