Breaking: I think Brian murdered Gabby

How social media has influenced the investigations of Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie

Olivia Synek / Opinion Editor / The USD Vista

If you haven’t heard about the Gabby Petito case, I would assume you probably aren’t on social media. If you are up to date with the investigation and think you know more than the police, then I would assume you’re like me, and spend way too much time on TikTok. 

The presence of this investigation on TikTok is unprecedented. I believe that if everyone on social media talked about other missing persons cases as much as we have about Petito’s case, then significantly more people would be found. It is possible that the only reason this case blew up was because it is connected to a young female influencer–a kind of person that social media users tend to protect. If it is not implicit bias that made this case so popular, what is it that made this investigation so interesting to all of us?

Here are the details: Gabby Petito (22) and Brian Laundrie (23) were engaged. A few things to note about the previous sentence: 1) Petito had called to tell her parents earlier this summer that they had just broken off their engagement, so they may only have been girlfriend and boyfriend at the time of the incident. And 2) I wrote “were’’ because Petito’s remains were found in Bridger-Teton National Park on Sept. 21. 

Petito and Laundrie lived together in North Port, Florida and decided to take a road trip this summer that was planned to end by Halloween. They traveled in a van with a plan to see many sights in the U.S., especially national parks. One other thing to note about the couple is that they were social media influencers with popular Instagrams and a joint YouTube channel called “Nomadic Statik.’’ But, the important details for this investigation really began on Aug. 12 of this year. 

A 911 caller reported a fight between a couple on Aug. 12 in Utah (the “couple” being Petito and Laundrie), and was concerned because Laundrie was hitting Petito. They had driven away from the caller and were going to their next destination when a cop spotted the van that fit the 911 caller’s description. As the cop proceeded to pull them over, Laundrie hit the curb. 

Both Petito and Laundrie’s stories pretty much lined up. They both said that Petito had Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and was having an episode. Laundrie told her to calm down so Petito slapped him in the face. Then, in the van, the couple hit the curb because Petito took the wheel. The police suspected domestic violence on Petito’s end, but never on Laundrie’s. If I had been the officer in this situation, I would have at least asked Petito if she felt uncomfortable around Laundrie in any way just to make sure I wasn’t missing anything. Although OCD is classified as a mental health disorder, it by no means makes Petito crazy and the police should have investigated this more considering the 911 caller claimed Laundrie hit Petito. In body cams, you can see the remorse in Petito’s face and she makes sure that the police understood that she was not intentionally trying to hurt Laundrie. They were separated for a night and then continued the road trip. 

The last time Petito was in contact with her family was on Aug. 25 when she called her mother to tell her that they were headed to Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. There was a text sent to Petito’s mother on Aug. 30, but it was believed to be fake considering all that she  said was: “No Service in Yosemite’’ which is nowhere near Wyoming and was not a text she would normally have sent. In early September, Petito’s father went to the Laundrie residence to ask if they had heard from Petito, but they lawyered up and would not speak on the matter. 

It was on Sept. 11, when the Petitos were informed that Laundrie had actually been home since Sept. 1, without Petito. A woman came forward on TikTok saying that on Aug. 29, she had picked up Laundrie while hitchhiking. It seems now that he was attempting to hitchhike home, confirming that the text to Petito’s mother was fake. Petito was declared missing on Sept. 11. Because Laundrie hired an attorney so quickly, he was pronounced a person of interest on Sept. 15. Two days later, Laundrie’s parents called law enforcement saying they had not seen their son in three days. Laundrie was then also named a missing person. However, Petito’s parents (and many of us–including myself) do not think he is missing, but instead hiding. 

As the police searched in the swamps of Florida for Laundrie and around Grand Teton National Park for Petito, they finally found a body in Wyoming on Sept. 19. It was two days later, on Sept. 21, that the remains were confirmed to be Petito. The autopsy report showed that homicide was her cause of death. The police have since continued their search for Laundrie. 

How did I originally gather all of my information about this case? TikTok. TikTok has seen many viral videos come out from users doing their own research into this investigation since early September. What do most teenagers/people in their twenties have in common? We are lazy when it comes to finding information. If we can get all of our information from one place, then why would we even spend time doing outside research? 

A woman named Haley Toumaian took advantage of this and dedicated  her TikTok account to the Petito investigation. She posts multiple times a day with any updates she has about the investigation. She did not know the couple, she is not a cop, and she definitely is not with the FBI, yet she is speaking to her audience like a reporter. She is not the only person to do this, but she has gained about half a million followers throughout the investigation.

There are problems with how people – especially high school and college students – are only getting their information from social media. I realized this by doing my own research about the Petito case, and I actually learned a lot more and a lot of different/proven information. Social media has a way of publicising some events over others, meaning that influencers pick and choose what we should and shouldn’t care about. 

Although I want nothing but for law enforcement to find justice for Petito, I can’t help but think, why do we, users of social media, collectively  just care about Petito? Petito is the only missing persons case I have heard about over social media in months. Did social media only pick her out because she is a white influencer? Implicit bias is something we all should recognize within ourselves, because it is sometimes present when it comes to picking and choosing the type of people we worry about. Toumaian has recognized this, and has since looked into other cases. 

Thousands of people go missing a day. A  looming problem we have in the United States, Canada, and Mexico are the amount of indigenous women that go missing every year. I have only heard about one indigenous woman who went missing in the past year and there was little to no exposure about the case. 

Publicizing Petito’s case is the main reason why law enforcement solved this case so quickly. If people hadn’t posted so much about this investigation on social media, then the woman who picked up Laundrie would have never known it was him.  In this instance, the influence of social media on investigative cases is a good thing. It only turns into a bad thing when we do not do our own outside research, and only listen to influencers. 

For now, while we wait for Petito’s official manner of death and for Laundries whereabouts, do research and spread the word about the other ongoing missing persons cases.