ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — UPDATE (Sept. 23, 2021): A federal arrest warrant was issued for Brian Laundrie following a grand jury indictment in connection with the Gabby Petito case. Click here for the latest information.
UPDATE (Sept. 21, 2021): The Teton County Coroner's Office did a forensic examination on Tuesday and determined the body found in Wyoming belonged to Gabby Petito. Her death has been ruled a homicide. Click here for the latest updates.
Previous story below:
Twenty-two-year-old Gabby Petito and her fiancé Brian Laundrie took their Ford sprinter van and set out on a cross-country road trip this summer along the West coast.
Gabby diligently kept in touch with her family several times a week throughout the trip. So when her family stopped hearing from her, they knew something was wrong.
After Brian returned home in Gabby's van without her and days went by without contact, concerned relatives filed a missing person report.
After investigators visited the Laundrie family's home on Friday, it was confirmed hours later that the FBI was now searching for Brian too.
Now with the whereabouts of both Gabby and Brian unknown, people around the country are coming together to try to find any answers.
Along with law enforcement officials currently investigating the disappearances, the public is also discussing and trying to uncover any evidence that can lead the police to Gabby.
There are multiple questions and speculation circling around about what people think happened to Gabby or where Brian is right now, and social media seems to be the outlet of choice.
People have created private Facebook groups for others to join and talk about what they know or think happened.
One group named "What Happened to Gabby Petito," which was originally named "Unsolved Mysteries," has over 116,000 members. According to the Facebook page, there have been 812 new posts on Sunday alone for others to see and comment on.
Another group called "Gabby Petito & Brian Laundrie #WheresGabby - Missing Updates & Discussion" was created just six days ago. 33,551 people are part of this Facebook group discussing any updates and theories they may have to Gabby's disappearance.
Other than Facebook, over 70,000 members on Reddit are part of the community talking about Gabby Petito.
Multiple threads on this app talk about updates in the police investigation, theories from civilians and also videos or eyewitness accounts that pinpoint the couple at a certain place on a specific day.
There are dozens of newly created Instagram accounts providing updates and sharing Gabby's photo. Many of the biography lines in the account share a similar message, "Bring Gabby home," "Spread the word," and "Updates on Gabby Petito."
Individuals from all around are tweeting about Gabby's disappearance with the hashtags #FindGabby, #GabbyPetito and many more using her name.
YouTube
With one simple search of Gabby Petito's name, several videos from different channels pop up giving updates to the missing girl's case.
While some of the comments for the videos are disabled, people are in the comment section of other videos detailing what they know, heard and think about where Gabby or Brian are.
More conversation or sightings
Discussions and conversations online seem to create traffic to Gabby's case, uncovering possible key evidence that can find a timeline of where Gabby and Brian were.
A local shop owner told East Idaho News that Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie came into her store in Victor, Idaho for nearly 20 minutes in the afternoon on either Aug. 25 or 26.
Just less than six days after this reported sighting from the shop owner, Brian returned home to Florida without Gabby.
So what happened to her between those days?
Law enforcement officers are still investigating what happened.
The FBI announced on Saturday that they began to search through Grand Teton National Park for anything that can lead them to find Gabby.
A couple who has a following of 9.48 thousand subscribers on YouTube recently posted a video showing their trip to the same national park in Wyoming.
In the video, they claimed to have reportedly recorded with their dashcam the van that Gabby Petito owned.
After reaching out to North Port Police Department about the video, officials say they are currently reviewing the media received at this time to determine if the van is actually Gabby's.
There was also a body camera video released from police in Moab, Utah. The call was reported on Aug. 12 of a possible domestic violence call involving Petito and Laundrie.
Along with helping find Gabby, law enforcement officials have been combing through a 24,565-acre nature preserve on Saturday and Sunday that Brian's family says he went to when they saw him last.
More than 50 people continue the search for him, hoping to find him.
If anyone has information on the whereabouts of Gabby or Brian, contact the North Port Police Department at 941-429-7300.