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American Murder: Gabby Petito (part 1)
126 Plays28 days ago
Welcome back to the Mothers of All Crime! In season 2 Monica and Krystal are exploring infamous family cases and starting off strong with the docu series about Gabby Petito. We loved the docu series and have (as always) many opinions to share! In part 1 we chat a lot about the backgrounds and family dynamics of Gabby Petito and her "fiance" Brian Laundrie. Join us here and look out for parts 2 and 3!
Listener discretion is advised.
May contain explicit language and unfounded accusations.
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Transcript
Introduction to Podcast and Topic
00:00:23
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Mothers of All Crime. This is a podcast where we deep dive into mothers involved in infamous crimes and scandals. I'm Monica and this is Crystal.
American Murder Documentary Overview
00:00:58
Speaker
This week on The Mothers of All Crime, we're going to be talking about Gabby Petito and more specifically the new series on Netflix, American Murder, Gabby Petito.
00:01:10
Speaker
I am so excited because I think this documentary, they did a really great job. And I don't know about you, but watching it, I started having deja vu because I felt like I had seen it before.
00:01:23
Speaker
And spoiler, Law & Order SVU did a episode based off of Gabby's story. Oh. didn't know until after I watched the series on Netflix because at the entire time I'm like, why does this feel familiar? Like, it's so unique and bizarre that there had to be a reason and it ended up Modern Order did a spinoff version of it.
00:01:49
Speaker
Oh. Was it SVU? Yeah, yeah it was SVU. Oh. It was one of the newer episodes. Yeah. I'm to date. One of the more recent seasons. no yep so anyone want to spin off go watch that it was really good and clearly stuck in my brain
00:02:08
Speaker
clearly where it's like this is almost deja vu yeah it was it was the entire time i couldn't figure it out until actually this morning when I was reviewing everything for our recording I was like why am I still thinking this that's so funny It sounds like a good episode because there's a lot of twists and turns in this
Victim-focused Storytelling Trend
00:02:29
Speaker
case. And I feel like for SVU, that's what you need. It can't be super like straightforward or something like that.
00:02:36
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. This was complicated. i ah i agree, though. I enjoy the documentary. I felt like it was very tastefully done also, like very victim focused, which yeah seems to be the new trend of true crime. And I definitely like that. And I think it's important.
00:02:51
Speaker
I completely agree. And I think one thing the documentary did well is it showed the family dynamics because a lot of the past documentary series or true crime things, they do focus on the offender, but that's mostly because the offenders are such a prominent part.
00:03:11
Speaker
And I think in this case, Gabby and her family had a really great dynamic and And that was what became into question. And Gabby was kind of the face of their relationship, I guess, where a lot of the time when they're focusing on an offender, it's the offender has multiple victims. and like It was more of a action versus this was ah relationship that turned dark.
00:03:42
Speaker
Definitely. Like a serial killer, for example, you can't make it about each victim because the victims aren't really the story. The story is the killer. But in this case, because this is a relationship and this is also a trip, essentially, like this is a I don't want to call it a vacation, but they were away together.
00:04:03
Speaker
And so it's about both
Gabby and Brian's Backgrounds
00:04:05
Speaker
of them. And the story doesn't make sense if you don't know a lot of details about them because they were so connected in so many ways. And the families knew each other, were aware of each other.
00:04:15
Speaker
so there's a lot of interdynamics, which you don't see, obviously, in stranger situations. Absolutely. And I think one thing, i guess we can get into their story.
00:04:29
Speaker
um They met and they were from the same area originally. And from my understanding, Brian was older than Gabby, right?
00:04:41
Speaker
Yeah, he was older like a year and a half, two years, not significantly older. They were in high school at the same time. Right. And but they didn't date until after high school.
00:04:53
Speaker
Right. After high school. And I think that's kind of that interesting point where Brian left high school, didn't really know what he wanted to do, stayed around town. His parents moved and it was just him. And he was staying with friends and family, kind of couchsurfed in his car.
00:05:14
Speaker
Like he didn't really seem like he had a place in the world. Right. While Gabby had this really healthy family where, granted, her parents were divorced or separated.
00:05:26
Speaker
I don't think they were married. That's why I couldn't figure it out. I really couldn't. Well, I guess it doesn't matter now, but I agree. I feel like if they were divorced, they would have said that. I think they just, because they said they went their separate ways, which could imply divorce, but...
00:05:43
Speaker
You'd have to get married first. And I don't know. Because they were all – she was only – the mom was only 20 when she had Gary. they so it's possible, yeah, that maybe they – But they got along super well. And, like, well I think that's rare when parents separate. Like, having a really great co-parenting relationship plus your so new significant others, the four of them had a really good dynamic relationship.
00:06:04
Speaker
Which I think for Gabby, it really showed like she had this really supportive, great family lifestyle versus Brian was kind of on his own when they got together.
00:06:15
Speaker
Yeah, but you would think that someone from a nuclear family, like Brian. Brian had a mom and a dad that were married for a very long period of time. He had a full biological sibling, and they had a nuclear family dynamic.
00:06:27
Speaker
And yet, it seems like it was much more toxic Gabby's family, even though it wasn't maybe as perfect on paper, which I feel like happens a lot. you know And it kind of speaks to how social media is fake, and some of these labels – that we give people in these normal families, like, it's not really representative necessarily of how everyone's treating each other and other people.
00:06:51
Speaker
But I think everyone's showed a lot of grace for each other and they seem to just... put their focus more on Gabby, which it seems so obvious that that's the right thing to do. But I do think in reality, it's very difficult to do that. So I give them kudos.
00:07:07
Speaker
Oh yeah. And it seemed like all four of them really cared, not necessarily cared about each other in like a loving way, but like their family, like they have a daughter and that daughter would could go to any parent and there wasn't a repercussion or anything.
00:07:24
Speaker
But throughout the documentary, I never once really got the vibe from anyone interviewed that Brian's family was a great one. I think you're right where it's on paper. They were married. They had two children. They were still together. But nowhere was anyone like, oh, yeah, he came from a loving home or oh, yeah, like his parents were supportive.
00:07:45
Speaker
There was a bizarre relationship between Brian and his mom that I'm sure we'll get into. But it was never... like Gabby constantly there was this... She was described as a really great friend and a good family member. And like there was that healthy, happy sense versus whenever Brian's family is talked about.
00:08:04
Speaker
and I don't know if it's just because of what happened. But... Even them recalling early days, it was always just kind of like Brian was here and his family was here.
00:08:15
Speaker
Like, you know what i mean? Yeah, I do think that. be I mean, part of the thing, though, I think is that they had a child 10 years before they had Brian, which makes me think that sister Cassie is significantly older than him, which sometimes people plan it that way.
00:08:34
Speaker
But I would say usually not. And his parents, like, it's not like they separated and got back together from what we know they've been together continuously. So I wonder if maybe they had fertility problems or they just didn't want a second child.
00:08:47
Speaker
But they're older than Gabby's parents who had her very young. And they'd already kind of raised a kid and they were ready to move on with the next phase of their life. Or that's what it seemed like to me.
00:08:58
Speaker
And if Brian wasn't going to go with them their retirement life, essentially, in Florida, then he could just deal on his own because they've already been parenting for so long. Yeah. And that's definitely not how it was with Gabby, who was the first child of all four of her parents.
00:09:15
Speaker
And so they were, and they're much younger and they all have younger children as well. So i think that they're more, they were more locked in, in the parenting stage. Yeah.
00:09:26
Speaker
And we'll never know how much of our bias is on what happened afterwards because obviously we weren't we weren't aware of these people prior.
Van Life Dreams and Challenges
00:09:33
Speaker
Oh, yeah. And I think it's also the people being interviewed. It's hard to separate the current in the past when you're trying to do interviews like that. I think they did the best they could.
00:09:45
Speaker
i was just – it was something I noticed during the documentary. For sure. i mean, it it changes the way that you speak about people after tragedy happens, separation, loss. it It would be impossible for that not to shape your narrative. I do feel like they were trying to be realistic about how they felt in the early days and their first impressions and how they got along prior to anything bad happening. Yeah.
00:10:15
Speaker
Right. Because when you talk to Gabby's parents, when we talk to, when the documentary talked to Gabby's parents, they all kind of said like they liked Brian. Brian was nice. they He was always kind of odd, but he was a nice guy and they liked him and Gabby was happy.
00:10:33
Speaker
And early 2019 is when they met and both Gabby and Brian to all their friends were, this is love at first sight. It was amazing. They kind of, that high school head over heels, falling in love mentality.
00:10:47
Speaker
And I think as a parent, you're like, okay, like i have no reason to not like you. You seem nice and my daughter's happy happy. all of that jazz so think they in the beginning just like a normal relationship it was this new guy that gabby liked and was hanging out with but she never officially told her parents they were together it was oh no we're hanging out which i think is very much her generation like i think that's very that's very 19 that's very like young
00:11:20
Speaker
it's very like young i I don't think that's atypical. Also, I don't think it's atypical for your friends to be more aware of what's going on in your sex life and your love life than your parents.
00:11:31
Speaker
um So I think that for Gabby, it wasn't that important to tell everybody they were officially together until she was very much locked in. And they basically decided very quickly that they were moving to Florida together.
00:11:45
Speaker
and with his parents. Yeah. Her parents were like – I guess they were cool about it, but also she was technically an adult. She was a young adult, but she can kind of do whatever she wants.
00:11:59
Speaker
Well, seem like she had a plan either. They didn't really touch on this in the documentary, but the reality is if you are graduating high school, you're 19, your dream is to travel and hike and live this van life.
00:12:14
Speaker
she She wasn't going to college. she didn't do like That wasn't her plan. And so i think as a parent, they probably looked at like, okay, well, if this is what she's going to do, all right. It's not like she had a 180.
00:12:28
Speaker
It's not like she had all these hopes and dreams that all sudden she met a man and now moving to Florida. I think it was, well, she's not doing anything else. So, okay. Yeah. Well, for sure. And she did get a job in Florida and seemed motivated towards her.
00:12:44
Speaker
I mean, she clearly had the dream about doing van life prior to Brian because yeah her ex-boyfriend that's in the documentary says that they had talked about doing it together and she'd also made references about doing it herself.
00:12:55
Speaker
So I think that that was something that she was always going to attempt and whether or not Brian was involved. He didn't he seemed like he was along for the ride, in my opinion, that it wasn't his dream and it was very much her dream.
00:13:07
Speaker
And i think he I mean, he put a lot of work into the van, though, it seems like he pretty much he was a combo. I think her dream was the travel blog version of it. And his dream was like the crunchy version of it. And I think it just kind of meshed together because van life gets glamisized.
00:13:29
Speaker
on the internet. I feel like everyone's like, oh my god, that's so cool. Look at that. Amazing. But the reality is, is like you are sleeping in the woods most of the time. You're not... like You're not showering every You're living in your car. Like, it's not exactly the most glamorous version. But online, it can seem so – like, I get it.
00:13:51
Speaker
and Well, minimalism is – Yeah. I think he was the, like, i want to live in the woods. And she was like, I want to be a travel blogger. and that's how it kind of meshed together.
00:14:02
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, she gave the vibe of being chronically online, which she was posting, but also she was definitely just looking constantly at other people's Instagrams. And it does look cool when people are camping and traveling to all of these parks and going to waterfalls and, you know, hiking. And it is cool, you know, grabbing fruit off a tree as you walk by.
00:14:25
Speaker
Sounds like an absolute nightmare, honestly, but I think that the pictures are beautiful. And... It's probably pretty cool until you're like, well, now I have an upset belly and I need indoor plumbing and I need to shower. And what if it's really hot out and we don't have AC? Can we run the AC all night? Do we need a generator?
00:14:48
Speaker
ah just feels like too small of a space for two people to realistically live in. It was a small van. Like that was not an ah RV. It was a van. Yeah. And again, it kid is very trendy right now. I know people have been doing it forever, not forever, but for a very long time. But I think right now it's becoming very trendy to go and do it because of social media that it looks perfect and beautiful and relaxing. And the reality is A lot of the time it's not.
00:15:19
Speaker
And that's also those relationships. A lot of the couples doing it, they look like they live this perfect, loving adventure. And that's not necessarily what's happening. And I think the documentary also mentioned Gabby was learning how to edit and put it all together. And you can't just, it's not one take. You're taking everything.
00:15:39
Speaker
50 pictures to try to get one or multiple videos and they showed clips of her redoing stuff because she was like oh that was weird okay hold on and I think it shows little bit more of a reality to it that yeah quitting your job and becoming a van travel blogger it's awesome but it's not as easy as you think
00:16:03
Speaker
It's definitely not. And I think we've even learned from doing this podcast that you don't put out every single thing. Every single part that you say and do doesn't actually end up published. And just because you're putting out content doesn't mean it's immediately going to be viewed, immediately going to be liked. like It is a process.
00:16:21
Speaker
Some people hit right away. But most of the time it's not like that. And she was starting from nothing. She didn't know how to edit videos. She didn't know how to grow an audience. So she was just trying to figure it out, which I feel like is a cool thing to do, but also not necessarily easy and not a guarantee.
00:16:38
Speaker
she was kind of just willing to risk a few months trying to do this, which I think is cool. But it's definitely awkward to film yourself and to watch someone film themselves in a tiny little van.
00:16:52
Speaker
Yeah. i feel they i like how they um they did a couple of voice notes and text messages that she stuff saw and i one thing that stuck out to me was this was her dream there's no question right because you had mentioned like she had talked to the ex-boyfriend this boyfriend friends of herspan like we knew this is what she wanted But then you have the other side where she has messages saying, we're going to buy a van.
00:17:18
Speaker
The weddings and babies is going to be pushed back. And you could see feel that like, oh, like she felt like a little sad, but then she would flip and book. But I'm really happy about it. So was an interesting kind of that moment where you could see her thinking about this stuff and the reality of you are pushing stuff back because you're spending a lot of money to try and make this this dream work.
00:17:42
Speaker
which I thought was kind of, huh. So she had these thoughts already of, which I think is fear partially because of the unknown and it's a big commitment, but also when you're doing it with a partner,
00:17:56
Speaker
These other things that you might want are going to be pushed back. And it was very mature in reality. And then you wonder, okay, was she ready to do this or was Brian pushing it? Because the van was 100% in her name.
00:18:09
Speaker
All of it was 100% technically on paper hers.
Relationship Dynamics and Control
00:18:15
Speaker
It was. And it does seem like she paid for it, but that he put... Way more sweat equity.
00:18:21
Speaker
He put money into it but he also spent a lot of time and manual bought materials yeah and manual labor. And that it looked cute on the inside. They did transform it. Oh, yeah. It looked great.
00:18:34
Speaker
So I'm sure that was not an easy endeavor. And also they had the dynamic of living with Brian's creepy parents. And it sounds like it was okay at first. And then his mom started having...
00:18:48
Speaker
all kinds of issues with gabby yeah it seemed like she was jealous of her sons that's what i thought giving his girlfriend attention which icky like icky very like overbearing mother babies her son kind of a vibe and she seemed like she kind of resented Gabby's presence and maybe wasn't that enthusiastic about them taking off on this trip together. It doesn't sound like she was, this was not what she would have had them do or what she would have Brian do.
00:19:30
Speaker
And I feel like she probably thought that Gabby was an influence on him because this was her idea. Yeah. And I think like they were used to Brian going out on like a couple of day camping trips, but not leaving, leaving yet for months. I want to keep in mind, they left him.
00:19:48
Speaker
Right. So interesting. It's not fair. Like the relationship that the mother and son have in this case, Roberta Laundrie and Brian Laundrie, it seems like it's supposed to revolve around Roberta and Brian is supposed to move with her when she wants to move, stay with her when she's supposed to be in charge of him and he's supposed to be fulfilling a role as a son.
00:20:11
Speaker
i feel like you see that a lot in mother son dynamics, that kind of enmeshment that they had. And i think that another woman comes in and it is threatening to a mom that has that kind of dynamic.
00:20:24
Speaker
Sure. Yeah. 100%. Yeah. And then yeah i think the last touch that I want to talk about before we go on to their on-road adventure is gabby did end up making a friend um down rose down in florida and they spent a lot of time together and they had there was one incident where they had plans to go out and gabby got halfway there turned around had to go home because she realized she didn't have her id and it turns out brian had stole her id from her wallet so that she couldn't go out
00:21:02
Speaker
And they would get bite like he became very again controlling similar to what you said about his mom like it needs to be about me not about you. Why aren't you paying attention to me. We would see text messages coming up on the screen.
00:21:16
Speaker
on Basically him being like why aren't you with me. Why are you listening. Why buth blah blah blah. And then right after was so glad they included the texts. Yeah the texts were huge. It was powerful.
00:21:29
Speaker
Yeah. But then afterwards, he would buy her gifts or do something sweet or and this is that start that we see of the i don't want to label it yet, but the narcissistic control that Brian's starting to show.
00:21:45
Speaker
Yeah. and i think up until this point it's very easy to hide certain behaviors from the outside but then every once in a while it creeps out and i think this was the first time it had creeped out into the world where her friends were like this isn't healthy this isn't great yeah But Gabby's response is, well, I love him and look at this sweet thing that he did. And it's really hard when you have that emotional connection.
00:22:13
Speaker
It's easy to forget the bad and look at the good. i don't know if I'm ready at this point in the story to call him a narcissist, but I do think he was love bombing her as a way of making up for the not good things that he was doing. It sounds like he was talking about how emotional he was and crying all the time and that he was very jealous of the friends that she made while working at Taco Bell.
00:22:36
Speaker
And it makes me wonder if one of Brian's big motivations for doing this van life thing was to isolate Gabby. Right. I do think that's part of it. Yeah, because then you don't have to worry about her having coworkers or a friend. He already got her to Florida away from her family.
00:22:54
Speaker
So yeah it's just further and further hiding her. Yeah. Yeah. But so then they did go on the road. They bought the van. They went out and you we got to see pictures of them and the travel. And in June of 2020. Oh, oh, I'm sorry. Did we talk about the engagement?
00:23:19
Speaker
That's literally June 2020. Yeah. Yeah. I was going to say a little about year travel. They've been together for a year, not you're traveling, you're together. Okay. They went to remote camping. was gonna say they didn't take off in the van.
00:23:35
Speaker
I thought, didn't they leave and then like right at the beginning of that trip? they had the They had bought the van, i think right after the engagement, but they didn't actually drive away with it.
00:23:47
Speaker
I don't actually know. Maybe I'm wrong about that. That's how I have it in my notes, but maybe I'm backwards. you know But they weren't on their queer they yeah they weren't on their expedition where they were going to be full-time living van life. They weren't doing that. They were on vacation, essentially.
00:24:01
Speaker
And i maybe it was just because of the picture. Maybe I'm like, oh, they had the van, so it was just the start. Maybe they did have the van. I don't know. Maybe they had the van and they just took it camping. Because, I mean, wouldn't be a terrible idea to to try it out also before you go away for months.
00:24:16
Speaker
Yeah. so it's possible. Either way. Right. Okay. Because I really want to talk about the proposal. yeah um Because... yeah ah Weird. yeah Weird proposal. Weird. iye I'm sorry. Like, I don't believe their story about it at all.
00:24:35
Speaker
Because... Like, do you want me to tell her? Do you want to tell her? Yeah, you can tell her. how the call because So they're camping in the middle of nowhere. And Brian decides it's such a beautiful place that they should just get engaged now.
00:24:47
Speaker
So he impulsively, without a ring, drops down on one knee and proposes. And it doesn't matter that he didn't have a ring because a firefly landed on her ring finger at the exact second that he would have been putting a ring on.
00:25:02
Speaker
So nature wanted them to be together. Listen, if it is real, what a cool story. There's no way that's real. That doesn't sound real. Why would a firefly? Like, that doesn't make any sense to me. I mean, maybe there were fireflies around. That would be pretty.
00:25:19
Speaker
But he also, he could have gotten a ring because he had told people that he was going to propose. so Right. And you don't have to go crazy expensive for engagement ring, but if you're planning to propose, not have wasn't exactly like a flashy girl. Like, I feel like she's more like a simple, small, like, that wasn't their vibe.
00:25:38
Speaker
So it's not like he had to do something for sure again. Totally agree. But anything, anything would have been better. yeah And her mother found out because his mom, Roberta, posted it on Facebook.
00:25:57
Speaker
That's how like everyone found out. Excuse me? That's so crazy. That's so crazy. my First of all, my mother would kill me if she found out I was engaged on Facebook from someone else.
00:26:09
Speaker
but Oh, my God. Yeah, but it seemed like Gabby didn't really want to tell people, which also is... she I don't think Gabby knew. i think Gabby was like... She had that romantic... ah Like every girl does. Not every girl. But a lot of girls, you get into the relationship, you're like oh, I love him. I want to marry him.
00:26:25
Speaker
Most people think about it. But... the fact I don't think it she was like ready in reality. And he never asked her dad.
00:26:36
Speaker
Not that he has to, but a lot of people still like that. And of like concept. Not like if he said no... You're not property. But i think a lot of people still like that idea.
00:26:49
Speaker
So her parents had no clue. I don't think Gabby totally knew. And throughout the documentary, other than when the media got involved, nobody and other than Brian and every once in a while, Gabby, but mostly just Brian, nobody called them fiancés.
00:27:09
Speaker
They were still boyfriend. Did you notice that? I noticed. I did notice that, that there were a lot of references to them being boyfriend and girlfriend and way less to them being engaged. I do think that Brian was describing it that way.
00:27:23
Speaker
um and No one else was, which is weird. grin I've never been like, I'm not. I mean, I don't know. You are. You've been married. You're married. like Well, people still. i've I've been married. Yeah, I know. yeah you You do what I mean. No, I meant it just sounds like past tense, which is so funny.
00:27:42
Speaker
um Yeah, no, I it's I mean, it's certainly the kind of thing like you just you don't tend to revert backwards. But I wonder if maybe it's the majority of time that people knew them.
00:27:52
Speaker
They were boyfriend and girlfriend. So in their minds, that's more. people they didn't support it. kind of That's how I took it. Well, that could be two. Or maybe because there's no ring and you didn't talk to your families about it. Maybe it doesn't really count.
00:28:06
Speaker
Yeah. It just felt weird. But was like, I don't know. Maybe people do that. I don't think people do that. and i think I don't think so either. And I think that most people tell their immediate family when they get engaged at least before they put it on social media.
00:28:22
Speaker
Particularly close family. It's not like she was estranged from her parents. ah Exactly. And I think... That they thought it was strange and they probably also didn't really take it that seriously because they were very young.
00:28:34
Speaker
They didn't have any money. They didn't have any job. They didn't have any plans. Like there was no real ah realistic way for them to support themselves and be married and be adults.
00:28:45
Speaker
So it's sort of like, okay, that's cute that you're engaged. I don't know. i dont I feel like they didn't take it that seriously. And her dads were like, yeah, like, okay, engaged.
00:28:58
Speaker
That's cute. I mean, the Firefly thing I think was fake. I think the most of the story was fake. I think this also, not that everyone who proposes is controlling, but I do also think that this could be a sign of him trying to isolate her.
00:29:12
Speaker
Why are you proposing right now? It doesn't really make sense for the stage of life that you guys are in. Yeah. i don't know. it was an It was an odd one. It just... It just felt very impulsive. And everyone's like, well, here we are.
00:29:28
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I guess you can just say you're engaged and you are if you both agree to it. That's – clearly that's the only thing that you have to do. But it just didn't feel like they did a lot of the traditional steps that I would have expected.
00:29:44
Speaker
Especially she's a Long Island girl. I'm very familiar with that that kind of family and that kind of – like she – This should have been a big deal. And it doesn't seem like it was a big deal, which makes me feel like it wasn't a real engagement.
00:29:58
Speaker
Yeah. Or people didn't consider it real. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Partially because she's far away from her family also. Yeah. Well, after their... Real or unreal proposal.
00:30:11
Speaker
They did end up on the road and they started their national travels. They started from Florida and drove out West. um They made pretty fast progress, I feel.
00:30:26
Speaker
um And made it all the way to Utah by August of 2021, which I think was only about 40 days on the road. yeah. yeah To me, that feels far, but I guess if you're moving every day, it's probably not as far. Yeah, I mean, it would only take you a few days really to drive to Utah, I think, from Florida, but I would have ah imagined they would have been stopping a lot and camping.
00:30:52
Speaker
Yeah. wonder if maybe that was just the destination and they were always planning to spend more time in Utah because it seems like they did spend a lot of time in Utah and Wyoming. Yeah. So that was the destination. Yeah, it seems like that was their goal was that region and beautiful landscapes, big hiking.
Police Encounter and Public Altercation
00:31:10
Speaker
oh yeah So like I get that's where they would want to start, particularly if you're starting a blog. There's a lot of aesthetic stuff out there.
00:31:17
Speaker
um But I think this is where we start. The downhill version. um And in Moab, Utah, there was an anonymous caller who called saying that they witnessed someone slapping a girl and then getting in a van together.
00:31:37
Speaker
And it turns out that that was Brian and Gabby and their van and they were pulled over by the police. And during the documentary, we got the body cam footage, which was, I'm so glad, very interesting.
00:31:52
Speaker
And yeah, throughout, did you see that at the time when this was happening? No, I had heard of it. really Um, but that was the first time I had watched the entire, think I had seen like clips of it, but that was the first time for the whole thing. Yeah.
00:32:06
Speaker
Yeah. i I watched it. I watched it when it was going on, but it was startling to see. I love the way they edited this documentary series. And I felt like it was very powerful the way that the footage was used. And yeah, I mean, I i was glad that they included all of that. It was really necessary.
00:32:23
Speaker
Yeah. And basically the the short version of it is they got pulled over. The police walked to the side of the car. Gabby's crying. Brian's very calm.
00:32:36
Speaker
They pull her out of the car. She's... More or less hysterical. And very standard situation where they're going to separate the two parties. They're going to talk to them separately and get the stories.
00:32:48
Speaker
And the cop brought Gabby over. And she basically is... He hit the curve. It's my fault. I'm the responsible.
00:33:00
Speaker
I'm so sorry. Like very... It's all my fault. so And saying... Basically defending him and his actions. And then she asked like if she could have her phone. She just wanted to call her mom. She basically was having a panic attack.
00:33:18
Speaker
And I do think the cops stayed very calm during the conversation. was very much trying to like she had marks on her arm. Like, okay, did you get hit recently? Like asking those questions. And very, i think I think he handled her very well.
00:33:35
Speaker
Versus you have Brian talking to another cop laughing, smiling, joking. oh she's crazy. She attacked me.
00:33:46
Speaker
She hit me. i i love her. i Nothing could go. Then joking. It was creepy. Right. like he was it was creepy like They were clown. They were like buddies. They were clowning around. Brian really didn't seem upset in the situation.
00:34:03
Speaker
And Gabby was distraught. Yeah. And when they got pulled over, Brian was driving the van and he was doing 45 and a 15. And then they hit the curb when they were pulling over.
00:34:15
Speaker
And Gabby said that she grabbed the steering wheel. And that's what he said, too, which is also a crime and she and pretty much is immediately confessing to assault, to battery, to reckless driving. i mean, she's immediately saying, I guess I hit him first.
00:34:33
Speaker
You know, I thought it was interesting when they said that they didn't drink also because you sometimes see escalation of violence with alcohol, but they were apparently completely sober.
00:34:44
Speaker
all the time i do believe that they were sober and i i also wrote down her quote of i guess i hit him first because that came up where i wrote that then came back to him it was like he said that you hit like you hit him trying to get like you tried to hit him with your phone he hit you and she's like well yeah i guess i did hit him first and you could see right the processing of her being like in the shi right She very much, in my opinion, you could tell that she's like, I didn't know what else to do. But yeah, I i i probably did do that.
00:35:22
Speaker
Because they also put a picture in here. ah and it was titled 41 Days on the Road of her with a black eye. So yeah i think she... probably did hit him out of like a reaction of like please don't hit me and it was probably more of a defense where when confronted again very honest of her going well yeah i guess i probably did touch him first if you want to be technical about it but if i didn't this like she knew what would have happened and you could see the processing kind of happening
00:35:56
Speaker
And then she started having another ah like panic moment. There was that brief moment of clarity, I think, for her. And then it went back to the panic, which was heartbreaking to watch.
00:36:09
Speaker
i yeah I found several things about this heartbreaking. You mentioned that she asked for her phone to call her mom. and I thought that was really sad. And it shows that she does reach out to her mom in times of crisis, that she relies on her parents in upsetting circumstances like this, which I think it was important to include.
00:36:26
Speaker
also I don't remember from when I watched this at the time that um Brian had marks on his face as well. I remember Gabby having them, but they both had injuries. Yeah. And Yeah.
00:36:39
Speaker
Yeah. I also thought when the one the one cop because there is footage of them talking to Gabby and talking to Brian, but there's also intercop dynamics happening. Yeah.
00:36:50
Speaker
And i remember when the one the one guy said that there's really no discretion and domestic violence cases because women tend to go back to their abusers and they might get killed and that they couldn't really see the situation escalating to Gabby killing him, which I just thought was so sad.
00:37:08
Speaker
Yeah, I don't think the cops at any point believed that Gabby was the aggressor here. However, what I do, I feel like they they got criticized a little bit of like, how could they let her go back, which is a fair response. But people also forget like their hands are tied in certain circumstances. Like there's nothing.
00:37:29
Speaker
If she's sitting there saying, I did this, I started it, I am the aggressor. There's nothing, even though you're looking at them and you're like, I know you're not, there's nothing they can do.
00:37:41
Speaker
And that's what I think is so hard is towards the end of the documentary, there was some critique of the police because the two of them were separated. She was given the van. He got brought to a hotel.
00:37:54
Speaker
and You would have thought like, okay, the other way around. But because of what the two of them were saying and the story that was being told, that was the reaction they had to have without pressing charges on Gabby. And they knew yeah Gabby wasn't the problem.
00:38:13
Speaker
But in order to not arrest her, which they didn't want to do you could tell, this was their only option.
00:38:24
Speaker
So I did, i was interested on the police got so much criticism in this case. And um two of the officers on the scene got put on probation as a result of this. And there was assessments made to see if the cops were at fault, what should have been done, you know, what the right response would have been.
00:38:44
Speaker
ah In a lot of states, it's a mandatory arrest for domestic violence ah call, which is true in Utah as well. But they actually ended up reclassifying this incident as a mental health issue and not a domestic violence call.
00:38:57
Speaker
So in that case, if it's a mental health issue, you don't have to arrest anyone. So they did have that discretion. But I think that because what they were saying did not match the third party 911 call who is not involved, I feel like i don't know I don't know what you think, but I think that they should have arrested both of them.
00:39:17
Speaker
And I think that maybe, don't know if that would have changed the trajectory of what was going to happen ultimately, but I think that maybe it would have and maybe that would have been a real reality check for, hey, this is serious.
00:39:29
Speaker
You actually can't assault someone. It's actually not okay for either of us to be harming each other. and it To my understanding is the 911 call sees Brian hitting Gabby.
00:39:43
Speaker
They're saying that he was basically doing it in self-defense to get her away. So it's now escalating to she's hitting you, you're hitting her back. I feel like they should have probably been arrested, both of them.
00:39:57
Speaker
I don't think it would have made a difference, to be honest. If anything, I think it would have made it worse. so Don't you think, though, that maybe her parents bailing her out of jail would have... what have I don't know. Encourage her. you're saying there might not have been a bail.
00:40:12
Speaker
So a lot of the time you're just released on your own recognizance, particularly if you're not from the area. um And a lot of the times there's a history of arrests actually increase violence when it comes to domestic violence.
00:40:26
Speaker
And Because then it turns into, well, you got me arrested. This is your fault. Right. How dare you. Right. And let's look at their. I thought both of them. Yeah. And look at their. circle So they were told to be separate for one night.
00:40:42
Speaker
If you got back together afterwards, that's your decision. But one night, do not talk to each other. Do not text. Do not anything. They got back together a couple hours later. They were on the road that neck like they they didn't listen.
00:40:55
Speaker
so And that's just – it wasn't surprising to me. And I think when – police don't want to arrest someone that they know is a victim.
00:41:08
Speaker
And sometimes they have to because of legal reasons. But during their interaction, Gabby was constantly saying, I have OCD. I have this anxiety. I have – So most of what she was projecting was mental health, which is where their loophole was.
00:41:24
Speaker
Because yeah they could tell she wasn't the problem. But because you could see with them talking to each other, this guy's like, there's no way that she's like the one talking to her. He was like, it's not her. Like, there's nothing we can do.
00:41:38
Speaker
But he's like, there's nothing we like she's not the problem here. but you are right that it may not have changed anything because they would have probably just gotten right back together. That happens a lot.
00:41:52
Speaker
Unfortunately, until you are ready, anyone and everyone can tell you. You can have arrests. You can have everyone and your wife telling you. It doesn't matter until you see it or until it gets so bad that something happens.
00:42:05
Speaker
And I think the arrest actually could have... It would have just prolonged the inevitable, in my opinion, um or it would have made things worse behind the scenes for longer.
00:42:19
Speaker
um And I do appreciate that they didn't do the arrest because I think that would have sent her into a spiral, but also cling to him more where like this is she was already everything was my fault.
00:42:35
Speaker
If they got arrested, she would in my opinion, internalized that. well Like, oh, well he got arrested because of me. He's so good to me. I don't deserve it. We saw that quote a couple times from her.
00:42:47
Speaker
He doesn't deserve this. This what I did. I don't think it would have made a difference. I think our differing perspectives on this also make it so obvious why Monday morning quarterbacking is really – you know what i mean? Cause we can look at it as this is what I would have done and the outcome would have been this. And this is why I think this was the right choice. And, but we, we don't really know how things were in the moment. And I am not, I'm not saying that the police were blameless a hundred percent. And I'm not saying that they made all of the same decisions that I would have made or even what their protocols would have recommended, it's,
00:43:25
Speaker
it's They're making in the moment decisions and they only have some information. They don't have the amount of information that I have now, which is completely changes everything.
00:43:38
Speaker
And that's what's so And that is really sad. Yeah. The only reason that this incident is being looked at with scrutiny is because of what happened. Otherwise, no one would have said a thing.
00:43:50
Speaker
So definitely because this kind of stuff happens all the time. yeah. And... you can't always predict how things are going to escalate. You can't at all ever in my opinion. Yeah.
00:44:02
Speaker
Ever. Yeah. Cause just don't know. mean, you can predict it, but you may just be wrong. You might just be wrong. Cause you're going up with stats and experience. Yeah. You're like, this is right most likely it's to happen, but who knows? And I think this, what did happen is really sad, but I don't think anybody would have guessed it would have happened so quickly.
00:44:21
Speaker
And to me in the body cam footage, it's obvious that Gabby is hysterical and Brian's very calm. And to me, that makes it seem like she's the victim and he is in control.
00:44:33
Speaker
But I could also see how you could interpret that multiple ways. And she's so hysterical. She's confessing. Maybe she feels guilty about something as well.
00:44:45
Speaker
There are multiple ways to interpret the situation. and Yeah, that's why it's so it's hard to be the person making these life or death decisions. Oh, absolutely. Because you may not even realize it's that serious.
00:45:00
Speaker
Which, yeah, I didn't like that the cops kept saying, though, that his wife had anxiety. I thought that was annoying. Like, this has nothing to do with your wife. Well, I think he was trying to get him talking.
00:45:13
Speaker
So what a lot of people do from watching different body cams and different research stuff. The more you talk about his wife might not actually have anxiety.
00:45:25
Speaker
And that's the thing is he's trying to get hit the person in the back of his car talking. At least that's how I kind of saw it. Like, oh, I relate to you. You're my buddy. I get it. Because then if he starts talking and then he slips up, that gives him that information that he needs.
00:45:45
Speaker
um right i totally got it i see i i get where you're coming from um m because i was like this isn't about you why does it matter but also i saw after he said it again and when brian was responding yeah i know she's crazy i don't know what happened like that's where i was like oh he's trying he's the same cop that interviewed gabby he's the one going this she is the victim he is the problem I think he was trying to get him to start talking about what happened and hope that he slipped up a little of getting him to admit that he touched her.
00:46:22
Speaker
Because at that point, it was always, I'm in defense mode. You what mean? Yeah, that's true. He could have been trying to be more relatable. Yeah. When I noticed that that was the same cop who interviewed Gabby, that's what it dawned on me. I'm like, oh, I wonder if that's what he was trying to do.
00:46:41
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, they tried and the solution that they came up with was that Brian went to a hotel and Gabby got the keys back to hurt the van, partially because it's solely in her name. Right. And they recommended a place where she could take a shower.
00:46:56
Speaker
Her mom told her that she maybe should just come home and she didn't. So after the hotel room, Brian comes back to the van and they go from Moab to Salt Lake. Yeah.
00:47:10
Speaker
So they're still in Utah, but they've just changed cities, locations. Right. Because you got to get away from... where the cop was like get away from the heat you know yeah for sure like you don't want to be pulled over by the same police department twice that would be really bad particularly after you've been told to separate yeah and so that brings us to i think we're at august 22nd 2021 and gabby is texting her ex-boyfriend jackson who's featured in the documentary um um
00:47:42
Speaker
It sounds like they don't really talk much prior to this, but she wanted to reach out to him. And it seems like she had an opportunity to talk to him because Brian ended up flying to Florida to empty a storage unit.
Disappearance and Investigation
00:47:56
Speaker
And so Gabby was staying in a hotel by herself in Salt Lake. And that's when she actually ended up posting the one video that ended up on YouTube, the Gabby and Brian video.
00:48:08
Speaker
Um, But she had mentioned to Jackson that she was wanting to leave Brian, you know, in the days that followed. They text and they Snapchatted. um And then that brings us to August 27th, which she called Jackson that day and he was at work and missed the call, which was really heartbreaking to see him talk about in the documentary.
00:48:33
Speaker
That's obviously not his fault. But, you know, yeah, like you' that all the time. Survivor guilt. Yeah. Yeah. can Because the reality if he picked up, but wouldn it wouldn't really have mattered. but No. It would have probably not changed anything. But i just I'm sure he feels ah level of guilt and responsibility. And that's yeah it's hard to have regrets like that. Yeah. It's really ah yeah chills. um Particularly because she had mentioned to him – that she was planning on leaving brian she just didn't know how and when she was talking about it the ex-boyfriend was like she seemed scared she seemed concerned like this is right he's like i knew that they were together i think they said a year that she wanted to she just didn't know how or what he would do if she did leave so right i i see how like i would you would have a lot of guilt of well if i had picked up maybe she things would have been different
00:49:32
Speaker
Right. Like maybe he she was asking for a ride. Maybe she was asking for a plane ticket. I mean, the reality, though, is that she could have called her parents. Right. Yeah.
00:49:44
Speaker
But i think that was more so like Jackson is not for sure, but it's not like this is his responsibility at all. Yeah. um Yeah. And she was talking to her mom that day as well, and that's when they were texting and she was implying that she was maybe going to buy Brian out of the van and just do a single van life girl thing.
00:50:02
Speaker
um experience so those were texts with her mom that she definitely wrote herself yeah and the last the last known footage of gabby petito was at 2 11 p.m at a whole foods in salt lake city yeah which i thought the whole foods was in wyoming was it not Oh, you know what? You're right. It is in Wyoming.
00:50:27
Speaker
Yeah, Jackson Hole, Wyoming. You are right. Because they went from Salt Lake City up to like the Yellowstone area. Jackson Hole. Jackson Hole. Right. um They went to lunch at this like Mexican place, got in a fight.
00:50:42
Speaker
And there text messages of her being like, this food didn't sit well with me. um And then they went to the Whole Foods and that was when she was...
00:50:54
Speaker
disappeared basically no one heard from her right right and and I also thought I haven't seen anyone talk about this but I wonder if she was getting sick to her stomach a lot from the stress and that was like part of it that's a good thought I hadn't thought of that um because one thing that I did kind of put together was she was telling her mom that Brian was like okay you could buy me out she told the ex-boyfriend she wanted to get away b Brian seemed very interested.
00:51:25
Speaker
he wasn't working or had any kind of stream of income during this time that I'm aware of. And yeah. So if he, she presents the idea of like, I'll give you money. So you'll have like reimbursement and I could make more money presenting it like for us, if I'm by myself, like,
00:51:45
Speaker
I wonder if that was her safe way of trying to put out there of like her going by herself to do stuff or trying to like lay some groundwork without directly saying I'm out.
00:51:59
Speaker
I want to be out. Right. Yeah.
00:52:04
Speaker
Absolutely. I think that because she even said in the text to her mom that she didn't say that she was going to break up with him, but just that she was going to buy him out. Yeah.
00:52:15
Speaker
And so if you are scared of the person you're with, afraid of what they're going to when that you leave them, that's an easy way to be like, hey, if this is our plan and our journey together, what about this avenue? You could get your own van and we could do this tandem van thing. Like I could see that trying to be a safe way to and introduce the idea to him.
00:52:41
Speaker
Yeah, I think so too, because i think that's very common behavior too. Not even just in a toxic, abusive situation, but just in a relationship, just kind of be backing away without maybe be being so obvious that I'm breaking up with you, but more of just creating some distance so that it's a little bit easier to ultimately actually cut ties. Because right now they're living together,
00:53:07
Speaker
um And they're together 24-7. And there's no distance and there's no space at all. So I think that it would be really hard logistically to break up with someone if you're living in a van with them.
00:53:21
Speaker
Oh, yeah. The only connection – this is a very random connection. The only connection I have is like the 90-day Beyonce season recently where there was like a lesbian couple that went and did van life and then broke up very quickly.
00:53:37
Speaker
Yeah. And I think that, again, it shows like you can have a good relationship, but the minute you are in this van, you're in a tight space. yoga You're always with that person. You can't like go into the other room and like take a minute.
00:53:52
Speaker
It's you are on top of each other. And I think yeah it just takes everything and puts it under a microscope and a hot plate. And you're like, here we go. Yeah.
00:54:05
Speaker
it I mean, when you travel with someone, you learn a lot about them. And even if you lived with them before, which they did, but they lived at his parents' house and then they lived at his parents' condo and they had a lot more space and rooms and distance and and and separate cars that they could drive away in.
00:54:23
Speaker
And now they have one car that they're sharing and it's also their bedroom, their dining room, their living room, their entire lives are in this extremely small space. And I think that that would put a lot of strain on the best of relationships, which is not what it seemed that they had. Yeah. Yeah.
00:54:41
Speaker
Yeah. yeah So that was August 27th. And then a couple days later, August 30th, Gabby's mom gets a text that put up alarm bells to say the least.
00:54:54
Speaker
hu And it basically was saying, coming from Gabby's phone, asking her to reach out to Stan. And Stan is her grandpa who she referred to as grandpa.
00:55:07
Speaker
And the fact that he was, she was using his first name was bizarre to say the least. Very bizarre, especially because she was talking to a her mom, a family member who would know exactly who she was talking about if she said grandpa, even if she said grandpa Stan, that would be less weird, but just help Stan.
00:55:26
Speaker
Yeah, it's strange. i feel like you don't drop grandparents names and just call them by their first names. Unless it's like a maybe a step-parent situation, but if she always called him grandpa. Yeah. um Yeah.
00:55:38
Speaker
Yeah. And so I think at first, Gabby's mom kind of justified as like, oh, maybe she's driving and Brian's just texting for her Which, again, ah fair...
00:55:53
Speaker
response because at this point and what I think her mom did really well is she was able to kind of recall how she was feeling in the moment really well and her mom's like wasn't I thought it was weird but I justified it because maybe she was driving maybe she was talking like it could have been a couple of things still bizarre that he would have like If she was like, hey, can you tell mom that like grandpa isn't responding or isn't sending and he would type stand like that's still weird.
00:56:25
Speaker
But I could see how you could justify it. Right. It's not it's not deranged text, though. They're not alarming on their face text. It was just weird.
00:56:38
Speaker
And yeah, it's it's kind of odd, you know, and I think that in hindsight, for sure, it seems extra bizarre. yeah and but this was the last text that she got from gabby or gabby's phone and right so she's like okay gabby had been really good about checking in getting updates all that jazz and then she just stopped hearing from her so she reached out to b brian's parents and didn't get an answer and brian's sister didn't get an answer and both parents her her dad then was like no i hadn't heard from her either he starts reaching out all the friends were like gabby went mia which was abnormal for her it seems like she checked in at least once a day if not more than that and then all a sudden yeah she has
00:57:33
Speaker
No social media posts, not checking in anywhere, not answering calls, not answering texts. It's very unusual behavior for her, especially someone who's attempting to vlog their life would be always accessible yeah and then with that the mom noticed she went from and this is such an iphone thing to notice that she went from blue bubbles to green bubbles when texting his mom which definitely if you're texting another iphone person it without you saying send his normal text message because like you have like bad service or something it's weird right
00:58:16
Speaker
and Yeah, I mean, it's a weird change that would happen because if it went blue the first time, that meant it was received by an iPhone. And if it's green now, it's like, is the phone off? Am I blocked?
00:58:28
Speaker
Do they not have service? What's going on? Right. Yeah, a change has happened, which makes me think you read the text and you chose not to answer it.
00:58:39
Speaker
Yeah, and also if you're, as a parent of like, your quote, future son-in-law, if you're texting them being like, hey, I haven't heard from the kids. Have you? Are they okay? You would think that you'd be like, oh, yeah, heard from them like yesterday or no, I haven't. Oh, my God. I wonder if like you would think that these parents would, considering the context that they started texting about, would have been quick to respond when it's talking about your children's safety.
00:59:12
Speaker
Yeah. And just even out of politeness, you think they would acknowledge any of these messages. And there's no way that Brian's both of his parents and his sister are just not checking their phones and are just completely unable to be contacted.
00:59:31
Speaker
Yeah. And so eventually they sent a text to the parents be like, you know what? We're going to call the police. Something doesn't feel right. Something isn't okay. So they actually called and filed a missing persons report for Gabby.
00:59:45
Speaker
And that's when it kind of started where, well, you have to do it. You can't do it where they are or last known. You have to do it where they reside or the most recent residents.
00:59:58
Speaker
Right. Which it got complicated. This interstate jurisdictions now that we're working with as well because she went missing in Grand Teton, Wyoming.
01:00:11
Speaker
Her parents are calling from Northport in Long Island, New York. But most recently, her last address was in Florida. So, yeah. So it's all of these different jurisdictions are trying to work together, essentially, because there's issues with jurisdiction who has the right to do what? So obviously you're going to try to involve the local officers who ended up going to the laundry home that day.
01:00:42
Speaker
Yeah, on August 11th of 2021. Ooh, September. September. Wow, I have 9-11 written down too. And I said August. It's a tough day.
01:00:53
Speaker
It is. ah So they sent the officers to the home. b Brian's parents opened the door. ah Basically refused to talk. them like, we're not answering any questions. We have an attorney.
01:01:04
Speaker
You can talk to our attorney, which red flags everywhere. Right. Right. If you already have a prepared attorney for something that the police are showing up at your house, that you hypothetically shouldn't know why police are just showing up at your house.
01:01:22
Speaker
Right. But that's not No. They asked to talk to Brian. And they say that he's there, but he won't talk to anyone.
01:01:35
Speaker
And then they refuse to comment on where Gabby is. But her van is in the driveway. Yep. So they they did say that Gabby wasn't there.
01:01:46
Speaker
um But instantly, I think the police were like, hold on a minute. So they ran the plates and because they asked about the van. And according to his parents, they like oh, it's both of their van.
01:01:59
Speaker
right And then the police pushed back like, hold on. This is all in her name. You're telling us her van is here. Brian is here. None of you will talk to us, but Gabby's not here. Well, where is Gabby?
01:02:12
Speaker
I'm not going to talk to you. Talk to my attorney.
01:02:17
Speaker
So they took the van. And that kind of the total triggered the something fishy is going on here. For sure. I think for the local police. And for her parents, this was the moment that everything changed.
01:02:33
Speaker
Yeah. Her mother describing how she felt at that moment when she found out that Brian was home and that he had a lawyer is it was devastating. I think it was the lawyer that really took the cake for it all because it'd be one thing if he he was home.
01:02:52
Speaker
Not that that makes it okay. Don't get me wrong. um I think he had come back before and she probably like, oh my God, she's in a hotel by herself, blah, blah, blah.
01:03:04
Speaker
But the fact that the van was there as well and he had a lawyer, I think that's when she was like, oh my god something bad happened because why else would you have a lawyer why would you spend $25,000 to retain an attorney if you did nothing wrong yeah well that was what his sister was saying was that they got in a fight um you know she's in a hotel and he came home but why does he have the van then and why does he need a lawyer if you just left her in a hotel room you don't need a lawyer and you had a lawyer before the cops came here right
01:03:40
Speaker
And already done. Yep. Right. Well, I think. Also, we don't see Brian. I was just to say, we do not see Brian in any of the footage. I was not able to find like really any evidence of him being in there, but they do say he's there. And obviously the van got there.
01:03:57
Speaker
Right. I just, I'm skeptical of everything that they're saying. Yeah, I do think he was there just because they had no reason to have him be anywhere else.
01:04:08
Speaker
And because we know down the line other things happened, but he definitely, in my opinion, was in the house. He was probably just hiding somewhere because God forbid they did come into the house. Like the parents opened the door and then kind of stood next to each other. So you couldn't see inside the house. So he either was like right there listening or he was hiding, in my opinion.
01:04:29
Speaker
Yeah. And the I mean, the police tried to appeal to them, you know, don't you think Gabby's parents deserve to know if she's OK? And, you know, you could just reassure them that everything is OK and like, let us know the last time you were in contact with her. And they just keep saying that they understand, but that they can't help.
01:04:47
Speaker
Yeah. Awful. so they totally shut it down and the cops all think it's very suspicious and odd. The family's devastated. And I guess this is kind of the next phase of this documentary starts here.
01:05:00
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. um And I think the the case itself, now we're going to start getting into the investigations and all the different dynamics of that. It really took on a life of its own.
01:05:12
Speaker
So I think that'll be really good for episode two of Gabby. um Because I think both of us have so many thoughts about how that was handled. And definitely how everything kind of the puzzle pieces really did come together, which was nice to see a little bit devastating, but nice to see.
01:05:33
Speaker
It was definitely very interesting, but I do have a lot of thoughts, feelings, you know, content that I want to discuss. Yeah. And so we'll get into that in part two. Any final thoughts for their relationship up to now, their travels, anything before she disappeared?
01:05:52
Speaker
Well, it's not necessarily about that, but I did want to mention, and I forgot to earlier, that i I loved how they were showing Gabby's artwork and Brian's artwork, and hers was all so light and beautiful, and his was very dark.
01:06:07
Speaker
And I just felt like thematically, worked really well, and was it showed a lot. without It made you feel like you knew them a little bit better, or at least it did for me. That's good point. Yeah. i I think that was...
01:06:20
Speaker
was subliminal for me where in the moment now that you mentioned it like yeah they were super different but it wasn't something I had picked up on that's a really good point yeah I mean I don't know if that was their intention that's just what I gathered from it but I thought that was yeah I mean I really liked how they included so much about their personal lives I don't know how I felt about Gabby reading like texts and journals and stuff.
01:06:48
Speaker
They used her voice for the recreations. And I didn't, I don't know if I loved that, but I did love all the drawings and the texts and things like that. How about you? I kind of liked the voice because I think it made her a real person because I think a lot of the time it's very easy to like the texts and stuff were super powerful. And that video footage, I think all of that was really powerful, but I think,
01:07:14
Speaker
hearing her read texts about the dynamic, particularly the harder dynamic parts of their relationship of, well, he was mean to me, but I'm so lucky to have him. i think it really reinforced that she was just this naive, young, in love girl who wanted it an adventure. I think it brought her to life.
01:07:38
Speaker
that yeah it's easy to read something it's easy to see someone on tv you know what i mean i think it just brought her a little bit more into people's life um but i think up until this point i i do think her mom specifically was really great about recalling how she felt in the moment i think other people in the documentary struggled with that difference of remembering what it was like before she went missing.
01:08:08
Speaker
um But I thought they did a really good job of pushing. Well, what did you think is that point? I know we we know what you know now, but in that moment, how did you feel?
01:08:19
Speaker
And I think she did a great job there. Yeah. I mean, the family is great. They're, all amazing in this documentary. And I really enjoyed watching them. And I felt like I really got to know Gabby more so than Brian, but I do feel like we got to know a decent amount about Brian.
01:08:37
Speaker
And I, I love that kind of those kinds of details and background info. And I feel like it really makes the case easier to relate to. And it it feels like it's people that you could know in your real life.
01:08:50
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. All right. Well, I'm excited for part two, ah the investigation and to talk about what actually happened and what we've been alluding to this whole time.
01:09:03
Speaker
Yeah, I know. There's just so much stuff to talk about with this case, but I am really looking forward to part two. So we're going leave you guys here and pick us back up on part two.