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LAST, August 19, 3:36 p.m. (Associated press): Authorities say a body found in Wyoming Sunday is believed to be Gabrielle “Gabby” Petito.
The FBI said the body was found by law enforcement officers who had spent the past two days searching campgrounds.
The cause of death has not yet been determined, said FBI Special Surveillance Agent Charles Jones.
“Full forensic identification has not been done to 100% confirm that we have found Gabby, but her family has been made aware,” Jones said.
An undeveloped camping area on the east side of Grand Teton bordering national forest lands will remain closed until further notice while the investigation continues, Jones said.
Jones said investigators were still seeking information from anyone who might have seen Petito or her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, around some campsites on the eastern edge of the park, the same site that was searched police this weekend.
Petito and Laundrie, left in July for a hike across the country in a converted van to visit the national parks of the western United States. Police said Laundrie was alone when he drove the van back to his parents’ home in North Port, Fla. On September 1.
Laundrie has been identified as a person of interest in the case. He was last seen Tuesday by family members in Florida, and investigators have been looking for him for two days in a 24,000-acre wildlife preserve near Sarasota, Florida.
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A Facebook post which speculated that missing van life blogger Gabby Petito may be in Lodi, Calif., Is incorrect, according to police and Petito’s family.
The photos, which show a young blonde woman in and around a truck stop, come from a post on the Lodi Crime & Police Scanner Facebook group. The caption said the woman allegedly asked strangers if they knew the whereabouts of her family. Due to her similarity in age and appearance to Petito, the post was re-shared by a user speculating that it could be the missing woman.
Petito, 22, and her boyfriend Brian Laundrie left in July for a hike across the country in a converted van to visit the national parks of the western United States. The couple’s hike in the Fort Transit van began on Long Island. They intended to reach Oregon by the end of October according to their social media accounts, but Petito disappeared after his last known contact with his family in late August from Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, the authorities announced.
The case is making national headlines and attracting the interest of countless online detectives, who are flooding message boards and social media with speculation about Petito’s whereabouts. The woman’s post at the Lodi area truck stop received thousands of comments, prompting Petito’s father Joseph’s Facebook account to confirm that it was not his daughter.
“It’s not her,” he wrote in a comment on the viral post. “I appreciate all of your help.”
Police also followed the trail and were able to identify the woman as someone else.
“We have received many inquiries regarding the woman pictured in the screenshot below. We can confirm that the woman pictured here is NOT Gabby Petito. This photo was taken on September 1, 2021 and is linked to a service call in Acampo, CA, ”the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on Facebook.
READ MORE: Bodycam shows Gabby Petito and her boyfriend argued before disappearing
The FBI in Denver said on Saturday that officers were conducting ground investigations in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, with the help of the National Park Service and local law enforcement, looking for clues about the disappearance of Petito. His last known contact was from the national park known for its mountainous terrain.
This police camera video provided by the Moab Police Department shows Brian Laundrie talking to a police officer after police stopped the van in which he was traveling with his girlfriend, Gabrielle “Gabby” Petito, near the entry to Arches National Park on August 12. 2021.
PAPolice said Laundrie was alone when he drove the van back to his parents’ home in North Port, Fla. On September 1. Petito’s family filed a September 11 missing person report with police in Suffolk County, New York.
Laundromat is also absent. More than 50 North Port police officers, FBI agents and members of other law enforcement agencies are currently searching the 24,000-acre Carlton Reservation in the Sarasota, Florida area of the Gulf Coast. Investigators hope Laundrie was somewhere in the game reserve. Depending on his skills, he could survive on the reserve for a period of time, police spokesman Josh Taylor said at a press conference.
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