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Gabby Petito is one of three people who disappeared near Grand Teton Park this summer

Police this weekend also announced that they were also looking for Petito’s fiancé Brian Laundrie in Florida

Harriet Sinclair
Sunday 19 September 2021 08:26 BST
Florida Police Search for Person of Interest in Gabby Petito Disappearance
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Missing travel blogger Gabby Petito is one of three people who have disappeared near the Grand Teton Park area this summer.

The 22-year-old was reported missing by her family on 11 September after her fiance Brian Laundrie returned from the couple’s cross-country van trip without her.

The couple had travelled from New York to Salt Lake City in Utah, the last place Ms Petito was seen before her disappearance. After leaving Salt Lake City, the couple are believed to have driven to Wyoming.

In a phone call to her mother on 25 August, Ms Petito said she was in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. Her mother, Nichole Schmidt, said she received a text message from her daughter on 30 August which said: “No service in Yosemite”.

However, she has since said she doesn’t believe that message was sent by her daughter, and authorities are treating Grand Teton National Park as the last confirmed place of Ms Petito’s whereabouts.

While authorities there are searching for Ms Petito, two other travellers have been reported missing there this summer, although authorities do not currently believe the disappearances are connected.

The first is Cian McLaughlin, 27, who was reported missing back in June after going hiking in the area, the New York Post reported. He was spotted on 7 June with a backpack on hiking towards Taggart Lake but despite numerous tips and helicopter searches of the area, he has not been found.

The second person who disappeared from the area this summer is Robert Lowery, 46, who was last seen on 19 August at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in Teton Village, while there was a ping from his phone on 23 August.

Police this weekend announced that they were also looking for Ms Petito’s fiancé Mr Laundrie, whose family said they hads not seen him since last Tuesday. Mr Laundrie has thus far failed to cooperate with police investigating Ms Petito’s disappearance and has been named as a person of interest in the case.

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