Brian Laundrie exchanged chilling text messages with a friend named Ben after killing girlfriend Gabby Petito. At the time, she was not even known to be missing. Laundrie tried to play it cool and as if nothing was out of the ordinary in his exchange with his friend. He gushed about his and Petito’s trip.
Petito was reported missing on September 11, 2021. Eight days later, her body was found in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. She had been dead since late August.
Laundrie had returned home to Florida without Petito on September 1. "Trip was good," he wrote three days later. "Gab and I had fun. Tired now, gonna sleep for a week."
"We made a lot of content," Laundrie continued. "It was once in a lifetime." He never mentioned anything about Petito being missing, injured, or dead.
More from LittleThings: Gabby Petito's Parents File A $50 Million Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Moab Police
Laundrie quickly became a person of interest in Petito’s murder. He was never arrested or charged because he took matters into his own hands. His body was found on October 20 in the Carlton Reserve in Florida, with his cause of death determined as a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He confessed to killing Petito in a notebook.
If you or someone you know has been the victim of domestic abuse, you can find help and support at DVIS.org, the National Domestic Abuse Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or by contacting your local women's shelter domesticshelters.org.
