On Tuesday, the Teton County, Wyoming, coroner, Dr. Blue, announced that slain vlogger Gabby Petito died three to four weeks before her body was found, which could mean that the final text messages sent from her phone weren’t from her.
On August 30, Gabby’s mother, Nicole Schmidt, received a text from Petito’s phone that read, “No service in Yosemite.” The text, which was received on August 30, implied that Petito and Laundrie were in California, although the coroner’s timeline suggests that Petito was already deceased by then.
On September 19, authorities found Gabby’s deceased body in a remote area at the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming. According to Dr. Blue’s timeline, Gabby would have died anywhere from August 22 through August 29.
The Petito family lawyer, Richard Stafford, said that Schmidt didn’t believe that the August 30 text was from Petito, MSN reports.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, a witness confirmed she saw Laundrie and Petito at a restaurant in Jackson, Wyoming on August 27. The witness said Laundrie seemed upset and left the restaurant and came back several times.
The following day after the restaurant spotting, Schmidt got a text from Gabby’s phone, asking Schmidt to check on Gabby’s grandfather, Stan. Schmidt found it odd that Gabby would refer to her grandfather by his first name.
Laundrie has not been named a suspect in Gabby’s death, but authorities issued a federal warrant for his arrest after he allegedly used Gabby’s Capital One debit card after she died. According to the warrant, Laundrie used the card between August 30 and September 1, “knowingly and with intent to defraud.”
Laundrie and Petito embarked on their cross-country trip in July, but by September 1, Laundrie returned to his parents’ North Port, Florida, home with Petito’s van, sans Petito.
Laundrie’s parents have insisted they have no clue where he is. They claimed he left their residence with a backpack on and headed to the Carlton Reserve on September 13. They reported him missing four days later.
Anyone with information on Laundrie’s whereabouts should contact the FBI at: tips.fbi.gov, call 1-800-CALL-FBI, or 303-629-7171. Upload photos and videos to: fbi.gov/petito.
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[Feature Photo: Gabby Petito/Instagram]
