Gabby Petito’s family organizing ground search in Wyoming
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SALT LAKE CITY, UT (NewsNation Now) — As authorities continue their search for blogger Gabby Petito, who vanished while on a cross-country road trip with her fiancee, her family is organizing a ground search Friday.
The 22-year-old disappeared 17 days ago. Police said they’ve received thousands of tips nationwide about possible sightings of the white converter camper van Gabby and her fiance Brian Laundrie were traveling in.
Gabby’s stepfather and family members are in Wyoming searching a massive area near Grand Teton National Park. She’s believed to have been in the park before she last spoke with her family.
Authorities have determined that Gabby’s disappearance and the still-unsolved slaying of two women fatally shot at a campsite near Moab, Utah, are unrelated.
Utah police released a bodycam video of an encounter between Gabby and Brian. Police responded to a domestic disturbance on Aug. 12. Petito last texted her family on Aug. 30.
Laundrie is now a person of interest in the case and still refuses to talk with authorities, though police did enter the Laundrie family home Friday night.
North Port police said they interviewed Laundrie’s sister – but there was “nothing of substance.”
“I haven’t been able to talk to him. I wish I could talk to him. I’ve cooperated every way that I can. I wish I had more information. I would give more. This is all I have … I gave to the police,” Cassie Laundrie, Brian Laundrie’s sister, told ABC’s “Good Morning America” in a clip.
Gabby’s father Joe Petito told NewsNation’s Ashleigh Banfield that the remarks “made a lot of sense.”
“If that’s that family’s version of love, to just ignore and not care that someone’s gone,” Joe Petito said, “and people are looking for them and entire countries looking for them, I mean, that explains how we got to where we are today. Because, I mean, look at their version of what they call love.”
A vigil was also planned Friday night for Gabby outside Brian Laundrie’s North Port, Florida home.
Gabby is 5 feet, 5 inches tall and weighs about 110 pounds. She has blonde hair, blue eyes and several tattoos, including one on her finger and forearm that reads “let it be.”
The FBI has set up a national hotline to receive tips: 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324).
NewsNation affiliate KTVX contributed to this report.
