Gabby Petito: Robert Lowery and Cian McLaughlin went missing in same Grand Teton area
Twenty-two-year-old Gabrielle ‘Gabby’ Petito’ went incommunicado late in August while on a cross-country road trip with her partner Brian Laundrie. On September 11, her family reported her missing. Now, a body suspected to be Petito has been found in a remote area of the Bridger-Teton National Forest, near the Spread Creek Dispersed campground.
The human remains were discovered on Sunday, September 19, and was immediately suspected to be Petito. The FBI said, however, that formal identification of the remains has not been made and the cause of death is yet to be determined. The site where the body was found was not far from where two travel bloggers filmed the couple's van, seemingly abandoned, along a dirt road near Spread Creek on the evening of August 27, two days after Petito's last confirmed contact with her family.
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But Petito is not the only person who went missing in the Bridger-Teton National Forest. In fact, as per a news report, two other persons have gone missing in or near Grand Teton National Park this summer. As per Jackson Hole News & Guide, the other missing persons are Robert Lowery, who was last seen toward the end of August; and Cian McLaughlin, who was reported missing in mid-June.
Robert ‘Bob’ Lowery, 46, of Houston, Texas, has been missing in Jackson Hole for over two weeks. He had never been to Jackson before and potentially had plans to go camping, according to his sister. Lowery was seen on August 19 on video at Piste Mountain Bistro at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in Teton Village. It is believed he took a Lyft to Pearl Street Bagels in Wilson the following day. The sheriff’s office reportedly pinged his cell phone — the last ping location was August 23 in Jackson. The phone reportedly is no longer working or trackable.
Cian McLaughlin, on the other hand, disappeared even earlier — since June. He was last seen around 2.30 pm on June 8, hiking up from the Lupine Meadows Trailhead. More than 45 helicopter search missions were conducted, some using RECCO rescue technology and thermal imaging cameras, to locate him.
More people still have gone missing in national parks across the country since September 12. But the Bridger-Teton National Forest has had several more incidents in the past. In July 2019, a boater found the body of a northern Arizona man in the Snake River ten days after he was reported missing. Search and rescue responders pulled the body of 21-year-old Averin Scott out of the water. Scott went missing on July 4. Officials said his body was found about 25 miles south of where he probably fell in.
In July 2018, Grand Teton National Park rangers and Signal Mountain Lodge employees recovered the body of a deceased kayaker from Jackson Lake — a 36-year-old woman from Driggs, Idaho. On July 23, Signal Mountain Lodge employees found a single overturned rental kayak approximately 100 feet offshore in the Signal Mountain Marina. The kayak was unoccupied but contained a personal flotation device and some personal items. The employees began to visually search the surrounding waters and found the woman about 30 feet away under approximately 15 feet of water.
In September 2016, park rangers found the body of what they believed was a Colorado man who went missing last week while hiking in Grand Teton National Park — 21-year-old Rene Dreiling. Dreiling was a seasonal employee of Grand Teton Lodge Company, which operates hotels and cottages inside the park. He was last seen hiking days earlier. About 100 people were involved in the search. “We extend our thoughts and prayers to Rene’s family and to Grand Teton Lodge Company,” Grand Teton National Park Superintendent David Vela said in a statement.