Social media users have been left gobsmacked upon learning that a Lifetime movie chronicling the life and disturbing murder of Gabby Petito is set to be released this upcoming weekend.
Petito, 22, made international headlines in September 2021 after she went missing while on a cross-country camping trip with her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, 23.
The couple had uploaded a YouTube video on August 19, documenting the start of their inter-state journey in a white Nissan Sentra van. In the video's caption, the pair had written they wanted to: "Downsize our lives and travel full time," before adding that they decided to purchase a van to: "Continue traveling and living nomadically."
A few days earlier, the couple were stopped by police in Moab, Utah, after witnesses saw Laundrie allegedly "slapping" Petito during an argument, People reported at the time. In that August 12 incident, body cam footage shows the couple admitting to police that they had struck each other.
Then, on August 27, Petito's mother received an "odd text" from her daughter, which stated: "Can you help Stan, I just keep getting his voicemails and missed calls." Stan was Petito's grandfather, however, Petito never referred to him as "Stan," which Petito's mother recalled as being odd.
Her cellphone was allegedly not operational after this date.
On September 11, Petito was reported as missing, after last being in contact with her family on August 25 in Wyoming. Petito's father, speaking about her disappearance, told Newsday: "You can't describe it. There's nothing you can do. You can't control anything."
It was later revealed that Laundrie had quietly returned home on September 1, 10 days before her parents reported her missing. After being declared a person of interest, Laundrie also went missing - on September 17.
On September 21, Petito's body was found - a Denver FBI tweet announced. It was eventually revealed that she had died by homicide.
The District Court of Wyoming issued a warrant for Laundrie's arrest on September 22 - then, on October 12, Petito's cause of death was listed as strangulation.
Laundrie's remains were found in a Florida park on October 21 with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Eventually, in January this year, Laundrie was named as Petito's killer by the FBI, who subsequently closed the homicide case. Laundrie had admitted to killing Petito in a diary entry released by an attorney for Laundrie's family in June, 2022.
"I ended her life," Laundrie wrote in his notebook.
"I thought it was merciful, that it is what she wanted, but I see now all the mistakes I made. I panicked. I was in shock. But from the moment I decided, took away her pain, I knew I couldn't go on without her," he added.
Now, one year after her death, Lifetime has released a trailer for an upcoming flick about Petito's and Laundrie's tumultuous relationship, and their fateful camping holiday.
Unsurprisingly, the release of the film - called The Gabby Petito Story - has angered social media users, who hope public opinion might be able to prevent the film from being shown.
"Can we all collectively cancel the Gabby Petito movie from lifetime, like can we cause enough of a stir to get that s*** taken down to never see the light of day [sic]," someone commented.
Another user angrily tweeted that the film was attempting to capitalize on Petito's devastating murder, writing: "I am so disgusted with anyone involved in the new Gabby Petito movie. Skyler Samuels, Evan Hall, Thora Birch, Lifetime...I hope that paycheck was worth giving up your humanity. Get f***ed."
The Petito family have filed a civil lawsuit against the Laundrie family, which is set for a jury trial in August 2023, per NBC News. It has long been alleged that Laundrie's parents knew of Petito's death as well as the whereabouts of her body, but failed to disclose this information to police.
The Gabby Petito Story is set to be released by Lifetime on October 1.
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