I first heard about Gabby when the police video from the Moab incident came out. Gabrielle Venora Petito (March 19, 1999 – c. late August 2021) was born and raised in Blue Point, New York. She had six younger siblings and half-siblings. I felt very empathetic towards her while watching the video and I could see that she was blaming herself for everything and was worried about what was going to happen to Brian. She even admitted to hitting Brian while crying and didn’t say anything about what Brian did to her. When I watched Brian, I could tell that he was faking being a nice guy. My mother used to be like that, the kind of person that is nice, calm, soft spoken in front of people but totally the opposite behind closed doors. He did not seem genuine at all to me, it seemed like he was not being honest at all and wasn’t even consistent with what he was saying. He told the police he didn’t have a phone and later on, pulled his phone out in front of them to check something on it. That alone should’ve been a red flag of his character. Police officers often mention this when I watch those Youtube videos of people getting arrested for something they do. I often hear the officer say: “If you are honest with me, this will go a long way, just be honest and tell me what happened. Just tell me the truth”

Then I started looking more into it and reading everything I could on it. Young couple, seeking new experiences while living in their van. The thing though, is that it’s not an easy life. You only have one vehicle, you are stuck in a small space with your boyfriend or girlfriend all the time, you can’t get away. Being so young and living like that, it was bound to lead to a tragedy. I can only imagine all the fights they had with each other. I feel like Brian rushed Gabby into leaving as soon as possible so he could have her all to himself. He seemed jealous of her hanging out with friends from working and even working for that matter.

This story makes me sad and mad at the same time. I read everything about it. I was one of the ones waiting when they were searching for her, hoping that they would find her alive, only to be very disappointed. I told my husband after I read the news online about her body discovery and we were both sad and touched by what happened to her. Gabby seems to be like a very creative young woman, full of life with so many opportunities ahead of her. She was artistic and very talented. She would’ve made an amazing Youtube van life Vlog on her own, met tons of people and shared her fun life with the rest of us. Brian took that from her parents and the rest of us.

What really irritates me is the way the police responded to the incident that happened in Moab, with Gabby and Brian. They got called by a witness who told them that he saw the guy slapping her girlfriend. You would think from that alone that they would be on alert, but instead we get cops who get chummy with Brian like they have been buddies for the past 10 years, laughing and joking with him, while they witness a young woman crying, blaming herself about everything, telling the truth, but they rather believe the guy who slapped his girlfriend and is acting innocent. I don’t think they are to blame for what happened. I just wish they handled the situation in a different way. I know that in most cases they have to separate the couple for the night if they don’t have any evidence of abuse or any proof, but they had a witness stating they saw Brian hitting Gabby.

I wonder what made them meet up later that night. I have a feeling that Gabby with her anxiety, being young, didn’t want to be alone for the night in a place she didn’t know and went to get Brian. I know that’s how I felt when I first came to the United States (I’m from Canada) . A lot of young women are insecure and I don’t blame her. She seemed like she was also dealing with a lot of anxiety. We also know from the video and her parent’s claims that she had OCD. I don’t know much about Brian though, but I know that this wasn’t going to end well when both of them were stuck together all the time in a small van, sleeping in it and driving long hours together.

I will never understand how Brian’s parents were able to handle their son killing his girlfriend and not turn him in. I have the feeling that Brian’s mother never liked Gabby and didn’t care much about what happened to her or her family. It seems a lot of mothers are very protective of their sons, no matter if they do something really wrong. I don’t blame people for hating them for leaving Gabby’s parents in the dark. There is absolutely no way they didn’t know. How do you continue on with life knowing your son murdered someone ? How do you sleep ? No matter how much you love your kid, the right thing to do when your kid kills someone is to turn them in to the police, period. You don’t refuse to talk to the police , you don’t get your kid a lawyer, you do what is right and that is to tell the police what happened. No matter how much you love them. What does that say about you as an individual if you protect your kid from the consequences of their actions ? Especially if they killed someone ? I just cannot comprehend how parents could do something like that, it’s just disgusting. 

There is no reason for domestic violence. So many people are victims to this, men, woman. Once someone is hit in a relationship, that should be it. There is never a good reason to hit someone no matter what they do to you. That’s not a proper healthy way to handle a situation. Nobody should accept that. The person hitting is the one who has mental issues and should seek help. Unfortunately they often think that it’s normal because it’s a learned behavior from the parents. It’s very hard to break that vicious cycle but at some point, you have to ask yourself is this really how you want to be ? How do you want to live your life ? Is it really worth it ? Nothing positive ever comes out of it. Nothing, period. Once you hit someone, the odds of repeating it are very high. You get away with it and then you think you can just hit someone and it’s acceptable. It is not. That’s why you get arrested. It’s called assault. Too many times does that violence lead to something even more serious like a person losing their life.

What are your thoughts ?