BRIAN Laundrie shared a series of dark and disturbing posts about ghosts and witchcraft to Pinterest shortly before his fiancee Gabby Petito was found dead at a campsite in Wyoming.
Laundrie, 23, is not currently considered a suspect in the death of Gabby, 22, but has been identified as a person of interest.
He vanished several days before her remains were found at a campsite in Grand Teton National Park on September 19 and has not been seen since.
Prior to his vanishing, Laundrie failed to report Gabby missing and refused to cooperate with a police investigation into her disappearance.
In a statement issued by his attorney, Steve Bertolino, at the time, it was claimed that Laundrie chose not to speak to investigators because police often focus on “intimate partners” in situations such as this.
“The warning that ‘any statement made will be used against you’ is true, regardless of whether my client had anything to do with Ms. Petito’s disappearance,” he wrote. “As such, on the advice of counsel, Mr. Laundrie is not speaking on the matter.”
Days later, Laundrie was reported missing by his parents. They claimed he told them on September 14 that he was going hiking in Florida’s Carlton Reserve but never returned.
A week-long search of the 24,000-acre reserve has so far yielded no trace of Laundrie.
LAUNDRIE’S BIZARRE POSTS
As the hunt continues, the mysterious circumstances surrounding Petito’s murder continue to set news networks and social media platforms aflame.
Armchair detectives and internet sleuths have been re-tracing Laundrie’s digital footsteps in search of clues that may help to shed light on what went wrong during the couple’s so-called dream cross-country road trip.
On a Pinterest profile that appears to belong to Laundrie, the 23-year-old pinned several images depicting darkness, ghosts, crime, and witchcraft.
Read our Gabby Petito live blog for the very latest news and updates…
In one post – or “pin” – Laundrie saved an image of the definition of nyctophilia, a “love of darkness or night, finding relaxation or comfort in the darkness.”
In a second post, in an album titled “bleak”, Laundrie saved an image of a “Witchcraft moon phase magic pocket guide” listed for sale on Etsy.
“Are you a Witch? A fan of Magick? Interested in the unexplainable, the occult? If the answer is yes, then these ‘Pocket Guides for Witches’ are for you!” the book’s description reads.
Another image, saved to a folder called “my Heart”, shows a skeleton holding a needle in one hand and a balloon in the other.
“You do it to yourself, and that’s what really hurts,” the text next to the figure says.
A second post in the same folder is a meme showing two people talking.
The first panel reads: “I just want someone to take me out.”
When asked “like on a date or with a sniper gun”, the same person responds: “Surprise me.”
Other images saved by Laundrie include pictures of masked people posing with guns and an image of a tattoo on a woman’s back, which reads: “I’m the hero of this story. I don’t need to be saved.”
The Sun previously reported on a number of other troubling posts saved on Laundrie’s interest account.
‘DON’T TRY TO FIND ME’
Amid his own disappearance, one of the posts now causing a stir online is a pin he saved a number of weeks ago titled “The Opposite Of Lost.”
The image, saved to a folder titled “my Heart”, features pale purple and pink clouds. Also written beneath are the words: “Don’t try to find me. I have finally escaped my ‘master’s’ wicked clutches.
“To the others I say: JOIN ME. Bite the hand that feeds you. Vive La Beberte – Pierre.”
The bizarre image appears to originate from a missing dog flier that was spotted in Portland, Oregon, in 2006. Oregon, incidentally, was the final planned destination of Petito and Laundrie’s trip.
Also featured in the same folder is a series of quotes, including one from the movie Fight Club which reads, “It’s only after we’ve lost everything that we’re free to do anything.”
Another post, saved to the account’s “things to burn off” album, contains a digital sketch of ghosts, clowns, and skeletons which is drawing alarm elsewhere on social media.
In the center of the artwork, designed by Sacha Strange, is a cartoon gravestone with the words “My Baby” written across it.
The words “She’ll never find a sweet man like me”, and
“Let her go, let her go, GOD BLESS HER, wherever she may be” also appear around the headstone.
Much like his Instagram page, Laundrie has shared a number of his own sketches to Pinterest, including watercolor paintings of Hell Boy, other superheroes, and scenes from movies.
Images created by others feature heavily in the folder “watercolor” including several depictions of Joaquin Phoenix as The Joker and cover art for H. G. Well’s Sci-Fi novel, The Invisible Man.
The book was loosely adapted into a feature film last year, which told the story of a crazed scientist who fakes his own suicide and makes himself invisible to stalk and terrorize his ex-girlfriend.
While Brian is not yet considered a suspect in Petito’s murder, a warrant has been issued for his arrest in relation to allegations of unauthorized use of a debit card, which is believed to belong to Gabby.
He and Petito had been traveling across the country in a white, repurposed van when Gabby was killed.
Laundrie quietly returned home alone to Florida on September 1. He reportedly refused to tell Gabby’s family where she was and immediately retained an attorney.
Gabby’s mother eventually reported her missing to police in New York on September 11, more than two weeks after she last spoke to her daughter by phone.
PROBE NARROWS
Laundrie is now wanted by the FBI on an active arrest warrant issued late Thursday on allegations of unauthorized use of a debit card.
He has also been the subject of a massive, more than weeklong manhunt across a Florida reserve.
The scale of the search is expected to be scaled back in the coming days.
Josh Taylor, of North Port Police Department, told Fox: “The FBI is now leading the search. I’m told, it will be scaled back and targeted based on intelligence.
“Hopefully water will lower in areas hard to currently access.”
Officers from NPPD will still be involved in the investigation.
Anyone with information about the case is urged to call the FBI’s tips line on 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324).
Brian Laundrie’s family home surrounded by protesters shouting ‘justice for Gabby’ after cops get DNA samples to test
Gabby Petito timeline
Gabby Petito, 22, was last seen on August 24, leaving a hotel in Utah. Here is a timeline of Gabby Petito’s disappearance:
- June 2021 – Gabby Petito and her fiancé Brian Laundrie set off on a cross-country trip across the US.
- July 4 – Gabby posts photos of herself barefoot in Gove County, Kansas.
- July 8 – Gabby posts photos of herself at the Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado.
- July 18 – Gabby and Brian post photos of themselves at Utah’s Zion National Park.
- August 12 – Body camera footage was released in September showing an encounter Brian and Gabby had with police in Utah. Police confirmed that no significant injuries were reported.
- August 19 – Gabby and Brian post a video on their YouTube channel chronicling their trip. The video receives more than 200,000 views.
- August 24 – Gabby is spotted leaving a hotel in Salt Lake City, Utah.
- August 25 – Gabby Facetimes her mom, Nichole Schmidt, for the final time. In a later police report, Schmidt said her conversations with her daughter revealed “more and more tension” between her and Brian.
- August 25 – Gabby also posts her last Instagram. No location is given.
- August 27 – Gabby is seen for what’s believed to be the final time. Witnesses claim they saw Brian in an explosive argument with staff at a restaurant in Jackson Hole, leaving Gabby in tears.
- August 27 – Four hours later, travel bloggers driving through Grand Teton National Park drive past the couple’s van “abandoned” on a dirt road.
- September 1 – Brian returns home to Florida without Gabby.
- September 11 – Gabby’s parents report her missing to Suffolk County police.
- September 14 – Brian’s family issues a statement saying he has retained an attorney and will not be cooperating with investigators.
- September 14 – Brian is allegedly last seen by his family. He reportedly told them he was going hiking in Cartlon Reserve but failed to return.
- September 15 – Florida’s North Port police announce Brian is a person of interest in the case. He is not charged with any crime.
- September 16 – Utah police release body camera footage of the police encounter with Brian and Gabby.
- September 17 – Brian’s parents say they have not seen their son in a couple of days and report him missing.
- September 18 – Police announce they were searching Carlton Reserve in Florida for Brian. Police announce they have not found anything.
- September 19 – Authorities in Wyoming say they found a body in Grand Teton National Park. The FBI announces the body was believed to be Gabby’s but a full forensic identification needs to be completed first to confirm.
- September 20 – Police execute a search warrant on Laundrie’s home, seizing his silver Mustang and a hard drive that may contain “evidence relevant to proving that a felony has been committed.”
- September 21 – Officials announce they will be conducting an autopsy on the remains found in Wyoming to confirm whether or not they belong to Gabby. Police also resumed their search for Laundrie, this time on the Venice side of Carlton Reserve.
- September 21 – The FBI announced the body found in Wyoming was identified as Gabby’s. The cause of death was not yet revealed.
- September 21 – The Teton County Coroner’s office said Gabby’s official cause of death was still pending but the initial manner of death is homicide.
- September 22 – Police continue to scour Carlton Reserve for a trace of Laundrie but yield no leads. A specialist dive team is called in to assist with the hunt.
- September 23 – Officials announced a federal arrest warrant for Brian was issued.
- September 26 – Gabby’s funeral was held on Long Island, New York.
We pay for your stories!
Do you have a story for The US Sun team?
This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
ncG1vNJzZmhqZGy7psPSmqmorZ6Zwamx1qippZxemLyue8KroKadX5yuo67YZqeerJmpvLR5xaKYp5uVYq%2BztcCnZKWZpaOxs7XEZqqhmaKasW60yKxkpaemmnqwsoydmKujnprAtHnGoaasrKNirq%2BwjLCgrZuYmL%2BistNmoKdlk6eyprzYZqeipqSav6a%2F02anqKukqHw%3D