New video shows Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie shopping hours before she was killed
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JACKSON, Wyom. — Newly released surveillance video shows Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie shopping at a Jackson Hole grocery store on the last day she was seen alive.
The video, obtained by EastIdahoNews.com from the Town of Jackson Police Department, shows the couple spending around 20 minutes at Whole Foods on the afternoon of Aug. 27, 2021. Laundrie killed Petito hours later, her parents claim in a civil lawsuit filed in March.
Petito’s body was found Sept. 19, 2021 in the Bridger-Teton National Forest. The FBI ruled that Laundrie strangled his girlfriend and then returned home to Florida where he later shot and killed himself in the Carlton Reserve swamp.
The grocery store video shows Petito and Laundrie pulling into the parking lot in her white van at 2:11 p.m. They sit in the vehicle for a minute before Laundrie gets out and walks to the back of the van where he opens a rear door to retrieve a hat.
Petito comes around from the passenger side and follows Laundrie back to the driver’s side door. He closes it and they walk into Whole Foods together.
Laundrie is dressed in green shorts, a white t-shirt and sandals. Petito is wearing blue shorts, a black T-shirt underneath a longer brown shirt and white tennis shoes.
Various cameras in the store capture their movements and the couple spends about 15 minutes shopping. There is no audio but Petito and Laundrie appear to say very little to each other.
As they walk through the coffee bar area, she looks at some cheese and a few minutes later the pair is seen walking down some aisles.
They leave Whole Foods at 2:30 p.m. and head back to the van, where they sit inside for 20 minutes before leaving at 2:53 p.m. Laundrie, who is driving, pulls out of the parking lot onto Highway 89, the road leading to the Bridger-Teton National Forest.
What happened in the hours leading up to Petito’s death remain a mystery but five days later, on Sept. 1, Laundrie drove the van alone to his parents’ Florida home.
Investigators later found a drybag at the scene of Laundrie’s death that contained a confession note of him admitting to killing Petito.
“I ended her life. I thought it was merciful, that it is what she wanted, but I see now all the mistakes I made,” he wrote.
Watch the surveillance video in the player above.