Why hasn't FBI released Gabby Petito's remains? Withholding vlogger's body 'unusual'
A forensic pathologist has pointed out how odd it is that investigators have not released murdered vlogger Gabby Petito's body to her family, and withheld her cause of death after publicly disclosing the manner in which she died.
Petito, 22, and her boyfriend Brian Laundie, 23, had embarked on a cross-country trip back in July, and on September 1 he returned home without her in the van they had traveled in together. Laundrie has reportedly not been seen since September 14 and was confirmed 'missing' on September 17. This led police to search the nearby Carlton Reserve for Laundrie, but with zero luck so far. Since then, Gabby's body has been discovered in a Wyoming park by the authorities. Teton County Coroner Dr Brent Blue confirmed the vlogger's death was a homicide but the immediate cause of death is still unclear as police are still waiting for the final autopsy results.
READ MORE
Gabby Petito was crying before 'happy' selfie, says Internet: 'Her eyes look puffy'
Did Gabby Petito predict her death? Cryptic artwork message says 'closing my eyes'
'It is very unusual'
The move to withhold Petito's remains from her own family members was a move that Dr Michael Baden, a Fox News contributor and the former chief medical examiner in New York City, called "very unusual". "I think the FBI would be very cautious about things because they don't want to make a mistake," he told Fox News. "Whatever reasons they're withholding, it is very unusual." He added: "I think that the only reason would be, you're concerned that you're missing something, but that should not be a concern, because whatever is needed to investigate the death from the point of view of the medical examiner will be seen, documented and could be retained."
According to Badden, if a pathologist wanted to determine whether someone suffered from heart disease, he or she can withhold the heart, "but you don’t retain the whole body," Baden said. "In 2021, where anything of value can be document[ed], retained, tested on day one or two or three, there's no reason to keep the whole body from the family," he said.
Baden: COD is already known if the manner of death is known
In the past, Baden has also served as the chief forensic pathologist for the New York State Police and the chairman of the House Select Committee on Assassinations Forensic Pathology Panel. In his career, he has been involved in a number of high-profile cases, including the ongoing investigation into the death of Jeffrey Epstein. However, he is not involved in the investigation into Petito’s death. He also added that in Petito's case, the authorities ended up doing the "reverse" of what agencies typically do when they released the manner of death before the cause. "Usually, if one thinks of other deaths, high-profile or not, the cause of death is certainly revealed. Sometimes, sometimes the manner of death is held up," he said.
Baden explained as an example that a person could die from a drug overdose as a result of an accident, a suicide, or a homicide. When he was asked if releasing a victim’s manner of death automatically implied that the COD was already known, he said: "Yes." He continued: "Now, what they're saying is, whatever they found, they've ruled out accidents, suicides or natural deaths that could cause it."