Wyoming: Crews searching a national park in Wyoming for missing Gabby Petito found a body “consistent” with the 22-year-old woman in a remote area but have not yet made a formal identification, the FBI says.
Petito was reported missing after her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, returned home from a months long cross-country trip without her on September 1. Laundrie, 23, has been named a “person of interest” in the case.
A combined photo of Gabrielle “Gabby” Petito, 22, who vanished while on a cross-country trip in a converted camper van with her boyfriend.Credit:FBI
“Earlier today human remains were discovered consistent with Gabrielle Petito,” FBI spokesman Charles Jones told reporters at a press conference.
“Full forensic identification has not been completed to confirm 100 per cent that we found Gabby, but her family has been notified of this discovery.”
The Teton County Coroner’s Office said earlier on Sunday that they had been called to retrieve a body from a national forest. Medical examiners there were expected to perform an autopsy which might lead to identification.
Law enforcement officials declined to release any further information.
A still taken from a police camera video shows Gabrielle “Gabby” Petito talking to a police officer after the van she was travelling in with her boyfriend Brian Laundrie was pulled over near Arches National Park on August 12, 2021.Credit:The Moab Police Department via AP
Gabby’s father, Joseph Petito, posted a photograph of his daughter on Twitter following Sunday’s press conference. The photo, which shows Gabby standing between two painted wings, was captioned: “She touched the world”
Laundrie returned alone to North Port, Florida, on September 1 in the white van the couple had been driving across the country since June.
On Friday family members of Laundrie told investigators that they had not seen him in three days.
Since then, local police and FBI agents have been combing a 10,000ha wilderness reserve near North Port but have found no sign of him.
A police camera video still shows Brian Laundrie talking to a police officer.Credit:The Moab Police Department via AP
Petito and Laundrie left her home state of New York on their road trip in June, heading west in the van with plans to visit national parks along the way. They documented the trip on social media.
Petito posted her last photo on August 25. Her family believes she was headed to Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming when they last heard from her. Before disappearing, Laundrie had refused to speak with investigators and retained a lawyer.
Petito was last seen leaving a hotel in Salt Lake City, Utah.
More to come
Reuters
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