An Idaho store owner said Gabby Petito and her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, visited her store for about 20 minutes in late August.
- The couple “seemed happy,” the store owner told EastIdahoNews.com.
What happened to Gabby Petito?
On Sunday, the case of Gabby Petito took a dark turn when the FBI said it had found human remains that were consistent with the description of Petito. A full forensic analysis will be done this week to determine cause of death.
It’s unclear what happened to Petito, who was first reported missing on Sept. 11. She and her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, went on a cross-country road trip. Laundrie returned to Florida on Sept. 1 without Petito.
Questions about the couple’s road trip immediately popped up. There was body camera footage from Moab, Utah, that showed the couple after an argument on the road, as I wrote for the Deseret News.
- The couple also posted photos and videos of their road trip on Instagram and YouTube, showing that they had visited Mystic Hot Springs and Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands and Arches national parks.
Did Gabby Petito visit Idaho?
But the owner of Rustic Row, a local shop in Victor, Idaho, told EastIdahoNews.com over the weekend that Laundrie and Petito visited her store for 20 minutes. EastIdahoNews.com did not name the store owner.
- “Brian and Gabby came to Rustic Row. They told me they were traveling from Florida. They had just been to Teton Park and they said they were interested in going to Yellowstone and I told them they could go to the west entrance. They seemed happy and when they left, she hollered back from the door that they were engaged and then I said congratulations,” the owner told EastIdahoNews.com.
- She said she saw that Laundrie and Petito visited the store around Aug. 25 or Aug. 26.
Video of Gabby Petito van, explained
These details came on the same day that YouTube bloggers Jenn and Kyle Bethune posted a video that showed what seemed to be Petito and Laundrie’s converted van near Grand Teton National Park. The video was reportedly taken about two days after Petito last spoke with her family, according to Fox News.
- “We came across a white van that had Florida plates,” said blogger Jenn Bethune in a video posted to YouTube. “A small white van. We were going to stop and say hi because we’re from Florida too, but the van was completely dark. There was nobody there, so we decided to continue on our way.”