Coroner Releases Results of Gabby Petito Autopsy

He says the cause of death was strangulation
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 12, 2021 2:12 PM CDT
Coroner Says Gabby Petito Died by Strangulation
Teton County Coroner Brent Blue gives a press conference Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2021, in Jackson, Wyo., on the cause of death of Gabrielle "Gabby" Petito was strangled to death, Blue said. Petito had been on   (Bradly J. Boner/Jackson Hole News & Guide via AP)

Gabby Petito died by strangulation, a Wyoming coroner disclosed Tuesday. After the 22-year-old's body was found last month, Teton County Coroner Brent Blue ruled that the death was a homicide. Petito's remains were found in Grand Teton National Park on Sept. 19 and Blue said Tuesday that the body was outside for three to four weeks before it was found, CBS reports. Brian Laundrie, her fiancé, returned alone from their cross-country trip alone on Sept. 1. Petito was reported missing by her parents on Sept. 11.

A nationwide manhunt for Laundrie, considered a person of interest in the disappearance, is underway. Federal officials in Wyoming charged him last month with unauthorized use of a debit card in the weeks after Petito went missing. It's not clear whether the coroner's findings will lead to additional charges against the 23-year-old, the AP reports. Blue did not comment Tuesday on who might be responsible for Petito's death. He declined to release details from the autopsy, including how his team determined the cause of death, saying Wyoming law limits the information that coroners can release. He didn't comment on whether investigators believe she died in the location where the body was found. (More Gabby Petito stories.)

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