Just yesterday, Teton County coroner, Dr. Brent Blue, announced that the cause of Petito’s death had been strangulation and disclosed her body had been laying outside for about 3-4 weeks before she was found. The coroner’s timeline also adds new context to a suspicious final text sent from Petito’s phone.
Who sent Gabby Petito’s final text?
The timeline provided by Dr. Blue likely means Petito did not send the final text to her mother on August 30. The 3-4 week window from September 19th — the day they found her body — lands her time of death to be between the 22nd of August to the 29th of August. Nicole Schmidt received a text from Petito’s phone which read, “No service in Yosemite,” implying that she and Laundrie — whom she went on the road trip with — were in the famous national park in California. RELATED: Why Gabby Petito’s Official Cause Of Death Was Tragically Predictable However, we now know the couple were never in California there as Petito never made it out of Wyoming. According to the Petito family lawyer, Richard Stafford, Schmidt did not believe that the message had come from her daughter and was suspicious of the message. Now, with the new window given to us by the Teton County coroner’s office, it can be assumed that the message was not sent by Petito. Brian Laundrie, the only person of interest in Petito’s homicide, also has a warrant for his arrest for “Unauthorized Use of Access Devices” for taking $1,000 from Petito’s bank accounts. RELATED: Coroner Slips Up And Hints That Gabby Petito’s Homicide May Be A Result Of Domestic Violence This is all speculation, but according to the warrant for Laundrie’s arrest, he stole money from her account on August 30th and either on or through September 1st — meaning that he had already been in possession of Petito’s personal items.
Gabby Petito’s final text may have been sent by her killer.
It’s very possible that the message was sent to try and throw law enforcement off or to now worry Petito’s parents too soon. But, according to the coroner’s timeline, she had already been dead at this point. According to a witness, Petito was last seen on Aug 27 at a Tex-Mex restaurant in Wyoming at around 1 p.m. or so. RELATED: Coroner Responds To Theory That Gabby Petito Was Pregnant After Possible Sonogram Photos Circulated That same day, Schmidt received a bizarre text that came from her daughter, asking her to check on Petito’s grandfather, Stan. Later on that evening, the Bethune family was driving by the Spread Creek Dispersed Camping area and spotted the white van which belonged to Petito around 6:30 p.m. If the coroner’s timeline is accurate, then the final text from Petito’s phone was not sent by her because she had already been dead. During this window, there were several alleged sightings of Laundrie, including the woman and her boyfriend who said she picked Laundrie up while he was hitchhiking and another woman who claims she drove him him towards Spread Creek, near where Petito’s body had been found. That’s all the information that’s known about Laundrie’s movements between those 3 days, but there are plenty of speculations and theories about what he was doing at that time. Laundrie, who has now been missing for a month, remains a person of interest in the murder of Petito. RELATED: Photos Taken After Gabby Petito’s Death Allegedly Show Bruising On Brian Laundrie’s Arm Isaac Serna-Diez is a writer who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Follow him on Twitter here.
