# 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:** 38
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2021, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/744 "2021-10-01T23:30:28Z")
Sorry for the double post. This is one of the reports I read: > **[Police called to Laundrie home twice the day before Gabby Petito was reported...](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/brian-laundrie-police-calls-family-home-b1930298.html)** > > Police turned up at the North Port address twice on 10 September (That one has a pay wall, unfortunately, but you can see the timing in the visible part of the page.) But the report only indicated two calls being made on September 10th. Perhaps once they got worried the police acted quickly, since Petito was announced as missing the day after. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2021, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/745 "2021-10-01T23:55:24Z")
> [@Kimera757](#): > > That one has a pay wall, unfortunately, but you can see the timing in the visible part of the page.) Here’s an ABC News link to the same information. Scroll down to the 9/30 update: > **[How the search for Brian Laundrie, boyfriend of Gabby Petito, unfolded](https://abcnews.go.com/US/live-updates/gabby-petito-live-updates/?id=80124877)** > > Brian Laundrie is a person of interest in the death of his girlfriend, Gabby Petito. This is how the search for him unfolded. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/746 "2021-10-02T01:02:28Z")
Not in NY as far as I know - you can be charged with “hindering prosecution” if you harbor or conceal the person, warn the person, provide them with money or transportation or other means of avoiding apprehension, destroy evidence that might aid in the apprehension and so on , assuming that you know or believe the person has committed a crime or at least that he/she is being sought by the police for the commission of a crime. But nowhere in the long list of actions does it say “refuse to tell the police where he is”. You don’t have to talk to the police at all , not even if they ask you directly. Just think about it for a minute - _Miranda_ warnings don’t exist because the Supreme Court decided that people who are under arrest have some special right to be silent. They exist because _no one_ is required to talk to the police. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/747 "2021-10-02T01:12:02Z")
Agreed. You may not obstruct a criminal investigation, but nothing requires you to assist in a criminal investigation. It is an important distinction. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/748 "2021-10-02T01:13:36Z")
Not even a good liar. “I don’t know, Dad, she was upset and didn’t want to talk to me. Maybe she just wants to be left alone and doesn’t want to talk to her parents right now. I don’t know. She was pretty pissed off when she told me to drive back home, so I think if we just leave her alone for a little bit, she will figure things out.” ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/749 "2021-10-02T02:00:49Z")
They were in the middle of nowhere and she told him to take her van back to Florida? ---
**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:** [October 2, 2021, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/750 "2021-10-02T02:28:36Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > Has anyone posted [this](https://www.foxnews.com/us/brian-laundrie-cryptic-messages-pinterest)? > > Gabby Petito’s [missing boyfriend](https://www.foxnews.com/category/topic/missing-persons), Brian Laundrie, apparently shared cryptic and foreboding images and messages on Pinterest – including one last month that read: “Don’t try to find me. I have finally escaped my ‘master’s’ wicked clutches,” according to a report. > > I can’t bring myself to watch the videos, so I don’t have a context for this. Just thought I’d share. From the article: > One user reportedly noted a disturbing post with “My Baby” inscribed on a headstone in artwork designed by Sacha Strange — and the words, “She’ll never find a sweet man like me.” > It adds: “Let her go, let her go, GOD BLESS HER, wherever she may be.” I recognize this at least. Those are lyrics from St. James Infirmary, an old blues song with a zillion slightly different versions whose origin and meaning are both unclear–but there’s definitely a dead girlfriend in it. _I went down to the St. James Infirmary I saw my baby there She was stretched out on a long white table So cold, so pale, so fair. Let her go, let her go, God bless her Wherever she may be She may search this wide world over She’ll never find a sweet man like me._ ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/751 "2021-10-02T02:34:55Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > They were in the middle of nowhere and she told him to take her van back to Florida? In my speculative “coulda happened” version of events, Brian tells his parents that he and Gabby drove back together. But also that they fought bitterly on the road, and that she insisted he drop her off at a friend’s house once they got back in town. And that she said to leave her alone and that she’d call me when she’s ready. ---
**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:** [October 2, 2021, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/752 "2021-10-02T02:38:18Z")
“Which friend? At whose house did you drop her off?” ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/753 "2021-10-02T02:42:54Z")
No, he’d give specifics—just that his parents wouldn’t check his story right away. Plausible to me, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/754 "2021-10-02T02:44:39Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > They were in the middle of nowhere and she told him to take her van back to Florida? Yeah, that definitely wouldn’t wash. This was not a young woman who would have wanted to go off by herself with no transportation. ---
**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:** [October 2, 2021, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/755 "2021-10-02T02:47:08Z")
That lie would fall apart the second it was examined, is my point. Good lies don’t have specifics. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/756 "2021-10-02T02:55:31Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > That lie would fall apart the second it was examined, is my point. Good lies don’t have specifics . Agreed — I just don’t presume that such examination takes place on September 1st. And possibly not over the next week or so. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/757 "2021-10-02T05:45:43Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > Agreed — I just don’t presume that such examination takes place on September 1st. And possibly not over the next week or so. You had a fight with your fiance and she let you wander off with her car? What’s she driving in the mean time? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/758 "2021-10-02T09:38:06Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > While I was never willing to give him the benefit of the doubt about Gabby’s disappearance, I will (for now) wait until we know more about his parents’ potential culpability. There are a million plausible stories he could have told them about where Gabby was that might not sound suspicious at all until her parents raised the alarm. The one that springs to mind is “Gaby? Oh, she flew out to New York to spend some time with her family.” Mind you, it would not shock me at all if it is discovered the elder two Laundrie’s are complicit/aiding and abetting the whole time. > [@Kimera757](#): > > Gabby Petito’s parents called Brian Laundrie’s parents repeatedly before calling the police. That sort of story would likely start to fall apart if the suspect can’t answer “so why do your fiancee’s parents keep calling?”. ^ And that’s where the excuse falls off the rails. That’s the point where I start thinking Mr. and Mrs. Laundrie are helping their son hide something. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/759 "2021-10-02T15:35:54Z")
😄 they just couldn’t resist the low hanging fruit. It’s encouraging the k9 is finding scent. Apparently the family isn’t cooperating with this private search. I know the FBI has seized evidence from that house. [K9 search expert: Promising clues emerge in hunt for Brian Laundrie](https://nypost.com/2021/10/02/k9-search-expert-park-offers-clues-to-brian-laundrie-whereabouts/) > [@](#): > > Dog the Bounty Hunter may be sniffing in the right place, a Florida search and rescue expert says. > > Michael Hadsell, president of Peace River K9 Search and Rescue, was among the searchers who joined the former reality star’s hunt for fugitive Brian Laundrie in Fort De Soto Park > (snip, snip) > The K9 team had to rely on its experience of nearly 200 search and rescue missions because the Laundrie family did not supply anything with Brian’s scent on it, Hadsell said. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/760 "2021-10-02T18:47:35Z")
I wonder if this is going to end on a boat. Andrew Cunanan hid out on an anchored boat in a marina. The surviving one of the Boston Marathon bombers was found in a boat in someone’s back yard. > **Snowboarder\_Bo:** : Good lies don’t have specifics. _Originally posted by King of the Hill_ Leon: I wasn’t late, I was early. I got here at – what time are we open? Hank: Eight o’clock. Leon: Yeah, I got here at seven, and you weren’t here, so I went to get some coffee, right? But the waitress, turns out her dog was sick, so I thought, hey, if I take her dog to the vet, she might buy some propane, you know, from us. So there’s this line at the vet, because of this farm accident – they’re tryin’ to keep it quiet, so you might not hear about it – but here I am with a customer’s dog, and I can’t just leave her. So I promise I’ll never come to work early again. Hank: Well, that sure is a long story. Leon: Yeah, that’s how you know it’s true! ---
**Author:** ![Tabco](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tabco/32/7644_2.png) [@Tabco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabco)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/761 "2021-10-02T19:04:25Z")
A few in here have mentioned, perhaps half-seriously, that Laundrie might try to hide on the Appalachian Trail. This reminded me of the saga of James T. Hammes aka Bismarck, who basically lived on the trail for something like six years, cultivating something of a new identity. He was eventually caught. The article linked below is pretty interesting, I think. > **[The millionaire embezzler who became the Appalachian Trail's most-wanted man](https://www.sbnation.com/longform/2015/7/1/8861183/james-hammes-appalachian-trail-bismarck)** > > When fugitive James T. Hammes went on the run, he went for a 6-year hike ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/762 "2021-10-02T20:32:48Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > Hank: Well, that sure is a long story. > > Leon: Yeah, that’s how you know it’s true! and the dog will back me up. Look him straight in the face and ask him if I’m telling the truth and he’ll bark yes. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604/763 "2021-10-02T20:52:45Z")
Good read. I enjoyed it. And I can’t help comparing Hammes and Laundrie. So Hammes was caught after another hiker recognized him on _America’s Most Wanted_. The article mentions that many of the 2,000+ AT hikers don’t watch TV, and Hammes’ beard and long hair made him harder to recognize. But Hammes’ face (sans beard and long hair) wasn’t all over social media. I wonder if Laundrie _could_ go unrecognized with changes to his hair (or wearing a hat or toupee, since he doesn’t have much hair). My guess is not for long. He has a distinctive and prominent nose, for one thing. And I don’t think he could disguise his voice very well. AT hikers may not watch the news, but most of them are surely on social media. I have a question: Why were LE not surveilling the Laundrie home when BL left for his “hike”? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604.md?page=37) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-lifer-goes-missing-on-cross-country-trip-with-fiancee/950604.md?page=39)