This week marks one year since Brian Laundrie‘s body was found in the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park in Florida. It was the end of a long search, but it wasn’t the end of the investigation — not even close.
The YouTuber was subsequently confirmed to have killed fiancée Gabby Petito, as was long suspected, thanks to a confession in a notebook found near his remains. However, the case is not completely closed on this awful story — as his version of events is questionable at best.
He claimed to have killed her out of a sense of mercy, saying they were lost in the Bridger-Teton National Forest, and she was injured and freezing to death. It’s a story those close to Gabby have had difficulty buying, largely based on two things: first, the obvious — he covered up the killing and fled for weeks. Second, the couple’s behavior in their final days together has been interpreted as fitting the patterns of domestic abuse.
Related: Gabby’s Parents Speak Out One Year After She Was Found Dead
Now we have one more piece of evidence we never expected: a video from the couple’s very last time in public before disappearing into the national park… in Gabby’s case never to be seen again.
In the newly uncovered surveillance camera footage, the 22-year-old vlogger and her longtime boyfriend arrive at a Whole Foods in Jackson, Wyoming — in the white van they’d traveled across the country in — at around 2:11 p.m. on August 27. The grocery store is about 30 miles south of where Gabby will be found weeks later. After about a minute inside the vehicle, Brian gets out, apparently slamming the door. They can be seen walking into the store, looking cold and tense with one another.
Gabby keeps her arms crossed as they walk in, Brian keeps his hands in his pockets. They don’t touch one another. Inside, as they browse for groceries, Brian keeps his sunglasses on in the store. After about 15 minutes in the store, they exit out a different door than they came in and sit in the van for another 20 minutes before finally pulling out onto Highway 89. See the video highlights, obtained by FoxNewsDigital (below):
This obviously isn’t the first peek into the couple’s final days.
Of course there’s the infamous police bodycam footage from a couple weeks beforehand. Cops stopped the couple after a witness called to say he saw Brian striking Gabby. But instead of intervening and separating a clearly distraught young woman from the man accused of hitting her, the cops let them go. No wonder the Petito family filed a $50 million wrongful death suit against the Moab Police Department.
We also have eyewitness descriptions of Brian’s unhinged fight with the waitstaff at a restaurant on August 27. The 23-year-old reportedly screamed at employees, storming off and returning four times — before Gabby came back and apologized for his behavior. Note the date — that was the same day as this grocery trip, just minutes beforehand, in fact. Does the video show Brian still upset from earlier?
This new video isn’t much, but every little bit helps when establishing state of mind before a crime. Remember, there are multiple legal cases still pending here.
What do YOU think of this new footage??
If you or a loved one is experiencing domestic violence, help can be found by calling 800-799-7233 or texting START to 88788. Additional resources can be found at https://www.thehotline.org
[Image via Fox News Digital/YouTube/Gabby Petito/Instagram.]
Related Posts
-
Categories
