INTERNET Sleuths are peddling a wild conspiracy that Brian Laundrie may be hiding on a boat to evade police after the remains of his fiancee Gabby Petito were officially identified yesterday.
The theory, which is rapidly gaining popularity on Twitter, stems from the unfounded claim Laundrie went live in Instagram for only seconds on Monday.
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A clip circulating on Twitter appears to show a body of water and the side of a green vessel before abruptly cutting out.
Viewers of the clip are attempting to claim that Laundrie “accidentally” went live on Instagram before realizing and hastily cutting off the feed.
According to his family members, Laundrie, 23, has not been seen since Tuesday. He claimed that he had left home to hike in Carlton Reserve, near Venice Florida. However, he never returned.
The theory he may be hiding on a boat first began circulating on Monday, the same day police called off a search for Laundrie in Carlton reserve, claiming they had “exhausted all leads.”
The search, however, was revived on Tuesday and continues throughout Wednesday – though no concrete evidence regarding his whereabouts has yet emerged.
THEORIES MOUNT
Some followers of the case, which has captivated social media, believe the FBI’s fruitless efforts to find Laundrie so far is evidence he’s no longer on land.
“Gabby Petito’s fiancée, Brian Laundrie, had his Instagram account allegedly go live and broadcasted a couple seconds of what appeared to be a boat on the water, allegedly calling off the FBI search in Florida,” Joseph Morris wrote the following Monday.
Morris’ Monday post attracted a lot of responses. Many suggested that Laundrie was probably trying to flee to Mexico, or Cuba.
“What if he’s doing this?” One user shared an image of a map that showed the distance between Cancun, Mexico and the South West Florida coast.
“Legally he can’t fly to Mexico. Driving might be riskier. How about taking a boat/Ship?”
Read our Gabby Petito live blog for the very latest news and updates…
A second wrote: “I believe this was his signal to his parents that he is on his way by boat to Cuba… Or he could be somewhere in Mexico. Some reason Cuba comes to mind.”
Others spotted what they believe to be a fishing line briefly visible in frame.
“Def can see a fishing line,” A third respondent also wrote. “Probably stole this and posted it to throw us off. How do you accidentally go live? This was planned IMO [in my opinion].”
Others suggested that the clip might be an elaborate ruse by police to lead them on wild goose chases.
“What if this is all a decoy and he is still housed up somewhere and he’s trying to lead us to believe he sailing off somewhere?” A fourth person also inquired.
The clip was not convincing to everyone.
‘IT’S FAKE’
Crucially, the video being circulated is missing an overlay that is typical of Instagram Live videos: a “Live” logo and a numeric count of how many viewers are watching.
“Don’t be messing with an investigation with BS like this,” one user urged.
“He didn’t go live on Instagram. That video isn’t even an Instagram live video … It’s fake,” Another user added.
A third wrote: I feel like there’d be some screen grabs or something to back this up if it were in fact true.
“I just don’t think we should speak on things without evidence when it comes to a case as large as this one because false information creates false leads. Chasing false leads greatly reduces the chances of a case being solved because too much time is spent chasing after false info.”
There is no evidence that Laundrie has posted to Instagram since his disappearance.
Central Recorder has reached out to Instagram regarding the matter.
WHERE IS BRIAN LAUNDRIE
Gabby’s killer, Laundrie, has not been publicly identified. Laundrie was however last week named a person in interest after the 22-year old vlogger went missing.
He and Petito had been on a four-month journey to visit the US’ national park’s. Laundrie, who was driving the couple’s van, returned to Florida on September 1, without Gabby.
Gabby’s mother reported Gabby missing in September after several days of persistent pleas with Laundrie, his family and friends for information.
Laundrie, who had told his parents he was going on a hike in the 24,000-acre Carlton nature preserve, vanished three days later.
Laundrie has not been found after a days-long search of this reserve.
Later, remains found to be Gabby’s were discovered in a Wyoming national park. They were located near where Laundrie and Gabby had been when she disappeared.
A preliminary report by the Coroners indicated that her death was likely to have been caused by homicide. Her official cause is not yet known.
According to the Sarasota Sheriff’s office, an underwater recovery team was called to Carlton Reserve on Wednesday as part of the search to find Laundrie.
There is no further information.
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Gabby Petito timeline
Gabby Petito, 22, was last seen on August 24, leaving a hotel in Utah. Here is a timeline of Gabby Petito’s disappearance:
- June 2021 – Gabby Petito and her fiancé Brian Laundrie set off on a cross-country trip across the US.
- July 4 – Gabby posts photos of herself barefoot in Gove County, Kansas.
- July 8 – Gabby posts photos of herself at the Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado.
- July 18 – Gabby and Brian post photos of themselves at Utah’s Zion National Park.
- August 12 – Body camera footage was released in September showing an encounter Brian and Gabby had with police in Utah. According to police, there were no injuries.
- August 19 – Gabby and Brian post a video on their YouTube channel chronicling their trip. This video has more than 200,000 views.
- August 24 – Gabby is last spotted leaving a hotel in Salt Lake City, Utah.
- September 1 – Brian returns home to Florida without Gabby.
- September 11 – Gabby’s parents report her missing to Suffolk County police.
- September 15 – Florida’s North Port police announce Brian is a person of interest in the case. He has not been charged with any crime.
- September 16 – Utah police release body camera footage of the police encounter with Brian and Gabby.
- September 17 – Brian’s parents say they have not seen their son in a couple of days.
- September 18 – Police announce they were searching Carlton Reserve in Florida for Brian. Police state that they have not found anything.
- September 19 – Authorities in Wyoming say they found a body in Grand Teton National Park. The FBI confirms that the body found in Grand Teton National Park is believed to belong to Gabby, but it will require a full forensic identity to confirm.
- September 20 – Police execute a search warrant on Laundrie’s home, seizing his silver Mustang and a hard drive that may contain “evidence relevant to proving that a felony has been committed.”
- September 21 – Officials announce they will be conducting an autopsy on the remains found in Wyoming to confirm whether or not they belong to Gabby. Laundrie was also resuscitated by police, who searched again on the Venice-side of Carlton Reserve.
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