Gabby Petito’s cause of death revealed by coroner

A US coroner has released details into how Gabby Petito died while the man wanted over her disappearance remains on the run from police.

Gabby Petito was strangled to death and her body then left in “the wilderness” for weeks, the coroner who conducted her autopsy has revealed.

In a virtual press conference on Tuesday local time, Wyoming coroner Brent Blue announced that the cause of Ms Petito’s death was strangulation and that the case has officially been ruled a homicide.

He would not clarify if an item or weapon was used, saying the details of the autopsy would not be made public because of limitations imposed by state law.

Dr Blue said it had been determined that Ms Petito’s remains had been “outside the wilderness for two to four weeks” before they were discovered on September 19 but that an exact time of death could not be determined. She was “not pregnant” at the time of her death, he said in response to a question on the matter.

A video grab from the Moab City Police Department shows officer investigating an incident between Gabby Petito and her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie on September 8. Picture: Supplied

Dr Blue said he could not comment on who might be responsible for Petitor’s death, re-directing questions regarding the matter to the FBI.

“Who committed the homicide is up to law enforcement,” he said.

However, at one point he referred to Petito’s death as “only one of many deaths around the country of people who are involved in domestic violence.”

Ms Petito’s boyfriend and travelling partner, Brian Laundrie, who is considered a person of interest in her disappearance, remains unaccounted for.

After the announcement was made, the Laundrie family’s lawyer released a statement calling Ms Petito’s death “a tragedy”.

“Gabby Petito’s death at such a young age is a tragedy. While Brian Laundrie is currently charged with the unauthorised use of a debit card belonging to Gabby, Brian is only considered a person of interest in relation to Gabby Petito’s demise. At this time Brian is still missing and when he is located we will address the pending fraud charge against him.”

FUGITIVE BEING ‘TAKEN CARE OF’

It comes as a former top FBI counter-terrorism official said fugitive Brian Laundrie is likely hiding out somewhere he is “being taken care of” — and isn’t camping in the vast Florida nature reserve where the manhunt is focused.

According to a report in the New York Post, Terry Turchie, a former deputy assistant director of the FBI’s counter-terrorism Division, told Fox News that “people don’t change because they become a fugitive. They tend to try to figure out how they can land in the comfort zone”.

The former FBI agent, who retired from the bureau in 2001, directed the task force that identified and collared “Unabomber” Theodore Kaczynski and took part in the search for Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph in North Carolina.

Gabby Petito died of “strangulation”. Her death has officially been ruled a homicide. Picture: Instagram

“Clearly he’s not out in some camp or some cave somewhere on the hard, cold ground or … snake-, gator-infested water. He’s somewhere where he’s probably being taken care of,” Turchie told the news outlet.

“When you see how he came running home after something obviously happened, that kind of tells you what he’s probably doing now,” he added.

Laundrie, 23, is the sole person of interest in Ms Petito’s disappearance and death during the young couple’s ill-fated cross-country trip.

She vanished in late August and her body was found at a remote Wyoming campground on September 19, nearly three weeks after Laundrie returned home alone.

Authorities have checked out hundreds of tips and alleged sightings that put the fugitive as far away as the Appalachian Trail in North Carolina — but have focused the search at the 25,000-acre Carlton Reserve.

The van Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie were travelling in. Picture: AFP

Dog the Bounty Hunter, who joined in on the search, has said he believes the missing man is still alive because he’s a “survivalist” — though Laundrie’s sister, Cassandra, has described him as a “mediocre” survivalist, according to Fox News.

Turchie described how a major player in the search for Rudolph in the 1990s was a man who shared some of the terrorist’s interests and with whom he chatted in his health food store in North Carolina.

The two, from Long Island New York, were on a cross-country trip when Gabby Petito disappeared. Picture: Instagram

The man eventually provided the feds with valuable information about Rudolph after initially refusing to talk to them because he was fervently anti-government, according to the report.

Turchie said all fugitives “tire eventually, and many of them ended up being on the run for … well over a decade,” adding that he does not believe Laundrie will remain on the run for that long.

He said the search process for all fugitives is “essentially the same.”

“You interview as many people who need this person as you can, you continue following that. You talk to neighbours, friends and you look for anything [the fugitive] might have said during a time that he didn’t have this guard up where he hadn’t done anything,” he told Fox News.

– with the New York Post

Originally published as Gabby Petito’s cause of death revealed by coroner