The high-profile missing person’s case of Gabby Petito has turned into a potential murder mystery after initial autopsy results of the remains found in Teton-Bridger National Forest confirmed it belonged to the woman, with the coroner ruling homicide as her cause of death on Tuesday.
In a tweet, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) confirmed on Tuesday afternoon that the remains discovered on Sunday belonged to the missing 22-year-old Petito, who was reported missing on Sept. 11 after she lost contact with her family on Aug. 30, Fox News reported.
"Teton County Coroner Dr. Brent Blue confirmed the remains are those of Gabrielle Venora Petito, date of birth March 19, 1999," the FBI announced. "Coroner Blue’s initial determination for the manner of death is homicide. The cause of death remains pending final autopsy results."
The grim discovery comes after Jessica Schultz, a graphic designer who was at the Bridger-Teton National Forest in late August, alerted the cops to search Spread Creek for Petito after she reportedly saw the victim's fiancé, Brian Laundrie, "acting weird” in the area, days after Petito was last seen alive, the Daily Beast noted.
According to Schultz, she encountered the "generic-looking" strange man driving a white van very slowly down a narrow path around the camping area of the forest on Aug. 26, four days after Petito reportedly last texted her family.
“He was just acting weird,” Schultz told the media. “You know, when you’re out in the middle of nowhere, your hackles go up when you see something that’s out of the ordinary.”
The TikToker would also share her sentiments about the issue on the social media platform, telling her followers that at the time she saw Laundrie, the man acted very awkwardly and looked perplexed. She further noted the man was already alone at the time of their encounter.
The woman added that she noticed that a white van was sitting at the same parking spot for days but there were no “signs of actual life” before it disappeared on Aug. 29, just a few days before Laundrie returned alone to the Florida home they shared on Sept. 1.
Schultz said she felt compelled to contact police after hearing about Petito's case on the news, noting she immediately told them to scour the area surrounding Spread Creek, where Petito's body was found on Sunday.
Days before Petito went missing, Melissa Hulls, a resource protection supervisor at Arches National Park said the nomadic “van-life” couple got into a fight in Moab, which subjected Petito to a possible domestic assault because she was the aggressor, according to Deseret News.
On Aug, 12, Hulls saw the sobbing 22-year-old sitting in the back of her cruiser after Laundrie tried to lock her out of the car because she “needed to calm down” following a bad OCD attack.
The officer said the situation appeared to be more of a mental health crisis than a case of domestic violence and locking Petitio out of the car did not help.
“I was imploring her to reevaluate the relationship, asking her if she was happy in the relationship with him," Hulls said. "I was saying this was an opportunity for her to find another path, to make a change in her life."
Laundrie remains the only person of interest in Petito's case but has since disappeared when authorities clamped down on their search efforts to locate Petito. North Port law enforcement officers are continuing their efforts to look for any signs of the man around the Mabry Carlton Jr. Memorial Reserve.
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