Gabby Petito: A Story That Shook America and Raised Awareness for Domestic Violence Who Was Gabby Petito? Gabrielle “Gabby” Petito was a 22-year-old travel blogger from Blue Point, New York. She became widely known in 2021 after she was reported missing during a cross-country road trip with her fiancé, Brian Laundrie . Their seemingly picture-perfect adventure, documented on social media, hid a much darker reality—one of emotional and physical abuse that tragically ended in her murder. The Disappearance That Captivated the Nation Gabby and Brian set out on a four-month van-life trip across the United States, sharing dreamy Instagram posts along the way. However, beneath the surface, tensions grew. On August 12, 2021 , police in Moab, Utah , responded to a domestic violence report involving the couple. Officers separated them for the night but let them continue their trip together the next day—a decision later heavily criticized ( fox5ny.com tps:// www.fox5ny.com/news/utah-...