Gabby Petito Crime Scene: Autopsy, FBI Findings, and Lawsuits

The Gabby Petito crime scene was a sandy patch of woods beside a creek in the Spread Creek Dispersed Camping Area of Wyoming’s Bridger-Teton National Forest, where search teams found her remains on September 19, 2021. The Teton County coroner ruled the death a homicide by manual strangulation, and a notebook recovered a month later near the body of her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, contained his written confession. The FBI identified Laundrie as solely responsible for her killing and closed the case on January 21, 2022.¹

Where Petito Was Found

Petito, 22, had been on a cross-country van trip with Laundrie since July 2, 2021, documenting their route through western national parks. Her mother last spoke with her by FaceTime on August 24. On September 1, Laundrie returned alone to his parents’ home in North Port, Florida, driving Petito’s white Ford Transit. Her family reported her missing on September 11.²

The FBI opened its investigation on September 12. Ground searches concentrated on the Grand Teton area, and on September 19, teams recovered human remains at Spread Creek. Two days later, on September 21, the Teton County coroner confirmed the remains were Petito’s and announced the manner of death was homicide.³

How Investigators Found the Site

A critical tip came from travel vloggers Jenn and Kyle Bethune, who run the YouTube channel Red, White & Bethune. On the evening of September 18, Jenn Bethune was reviewing GoPro footage from an August camping trip near Grand Teton and spotted a white van with Florida plates parked along a dirt road at Spread Creek. The footage had been recorded on August 27 at approximately 6 p.m. She called the FBI tip line shortly after midnight on September 19 and submitted the video, which helped confirm the van’s location in an area investigators were already surveying.⁴⁵ Remains were found later that same day.

What the Autopsy Determined

Teton County Coroner Dr. Brent Blue conducted the autopsy on September 21, 2021, and announced the formal cause of death on October 12. He described the mechanism as “throttling” — manual strangulation by hand rather than by ligature or other object.³ The pressure had collapsed her windpipe and cut off blood flow through the carotid arteries. The FBI’s final summary described the cause as “blunt-force injuries to the head and neck, with manual strangulation.”¹

Dr. Blue estimated that Petito’s remains had been outdoors for three to four weeks before discovery, placing the time of death in late August 2021, though he said an exact date could not be determined. The examination included a whole-body CT scan, toxicology reports, and reviews by a forensic pathologist and a forensic anthropologist. Dr. Blue confirmed Petito was not pregnant at the time of her death.⁶

Two other pieces of evidence bore on the timeline. Petito’s family received a text from her phone on August 30 that they later doubted she had written; the FBI subsequently determined that messages sent from her phone after her death had been sent by Laundrie to make it appear she was still alive. Laundrie also used Petito’s debit card without authorization between August 30 and September 1, and a federal warrant was issued on that basis on September 22.¹

The Second Scene: Laundrie’s Remains and Notebook

While the Wyoming search continued, Laundrie disappeared in Florida. His parents told police on September 17 that they had not seen him since September 13, when he left home saying he was going for a hike. His car had been found on September 15 at the T. Mabry Carlton Jr. Memorial Reserve and the adjacent Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park in North Port.

On October 20, 2021, officers searching the reserve with Laundrie’s parents discovered human remains along with a backpack, a notebook, and a revolver. Dental records confirmed the remains as Laundrie’s the next day.⁷⁸⁹

The notebook contained eight handwritten pages amounting to a confession. Laundrie claimed Petito had been injured in a fall while they were hiking near a creek and was in severe pain, and that he decided to end her life. His words: “I don’t know the extent of Gabby’s ingerys (sic) only that she was in extreme pain. I ended her life, 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.” He also wrote: “I have killed myself by this creek in the hopes that annimals (sic) may tear me apart.” The notebook described no attempt to seek medical help for Petito’s alleged injuries.¹⁰¹¹ Family attorney Steven Bertolino released the entries publicly in June 2022. Petito’s family rejected Laundrie’s account.

What the FBI Concluded

The FBI closed the investigation on January 21, 2022. Special Agent in Charge Michael Schneider said “all logical investigative steps have been concluded” and that the inquiry “did not identify any other individuals other than Brian Laundrie directly involved in the tragic death of Gabby Petito.” The bureau cited the written confession, the deceptive text messages sent from Petito’s phone, and the unauthorized debit card use during Laundrie’s drive back to Florida as supporting evidence.¹

The Moab Stop That Came Before

Two weeks before Petito’s estimated time of death, on August 12, 2021, Moab, Utah, police responded to a 911 report of a domestic disturbance involving the couple. Officers pulled over their van after seeing it swerve and strike a curb. Body camera footage showed Petito visibly upset and telling an officer that Laundrie had hit her; officers noted visible scratches on Laundrie’s arms, face, and neck. Petito told officers she had slapped Laundrie because she feared he would leave her in Moab. No arrests were made, and the couple agreed to separate for the night.¹²¹³

An independent review by Captain Brandon Ratcliffe of the Price City Police Department found that Moab officers made “several unintentional mistakes.” The report concluded officers had failed to properly apply Utah’s assault statute, had not obtained a statement from the original 911 caller, and had let sympathy for the couple lead them to “second guessing” the law. It also found that Laundrie was thoroughly examined for injuries and offered emergency medical services, while Petito did not receive the same follow-up after reporting that Laundrie had grabbed her face and caused a cut. The City of Moab committed to implementing the report’s recommendations, which included domestic violence training, hiring a specialist, and policy changes requiring officers to photograph injuries and obtain 911 caller statements.¹⁴

Lawsuits That Followed

In November 2022, a Sarasota County, Florida, judge entered a $3 million wrongful death judgment against Laundrie’s estate. Attorney Patrick Reilly acknowledged the amount was largely symbolic, noting that Laundrie “did not have $3 million.”¹⁵

In March 2022, Petito’s parents, Nichole Schmidt and Joseph Petito, sued Christopher and Roberta Laundrie and attorney Steven Bertolino for intentional infliction of emotional distress, alleging the Laundrie family knew Brian had killed Petito but stayed silent while searches were underway. A key piece of evidence was a letter Roberta Laundrie had written to her son, found in his backpack near his remains. The envelope was marked “burn after reading,” and the letter said: “If you’re in jail, I will bake a cake with a file in it. If you need to dispose of a body, I will show up with a shovel and garbage bags.” Roberta Laundrie stated in an affidavit that the letter was written before the couple’s trip and that the language was a lighthearted joke. A Florida judge rejected the family’s attempt to keep the letter out of discovery.¹⁶¹⁷¹⁸

The family also filed a $50 million wrongful death suit against the Moab Police Department, alleging that officers’ handling of the August 2021 stop constituted negligence contributing to Petito’s death. A Utah judge dismissed the case in November 2024 on government immunity grounds. The Petito family appealed. As of early 2026, the Utah Supreme Court had scheduled oral arguments for March 2026, though the hearing was subsequently postponed.¹⁹

1
FBI. FBI Denver Provides Final Investigative Update on Gabrielle Petito Case
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CNN. Gabby Petito Timeline
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WFLA. Teton County Coroner Clarifies Comments in Gabby Petito Case After Autopsy Announcement
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Fox 13 News. Gabby Petito’s Possible Remains Found Near Where Tampa Family Spotted Camper Van
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Yahoo News. Family Travel Vloggers Share Video Showing Van Near Where Petito’s Body Was Found
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Fox 13 News. Gabby Petito Case: Wyoming Coroner to Discuss Final Autopsy Report
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ABC News. Brian Laundrie’s Remains Confirmed Found at Reserve
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MySuncoast. Brian Laundrie Autopsy Report Released to Public
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Fox 13 News. Brian Laundrie’s Full Autopsy Forensic Reports Released by Medical Examiner
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CNN. Laundrie Notebook Entries Revealed
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NBC New York. Brian Laundrie’s Confession to Gabby Petito Murder Shared by Attorney
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ABC7 New York. Gabby Petito Body Camera Video
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KTVU. Moab Authorities Release Report on August 12 Domestic Incident
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City of Moab. Combined Statement and Investigative Report – Petito Laundrie Incident
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CNN. Gabby Petito Wrongful Death Lawsuit Ruling
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WFLA. Burn After Reading Letter: Brian Laundrie’s Mother Offered Shovel, Garbage Bags
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NBC News. Settlement Reached Between Gabby Petito and Laundrie Families
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ABC News. Parents of Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie Reach Settlement
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ABC4. Gabby Petito Utah Supreme Court