Gabby Petito Strangled To Death, Coroner Says
The cause of Gabby Petito’s tragic death has finally been revealed, a month after her disappearance.
How Did Gabby Petito Die?
Today, the Teton County Coroner Dr. Brent Blue announced in a news conference that Gabby’s Petito’s cause of death was strangulation and that her death was a homicide. He also said that Petito was not pregnant, and that the body had been left in the wilderness for three to four weeks before it was found and examined. Blue didn't say if the body had been buried or if it had been bruised; however, he did confirm that foreign DNA samples had been taken.
CNN correspondent Jean Casarez explained that "Prosecutors are very interested in DNA because DNA – foreign DNA on her, meaning not her own DNA, can be critically important, and there are things called defensive strikes, defensive wounds, and they look under the nails to see if there is any foreign DNA."
Casey Jordan, criminologist and behavioral analyst, said that DNA "is the thing that your investigators are really going to use to build an airtight case against the person who killed her."
Gabby's Killer Is Still at Large
22-year-old Gabby Petito went missing September 11, 2021, after embarking in June on a lengthy road trip for her Instagram travel blog with her fiancé Brain Laundrie, who is largely considered by the public to be the guilty party. Following an altercation in Moab, Utah on August 12, Gabby's communication with her family ceased during the last week of August. Gabby was believed to be in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming at that time.
Brian Laundrie returned to Florida alone and with their travel van on September 1. Gabby's family, who lives in New York, reported her missing on September 11. Brian left his parents house on September 14, which his family didn't report until September 17.
Brian's parents told the police that the last time they saw their son he was going hiking at T. Marby Carlton Jr. Memorial Reserve in North Port, Florida, which is just a short drive from their home. The police searched the reserve for weeks without finding any evidence of Brian's presence.
Gabby's body was discovered by FBI agents on September 19 in a camping area of the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming.
Gabby's case has received much press coverage, but the sad fact is that she is one of many victims of intimate partner violence. In fact, there were almost 90,000 active missing person cases by the end of 2020, according to the National Crime Information Center.