Brian Laundrie is currently America's most wanted person of interest at the moment, after fleeing shortly before the body of fiancée Gabby Petito was found. While the current location of Laundrie is unknown, his parents — who have also stayed unusually quiet during this ordeal — claim they last saw him in person on Tuesday, September 14.
As it turns out, social media has been aiding the investigation in more ways than officials assumed. By hearing the accounts and watching videos taken by others, Petito's body was found fairly quickly.
The two had set off on a cross-country trip in their van. They left on July 2 from Blue Point, New York. On September 11, after not hearing from her for nearly two weeks, Petito's parents reported her as missing.
After Petito went out of contact, Laundrie reportedly asked other couples for rides to get to his destination. While Petito's death has been ruled a homicide, people are speculating whether Laundrie attacked her or left her on her own. While it's still premature to refer to him as being guilty, one thing's for sure — he has more answers than the rest of America does in trying to figure out what happened.
Norma Jean Jalovec has been the latest to say that she met up with Laundrie while he was initially on the run. She saw a TikTok video put together by Miranda Baker, who described her own interaction that she had with Laundrie unknowingly. Jalovec realized that she had actually dropped him off at a campsite close to where Gabby's remains were found.
Jalovec told Fox News that she was in the area to visit a Roman Catholic church called Chapel of the Sacred Heart, which is located in Grand Teton National Park. Unlike Laundrie and Petito, Jalovec is a Wyoming resident. She was driving her Toyota 4Runner when she saw that Laundrie was in need of a lift.
"I picked him up," Jalovec told the outlet. "Something just said, 'Hey, ask him where he's going.'" Laundrie reportedly asked her if she was going to Jackson. She wasn't but still agreed to drop him off at the Spread Creek Dispersed Camping Area.
Laundrie reportedly didn't talk too much while in the car, but Jalovec didn't see any red flags. He mentioned his fiancée and reportedly offered Jalovec gas money for the lift. It could be why it took some time for Jalovec to realize that the man she met was the same one who currently has an arrest warrant out on him.
Even in his social media posts, he seems to be innocent. In one batch of photos from nine weeks ago, Laundrie captioned, "Thank you @gabspetito for putting up with me through Utah, a topographic playground." From the outside, it doesn't seem as if trouble was necessarily brewing between the two of them.
Jalovec and Laundrie reportedly drove together for about 20 minutes, and Jalovec has already talked to the FBI about the brief encounter. "Everything's legitimate," she said. "Everything's corroborated. I already talked to the FBI."
Things did seem a little strange during the drop-off. Jalovec said that while they were driving, a sharp right turn caused a Bible that was sitting on the dashboard to fall onto Laundrie's lap. He had no issues putting it back on the dashboard. But as they reached their destination, he seemed eager to get out and even tried stepping out of the vehicle while it was still moving.
Jalovec was puzzled by the whole encounter — especially since what she did that day wasn't typical to her standard schedule. She said she rarely visits the church, and she almost never feels inclined to pick up hitchhikers. Hitchhiking has become more of a rarity these days because of safety concerns.
Jalovec even said that when her parents heard the news, they were horrified she even put herself in a situation like that. "I don't pick up hitchhikers in Florida," she explained. "I've gotten so much [expletive] from family and friends for picking up a hitchhiker."
It may have been a short encounter, but as mentioned prior, even small clues are helping investigators piece together the whole story. If it wasn't for a video taken by travel blogger Jenn Bethune, Petito's remains may have never been found. Having that level of involvement in the case accidentally was enough to make Bethune feel quite uneasy.
"I'm tired. I'm worn out. I am exhausted," she said on Instagram, per Fox News. "I am drained emotionally and physically," Bethune said in a Tuesday Instagram post. "My brain is mush. My phone has been attached to the charger so much, I feel reminiscent of the corded phones I grew up with. I think I've consumed like 30 calories in the last 36 hours." Still, she — and Jalovec — should both be proud of reporting what they saw. It's sure to mean a lot to Gabby Petito's family in their search for justice.
