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Gabby Petito’s Instagram followers question ‘unusual’ last posts

Users point out that Gabby Petito’s last two posts on Instagram did not have location tags

Stuti Mishra
Thursday 16 September 2021 09:19 BST
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Gabby Petito's Sudden Disappearance, Timeline Explained
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Gabby Petito‘s final Instagram post is being closely scrutinised for inconsistencies as the search for the missing YouTuber intensifies.

Ms Petito, who was last seen alive on 24 August, posted the final photo on her account on 26 August.

It showed her in front of a butterfly mural with a small knitted pumpkin with the caption “happy halloween”. Her previous post, on 19 August, showed the view of a park from inside her van.

Unlike her usual posts, these two did not have a location tag. Some users pointed out that this was not her usual style.

Others pointed out that it looked as though her hair appeared to have recently been dyed blonde, as it was a different colour from her previous posts.

In the last post to her Instagram account on 26 August, Ms Petito wrote ‘Happy Halloween’

This photo posted to Ms Petito’s Instagram account on July 30 shows her hair is a darker colour than the later post

This raised questions as to whether Ms Petito would have dyed her hair during the cross-country road trip, when she and boyfriend Brian Laundrie were camping out in national parks, or if someone else had posted the photo.

Ms Petito, a resident of Blue Point, New York, was travelling the country in a van with her boyfriend Mr Laundrie. She was reported missing by her family on the evening of 11 September. She was last seen on 24 August, when she checked out of a Salt Lake City hotel with her boyfriend.

The 22-year-old documented her 2,328-mile road journey on the picture-sharing platform. She and her boyfriend shared several pictures, including those from Colorado Springs, Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Mystic Hot Springs and the Arches National Park.

Ms Petito’s mother Nichole Schmidt said she last received a message from her daughter’s phone on 30 August, saying: “No service in Yosemite.” But Ms Schmidt said that she wasn’t sure it was, in fact, sent by her daughter.

“I don’t know if it was technically her or not, because it was just a text. I didn’t verbally speak to her,” she said.

On Wednesday, the North Port Police in Florida revealed that Mr Laundrie was a “person of interest” in the case.

“As of now Brian Laundrie has not made himself available to be interviewed by investigators or has provided any helpful details,” the Florida police department said in a statement.

They said Mr Laundrie had returned to Florida alone in the van on 1 September, 10 days before his girlfriend was reported missing.

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