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Who deactivated Gabby Petito's Instagram? Missing hiker's account disappears for 4 hours

Gabby Petito's Instagram account, which was pretty much active until recently, was deleted overnight

As the mystery surrounding the disappearance of the Long Island woman, Gabby Petito, 22, deepens by the day, with no sign of her whereabouts, her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie's 'eerie silence' over the whole matter is raising suspicions by the minute. In the latest update in the case, Gabby Petito's Instagram account, which was pretty much active until recently, was deleted overnight. If the reports are to be believed, Petito's family denied having access to her Instagram account. 

Speculations that Gabby Petitio's boyfriend, Brian Laundrie 'had something to do with it' swarmed social media as soon as the news of Petito's Instagram going 'AWOL' broke out. Brian's seemingly hazy position in Petito's disappearance has already made investigators wary of his role in the same, as he refused to cooperate with authorities in the investigation. "Brian is refusing to tell Gabby’s family where he last saw her. Brian is also refusing to explain why he left Gabby all alone and drove her van to Florida. These are critical questions that require immediate answers, " Gabby Petito's parents, Nicole Schmidt and Joe Petito said in a statement.

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"We have no idea who deleted Gabby's Instagram account. We contacted Instagram and the FBI to let them know that it was deleted," the Petito family's attorney reportedly said in a statement. However, later, a spokesperson for Instagram told Insider that Petito's account was 'mistakenly taken down' when the company was investigating fraudulent accounts claiming to be Petito. According to the spokesperson, Petito's real account was later reinstated. "The account was removed in error for impersonation and has now been reinstated," they said.

Florida native, Gabby Petito was on a cross country trip to Oregon with her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie when she stopped communicating with friends and family all of a sudden. Petito's last known location is believed to be in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. She was reported missing to the Suffolk County Police Department by her family on September 11. 

'Maybe Brian knew her password...'

As soon as the news of Gabby Petito's Instagram being deleted broke out, people started postulating all kinds of theories. One person tweeted, "Gabby Petito's instagram account is down. There was an interview with Gabby's father and step father on Fox news. No one in Gabby's family deleted her account. Maybe Brian knew her passwrod and there was increminating evidence in those photos. #wheresgabby #GabbyPetito." Another said, "I’ve been following the Gabby Petito search pretty closely, and it definitely freaked me out to see her Instagram got deleted this morning…" One tweet read, "So Gabby Petito’s Instagram got deleted and her boyfriends only statement from him and his family is well wishes in finding her?!?! Wtf" Another user wrote, "JUST IN: Gabby Petito's @instagram page has been deleted. She was using the page to document her trip with her boyfriend and was active up until now. MORE: It should be noted that her boyfriends page is still active and is being inundated with comments on his posts questioning him about Gabby and her whereabouts"