BELOW SUPERNAV drop zone ⇩

‘Worst club in America’: John Walsh says he identifies with family of Gabby Petito

MAIN AREA TOP drop zone ⇩

MAIN AREA TOP drop zone ⇩

Testing widget old system

Lorenzo shared

CHICAGO (NewsNation Now) — The body of missing YouTuber Gabby Petito has been identified, the FBI confirmed in a tweet.

The Teton County coroner ruled the death a homicide, but the cause of death is pending final results, the tweet said.

Brian Laundrie, Petito’s boyfriend, was ruled a person of interest in the woman’s disappearance before he vanished last week.

John Walsh, the man who has helped catch more than 1,400 fugitives during his long career as host of “America’s ‘Most Wanted,” says he identifies with the family of Gabby Petito. Walsh’s 6-year-old son, Adam, was kidnapped and murdered in 1981.

“[Gabby Petito’s family] now belong to the horrible worst club in America that I belong to: parents of murdered children,” said Walsh. “And dads always take it bad because we got that macho testosterone. And we’re always thinking about getting even. And when Adam was kidnapped at 6-years-old in 1981 — worst two weeks of my life until they found his severed head. The not knowing … they at least know what happened to Gabby.”

In 1984, Walsh and his wife Revé started the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children to turn their grief into action.

“My wife started the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which is now 450 employees in Washington, D.C. — five branches. So something really good came out of Adam’s death and we wanted to make sure he didn’t die in vain,” said Walsh.

He said, if possible, he would like the opportunity to help Gabby’s family on a personal level.

“If (Gabby Petito’s family) want to call me, reach out to me, I have been there,” he said. “I have been there and you’re going to come to some rough times. You’re going to have to go through the roughest trial you’ve ever heard of in your life because it’ll be your own daughter. But you’ve got to think of all the joy that beautiful girl brought you.”

Watch “Banfield” weeknights at 10/9c on NewsNation.

Gabby Petito Case

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

Site Settings Survey

 

MAIN AREA MIDDLE drop zone ⇩

Trending on NewsNation

MAIN AREA BOTTOM drop zone ⇩

tt

KC Chiefs parade shooting: 1 dead, 21 shot including 9 kids | Morning in America

Witness of Chiefs parade shooting describes suspect | Banfield

Kansas City Chiefs parade shooting: Mom of 2 dead, over 20 shot | Banfield

WWE star Ashley Massaro 'threatened' by board to keep quiet about alleged rape: Friend | Banfield

Friend of WWE star: Ashley Massaro 'spent hours' sobbing after alleged rape | Banfield

Cloudy

la

68°F Cloudy Feels like 68°
Wind
2 mph SE
Humidity
69%
Sunrise
Sunset

Tonight

Partly cloudy early with increasing clouds overnight. Low 62F. Winds light and variable.
62°F Partly cloudy early with increasing clouds overnight. Low 62F. Winds light and variable.
Wind
6 mph W
Precip
13%
Sunset
Moon Phase
Waning Gibbous