Authorities mounting an increasingly desperate search for a missing YouTuber who vanished while driving through America with her fiance have reportedly discovered a body.
YouTubers Gabby and Brian Petito set off in June from their Florida residence on a cross country trip to see a variety of national parks.
North Port Police Chief Todd Garrison said that Petito, 22, “maintained regular contact with her family members during her travels, however that communication abruptly stopped around the end of August”.
According to the Toton County Coroner, authorities responded to a body that was found in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park. This area is where Gabby has been being sought by law enforcement.
(Image: @gabspetito/Instagram)
On August 12, police in Utah reported that they had had to intervene in “some sort of altercation” involving the couple.
Utah cop Eric Pratt reported at the time: “Both the male and female reported they are in love and engaged to be married and desperately didn’t wish to see anyone charged with a crime”.
(Image: gabspetito/Instagram)
His colleague Daniel Robbins described Petito as “confused and emotional.”
“After evaluating the totality of the circumstances, I do not believe the situation escalated to the level of a domestic assault as much as that of a mental health crisis,” he added.
Petito FaceTimed her mother on August 24 and stated that they were leaving Utah for the Teton Mountains in Wyoming.
(Image: @gabspetito/Instagram)
After that, the only messages Petito’s mother received were via text. She said that she is unsure if her daughter sent those last messages.
Laundrie returned to his parents’ home in North Port, Florida, where he lived with Petito, on September 1, according to police. He was driving Petito’s Ford van.
On September 11, Petito’s family reported her missing and police went to the home she shared with Laundrie.
Officers were “essentially handed the information for their attorney,” North Port police spokesperson Josh Taylor said.
(Image: Moab City Police Department)
Laundrie’s attorney confirmed on Friday that the 23-year-old is missing and that the FBI is now searching for both Laundrie and Petito.
Police have named Laundrie a ‘person of interest’ in their inquiry into Petito’s disappearance, but say that as yet there is no hard evidence any crime has been committed.