Gabby Petito kept touching her neck while talking to cops as she 'feared for her life'
As the search for Brian Laundrie, the fiance of Gabrielle ‘Gabby’ Petito, continues, online sleuths and supposed experts continue to bring in new theories into the mix — this time, a clue that points to how the dead 22-year-old was terrified of Laundrie. Petito’s case has generated a whirlwind online from the very start. Armchair sleuths continue to pore over photos and videos, in an attempt to find new evidence in a case that has many mysteries surrounding it.
As has been a trend from the start, a vast majority of the people following the case have presumed the guilt of Laundrie in Petito’s disappearance and death, which has been revealed to be a homicide. Laundrie, who has last seen by his family on September 14, has been the subject of a manhunt. He is, however, only a person of interest in the case so far, even if he is the only one.
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Two police bodycam videos of Petito being questioned after an altercation with Laundrie in August have been released. In the footage, Petito was seen crying as she spoke about her argument with Laundrie and her mental health. The 22-year-old appeared to stroke her neck while being quizzed by cops.
Body language expert Patti Wood told The Sun, “It’s a comfort cue, but I do think it's a mimicking action of where she felt vulnerable on her neck. If people touch around the carotid artery -- the vulnerable part of the neck -- that typically indicates a great fear and vulnerability of safety.” Wood added, “She’s comfort cuing on a part of the body that if it was hurt, it might mean death. She was giving the indication that as she was apologizing she might've been fearing for her life.”
Police bodycam footage released on September 30 showed Petito alleging that Laundrie had "grabbed her face", left a "burning" gash on her cheek, and red marks on her arm. While she appeared distressed, Laundrie looked calm, as he told the police that Petito “gets really worked up, and when she does she swings and she had her cell phone in her hand. So I was just trying to push her away."
Forensic psychiatrist Dr Ziv Evra Cohen said the YouTuber looked "scared and overwhelmed". The clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University and staff member of New York-Presbyterian Hospital told Fox News, “She was emoting so much that it was very clear that there had been an incident and there had been a problem of some kind that she was struggling with.”
Cohen added that "such an imbalance of the emotional state" between the pair as seen in officers' bodycam footage "does raise a red flag" because Petito "doesn't just look like someone who's having a panic attack or who's anxious."
Earlier, online sleuths pointed out that in one seemingly happy selfie shared by Petito on Instagram, she looked as if she may have been crying before it was clicked. The photo featuring Petito with no makeup and Laundrie with sunglasses and a cap with a scenic rocky backdrop in Bryce Canyon National Park. People in the comments claimed that Petito’s eyes looked puffy from crying. One Instagram user commented: "Her eyes look puffy here like she was crying the night before."
