# Van lifer goes missing on cross country trip with fiancee **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 13, 2021, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604 "2021-09-13T13:48:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2021, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/181 "2021-09-18T11:24:18Z")
Here is a visual representation of the timeline: [![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/8x8yxiK.jpeg "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/8x8yxiK) ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2021, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/182 "2021-09-18T11:44:43Z")
Murder can take many forms. If he knowingly left her in a situation in which death was a likely outcome and didn’t offer any assistance, then he’s responsible for her death. Now whether that’s called manslaughter, murder, or something else, and whether you can get 12 jurors to agree on the charge…those are open questions. This case seems like it’s destined to be a 20/20 or Dateline episode at some point. ---
**Author:** ![3AxisCtrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/ecd19e/32.png) [@3AxisCtrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3AxisCtrl)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2021, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/183 "2021-09-18T12:11:21Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Here is a visual representation of the timeline: The Aug 30 text from Yosemite seems strange. That’s something like 900 miles from Grand Teton park. I wonder if this might be confusion between Yosemite and Yellowstone - the latter being another world-famous national park that starts with a Y, located less than an hour’s drive north of Grand Teton park. Note that both these parks have some cellphone coverage - along with plenty of territory where there’s none. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2021, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/184 "2021-09-18T13:45:35Z")
> [@3AxisCtrl](#): > > The Aug 30 text from Yosemite seems strange. That’s something like 900 miles from Grand Teton park. Remember that he was in Florida two days later, a distance of more than 2800 miles from Yosemite to Florida, a driving distance of 42 hours. So what are the explanations for how this happened? ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2021, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/185 "2021-09-18T13:56:25Z")
He drove 21 hours, slept for 6, and then drove 21 hours? Not impossible. Plenty of other potential explanations too, but even the most straightforward is possible if “2 days” means at least 48 hours. Did I ever tell y’all about the time I drove from Michigan to Texas Friday afternoon into Saturday afternoon, and then from Texas to Michigan Saturday into Sunday? This was no cannonball run. Just wanted to cast my vote in the 2020 election, and didn’t trust the mail, so I did in-person early voting in Texas while attending school full-time in Michigan. Slept about 4 hours each night at different rest stops in Missouri, but could have cut it down to a single night for the roundtrip if I’d been able to leave at dawn and drive until midnight (which I have also done). ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2021, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/186 "2021-09-18T14:07:14Z")
But why would he do it? He would be totally exhausted the next day–probably multiple days. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2021, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/187 "2021-09-18T14:12:50Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > He drove 21 hours, slept for 6, and then drove 21 hours? Or he began driving, picked up a hitchhiker, shared driving/sleeping. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2021, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/188 "2021-09-18T14:44:18Z")
Almost no one is going to let a hitchhiker drive their vehicle. Would you? ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2021, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/189 "2021-09-18T14:46:19Z")
Yet another case of [Missing white woman syndrome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missing_white_woman_syndrome). ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2021, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/190 "2021-09-18T14:47:08Z")
Hah! Yes. I drove Pittsburgh to Gainesville years ago and wanted to make best time possible. I drove my share, but “used” two hitchhikers who drove while I slept. Made the trip nonstop other than gas and toilet use. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2021, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/191 "2021-09-18T15:32:25Z")
As long as we’re throwing out theories, here’s one. Laundrie and Petito are traveling around the country together. They have a few fights but nothing too unusual. Some time around August 29, they are in Wyoming. Petito is posing by a cliff. Laundrie is taking a photo. Petito takes a step back and falls off the cliff to her death. Laundrie had nothing to do with her death. It was an accident by Petito. But Laundrie panics. The two of them were all alone. There is a police record of them fighting a couple of weeks before. What if the police think he pushed her off the cliff? So Laundrie panics and drives away. He sends Petito’s parents a fake text to make it look like she’s still alive. But as he’s driving back to Florida, he realizes he’s just put himself into a worst situation. He now looks much guiltier of a crime than he originally did. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2021, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/192 "2021-09-18T15:48:37Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Here is a visual representation of the timeline: > [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Yet another case of Missing white woman syndrome . Cripes! Someone made a timeline! If she wasn’t white and pretty we’d have never heard of this case. Somewhere, a Black mother is screaming for her missing daughter, but everyone is too busy to listen. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2021, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/193 "2021-09-18T15:59:10Z")
Are y’all suggesting it would be appropriate to stop looking for or stop being concerned for Miss Petito? ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2021, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/194 "2021-09-18T16:16:36Z")
No, but updates on BBC News for every trivial piece of information is a bit over the top, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2021, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/195 "2021-09-18T16:20:25Z")
Feel free to start a thread about a missing young Black woman. Frankly, I think this story is weird enough that it would have made news whatever color she was. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2021, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/196 "2021-09-18T16:27:42Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Are y’all suggesting it would be appropriate to stop looking for or stop being concerned for Miss Petito? > [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > No, but updates on BBC News for every trivial piece of information is a bit over the top, isn’t it? Your response seems contradictory. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2021, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/197 "2021-09-18T16:31:32Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Frankly, I think this story is weird enough that it would have made news whatever color she was. I was interested in the story before I knew the “color” of the people involved. It has enough nebulous weirdness that it makes it an interesting case to follow. As terrible as it may be to admit it, “my daughter disappeared from the playground” is a tragic tale, but not _interesting_. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2021, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/198 "2021-09-18T16:33:13Z")
No idea what you’re on about. ---
**Author:** ![Esprise\_Me](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprise_me/32/2947_2.png) [@Esprise\_Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprise_Me)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2021, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/199 "2021-09-18T16:53:10Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Feel free to start a thread about a missing young Black woman. This is not a problem that can be solved by just posting the news stories about missing black girls and women, because those stories mostly aren’t being written. None of us in this thread is really researching Petito’s disappearance, any more than anti-vaxxers are researching whether it’s safe. We’re just posting and discussing the work of others, work that is not being done for missing women who aren’t white. What’s galling is not so much the attention being paid here, but how starkly it throws into relief the attention not paid to others. And it’s fair to bring that up. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2021, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/200 "2021-09-18T16:54:06Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > No idea what you’re on about Just Asking Questions raised the issue that other crime victims do not receive the media attention that Gabby Petito’s disappearance is getting and pointed out correctly that there is a racial element to this. Snowboarder Bo did not argue this point. But he asked if it was preferable that one crime victim received a lot of media attention rather than no crime victims receive any media attention. Your response to this question seemed contradictory to me. On the one hand, you said no. But you also said there should be less media attention on this crime. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604.md?page=11)