The young traveler had been found dead in September, strangled. His companion refused to answer investigators’ questions and was found dead a month later.
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This is the conclusion of a drama that held the United States in suspense for several months. The boyfriend of the young American traveler Gabby Petito confessed to being the author of the murder of the young woman in a notebook before committing suicide, announced Friday January 22 the federal police. “The investigation has not identified any individuals other than Brian Laundrie directly involved in the tragic death of Gabby Petito”, writes the FBI in a press release announcing the imminent closure of the investigation.
The body of Gabby Petito, 22, whose disappearance had caused great emotion in the country, was found on September 19 near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. The young woman died after “of blunt object injuries to the head and neck with manual strangulation”, according to the medical examiner who oversaw his autopsy, reports the FBI.
Brian Laundrie and Gabby Petito had left New York in July 2021 for a trip in a converted van supposed to last four months and whose stages, in the grandiose scenery of the national parks of the American West, were regularly shared on Instagram and YouTube, at through photos and videos.
The police investigation quickly focused on Laundrie, who returned earlier than expected from the trip – and alone – on September 1, and who refused to answer investigators’ questions before disappearing. The remains of the body of the 23-year-old young man, who shot himself to death, as well as personal effects including a notebook were found on October 20 in a nature reserve in Florida.
In this notebook, the FBI found written statements from Laundrie claiming responsibility for the murder of Gabby Petito. “The quality and quantity of the facts and information collected by the FBI leave no doubt that Brian Laundrie murdered Gabby”, recognized the family of the young woman in a press release released on Friday.
The extraordinary media coverage given to the disappearance of the young woman had fueled the debate on the attention given to the disappearances of white women, considered disproportionate to cases concerning people from ethnic minorities in the United States.