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Police have gained access to a hard drive found in the van belonging to Gabby Petito as details have emerged of the “odd” last texts sent to her mum from her phone.
A Florida court granted permission to investigators to access a hard drive that was recovered from the van during a search on September 14.
Investigators believe the hard drive could have information crucial to the disappearance.
The search warrant filing also includes the text of the last message Ms Petito’s mother received from her phone, which reads: “Can you help Stan, I just keep getting his voicemails and missed calls.”
Ms Petito’s mother said “Stan” was meant to refer to Gabby’s grandfather, but since he rarely goes by that name, she found the text “odd.” It also made her concerned there was something wrong with her daughter
The investigation continues. Picture: Octavio Jones/Getty Images/AFP
Ms Petito’s phone was turned off that same day the message was sent, more than two weeks (15 days) ago, the filing said according to WNYC.
According to the filing, the hard drive may also contain “evidence relevant to proving that a felony has been committed”.
The hard drive was recovered from the same van that her partner Brian Laundrie drove back to Florida alone from Wyoming 10 days before Ms Petito was reported missing.
The search warrant was granted based upon new information suggesting Petito was “unable to care for herself due to her increased anxiety,” including footage of police stopping Ms Petito and Mr Laundrie on a Utah highway after they received a 911 call about the couple.
Questions that can’t be answered
With bright smiles, a small white van and plans to conquer the vast interior of the US, Ms Petito and her partner set off on the journey of a lifetime back in June. But it was one that would end in the most tragic of circumstances.
Now a slew of questions remain about what happened to the 22-year-old who is presumed dead? What happened on her trip that led the couple to call the police? Did she even send her final oddly abrupt text? Where is her fiance? And most starkly, why did a trip that was meant to bring such joy end up in such tragedy?
Ms Petito quit her job in a juice bar and set off from New York with her fiance Brian Laundrie, 23, on a trip that would take them to some of the most awe-inspiring sights in America.
And it didn’t take long for their Instagram feeds to fill up with pictures that showed the young pair in the prime of their lives as they camped under the stars of the country’s great national parks.
However, the images and videos that emerged of the pair kissing against a background of spectacular scenery concealed what was really happening as the weeks went on.
Gabby Petito’s body was discovered on Monday.
Dark picture of couple emerges
On August 9, just a few weeks after they had set off, Ms Petito posted a photograph of herself on Instagram sitting under an arch in Arches National Park, Utah.
The same day that she posted the picture, the police in Moab, Utah, responded to a report of a “domestic problem” after Mr Laundrie had “some sort of argument” with Ms Petito, according to a police report.
Officers at the scene suggested the couple separated for the night, which they did. Officers, in the report, described Ms Petito as “confused and emotional”.
In the mysterious video, Ms Petito can been seen crying as she tells the officer the pair had been “fighting” and that Mr Laundrie wouldn’t let her into the van until she “calmed down”.
The couple told police that they were in love, engaged to be married and “desperately didn’t wish to see anyone charged with a crime”.
According to the police report, Mr Laundrie told an officer that “issues between the two had been building over the last few days”.
“After evaluating the totality of the circumstances, I do not believe the situation escalated to the level of a domestic assault as much as that of a mental health crisis,” officer Daniel Robbins wrote in the police report.
Ms Petito appeared distressed in bodycam footage.
Brian Laundrie also appeared in the footage.
No charges were filed, and it appeared – on the surface at least – that the pair were determined to continue making good memories on the trip.
Just eight days later, the couple posted an eight-minute video of themselves on YouTube called Beginning Our Van Life Journey.
It showed them feeding each other, smiling, running along beaches, kissing, giving each other piggy backs and camping in the wild.
According to the police report, Mr Laundrie told an officer that “issues between the two had been building over the last few days”.
“After evaluating the totality of the circumstances, I do not believe the situation escalated to the level of a domestic assault as much as that of a mental health crisis,” officer Daniel Robbins wrote in the police report.
Ms Petito appeared distressed in bodycam footage.
Brian Laundrie also appeared in the footage.
No charges were filed, and it appeared – on the surface at least – that the pair were determined to continue making good memories on the trip.
Just eight days later, the couple posted an eight-minute video of themselves on YouTube called Beginning Our Van Life Journey.
It showed them feeding each other, smiling, running along beaches, kissing, giving each other piggy backs and camping in the wild.
According to the police report, Mr Laundrie told an officer that “issues between the two had been building over the last few days”.
“After evaluating the totality of the circumstances, I do not believe the situation escalated to the level of a domestic assault as much as that of a mental health crisis,” officer Daniel Robbins wrote in the police report.
Ms Petito appeared distressed in bodycam footage.
Brian Laundrie also appeared in the footage.
No charges were filed, and it appeared – on the surface at least – that the pair were determined to continue making good memories on the trip.
Just eight days later, the couple posted an eight-minute video of themselves on YouTube called Beginning Our Van Life Journey.
It showed them feeding each other, smiling, running along beaches, kissing, giving each other piggy backs and camping in the wild.
Ms Petito’s family loses contact
It became clear to Ms Petito’s family just days after the happy highlights reel of the trip emerged that something wasn’t quite right after they lost contact with her.
They said they spoke to her last on a FaceTime call in the final week of August.
She told them that she and Mr Laundrie were leaving Utah and driving to Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. Ms Petito’s mother only received a few texts from her daughter after that.
Another ominous sign emerged when Ms Petito – who by all accounts was prolific on social media – suddenly stopped posting updates from her trip on August 25.
Her final post shows her holding a knitted pumpkin with a caption saying “Happy Halloween”.
On August 30, her family received their last text from Ms Petito. They doubt she wrote that text, which read: “No service in Yosemite.”
Fiance arrives home, alone
Alarm bells really started to ring for Ms Petito’s family when on September 1 Mr Laundrie returned alone to the couple’s home in North Port Florida, south of Tampa, where his parents also live.
The white van the couple had been travelling in was later recovered by police at the home – police have now taken it for examination.
Ten days later, Ms Petito’s family reported her missing after desperately trying, and failing, to get in touch with her.
The police described Mr Laundrie as a “person of interest,” saying he was the last person known to have been with Ms Petito before she went missing.
However, Steven Bertolino, Mr Laundrie’s lawyer, said he had advised his client not to speak with the authorities.
The couple were prolific on social media. Picture: Instagram
Police went to Mr Laundrie’s home on Saturday night asking to speak to him and his family but “we were essentially handed the information for their lawyer” a police spokesman said.
“That is the extent of our conversation with them,” he said.
Meanwhile, searchers were working around the clock as they tried to locate Ms Petito in the sprawling Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
Her devastated family pleaded for people to come forward with any information.
“We ask you to put yourselves in our shoes,” they said in a letter which was read by their lawyer, Richard Stafford. “We haven’t been able to sleep or eat. And our lives are falling apart.”
Mr Laundrie vanishes
After several days of both Ms Petito’s family and police pleading with Mr Laundrie’s family to co-operate in the investigation, Mr Laundrie’s family requested that police come to their home on Friday.
There were wild scenes when officers arrived as demonstrators lined the street with signs.
One of the officers entered the home with what appeared to be an evidence bag as protesters surrounding the property yelled: “Bring him out!”
However, the family told police they hadn’t seen their son since Tuesday.
Police leave Brian Laundrie’s home. Picture: Maciel/Backgrid
Local police announced that they were searching the Carlton Reserve, a 10,000-hectare park about 20km from North Port for Mr Laundrie.
He is still yet to be discovered, but Mr Laundrie’s family “says they believe he entered the area” last week, according to police. He allegedly told them he was going for a hike.
Police have put forward the theory that he may have “hurt himself” or that he may be hiding out in the wild.
Tragic discovery in Wyoming
Overnight, US federal police announced they had recovered a body in a Wyoming forest that is believed to be Ms Petito.
Authorities confirmed on Sunday local time that the body found in the Grand Teton National Park was “consistent with the description” of the 22-year-old.
Speaking to media, FBI Denver special agent Charles Jones said the family of Ms Petito had been notified of the discovery.
“On behalf of the FBI personnel, I’d like to extend my sincere and heartfelt condolences to Gabby’s family,” he said, adding that no cause of death had been confirmed.
“As every parent can imagine, this is an incredibly difficult time for the family. We ask that you all respect their privacy as they mourn the loss of their daughter.”
The FBI said the discovery of the body was made in the Spread Creek Dispersed camping area, which remains closed for the “active investigation”
Ms Petito’s body was discovered in Wyoming. Picture: KSL5
‘Nothing to report’ in search for partner
Meanwhile, police still cannot find Mr Laundrie. Ms Petito’s family has said they believe he is in hiding.
“All of Gabby’s family want the world to know that Brian is not missing, he is hiding. Gabby is missing,” the family’s lawyer said in a brief statement on Friday, before her body was found.
In a statement on Friday, Police expressed frustration that Mr Laundrie’s family did not speak with investigators for nearly a week about Ms Petito’s disappearance.
“We understand the community’s frustration. We are frustrated too. For six days, the North Port Police Department and the FBI have been pleading with the family to contact investigators regarding Brian’s fiance Gabby Petito. Friday is the first time they have spoken with investigators in detail,” the statement said.
Shortly after Mr Laundrie vanished, investigators spent two hours at the Laundrie home collecting things they say may help them find him and hopefully get answers.
Dozens of law enforcement officers from five agencies are involved in the search for him.
The search will resume tomorrow, but so far there have been no clues found.
Just before 6pm local time police said the search had concluded for the day with “nothing to report”.
A Florida court granted permission to investigators to access a hard drive that was recovered from the van during a search on September 14.
Investigators believe the hard drive could have information crucial to the disappearance.
The search warrant filing also includes the text of the last message Ms Petito’s mother received from her phone, which reads: “Can you help Stan, I just keep getting his voicemails and missed calls.”
Ms Petito’s mother said “Stan” was meant to refer to Gabby’s grandfather, but since he rarely goes by that name, she found the text “odd.” It also made her concerned there was something wrong with her daughter
The investigation continues. Picture: Octavio Jones/Getty Images/AFP
Ms Petito’s phone was turned off that same day the message was sent, more than two weeks (15 days) ago, the filing said according to WNYC.
According to the filing, the hard drive may also contain “evidence relevant to proving that a felony has been committed”.
The hard drive was recovered from the same van that her partner Brian Laundrie drove back to Florida alone from Wyoming 10 days before Ms Petito was reported missing.
The search warrant was granted based upon new information suggesting Petito was “unable to care for herself due to her increased anxiety,” including footage of police stopping Ms Petito and Mr Laundrie on a Utah highway after they received a 911 call about the couple.
Questions that can’t be answered
With bright smiles, a small white van and plans to conquer the vast interior of the US, Ms Petito and her partner set off on the journey of a lifetime back in June. But it was one that would end in the most tragic of circumstances.
Now a slew of questions remain about what happened to the 22-year-old who is presumed dead? What happened on her trip that led the couple to call the police? Did she even send her final oddly abrupt text? Where is her fiance? And most starkly, why did a trip that was meant to bring such joy end up in such tragedy?
Ms Petito quit her job in a juice bar and set off from New York with her fiance Brian Laundrie, 23, on a trip that would take them to some of the most awe-inspiring sights in America.
And it didn’t take long for their Instagram feeds to fill up with pictures that showed the young pair in the prime of their lives as they camped under the stars of the country’s great national parks.
However, the images and videos that emerged of the pair kissing against a background of spectacular scenery concealed what was really happening as the weeks went on.
Gabby Petito’s body was discovered on Monday.
Dark picture of couple emerges
On August 9, just a few weeks after they had set off, Ms Petito posted a photograph of herself on Instagram sitting under an arch in Arches National Park, Utah.
The same day that she posted the picture, the police in Moab, Utah, responded to a report of a “domestic problem” after Mr Laundrie had “some sort of argument” with Ms Petito, according to a police report.
Officers at the scene suggested the couple separated for the night, which they did. Officers, in the report, described Ms Petito as “confused and emotional”.
In the mysterious video, Ms Petito can been seen crying as she tells the officer the pair had been “fighting” and that Mr Laundrie wouldn’t let her into the van until she “calmed down”.
The couple told police that they were in love, engaged to be married and “desperately didn’t wish to see anyone charged with a crime”.
According to the police report, Mr Laundrie told an officer that “issues between the two had been building over the last few days”.
“After evaluating the totality of the circumstances, I do not believe the situation escalated to the level of a domestic assault as much as that of a mental health crisis,” officer Daniel Robbins wrote in the police report.
Ms Petito appeared distressed in bodycam footage.
Brian Laundrie also appeared in the footage.
No charges were filed, and it appeared – on the surface at least – that the pair were determined to continue making good memories on the trip.
Just eight days later, the couple posted an eight-minute video of themselves on YouTube called Beginning Our Van Life Journey.
It showed them feeding each other, smiling, running along beaches, kissing, giving each other piggy backs and camping in the wild.
According to the police report, Mr Laundrie told an officer that “issues between the two had been building over the last few days”.
“After evaluating the totality of the circumstances, I do not believe the situation escalated to the level of a domestic assault as much as that of a mental health crisis,” officer Daniel Robbins wrote in the police report.
Ms Petito appeared distressed in bodycam footage.
Brian Laundrie also appeared in the footage.
No charges were filed, and it appeared – on the surface at least – that the pair were determined to continue making good memories on the trip.
Just eight days later, the couple posted an eight-minute video of themselves on YouTube called Beginning Our Van Life Journey.
It showed them feeding each other, smiling, running along beaches, kissing, giving each other piggy backs and camping in the wild.
According to the police report, Mr Laundrie told an officer that “issues between the two had been building over the last few days”.
“After evaluating the totality of the circumstances, I do not believe the situation escalated to the level of a domestic assault as much as that of a mental health crisis,” officer Daniel Robbins wrote in the police report.
Ms Petito appeared distressed in bodycam footage.
Brian Laundrie also appeared in the footage.
No charges were filed, and it appeared – on the surface at least – that the pair were determined to continue making good memories on the trip.
Just eight days later, the couple posted an eight-minute video of themselves on YouTube called Beginning Our Van Life Journey.
It showed them feeding each other, smiling, running along beaches, kissing, giving each other piggy backs and camping in the wild.
Ms Petito’s family loses contact
It became clear to Ms Petito’s family just days after the happy highlights reel of the trip emerged that something wasn’t quite right after they lost contact with her.
They said they spoke to her last on a FaceTime call in the final week of August.
She told them that she and Mr Laundrie were leaving Utah and driving to Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. Ms Petito’s mother only received a few texts from her daughter after that.
Another ominous sign emerged when Ms Petito – who by all accounts was prolific on social media – suddenly stopped posting updates from her trip on August 25.
Her final post shows her holding a knitted pumpkin with a caption saying “Happy Halloween”.
On August 30, her family received their last text from Ms Petito. They doubt she wrote that text, which read: “No service in Yosemite.”
Fiance arrives home, alone
Alarm bells really started to ring for Ms Petito’s family when on September 1 Mr Laundrie returned alone to the couple’s home in North Port Florida, south of Tampa, where his parents also live.
The white van the couple had been travelling in was later recovered by police at the home – police have now taken it for examination.
Ten days later, Ms Petito’s family reported her missing after desperately trying, and failing, to get in touch with her.
The police described Mr Laundrie as a “person of interest,” saying he was the last person known to have been with Ms Petito before she went missing.
However, Steven Bertolino, Mr Laundrie’s lawyer, said he had advised his client not to speak with the authorities.
The couple were prolific on social media. Picture: Instagram
Police went to Mr Laundrie’s home on Saturday night asking to speak to him and his family but “we were essentially handed the information for their lawyer” a police spokesman said.
“That is the extent of our conversation with them,” he said.
Meanwhile, searchers were working around the clock as they tried to locate Ms Petito in the sprawling Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
Her devastated family pleaded for people to come forward with any information.
“We ask you to put yourselves in our shoes,” they said in a letter which was read by their lawyer, Richard Stafford. “We haven’t been able to sleep or eat. And our lives are falling apart.”
Mr Laundrie vanishes
After several days of both Ms Petito’s family and police pleading with Mr Laundrie’s family to co-operate in the investigation, Mr Laundrie’s family requested that police come to their home on Friday.
There were wild scenes when officers arrived as demonstrators lined the street with signs.
One of the officers entered the home with what appeared to be an evidence bag as protesters surrounding the property yelled: “Bring him out!”
However, the family told police they hadn’t seen their son since Tuesday.
Police leave Brian Laundrie’s home. Picture: Maciel/Backgrid
Local police announced that they were searching the Carlton Reserve, a 10,000-hectare park about 20km from North Port for Mr Laundrie.
He is still yet to be discovered, but Mr Laundrie’s family “says they believe he entered the area” last week, according to police. He allegedly told them he was going for a hike.
Police have put forward the theory that he may have “hurt himself” or that he may be hiding out in the wild.
Tragic discovery in Wyoming
Overnight, US federal police announced they had recovered a body in a Wyoming forest that is believed to be Ms Petito.
Authorities confirmed on Sunday local time that the body found in the Grand Teton National Park was “consistent with the description” of the 22-year-old.
Speaking to media, FBI Denver special agent Charles Jones said the family of Ms Petito had been notified of the discovery.
“On behalf of the FBI personnel, I’d like to extend my sincere and heartfelt condolences to Gabby’s family,” he said, adding that no cause of death had been confirmed.
“As every parent can imagine, this is an incredibly difficult time for the family. We ask that you all respect their privacy as they mourn the loss of their daughter.”
The FBI said the discovery of the body was made in the Spread Creek Dispersed camping area, which remains closed for the “active investigation”
Ms Petito’s body was discovered in Wyoming. Picture: KSL5
‘Nothing to report’ in search for partner
Meanwhile, police still cannot find Mr Laundrie. Ms Petito’s family has said they believe he is in hiding.
“All of Gabby’s family want the world to know that Brian is not missing, he is hiding. Gabby is missing,” the family’s lawyer said in a brief statement on Friday, before her body was found.
In a statement on Friday, Police expressed frustration that Mr Laundrie’s family did not speak with investigators for nearly a week about Ms Petito’s disappearance.
“We understand the community’s frustration. We are frustrated too. For six days, the North Port Police Department and the FBI have been pleading with the family to contact investigators regarding Brian’s fiance Gabby Petito. Friday is the first time they have spoken with investigators in detail,” the statement said.
Shortly after Mr Laundrie vanished, investigators spent two hours at the Laundrie home collecting things they say may help them find him and hopefully get answers.
Dozens of law enforcement officers from five agencies are involved in the search for him.
The search will resume tomorrow, but so far there have been no clues found.
Just before 6pm local time police said the search had concluded for the day with “nothing to report”.
