Gabrielle Venora Petito (March 19, 1999 – c. August 27, 2021) was born in Blue Point, New York, where she grew up with six younger siblings and half-siblings.[1] In 2013, she and her step-brothers appeared in a music video addressing gun violence awareness, created in response to the Sandy Hook school shooting.[1]
Gabby graduated from Bayport-Blue Point High School in 2017.[1] After graduation, she moved to Carolina Beach, North Carolina, where she worked as a restaurant hostess and kitchen staff in nearby Wilmington from September 2017 to January 2019.[1] She applied to Cape Fear Community College but did not attend.
Gabby's interests centered on art, yoga, and nutrition — she described her passions as "art, yoga, and veggies."[1][2] She worked 50-hour weeks at Taco Bell and as a nutritionist to fund her travel dreams.[1] She documented her adventures on YouTube and Instagram, building a following as a travel and lifestyle content creator.
In March 2019, Gabby began dating Brian Laundrie, whom she had known from high school.[1] The couple moved in together with his parents in North Port, Florida, and both worked at a local Publix supermarket — she as a pharmacy technician, he in the grocery department.[1] They became engaged in July 2020 after a trip to Sope Creek, Georgia.[1]
In December 2020, Gabby purchased a converted 2012 Ford Transit Connect camper van, and on July 2, 2021, the couple set out on a cross-country road trip through the American West, visiting Monument Rocks, Great Sand Dunes National Park, Zion, Bryce Canyon, and Canyonlands.[1] She was last seen alive on August 27, 2021. Her remains were found on September 19, 2021, in a dispersed camping area in Wyoming's Bridger–Teton National Forest.[1]
After Gabby's death, her parents channeled their grief into advocacy. They established the Gabby Petito Foundation, which supports searches for missing persons and advocates for domestic violence awareness.[1][3] Her father, Joseph Petito, created the television series "Faces of the Missing" and has spoken publicly about the need for greater attention to cases involving marginalized and underrepresented missing persons.[1] The family has also advocated for legislative change, pushing for reforms in how law enforcement handles missing persons cases and domestic violence reports.[3]
