'Law & Order' Season 21 Episode 3: Is Amanda Larsson's story inspired by Gabby Petito's case?

The upcoming episode 'Law & Order' Season 21 will see the NYPD investigating a case that is similar to Gabby Petito's disappearance and death
UPDATED MAR 11, 2022
A still from 'Law & Order' and Gabby Petito (NBC, Instagram/@gabspetito)
A still from 'Law & Order' and Gabby Petito (NBC, Instagram/@gabspetito)

Law & Order’ has returned to our TV screens with a bang and the first two episodes have been really amazing. They were a perfect mix of good writing and perfect execution, but it seems they are taking the show to a whole new level by tackling a case that sent shockwaves around the entire world.

The NBC series is known for taking cases “ripped from the headlines” and we saw how the first episode of the latest season had striking similarities with the Bill Cosby case. The only difference was the killing of the accused because, in reality, no one attacked Bill Cosby. However, the show is now tackling a case that’s not that old and people still remember all the details about the gruesome case.

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The promo for the upcoming episode suggests that the show will be investigating something similar to the Gabby Petito case. Let’s take a look at the similarities these two cases have.

Camryn Manheim, Anthony Anderson and Jeffrey Donovan in 'Law & Order' Season 21 (NBC)

‘Law & Order’ Season 21 Episode 3 Spoilers

If you have followed the news, then you must have heard about the killing of Gabby Petito. The 22-year-old girl was allegedly murdered by her fiancé Brian Laundrie in August 2021 while they were journeying across the country in their van. The trip was planned to last four months. The case received a lot of media coverage and the social media exposure of both parties played an important role in knowing a lot of things about Petito. Petito's life with boyfriend Laundrie was out in the open, the couple's tiffs, their journeys and Laundrie's suspicious behavior- all proved to be integral to the case. 

Meanwhile, the latest episode of ‘Law & Order’ will investigate the disappearance of a young girl named Amanda Larsson, a social media star who is missing and no one knows about her whereabouts. The only thing police and authorities know about is a van that is recovered after a few days of the disappearance. On the other hand, the photos from the crime scenes were widely circulated on social media and everyone got to know that something happened inside that van.

Brian Laundrie and Gabby Petito (Instagram/@gabspetito)

The police also find out that Larsson used to post everything about her life on social media. If you look closely, Petito's case garnered media attention due to the couple’s social media activity and all the 9-1-1 emergency dispatch call recordings.  However, the case became crazier when police found skeletal remains of Laundrie as well at the time they were suspecting Laundire of murdering Petito. On November 23, it was announced that Laundrie died due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

The FBI later announced that Laundrie admitted to killing Petito in his notebook, which was found near his remains.

Let’s see if the show manages to showcase every detail on the episode or not. But, the case is surely similar to the killing of Gabby Petito.

'Law & Order' Season 21 returns to NBC with a new episode every Thursday at 8 pm EST. 

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