(NEW YORK) — A Wyoming coroner on Tuesday said Gabby Petito, the 22-year-old travel blogger whose remains were recovered in September in a national park, died by strangulation.
Petito’s boyfriend and cross-country traveling companion, Brian Laundrie, has been named by investigators as a person of interest in her death and is the subject of a massive nationwide search being directed by the FBI.
Teton County Coroner Dr. Brent Blue told reporters Petito’s manner of death was homicide.
Her body was discovered on Sept. 19 in the Bridger-Teton National Forest near Jackson.
Blue’s announcement comes amidst a nationwide search the FBI is leading for Laundrie, who drew suspicion after returning to his parents’ North Port, Florida, home on Sept. 1 without Petito but driving her van, authorities said.
Laundrie’s parents told police they last saw their son on Sept. 13, two days after Petito’s parents, who live in Long Island, New York, reported her missing. Laundrie’s parents told investigators their son may have been headed to the Carlton Reserve, a 25,000-acre wildlife preserve near their home.
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