What happened to Gabby Petito? Subject of Netflix's American Murder

Two months into their travels, Petito went missing and was later found dead.

Featuring interviews from Petito's family and friends, the three-part documentary aims to "unveil the tragic reality behind their Insta-perfect life and reveal painful moments where their story might have taken a different turn".

But what happened to Gabby Petito? Read on to find out more about the case featured in American Murder: Gabby Petito.

Who is Gabby Petito?

Gabby Petito was a 22-year-old pharmacy technician before she quit her job to become a content creator as she embarked on a cross-country road trip through the United States.

In December 2020, Petito bought a Ford Transit van that was converted into a camper van for the next cross-country trip she would take with boyfriend Brian Laundrie.

Petito documented her trip on YouTube and Instagram, with the latter now a memorial page with one million followers.

What happened between Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie?

In July 2021, Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie set off on a cross-country road trip.

The following month, the couple were reported to the police after a physical altercation between the two was witnessed by an onlooker, who called 911.

In body-cam footage now shared worldwide, Petito was seen telling officers: "Some days, I have really bad OCD. I was just cleaning and straightening up back in the [van]. I was apologising to him and saying, 'I'm sorry that I'm so mean,' because sometimes I have OCD and sometimes I can get really frustrated. Not like mean towards him. I just like, I just, my vibe is, I'm in a bad mood. And, I was just saying I'm sorry if I'm in a bad mood.

"I just... I had so much work I was doing on my computer this morning. And I just now quit my job to travel across the country and I'm trying to start a blog. I have a blog. So I've been building my website. I've been really stressed and he doesn't really believe that I could do any of it, so, we've just been fighting all morning and he wouldn't let me in the car before."

When an officer pointed out marks on her face and arm, Petito told them Laundrie had "grabbed [her] face" which caused the mark. She later told law enforcement that she had hit Laundrie first.

Laundrie told officers: "I said, 'Let's just take a breather and let's not go anywhere, and just calm down for a minute.' She was getting worked up. And then she had her phone and was trying to get the keys from me. I was just trying to... I know I shouldn't push her. I was just trying to push her away to go, 'Let's take a minute and step back and breathe and see.' She got me with her phone."

The pair were separated and ordered to spend the night apart before they resumed their trip.

What happened to Gabby Petito?

In August 2021, Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie were captured on CCTV footage at a Whole Foods in Wyoming. As the documentary notes, that was the last time Petito was seen alive.

In September, Laundrie returned to his family home in Florida and refused to speak to authorities who began investigating Petito's disappearance after she was reported missing by her parents.

Petito's disappearance gained international traction, with details of her case shared worldwide across social media. Laundrie was later named a person of interest in Petito's disappearance.

On 19th September 2021, Gabby Petito's body was found at the Spread Creek Dispersed Camping area in Wyoming. An autopsy confirmed her cause of death was by "blunt force injuries to the head and beck, with manual strangulation".

Laundrie was later found dead in an environmental park along with a notebook in which he admitted to killing Petito.

American Murder: Gabby Petito is available to stream on Netflix now. Sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

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