Gabby Petito's Disappearance Could Be Connected To Murder Of Newlywed Couple In Utah
The investigation into disappearance of Gabby Petito — who went missing during a road trip with her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie — has unearthed a potential link to another crime.
Utah police are investigating whether Petito's disappearance is connected to the murders of Kylen Schulte and Crystal Turner.
The couple were found found shot dead in the South Mesa area of the La Sal Loop Road not long after Laundrie and Petito, 22, had been in the area.
Is Gabby Petito's disappearance connected to Kylen Schulte and Crystal Turner's murder?
Utah investigators have not ruled out any potential connection between the two high-profile cases that seemed to have happened within weeks of each other.
RELATED: Fiancé Of Gabby Petito Named Person Of Interest In Her Disappearance But Still Won't Talk To Police
"We're looking at everything, I mean, anything and everything that was suspicious around that time or we're not ruling anything out at this time," a representative for the Grand County Sheriff's Office told Fox Wednesday afternoon.
"So we're just investigating the information as it comes in."
MOAB UTAH: Gabby Petito Missing case may link to Kylen Schulte & Crystal Turner Murders I don't believe in coincidences when it involves missing and murdered women in a remote area within 30 miles of each other on the same weekend in the Moab Utah area https://t.co/pNmkZLHH9H pic.twitter.com/WOHVo2O5fa
— Bill Warner Investigations Sarasota Fl est 1995 (@billdetective) September 15, 2021
There have been no suspects named in the investigation into Turner and Schulte's deaths but Petito's boyfriend has been named as a person on interest in her disappearance.
Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie allegedly fought outside the store where Kylen Schulte works.
Weeks before she had been reported missing on August 12th, police were called to a domestic incident that occurred in front of the Moonflower food co-op in Moab, Utah where Petito and Laundrie were apparently fighting.
Schulte had worked as a cashier at Moonflower co-op for four years prior to her death. Kylen Schulte, 24, and Crystal Turner, 38, were found dead six days after Petito and Laundrie's police run-in.
No charges were issued after the incident but Petito and Laundrie reportedly told police that stress and undisclosed mental health issues had caused the argument.
Turner and Schulte went on a camping trip on August 13th, staying around the Moab, UT area but jumping from campsite to campsite.
Schulte and Turner were last seen leaving local bar Woody's Tavern at around 8.30pm on that same day — the day after Laundrie and Petito had been separated following their fight.
Kylen Schulte and Crystal Turner were concerned about a 'creepy' man before their murder.
While they were at the bar, they had told friends that they were having issues with a man and planned to move to different campgrounds.
"They said they needed to move their campsite because of some creepy guy at their campsite," Schulte's aunt, Bridget Calvert said to NBC News on Monday.
"These are outdoors girls, and they're independent and confident," she said, "And for somebody to make them feel uncomfortable, it had to be a very valid discomfort."
Soon after, friends and family stopped hearing from them altogether.
Unsealed search warrants filed in court this week said the newlywed couple were found by a friend partially undressed in a nearby creek with multiple gunshot wounds on August 18th.
August 24th, Petito was last seen checking out of a hotel in Salt Lake City, UT, with her boyfriend, the day before the last phone call she had with her family on August 25th.
The ominous final text sent from her phone on August 30 reads, "No signal in Yosemite." But her family have raised doubts about whether Petito sent it herself.
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Some fear Brian Laundrie took Gabby Petito to the Zone of Death in Yellowstone.
The couple were headed toward Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, when Petito was last seen in Grand Teton park.
Considering Yosemite is much further west than Yellowstone, her mother believes that the message was not sent by her daughter.
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The inconsistencies of the whole ordeal is causing some to theorize what really happened, including a theory that Laundrie took her to the Zone of Death in Yellowstone and murdered her.
The Zone of Death is a small overlap where the Yellowstone National Park reaches into Idaho.
They MUST check the zone of death, the area of Yellowstone where you can legally get away with murder. Why has no one mentioned this yet?! #GabbyPetito pic.twitter.com/iplFlVcPi8
— Karter (@gothgirlkarter) September 15, 2021
Utah retains legal jurisdiction over all of the Yellowstone National Park, but when brought to court against a jury of their peers, the jury must consist of citizens who are from both the district and state where the crime was committed.
Since the Idaho portion of the park is uninhabited, a jury of residents of both the state and district could not be formed, and therefore the crime cannot be punishable by law.
The destination of Petito and Laundrie's road trip was supposed to be Portland, OR, so they would have to go further west in order to reach it anyway — meaning that it's entirely possible that they stopped by the Idaho portion of the park.
While it's unclear whether or not a connection exists between these two stories, investigators are exhausting all their options as Laundrie remains silent and continues to refuse cooperation with police.
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Isaac Serna-Diez is a writer who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice and politics.
Jason @BeardedOverland www.beardedadv.blogspot.com
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