Gabby Petito autopsy results reveal she died of strangulation
Slain Long Island native Gabby Petito was manually strangled during her ill-fated cross-country trip with Brian Laundrie, a Wyoming coroner revealed Tuesday — but he said he could not pinpoint exactly when she died.
Teton County Coroner Brent Blue would only say that the body of the 22-year-old was exposed to the elements and wildlife for three to four weeks in Bridger-Teton National Forest before she was found Sept. 19.
He said toxicology tests have not been completed and that authorities took DNA samples, noting that “nothing is obvious in a situation like this.”
But he referred further questions to the FBI.
“By Wyoming state statute, no other information will be released about the autopsy,” Blue said when asked for more details on Petito’s death, including whether she was buried or left on the ground.
“The only thing that is released in the state of Wyoming is cause and manner of death,” he added.
Blue later listed Petito’s cause of death as “manual strangulation/throttling” in paperwork.
“I can’t make any comment about any suspects because we’re not involved in that part of the investigation,” he told reporters at the press conference. “Who committed the homicide is really to be determined by law enforcement.”
Blue, however, did say Petito was not pregnant when she died.
The FBI field office in Denver on Tuesday did not respond to a request for comment from The Post regarding any possible upgraded charges against Laundrie based on the results of Petito’s autopsy.
The budding young travel blogger disappeared while on a cross-country trip with Laundrie, her boyfriend, and her body was found last month at a campground at the Bridges-Teton National Forest in Wyoming — nearly three weeks after Laundrie returned home without her.
Blue declared Petito’s death a homicide but had not revealed the cause of death until now.
He said Petito’s body was turned over to a local funeral home, which would make arrangements to have her remains released to her family.
Laundrie returned to his parents’ home in North Port, Florida, on Sept. 1, lawyered up and refused to cooperate with authorities investigating Petito’s disappearance.
Laundrie’s parents, Chris and Roberta, reported him missing on Sept. 17, four days after they said he went for a hike at the 25,000-acre Carlton Reserve and never returned.
The FBI has since led a massive manhunt for the 23-year-old, focusing on the swampy reserve but pursuing reported sightings as far off as the Appalachian Trail near the North Carolina/Tennessee border.
Petito’s disappearance and death have captivated the nation, with daily headlines on the case and thousands of supporters following the case on social media.
Laundrie has not been charged in the Blue Point native’s death but is the only person of interest in the case and is wanted on a federal fraud warrant out of Wyoming.
The FBI alleges that Laundrie illegally used Petito’s bank card from Aug. 30 to Sept. 1 to charge more than $1,000 in cash and goods.
In a statement Tuesday, Steven Bertolino, the Laundrie family’s attorney, called Petito’s death “a tragedy,” but said the autopsy results don’t change Laundrie’s status.
“While Brian Laundrie is currently charged with the unauthorized use of a debit card belonging to Gabby, Brian is only considered a person of interest in relation to Gabby Petito’s demise,” he said.
“At this time Brian is still missing and when he is located he will address the fraud charge pending against him,” Bertolino added.
Petito’s mother, Nichole Schmidt, took issue with the lawyer’s statement.
“His words are garbage,” Schmidt said in a text message to WFLA-TV. “Keep talking.”
Meanwhile, Petito attorney Richard Stafford told The Post Tuesday that the family “is not making any statements until they bring Gabby home.”
Additional reporting by Jack Morphet
