Going West: True Crime - Gabby Petito Part 2 // Statements, Dispute, and Theories

Episode Date: September 16, 2021

In this episode, we discuss ALL up-to-date information on Gabby Petito's ongoing case and also discuss the Moab Murders that occurred just before Gabby's disappearance in the same area she was last se...en in. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 What is going on to crime fans, I'm your host Tee. And I'm your other host, Daphne, and you're listening to Going West. If you guys haven't listened to yesterday's episode on Gabby Petito, we encourage you to pause this episode and listen to that first, because this is an update episode. We're here to give you all the insane new updates from the past day, as well as discuss some other things that we found online and things that you guys told us. So today's episode really helps us understand a lot more about what was going on and what happened since the investigation was opened. Today's episode really helps us understand a lot more about what was going on and what happened
Starting point is 00:00:45 since the investigation was opened. So get ready for this stuff guys because we are invested and we want Gabby's family to have justice for this incredible young woman. We need to help bring your home if we can and we'll update you guys on here every single day if we're able. Yeah and just so you guys know, where are your source for all things Gabby Petito? And definitely make sure to share. We got so many people sharing yesterday on social media, which was absolutely amazing. Gabby's uncle actually found us and was so incredibly gracious, and he really put everything into perspective. So please, for Gabby and her family, no matter how many followers you have, share this story.
Starting point is 00:01:25 By the way, we're trying to get this episode out to you rapid fire, so the editing isn't going to be up to our usual part, but we're going to do our best to make it sound good for you guys. Alright guys, this is an update episode for Gabby Petito, so let's get into it. So first of all, Nicole Schmidt, who is Gabby's mom, stated in an interview that Gabby and Brian grew up together on Long Island. So we're mentioning this because we didn't know how they met and we kind of didn't go into that in the episode yesterday because we didn't have the info. Right. So although he and his family are currently in Florida, he actually went
Starting point is 00:02:09 to high school with Gabby and they became friends. And then like we said in yesterday's episode, they rekindled their friendship in 2018 and started really dating in 2019. So let's really get into it. Yesterday we mentioned in the end of the episode that police dropped off a pink envelope to The laundry home and this happened yesterday morning. We still don't know what the envelope said a lot of you guys said Maybe it was a sapena for him to go to court, but we have no idea. So Brian's attorney issued the following statement to the press This is an extremely difficult time for both the Petito family and the Laundry family. I understand that a search has been organized for Miss Petito in or near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
Starting point is 00:02:56 On behalf of the Laundry family, it is our hope that the search for Miss Petito is successful and that Miss Petito is reunited with their family. On the advice of council, the laundry family is remaining in the background at this juncture and will have no further comment. So first of all, basically, this is essentially a no comment. Right, which is we were so excited for this update and the statement and had no idea what it was going to say and then it was like, wait, it that's that's your statement. Yeah exactly. So shortly after this Gabby Petito's family which are the Petitos and the Schmitts responded with this amazing statement. The Schmitt and Petito family are
Starting point is 00:03:36 going through the worst moments of their lives. Their beautiful 22 year old daughter is missing and the one person that can help find Gabby refuses to help. Brian Laundry was traveling with Gabby in the Grand Teton Yellowstone area. They were traveling together in Gabby's 2012 Ford Transit van. That is where we believe Gabby was the last seen. Brian is refusing to tell Gabby's family where he last saw her. Brian is also refusing to explain why he left Gabby all alone and drove her van to Florida. These are crucial questions that require immediate answers.
Starting point is 00:04:13 The Schmidt and Petito family beg the laundry family to not, quote, remain in the background. But to help find who Brian referred to as the love of his life. How does Brian stay in the background when he is the one person that knows where Gabby is located? The Schmidt and Petito family implore Brian to come forward and at least tell us if we are looking in the right area. Which I couldn't have said it better myself. Yeah, I mean, at this point, they just wanna know if they're in the right area at all.
Starting point is 00:04:43 I mean, because their journey was so broken up into different states, they just want to know if they're in the right area at all. I mean, because their journey was so broken up into different states, they just want to know, like, hey, should we be looking in Wyoming and Utah? Where do we need to be looking? But that's why this is so suspicious because he's not saying a thing. So as we've said, if you left her, if you guys broke up, if you separated whatever, say that, but you're not saying that, so we have no choice but to believe the other option. Exactly. So now let's get into a couple details that I think are very interesting in this case. So an article came out on the Daily Mail that discussed more new statements
Starting point is 00:05:18 made by Nicole Schmidt who again is Gabby's mom. Specifically about texting Brian and his mom this past week on Friday, September 10, 2021. Nicole said, I texted Brian's mom that I was trying to get in touch with Gabby. I also texted Brian. I got no replies. And that's when she knew that something was wrong. So the next day she reported her missing. I mean, to not text back, before Gabby has even been reported missing is so bizarre. It's yes, it's very, very bizarre. Nicole also mentioned that Brian's sister Cassie is the only member of the family that has spoken to police. But unfortunately, we don't know what it was that Cassie said, because that's being kept private for this investigation. So we really just don't know." And Nicole also went on to explain that Brian's parents had always been warm and welcoming
Starting point is 00:06:08 to Gabby during their nearly three-year relationship, and that one Christmas, Brian's mom even knitted gifts for Gabby. She was apparently very excited about Gabby and Brian's engagement, and Brian's parents also loved Gabby like a daughter, says Nicole. Nicole also mentioned something else that was interesting that I thought, that although Gabby and Brian had been engaged in July of 2020, like we said, which was, you know, about a year and a half after they started dating, they called it off, and they went back to regular dating because they felt they were too young to get married.
Starting point is 00:06:44 She said, I think they kind of just put it 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. So we can confirm that while they were on this trip, they were not engaged. Which also, I mean, I can't help but wonder if maybe I admire that if you think you're too young not to get married, don't rush into it absolutely, but it just makes me wonder if maybe they didn't know if they wanted to be together as well in a sense.
Starting point is 00:07:15 Right, or one, or both of them. And what I'm thinking is it's possible that maybe one person had more of an interest in not being engaged than the other. Also something that's really interesting is that Nicole mentioned again in the Daily Mail that in August, Brian took a trip to Florida to help his father move he and Gabby's things into a storage unit. Nicole wonders why he even did this and where Gabby's stuff is. So what I think this is is that maybe they plan to be gone for a while and needed to put all their home belongings in a storage unit until they returned, but by the way, Gabby and Brian were living
Starting point is 00:07:52 at his parents' house at the time. So I don't know why they would need to put stuff into storage unless maybe his parents didn't have enough space for all of it. I don't really know, but this is weird to me for two reasons. One, he left Gabby likely in Utah to go back to Florida, and how did he get there? I'm assuming he flew. But we're going to get into travel dates here in a bit as well. And two, a storage unit to me equals them
Starting point is 00:08:17 being gone for a while. And then just a couple weeks later, he returns to Florida without her. So this just backs up to me the feeling of sudden. Right, so you're probably wondering when Brian went back to Florida. So Gabby's step uncle Mike Schmidt posted this to Facebook, and this is really alarming to me. And by the way, it was like written on a piece of paper. This is a picture of something he wrote on paper. Exactly. So it said, domestic reported 8 slash 12. Brian went to Florida 817 through 823. Left hotel in Salt Lake City 824. In Grand Teton, Wyoming
Starting point is 00:08:57 825. Told a friend through Snapchat 827. She's headed to Yellowstone. Last text from her phone, 8-slash-30 saying, no service in Yosemite, which I'm assuming he probably meant Yellowstone. Yeah, so we don't know if this was her typo or his, but it's really interesting to know that she, or at least her phone, was sending these type of messages saying she was headed to Yellowstone. And also, you're probably wondering as well, domestic reported 812, so August 12th? We're about to get into that, that's one of the craziest updates we have for you today. But first, I mean, this is interesting because we know Gabby last facetimeed her mom on August
Starting point is 00:09:37 24th, and Brian was in Florida from August 17th to the 23rd, like that's right up against her disappearance, and what was she doing during that time? And that also would have meant that if he returned to Utah on the 23rd, they would have gotten a hotel that night in Salt Lake City because we know that they stayed at a hotel that night, and then the next day is the last time that Gabby was officially seen. Exactly. And Heath found someone discussing on Reddit
Starting point is 00:10:05 that Gabby liked a photo of a travel couple named At Chad and Claire. The photo was posted on August 27th, and we confirmed that she did like it from her Instagram, and she also follows the couple. So this photo is of Claire dancing at Lake Titicaca in South America by a fire with a bunch of people. And Gabby has liked almost all of their photos as of recently, not super recently, but I mean over the summer.
Starting point is 00:10:33 She even, I mean, she almost liked every post of theirs during her own travels, during her own road trip in the van with Brian. But the last photo that she liked of theirs was this one on August 27th. So three days after she last facetimed her mom, and three days before, she, apparently she sent her final text. And they have posted five photos since then, the most recent being of both Chad and Claire together just yesterday. So I just thought that was really interesting. Because I mean, that just shows she was on Instagram until August 27th.
Starting point is 00:11:10 Right, exactly. And you know, we talked about the fact that she may have gone missing on the 25th, but this kind of tells us a different story if she's liking somebody else's. Unless it was, well, unless it was, say, Brian, who was liking this photo. Which I don't know why he would do that. Why would he just peruse her Instagram account? I don't know if you would do that, but who knows? Yeah, and the only way that you found out was you had to follow Gabby's account in order for it to pop up on chat and Claire's, right?
Starting point is 00:11:38 Yeah, but there's been a lot of glitches on Instagram, which we're going to go into because we got a lot of messages about, oh, her accounts deactivated, it got deleted, his got deleted, but they're both back and we're gonna go into that. So I think there's just been a lot of glitches, but she did like that photo. Yeah, there is an explanation for those accounts being inactive for a few hours.
Starting point is 00:11:59 So last night, which is Tuesday night, an article came out titled, Utah Police were called to incident involving cross-country vaning couple. It states, quote, Utah police have confirmed that officers were called for an incident involving Brian Laundry and Gabby Petito, roughly two weeks before she was last seen, and a month before she was officially reported missing. It then goes on to state,
Starting point is 00:12:25 our officers did respond to an incident involving Brian Laundry and Gabby Petito on August 12th, 2021, however, neither Brian or Gabby were the reporting party, according to the Moab Chief of Police. Officers conducted an investigation and determined that insufficient evidence existed to justify criminal charges Which basically means that you know they got there somebody called About an argument which we're gonna go into it wasn't argument and the police showed up They talked to Gabby and Brian and didn't see that anything was wrong
Starting point is 00:13:00 You know meaning maybe none of them were injured and they said they were fine and then the police left. But Gabby's mom told the Daily Mail that she thought what this incident was about didn't matter. She said, it's irrelevant, two people traveling with each other 24 hours a day, it's not going to be perfect. It was an argument and that's all I'm going to say about it. But this just came in and it's basically a report from the officer who was there during the incident that occurred on August 12th.
Starting point is 00:13:31 Yeah, we just jumped back into the studio after finishing recording this to add this because this is how on top of it we're trying to be. And this is very, very important. So this is what this officer said. Alright, so I'm going to read the first part and then Heath is going to read the second part. So on August 12th, 2021 at approximately 444 PM, I responded to a possible domestic violence in progress call.
Starting point is 00:13:56 A van with both a male and female as occupants was reported leaving the area of 39 East 100 north, northbound on Main Street. And that by the way, guys, is in the Moab area. One of the witnesses described the vehicle as a white Ford Transit van with a black ladder on the rear with Florida license plate QFT-G03. Witness Christopher Blank reported seeing a male later identified as Brian Laundrie and a female later identified as Gabrielle Petito arguing over a phone. Christopher stated that when Brian got into the van, he saw what appeared to him as Gabrielle hitting Brian in the arm and then climbing through the driver's window as if Brian
Starting point is 00:14:42 had locked her out and she was trying to find a way in. I located a white van that matched the description on North Main Street at the highway 128 turn-off. After I crossed the bridge, I was able to catch up to the van at the turn-off in Arches National Park. I confirmed the vehicle's license plate and initiated the stop. I followed the vehicle as it continued towards the entrance gate to Arches National Park. I noted the van traveling approximately 45
Starting point is 00:15:10 miles per hour in the 15 mile per hour speed zone. After I had activated my lights to initiate a traffic stop, I watched the van cross the double yellow dividing line in lane 1, merged to lane 2 and abruptly swerved to the right. When the vehicle swerved, both the front and rear passenger side wheels hit the curb. A short distance before the entrance gate, the vehicle came to a stop. I approached the vehicle and saw the only occupants keep being Gabrielle and Brian. Gabrielle, who was in the passenger seat, was crying uncontrollably. I asked Gabrielle to get out of the vehicle to speak with me. Gabrielle told me that she suffers from blank. It's all crossed out. It's like, yeah, it's like blacked out. Yeah, exactly.
Starting point is 00:15:59 And we'll post photos on social so you can kind of see, but so it says she told me that she suffers from blank with blank. She continued because of her blank and blank combined with little arguments she and Brian had been having that day, she was struggling with her mental health, which led to the incident that was reported to law enforcement. Gabrielle stated that when she saw the lights, she hit Brian in the arm to get his attention, which in turn caused him to hit the curb while I was following them. I asked Gabriella for intention was to hurt Brian and her response was that she did not intend to hurt him, but rather get his attention to notice me as
Starting point is 00:16:36 I was behind them all with my lights on. At no point in my investigation did Gabriella stop crying, breathing heavily or compose a sentence without needing to wipe away tears, wipe her nose, or rub her knees with her hands. After I sat Gabrielle in the backseat of my car, I asked Brian to step out of the vehicle to speak with me. He told me they both suffer from blank, we don't know what that is, because the word has crossed out. And although her blank is more advanced than his, issues between the two had been building over the last few days.
Starting point is 00:17:11 This in turn caused them to argue more than usual. Brian told me neither he nor Gabrielle take medication for their blank. Brian explained that he and Gabrielle have been traveling together for the last four to five months. That time spent created emotional strain between them and increased the number of arguments. While arguing near Main Street, he had attempted to separate from her, and so they could both calm their emotions. He got into their van and Gabrielle had gone into a manic state.
Starting point is 00:17:42 Brian said Gabrielle, thinking he was going to leave her in Moab without a ride, went to slap him. As Gabrielle started to swing, Brian pushed her away to avoid the slap. As a result, Gabrielle off-balance but still caught, Brian's face with some fingers, causing some minor visible scratches. Brian continued that when he had seen my lights, he thought Gabrielle had grabbed the wheel of the van and pulled it because the van hit the curb. I observed some small scratches to Brian's right arm, and when I asked him about them,
Starting point is 00:18:17 he suppose they must have happened when Gabrielle was trying to get his attention about me being behind them with my lights on. This however, was not consistent with Gabrielle's statement, further suggesting her confused and emotional state. 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. I then determined the most appropriate course of action would be to help separate the parties for the night so that they could
Starting point is 00:18:50 reset their mental states without interference from one another, and although they did not express a desire to remain together, they both ultimately agreed to be separated until the following day. Accordingly, I was able to contact Safe Haven and get Brian a hotel room for the night. I instructed both Brian and Gabrielle to take advantage of this time apart to relax their emotions and regain control of their anxiety. I also asked them to avoid contacting each other and tell the next morning if it all possible. Gabrielle maintained possession of the van while I transported
Starting point is 00:19:26 Brian to the hotel. They did both have their own cell phones in case of emergency. Around 1900 hours, I went to Blank, where witness Christopher Blank lived, and had him fill out a statement form. Christopher told me that he was not entirely sure what he had seen, but feared for the worst. Which is why he came forward as a witness and agreed to complete a written statement. And this then it goes on to say Body Camera Video is available on Evidence.com. So we just looked for that video and we can't find it. If we do end up finding it or it's released, if maybe it hasn't been officially released yet or it's not titled properly We will post it on our socials
Starting point is 00:20:08 We're keeping you guys updated obviously here in the episodes But the most up-to-date is on our Twitter Instagram and Facebook. So go follow us There's actually one more thing I want to read and this is from another officer who was also on the scene But had to be called off to a different Report or a different incident I'm sorry. So basically this officer said no one reported that the male struck the female, both the male and the female reported that they were in love and engaged to be married and desperately didn't wish to see anyone charged with a crime. There were no significant injuries reported in both agreed that Gabby suffers from serious
Starting point is 00:20:45 anxiety, so that's probably what was blacked out in the other report. It appears that this incident was more accurately categorized as a mental health slash emotional health break than a domestic assault. I had to leave, but I understand that Officer Robbins got the mail lodged through C Haven, which is that hotel that the other officer had taken Brian to, and that officer Robbins got the mail lodged through C Haven, which is that hotel that the other officer had taken Brian to, and that Gabby retained possession of the van. I also, I mean, I just really think it's interesting that this happened on August 12th, because, you know, less than a couple weeks later, she disappears.
Starting point is 00:21:20 So this kind of gives us a big sneak peek into what things were really like for them. Yeah, it kind of shows us that this relationship was not picture-perfect. And, you know, in the YouTube video, it kind of, they kind of try to make it seem like their relationship is perfect, but, you know, a lot of times people don't want to show that side of their relationship. Well, Anne, we talked about this yesterday, how things seemed perfect, but obviously they weren't because Gabby had told her mom apparently that she didn't know where their relationship was going. So that gave us like a little peek, but this gives us a better peek.
Starting point is 00:21:56 And just for reference, the incident was on August 12th, and Brian's last post on Instagram was August 13th. Yes, exactly. So moving on to the Moab murders. So there's a double murder that happened in Moab, Utah, which is in the area we know Gabby and Brian visited on or around Friday, August 13th. And I don't know what this means,
Starting point is 00:22:20 but on August 13th, like Keith just said, Brian made his last Instagram post in Moab, Utah. So they were in Moab at the same time this couple got killed. We read the caption and we discussed it yesterday. In the episode, it's the one about the primates and the trees and like being more into nature that was Brian's last Instagram post. So some of you pointed out that a double murder occurred in Moab.
Starting point is 00:22:46 I'm so sorry we don't know who specifically you are because so many of you mentioned it, so we just really appreciate you. So we dug into it a bit and we wanted to share the details. Some of you insinuated that Brian is behind these murders or like someone else who could be involved in Gabby's disappearance, but of course, there is no evidence of either. So just know we're not trying to imply anything. We're just talking here. And again, I mean, it's important to note as well that this couple was murdered the
Starting point is 00:23:15 day after the dispute happened between Gabby and Brian. So obviously there's a bunch of people in Moab at this time. This could all be a coincidence, but it's worth mentioning. 24-year-old Kylin Shult and 38-year-old wife, Crystal Turner, were big fans of camping with their Pat Rabbit and traveling. So in August of 2021, they decided to go on a camping trip near Moab, Utah, in the South Mesa area of the LaSalle Mountains.
Starting point is 00:23:44 Kylin was described by a friend as magical, as well as just one of the sweetest, most beautiful people I ever met. They continue with saying, I've known her for six and a half years, and she was a precious precious soul. She was very special. This friend, whose name is Cindy, received a call from Kylin's dad after neither Kylin nor Crystal had been heard from in three days.
Starting point is 00:24:07 He explained to Cindy, I just found out that there was a creeper dude that they were scared of, that they needed to move their camp. Cindy went out looking for the couple and eventually found their campsite while on the phone with Kylee's father, and she called police right away. Because when she got there, she found both of them deceased. So this was on August 18th. This is the day before Gabby and Brian, or I don't know which one of them did it, but one of them posted the video on YouTube.
Starting point is 00:24:35 This was the day before that Kylin and Crystal were found. Both Kylin and Crystal were nude from the waist down and had been shot multiple times with a gun. And it came out after they were murdered that Kylen had told her friends, if something happens to us, we were murdered. Which is super horrifying and alarming because that just goes to show you they were very, very scared of something. So before they were killed, they visited Woody's Tavern in Moab, which is described on Google as a strip mall saloon,
Starting point is 00:25:08 with a kid-friendly bar menu that turns into an adult-only hub at night. And Woody's actually posted a very long explanation on Facebook trying to kind of maybe point blame elsewhere. It's about two pages long, so to spare you, we shorten it and included the more important details. Hi, this post is regarding the recent tragedy that took place in our town with the two beautiful and innocent lives being violently taken and the investigation into this horrific crime being thoroughly messed up. There was a lot of incorrect information out there, and I feel that it is necessary
Starting point is 00:25:45 that I, as the owner of Woody's tavern, clear some things up. I'm not sure if I can get into trouble for saying this, but I feel the truth needs to be told because all the rumors out there are preventing the investigation from going in the direction it needs to in order to actually be solved. It has been said that the two women were last seen alive on Saturday night leaving our tavern, and that is just simply not true. The two women, along with two of their friends, were in the tavern but not on Saturday, August 14th. They were there on Friday, August 13th, arriving around 6pm and leaving just before 9pm.
Starting point is 00:26:25 My daughter was working, had interaction with the women, and was able to see them the entire time because of where they sat. At no time were they approached by anyone except my staff, and the entire time they were relaxed, and enjoyed their time with their friends and each other. These two women were very much in love with each other, and their focus and attention were always and each other. These two women were very much in love with each other, and their focus and attention were always on each other. They weren't about attention or misleading anyone, they were just good and kind and did absolutely nothing to bring this tragedy on themselves. All four women left at the same time, and no one followed them out the door.
Starting point is 00:27:02 We have cameras, and I've seen the footage of their entry, exit, and time in between. It has been incredibly frustrating for us because it didn't matter how many times we told police they had the wrong day and therefore the wrong time frame on their last days it did not matter. We provided the footage from when the women were actually in there and the day they keep saying that they were to prove it was Friday not Saturday. We gave police the footage of the exit and the area they were sitting hoping to be of any kind of help we could but it's like talking to a wall because they just aren't listening. So, well, a lot of sources claim that Kylin and Crystal were followed out by a creeper
Starting point is 00:27:59 dude, Woody says that they weren't, and since they apparently had to move their campsite, because of an encounter with a strange man, it makes sense that maybe they didn't meet him or see him at Woody's, and that Woody's has nothing to do with anything. For anyone who's going to ask if Brian had a gun, by the way, we're unsure. We also are not saying at all that he's involved in these killings, but the timing is really interesting, especially since within two weeks Gabby went missing in the same area. Both Kylin and Crystal were described as very special people, and a lot of people are hurting right now not knowing what happened to them.
Starting point is 00:28:37 Kylin's dad has been pleading the public to find out who killed his girls and points out that time is of the essence. So just as we ask you with Gabby's case, share this story too, because police believe their killer fled the area after murdering them. If you know anything about what happened to Kylin and Crystal or if you were in Moab and think you can help, check out our socials for photos of them and call the Grand County Sheriff's Office at 435-2598115. So now let's get into some things that a lot of you guys mentioned on our socials that you guys found yourselves.
Starting point is 00:29:16 You guys are some serious web sleuths and we appreciate all your insight and the research that you've done. Yeah, a lot of this is from you guys. We found some of this stuff too, but we got a bunch of messages from all of you, and that was amazing, because it was kind of like, a lot of you pointed out things that we hadn't found, and that was really awesome.
Starting point is 00:29:35 So let's get into it. So this morning at 11.30 AM Eastern time, the Northport Police Department released a statement. And the statement goes it's super long, so I'm not gonna read it because it's kind of lulls on and it only says a few things of importance. So they basically explained that the FBI is assisting in the case, which is amazing because this case takes place over many states. So they also mentioned that a bunch of detectives are working
Starting point is 00:30:05 around the clock to figure out where Gabby is. They talk about how the van was found at Gabby's house in Florida, which again is Brian's parents house. The FBI helped fully process that van and they finished last night. Yeah, so we're not sure if they actually did or did not find anything. Yeah, they did not mention finding anything, so we're assuming that they're still getting things tested, but it's done being processed and we posted photos on social media. So they also mentioned that Brian returned to Florida on September 1st. And this is kind of a big deal to know, because yesterday we discussed that we didn't know when he returned
Starting point is 00:30:46 September 1st is Important because that's pretty much the day after Gabby stopped responding to text messages Right, and it's also 10 days before Gabby was officially reported missing and she was reported missing by her parents So that means 10 days went by where he didn't say anything, he didn't look for Gabby, he didn't report her missing himself, and that says a lot. And I also read that he was actually pulled over driving the van, and that's when he asked for an attorney. So also the FBI set up a national hotline to receive tips. It's 1-800-call FBI.BI. So that's 1-800-225-532-4. And that's the primary tip line.
Starting point is 00:31:30 So they've already received hundreds of tips. But if you happen to have seen anything or you know anything, please call that number. Yeah, they're sifting through those tips as we speak. And by the way, so more about the van, it's a white 2012 Ford Transit van with Florida license plate, QFTG03. This is important because if you were in the Grand Teton
Starting point is 00:31:54 National Park area in Wyoming, or in Utah, and you maybe notice this van, call in. OK, so somebody sent us on Instagram. Again, I'm so sorry. I didn't on Instagram. Again, I'm so sorry. I didn't write who it was. I'm so sorry. We've just gotten so many messages, but whoever sent this to me, thank you so much. It is an Instagram post of a screenshot of a TikTok comment.
Starting point is 00:32:15 Basically, this woman, her username is J-H-E-Y-D-A-2-2. She says, we met them and bought them drinks end of August. They just came off the hill from Montana and this woman lives in Idaho. So she says she saw them at the Montana Idaho border going south. That's really all we know. I commented on her TikTok and I asked her for more details. She said she did call the police and tell them this, but she didn't say what date in August. So could have been the 25th, could have been the 29th, could have been any days in between, we just don't know. And she also kind of said that they seemed really nice and they seemed out of place and the
Starting point is 00:32:57 bar that they were at was kind of a locals bar. And so they kind of stood out like sore thumbs and this woman started talking to them and bought them drinks and said they seemed really nice, but that's all the information that she has released. And we also can't confirm that this story is true or not. I mean, we don't know if this person is making up this story or not, but we felt like we needed to share it with you guys. Yeah, there's no evidence that what this woman is saying is true.
Starting point is 00:33:21 She doesn't explain what bar it was at. So there's no security footage or anything like that. Hopefully, the police will look into this lead and confirm it or deny it, so it can kind of help with the timeline as well. Okay, so now we have a comment from somebody who posted about Gabby on a platform, and they kind of mentioned a little bit about Brian Laundrie's attorney. And they said, why on earth does he have a New York attorney? The attorney states he practices criminal law but is mainly a real estate in labor law attorney. It also does not state that he has a law license in the state of Florida, so when guilty
Starting point is 00:33:59 boy is arrested that lawyer can't get him here in Florida. Then if he is extra-dited to wherever she's found, sorry I don't believe she is alive, it still won't be New York. Parents want to protect him, then I hope they are willing to pay a lot of money on criminal attorneys in a few states. So that's interesting, my mom sent me that one. I don't really know what to say about that. I don't know a lot about law and that sense, but I think that's kind of interesting. Maybe it's a family
Starting point is 00:34:30 friend. That's kind of what I think. Yeah, sometimes that's the case. You know, people find an attorney that's close to the family, so that's kind of what I'm thinking as well. Okay, so a lot of you mentioned the Yellowstone Death Zone, so we wanted to talk about it. Basically, there is a 50-mile strip in Idaho where people think murder is legal. It's called a zone of death, and it's a part of Yellowstone. It states that if there's any crime that happens there, the jury in a trial has to be people within that tiny strip of land, but no one lives there, so the case would get thrown out. However, we also read this online too.
Starting point is 00:35:13 One, murder is not legal anywhere in the United States. Two, a provision in the Six Amendment might make prosecuting felonies committed within the Idaho portion of Yellowstone National Park more complicated, but no felonies in the zone of death have been prosecuted, so it remains unclear exactly how this would be handled. I also don't think that Brian would be so clever to kill her if he even did since there's no evidence, remember? In this death zone, I know they're going to Yellowstone, so it kind of seems like it's worth mentioning, but it's such a stretch to me, but I appreciate all the more conspiracy theories that are coming our way, because I do think they're very interesting. Yeah, I mean, I think if something happens to Gabby at the hands of Brian, I don't think that he
Starting point is 00:36:00 would have thought this far ahead, like, oh, there's a death zone in this portion, so I can get away with murder. I think if something did happen, it was probably in the moment. I completely agree. All right, now let's talk a little bit about Gabby in the video that she posted to YouTube. So a lot of people mentioned that it looked like
Starting point is 00:36:18 she had been crying, she kind of had puffy eyes. We don't know exactly when that portion of the video was taken, it could have been early in the morning when she just woke up. Well, actually, there is, she states in part of the video that they just woke up and they're just getting up. And she sounds really tired too. I will admit, under her eyes, they look super puffy, but we don't know if she just wakes up like that anyway, or if they're puffy because she was crying the night before, which is also very possible. Yeah, she could have definitely been crying.
Starting point is 00:36:48 I also know that Brian and Gabby did smoke pot. So it is possible that she may have done like a wake and bake situation. I don't really know, I'm not gonna speculate too much on that, but we cannot say for sure whether or not she was crying. Yeah, I don't know how much they really smoked weed, but they both have posted about it on their Instagrams before. So to me, it was weird when I watched the video,
Starting point is 00:37:11 I was like, oh, she kinda seems like she just woke up and got stoned, like that's how she's acting, because she seems kind of like tired and sluggish, but I'm not gonna say that she was stoned because I have absolutely no idea, but it's just kind of an observation because so many people are like, she looks like she was crying and maybe she was. So I do want to talk a little bit about Brian's artwork, so he's actually a very talented
Starting point is 00:37:32 artist, but there's definitely some dark aspects to his artwork. First of all, he posted on his Instagram page, a picture that he did of Ichian Scratchy, which are characters from the Simpsons. Now, his caption for this photo is, this was a fun one. I want to give them little bodies with blood spraying from their necks. A lot of gore, maybe an axe or a chainsaw, generic Ichian Scratchy stuff. And I know that there was some gore pertaining to itchian scratchy, like in the show, but it's a little bit weird to write this caption out. I agree, and of course, I know there's a lot of horror fans out there who might be like, this isn't weird to be interested in gore.
Starting point is 00:38:22 You know, that doesn't mean that you did something bad or whatever. I completely agree, but I do think when you kind of put it into perspective, it is a little weird and this isn't the only one that's like that. Yeah, this is also another capture, sorry, caption from one of his Instagram posts. It says grim reaper leading sheep to the slaughter. So it kind of seems like he does have a little
Starting point is 00:38:45 bit of this dark energy going on. I mean, I don't know if that's his personality or not, but just from looking at his captions on Instagram, they seem a little strange. Another thing to note is that a man named Jay Foster, who's from Alabama, was also traveling at the same time as Gabby and Brian in his Volkswagen bus, and he met the couple near Moab, Utah on August 10th. Now, this is the information that he gives. The three of them chatted for about 40 minutes discussing the modifications that they had made to their vans. They were holding hands, they were ecstatic about their rebuild, Foster told the Daily Beast from a rest stop in California.
Starting point is 00:39:29 That's what I find so weird, he says, about the whole situation, is that they were both really cool. They didn't seem to be anything wrong whatsoever. Laundry had done most of the mechanical work on their van and Gabby had refurbished the interior according to Foster who said he enjoyed comparing tat 2's with Gabby. When Laundry asked Foster if he'd like to have a skateboard, he no longer needed Foster eagerly accepted this. He said here, I'm not going to be needing two of these, Foster are called adding that
Starting point is 00:40:01 Gabby and Laundry said that they were headed to Yellowstone Next. So we obviously know this, but it is nice to confirm from this person. But it's interesting because this was on August 10th and they didn't head to Yellowstone till like two weeks after this. If they even got there or even headed to Yellowstone at all. So it's interesting that they mentioned that.
Starting point is 00:40:21 Yeah, so maybe it was kind of like a, hey, that's where we're eventually going to be headed. Right, not like today. Also, it just was announced today, right before we started recording, that Brian Laundry has officially been named a person of interest in her disappearance case. So, police said he's still not talking at all, but now they're thinking that he's involved. And I'm sure they've thought that, but now they're like, he's officially a person of interest. Yeah, and I know a lot of you guys, you know, obviously probably thought that he was a person of interest before any of this came out,
Starting point is 00:40:56 but just to make things extra official, he is now being confirmed as the main person of interest in Gabby's disappearance. We briefly mentioned this earlier, but we got so many messages overnight about people saying that Gabby's Instagram was deleted, but Instagram confirmed that it was a mistake and that her account went down from 6am to 10am Eastern time today, Wednesday, September 15th. So it's back up. Yeah, they said that they actually removed it by error while trying to get rid of all the other fake accounts trying to impersonate Gabby Petito.
Starting point is 00:41:32 So maybe they were trying to just get rid of all these fake accounts because it was hindering the investigation and they accidentally took down her real account, but they did put it back up. And I know there has been a lot of glitches because people have also said, oh, his accounts down right now, or it's not loading, I think a lot of attention is being put on both of their pages and things are just getting kind of screwy. So both of their pages are both still up and active. Here's one other thing that I wanted to talk about that I found on Reddit. A lot of people are talking about the fact that Gabby and Brian shared a Spotify, and this person on Reddit had explained their feelings on this. So they said, here's something weird I noticed about the first three playlists. The playlist entitled Mellow Yellow has the description, Happy Calm Gabby. The playlist entitled Mountain Topps, M-T-N Topps, says by Brian.
Starting point is 00:42:27 The last playlist with the creepy title Self Consumption has no description at all, date added 15 days ago, and this person says they have a really bad feeling about this. And by the way, that last playlist was added around September 1st, so around the same time that Brian Laundry was headed back to Florida. So a lot of people mentioned that there's a big difference between the first playlist and the very last one, which is the third one, and that the songs get really dark. I can't speculate on that because I didn't really look that up, but a lot of you have mentioned that Spotify may have some answers.
Starting point is 00:43:06 By the way, another important update in this case is that Gabby's stepdad is actually headed out to Wyoming to help in the search or the investigation for Gabby. Mayhem, I want to go down there so bad. I know, honestly, I thought about that yesterday, I was like, maybe we should just get in the car and head down there. Let's take this show on the road. I mean, I don't know how much we can actually do personally, but you guys are doing some amazing work. Please keep web sleuthing. Yeah, keep web sleuthing, keep sharing,
Starting point is 00:43:35 and keep talking about her because the more pressure we can put on Brian to talk, the better. So a lot of you also pointed out that Gabby liked a pair of shorts on D-pop yesterday. For those who don't know a D-pop is, it's a resale app where you can sell clothes and buy clothes that are used and other things. And basically, if you go onto her likes on her page, it looks like she liked a pair of
Starting point is 00:44:01 shorts just yesterday. So in my mind, I'm like, there's no way that the whole country is looking for her and she's just liking a pair of shorts online and online shopping, right? Right. So, but Heath has an explanation. So basically when you sell something on D-POP,
Starting point is 00:44:17 you put something and it's listed up there. So if somebody likes it like two weeks ago and then that seller updates that listing Basically the time stamp changes. So technically She probably did not like those shorts yesterday. This was probably just an update on the time stamp for those shorts So we also got a lot of messages about Brian's seaming obsession with Chuck Palinock's books. So as we mentioned yesterday, Gabby was reading Fight Club
Starting point is 00:44:50 at some point. She was also reading Lullaby, and he reads a lot of Chuck Palinock books, and he also quotes a lot of Chuck Palinock in his Instagram captions. I'm gonna do the best I can to describe this next section because it's really complex and there's, we've gotten so many messages about this particular theme and it's really hard to put it all together and it's very deep and it honestly to me is a bit of a stretch.
Starting point is 00:45:16 So Jamie Schultz is amazing. She sent us a bunch of messages about Brian's seaming obsession with Chuck Palinok. So we know that Gabby was reading Fight Club and Lullaby and that Brian quoted Chuck Palinok a lot in his Instagram posts. So a lot of people think that maybe he did do something to Gabby and that he planned it based on the book Lullaby. I haven't read Lullaby but they say that, you know, it's a book about a serial killer on a cross-country road trip. And it seems like he praises Chuck Palinock and he does a lot of drawings, like he has a lot of kind of weird bizarre kind of creepy drawings.
Starting point is 00:45:58 Jamie also went in to say that, so the last photo that Gabby posted on Instagram was her in front of a monarch mural. And I guess that in Fight Club, there might be some symbolism to the project monarch victims. So a lot of people are just thinking that maybe there is this theme essentially that Brian planned Gabby's murder. Again, There's no confirmation that she's even deceased based on Chuck Palinux books. So again, I think I think that sounds like a movie plot. I think that sounds almost too great to be true, but I'm not really sure. I just think it's interesting that a lot of people are pointing this out. Yeah, I saw something that I thought was interesting as well. are pointing this out. Yeah, and I saw something that I thought was interesting as well.
Starting point is 00:46:45 The fact that Gabby's last photo on Instagram was taken in front of a butterfly, like a monarch butterfly, like a mural of one. And then on Brian's Pinterest, he has a photo of a monarch butterfly knocking over some dominoes and it says, everything affects everything. I don't know if that's connected in any way, whatsoever, but I did think it was interesting when I was scrolling through his Pinterest feed. Yeah, just so there's just like a lot of symbolism,
Starting point is 00:47:15 potentially, or at least what a lot of people are saying and pointing out, and I do think that's really interesting and it's really cool that people are finding this stuff, but I don't know how much weight it holds. For example, this girl named Lauren, thank you so much Lauren, she messaged us yesterday after she found Brian's Pinterest page. And in one of his folders, I guess it's called, I mean, he has a bunch, our house, kids' books, outdoors, my heart, my girl, and then one that says things to burn off.
Starting point is 00:47:44 I don't know if things to burn off. I don't know if things to burn off is like a phrase, but it's a bunch of different tattoos, like minimalist artwork tattoos. So I don't know if maybe burn off means things he wants to draw out. Like, I don't know. I don't think that's like a symbolism of burning her and her tattoos personally, but I think that's interesting. I don't know what that means. Yeah, it may not be relevant in any way whatsoever. But as we say, we always want to include everything.
Starting point is 00:48:12 Some of you guys have talked about the fact that Gabby could still be out there alive. And that may very well be true. I don't personally think that she would not have contacted a loved one in three weeks. Again, the biggest thing to me is if Brian came home and he said, we split up, I don't know where she is, I haven't seen her. She said I could take the van and she was going to do her own thing or whatever. That would be completely different. The fact that he has said nothing proves to I
Starting point is 00:48:43 think all of us that he is hiding something. Right, and we are going to keep you guys updated on every aspect of this case. Details are unfolding literally hour by hour, so we're doing our best to try and get you that information. If you listen to this episode and you want more information as the details continue to keep coming out. Head over to a social media's going west podcast on Instagram going west pod on Twitter. We also have a Facebook discussion group. Yes, and yeah, please keep sharing and just know that we're going to keep updating you guys. So this was really nice to be able to let you know all the information that has come out since yesterday because it seems like a lot of people really care about this case and are trying to get updates. So the next time that there's a few updates, we'll do another episode
Starting point is 00:49:29 hopefully this week. Let's keep fighting for justice for Gabby and her family. So for everybody out Thank you. you

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