Warning: This article contains discussion of suicide which some readers may find distressing.
Eerie new details from the case of Gabby Petito - who was murdered by her fiancée Brian Laundrie during a road trip through the US in 2021 - have been released to the public this week as part of a harrowing new Netflix documentary.
Amongst these revelations are that, whilst 22-year-old Gabby was still considered 'missing' in the Wyoming wilderness, Brian's mother penned a stomach-wrenching letter to her son, pledging to help him 'dispose of a body' if he so needed it.
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The latest addition to the streaming service's already-popular American Murder docu-series also touches on the national campaign Gabby's parents launched when she was considered 'missing', the signs of domestic violence which had previously littered their relationship, and the blood-curdling suicide note Brian wrote after the truth of Gabby's murder was exposed.
Gabby Petito's disappearance
In August 2021, with plans to launch a lifestyle content-creating career, Gabby Petito quit her job and bought a van, before she and long-term partner, Brian Laundrie set off on an all-American road-trip.
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After several weeks, however, her family suddenly stopped hearing from her - aside from a handful of texts which Gabby's mother Nichole did not believe had been written by her daughter.
In the Netflix documentary, Nichole claims that on 10 September, she'd attempted to contact Brian's mum, Roberta.
Nichole sent a text reading, 'I was just wondering if you've heard from the kids? I haven't heard from Gabby in about 10 days and I'm getting worried as she's been consistently in touch.
'I tried Brian as well, haven't been able to get in touch.'
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Though the initial text was delivered, a subsequent message sent by Nichole which read, 'I hope I have the right number', was sent as a text, implying she'd either been blocked by Roberta, or Roberta's phone had been shut off.
Gabby's father then attempted to make contact with the Laundrie's, texting Roberta, Chris and Brian's sister Cassie to explain he hadn't heard from the couple, and that both of their phones were 'going straight to voicemail'.
None of them replied to his message, prompting Joseph to warn them he'd be calling the police.
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Joseph tearfully explains in the documentary: "Gabby was going to be their daughter-in-law. This was a person that I thought they loved.
"If someone had text me they were going to the police, I'd want to know what's up. We heard nothing."
It was also around this time that Gabby's family found that the couple had endured a run-in with police during their road trip, with a witness claiming to have seen him 'slapping' her.
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In heartbreaking police body-cam footage - which also airs in the new documentary - Brian can be seen being transported to a hotel for domestic abuse victims, while Gabby - who was branded the 'aggressor' in their confrontation - is sent on her way in the van. Though no arrests were made.
Gabby's family file a missing persons report
Little did they know that, during this time, Brian had returned home to Florida in the van she'd rented, without her.
Upon the family's request, Florida police attended the Laundrie's home, where Chris declared that, though Brian was home and Gabby was not, they wouldn't be speaking to officers.
Separately, Brian's sister had called the police headquarters to explain that Brian had left Gabby at a hotel in Wyoming after they got into a fight.
In North Port police body-cam footage shown in the documentary, Chris explains that the Laundrie's have hired an attorney.
Roberta Laundrie's note
On 17 September - amid a colossal police search for Gabby - Brian's parents reported him missing after he failed to return home after a hike in a nearby woods in Florida, claiming not to have seen him since the 13th.
With a warrant, the FBI investigated the Laundrie's home that day in a bid to collect potential evidence.
Whilst doing so, police came across a note that Roberta had written to Brian titled 'Burn After Reading', in which she pledged to help him if he ever need to 'dispose of a body'.
Whilst the documentary only displays extracts of the letter, a full version obtained by CNN reads: "I just want you to remember I will always Love you, and I know you will always Love me. You are my boy.
"Nothing can make me stop loving you. Nothing will or could ever divide us: no matter what we do, or where we go or what we say -- we will always Love each other."
Roberta continued to promise: "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 bring show up with a shovel and garbage bags. If you fly to the moon, I will be watching the skies for your re-entry. If you say you hate my guts, I'll get new guts.
"Remember that love is a verb, not a noun. It's not a thing, it's not words, it is actions. Watch people's actions to know if they love you -- not their words."
She then quoted a verse from the Bible (Romans 8:38), before concluding: "(Nothing can separate us: not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not threats, not even sin, not the thinkable or unthinkable can get between us.) ~Not time. Not miles and miles and miles."
During questioning, Roberta insisted that the undated note had been written to Brian prior to his road-trip with Gabby, and that it had nothing to do with her disappearance.
Gabby's body is discovered
Two days later, on 19 September 2021, with Brian Laundrie still missing, the FBI discovered human remains in an area of Spread Creek Dispersed Camp.
After the identity of the remains was confirmed to be Gabby, an autopsy determined that she'd died via 'blunt-force injuries to the head and neck, with manual strangulation' three to four weeks prior.
Days after her remains were found - after police discovered that Brian had allegedly sent vast amounts of money from Gabby's account to his after she would have been killed - a warrant was issued for his arrest.
A search for Brian
A month-long search for Brian ensued, which eventually saw his family joining in and his sister Cassie pleading with him to surrender.
Exactly one month and one day after Gabby's body was discovered in Wyoming, however, Roberta and Chris Laundrie found his remains in an area of Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park that had previously been underwater due to flooding.
An autopsy report later determined that Brian had died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
A waterproof bag was also discovered close to his remains, which contained a collection of photographs of him and Gabby together, as well as a waterproof notebook that Brian had written his final confession inside.
Brian's suicide note
It began with an address to Gabby herself, with Brain claiming he wished he 'could be talking to you right now', insisting that he 'can't live without her', and would 'always love' her.
Brian then apologised directly to Gabby's family, adding: "I love them. I’d consider her younger siblings my best of friends."
Towards the end of the note, however, he'd penned an untrue version of the story of Gabby's death, claiming she had become unwell/injured after getting caught up in some ice-cold water.
"Laying next to her she said little, lapsing between violent shakes, gasping in pain, begging for an end to her pain," he wrote.
"She wouldn’t let me cross the creek, thought like me that the fire would go out in her sleep and she’d freeze. I don’t know the extent of Gabby’s injuries, only that she was in extreme pain."
Brian's testimony concluded with an eerie, nine-word claim that was interpreted as his confession to her murder.
"I ended her life, I thought it was merciful," Brian wrote, going on to plead with the media to leave his parents out of the case, claiming they had no involvement.
Questions left unanswered
Touching on this aspect of Brian's note in the documentary, Gabby's step-mother Tara tells viewers of Roberta's 'Burn After Reading' note: "The first time we saw that letter, we were just so in shock and angry that, how could she write this letter? It's just disgusting."
Her mother Nichole then adds: "It made me sick to my stomach."
Following the discovery of Brian's body, FBI Denver Division stated: "The investigation did not identify any other individuals other than Brian Laundrie directly involved in the tragic death of Gabby Petito.
"The FBI's primary focus throughout the investigation was to bring justice to Gabby and her family."
In the documentary, however, FBI Special Agent, Loretta Bush admits: "We still don't know the extent of Brian's parents' involvement, but what we do know, is that, on August 29th, Brian made a flurry of calls to his parents.
"They contacted each other multiple times. We learned that he told them Gabby was gone and that he needed a lawyer."
During this period that Gabby's parents had no idea the tragic fate that had befallen their daughter, the Laundrie's wired money to an attorney.
"I don't think the amount of money they paid an attorney would be for anything less than to represent somebody for murder," Gabby's step-father Jim admits in the documentary.
In 2022, Gabby's parents filed a lawsuit against Roberta and Chris Laundrie for at least $100,000 in damages, claiming they assisted their son in the cover-up of Gabby's murder.
Though this was later dropped down to at least $30,000 in damages, the families reached a settlement in 2024 before the case went to trial.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, you can talk in confidence 24 hours a day to the national domestic violence helpline Refuge on 0808 2000 247.
Topics: Crime, Documentaries, Netflix, News, TV And Film, True Crime, US News, Gabby Petito
Rhianna Benson