TAMPA, FL – Gabby Petito’s disappearance and death have sparked many questions and stoked national attention, and on Tuesday a piece of the mystery could be revealed as authorities are scheduled to provide an update on her final autopsy report.
The Teton County Coroner Dr. Brent Blue will discuss the ruling on 22-year-old Petito’s autopsy at 12:30 pm local time (2:30 pm ET) and will follow up with a brief question-and-answer session, according to a news release from his office.
Blue previously ruled the manner of her death a homicide in his preliminary findings, but the cause of death remained pending further autopsy results, according to the FBI.
Petito had spent the summer traveling the Western US with her fiancé, 23-year-old Brian Laundrie, and documenting their adventures on social media. But when Laundrie returned to the Florida home they shared with his parents in their van, Petito wasn’t with him.
She was first reported missing by her parents on September 11, and after an extensive search, her remains were found on September 19 in Wyoming’s Bridger-Teton National Forest.
Petito’s body was found a five-to-10 minute walk from where her van was last seen in Wyoming, her mother Nichole Schmidt and stepfather Jim Schmidt said in an exclusive interview with Dr. Phil McGraw last week.
Her case has elicited heartbreak, outrage and intrigue in much of the public, but it has also highlighted the tens of thousands of missing persons’ stories that do not garner such intense interest. There were nearly 90,000 active missing person cases as of the end of 2020, according to the National Crime Information Center. Few missing person cases are met with as much urgency and national attention as Petito’s.
The mystery has deepened given the disappearance of Laundrie, who went for a hike in a local Florida nature reserve shortly after Petito was reported missing, according to his parents.
Laundrie has not been charged in the death of Petito, but he was indicted on charges of using two financial accounts that did not belong to him in the days following her death.
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