Following the release of a new documentary regarding the death of Gabby Petito, more information has come to light.
The three-part series, which premiered on February 17, revisits the 22-year-old travel vlogger’s disappearance and murder at the hands of her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, during their 2021 cross-country road trip.
Featuring previously unseen text messages, diary entries, and footage from Petito’s loved ones, the documentary sheds new light on Laundrie’s attempts to cover his tracks after her death.
What began as a couple’s cross-country road trip in July 2021 turned into a tragic and widely followed case.
On August 12, Utah police responded to reports of a domestic violence incident between Petito and Laundrie, a moment captured in now-infamous bodycam footage.
The last known footage of Gabby alive shows her and Brian at a Wyoming Whole Foods on August 27. The following day, Brian hiked from their campsite to the Colter Bay area, making multiple phone calls to his parents before returning home to Florida - alone.
Laundrie then vanished, sparking a nationwide manhunt.
Weeks later, Gabby’s body was found in Wyoming on October 20, with an autopsy confirming she had died from “blunt-force injuries” to her head and neck, as well as manual strangulation.
Shortly after authorities sought to question him, Brian disappeared.
His remains were found a month later in a Florida nature preserve, along with a notebook confession in which he claimed Gabby had been injured in a fall and that he “ended her life” because she was in “extreme pain”.
According to the documentary, Laundrie staged text conversations between himself and Petito while in possession of her phone.
On August 28, he reportedly hiked from their last known location in Grand Teton National Park to a different area before sending a message from Gabby’s phone the next day.
The text read: "Hey Hunny, just calling to let you know I made it to Colter Bay! I think the campground is still a little ways up the road, I’m gonna go check it out! LMK when your[sic] on your way, no rush."
In another message, he reassured Gabby that there was “no rush” for her to join him and added: “Can’t wait for you to see the mountains across the water!”
Laundrie then hitched a ride back to the Spread Creek camping area, where he had left the van and Gabby’s phone.
It was only after returning to the van that he sent another message from his phone, asking Gabby to pick him up a day early.
It was at that point that messages from Gabby’s phone were read for the first time, responding: "Yeah sure baby, we’ll do one more night of dispersed and then we’ve got our site at Colter Bay for TWO NIGHTS!!"
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FBI Special Agent Loretta Bush explained the significance of this exchange: “The activity between the two phones was almost instantaneous. Brian was holding both phones and talking directly to himself. It was apparent that he was trying to create an alibi.”
Laundrie also transferred himself $700 from Petito’s bank account using Zelle, with a memo reading: “Goodbye Brian, I’ll never ask you for anything again.”
Christopher and Roberta Laundrie have spoken out through their attorney, Steven Bertolino, who claims the documentary misrepresents the facts.
In a statement to The U.S. Sun, Bertolino said: “One perspective depicted as the ‘truth’ as seen through their lens. Similar to Republicans and Democrats fighting it out lately. Each side believes their perspective is correct. Hard to see through the lens of the other with all the noise and distrust.”
He further alleged that the series contained “many inaccuracies, incorrect juxtapositions of timelines, and misstatements and omissions of fact.”
Acknowledging the tragic outcome, Bertolino added: “We all know Brian took Gabby’s life and Brian then took his own as well. Let the parents of both Gabby and Brian mourn them in peace.”