Live updates: Police name Gabby Petito's boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, as a person of interest in her disappearance
Connor Perrett,Natalie Musumeci
- The search is on for Gabby Petito, a 22-year-old New York woman reported missing on September 11.
- Petito began a road trip with her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, July 2 and last contacted her family in late August.
- Laundrie returned home to Florida, retained a lawyer, and has been uncooperative with investigators.
Petito's stepfather and a friend have gone to Wyoming to search for her, a lawyer for the family told Insider
Petito's stepfather, James Schmidt, and a family friend left from New York to Wyoming's Jackson Hole valley Tuesday. Petito's last known location is believed to be in the state's Grand Teton National Park.
"They're trying to stay as close as they can to the Grand Teton National Park. That's the closest place I think they can find, so that they can spend as much time as possible looking for Gabby," Schmidt and Petito family lawyer Richard Stafford told Insider's Natalie Musumeci.
Petito's mom said the couple called off their engagement prior to their trip
Laundrie and Petitio were engaged in July 2020, according to posts on both of their Instagram pages.
"Brian asked me to marry him and I said yes! @bizarre_design_ you make life feel unreal, and everyday is such a dream with you ," Petito wrote on Instagram.
Laundrie said: "My biggest fear is that one day I'll wake up and it will have all been a dream, because that is what every second has felt like since the moment we found each other. Till death do us part or until I wake up, I'm so happy the answer was yes, Love you hunny."
But Schmidt said Tuesday the couple had called off their engagement ahead of their trip because they were too young to be married.
"I think they kind of put that on hold just because they felt it was a little fast. They were excited at first, but then they were like, let's just wait, we're very young. So they were really just boyfriend and girlfriend," mother Nicole Schmidt told the Daily Mail.
Utah police said they were called to an unspecified 'incident' involving Petito and Laundrie in August
The Moab City Police Department in Utah said it was called to an "incident" involving the couple on August 12, Chief of Police Bret Edge told Insider Wednesday.
"Our officers did respond to an incident involving Brian Laundrie and Gabrielle Petito on 12 August 2021," said Edge. "However, neither Brian or Gabrielle were the reporting party."
Peito meticulously documented her road trip on Instagram and YouTube but stopped posting on August 25
The couple embarked on their road trip on July 2 from Blue Point, New York, Schmidt said. Both Petito and Laundrie regularly posted about their van-life journey on Instagram. They also launched a YouTube channel on August 19 dedicated to their van life journey and posted just one video before Petito disappeared.
Petito meticulously documented her travels throughout the US, including the couple's trips to national parks in Utah. Several of the posts included photos of her and Laundrie embracing and kissing.
Her last post to Instagram was on August 25. The photo appeared to be taken in front of a mural of monarch butterflies in Ogden, Utah.
Petito was reported missing by her mom, Nichole Schmidt, on September 11
Petito's mother, Nichole Schmidt, reported Petito missing to Suffolk County, New York, police at 6:55 p.m. on Saturday, September 11. She said she last spoke to her daughter in an August 24 FaceTime call and believed her last known location was Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
"I just want people to keep looking and not stop until we find her," Schmidt told Newsday. "We won't stop until we find her."
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