San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Boyfriend told in note of killing Petito, FBI says
Brian Laundrie claimed responsibility for killing his fiancee, Gabrielle “Gabby” Petito, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said as it prepared to close a case that had galvanized social media and prompted widespread sleuthing by amateur detectives.
The FBI disclosed that a notebook that was found near Laundrie’s body in October included a written confession, as the agency provided Friday what it called a final investigative update on a case that had drawn thousands of tips from the public and engaged law enforcement agencies across the country.
The FBI did not reveal details of the incriminating statements other than to say that the notebook contained “written statements by Mr. Laundrie claiming responsibility for Ms. Petito’s death.”
“All logical investigative steps have been concluded in this case,” Michael Schneider, special agent in charge of the Denver field office, said in a statement. “The investigation did not identify any other individuals other than Brian Laundrie directly involved in the tragic death of Gabby Petito.”
Petito, 22, was reported missing Sept. 11, 2021, after she did not return from a monthslong cross-country trip with Laundrie, 23. The case gained national attention as many in the public scoured the couple’s photos and videos on Instagram and YouTube for clues.
Intense media coverage of the case also prompted criticism that it was an example of “missing white woman syndrome,”
Gabrielle “Gabby” Petito, in an image from police video, talks to an officer on Aug. 12 after police pulled over the van she was in with her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, near Moab, Utah.
the disproportionate attention given to cases of missing white women compared with cases of missing people of color.
Laundrie returned home to his house in North Port, Fla., on Sept. 1 in the white Ford van that the couple had used for the trip and that had been registered to Petito. On Sept. 17, Laundrie’s parents told police that they had not seen Laundrie
since Sept. 14.
Petito’s remains were found Sept. 19 in a camping area in Wyoming where she and Laundrie had been seen together. The Teton County Coroner’s Office concluded that she had died of “blunt-force injuries to the head and neck, with manual strangulation,” the FBI said.
On Oct. 20, Laundrie’s remains were found in the Myakkahatchee
Creek Environmental Park in Sarasota County, Fla., the FBI said.
A medical examiner concluded that he had died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the FBI said. Near Laundrie’s remains, investigators found the notebook, a backpack and a revolver.