THE boyfriend of Gabby Petito, a social media influencer whose disappearance and death gripped America last year, confessed to her killing in writing before taking his life, said the FBI yesterday.

Brian Laundrie killed himself with a bullet to the head amid suspicion about his possible role in the woman’s death as the two of them took a cross-country road trip, filming themselves along the way and posting the videos online.

His body was found in a nature reserve in Florida October 20, along with some belongings, including a notebook.

“A review of the notebook revealed written statements by Laundrie claiming responsibility for the death,” said the FBI in a statement.

The bureau investigation did not identify anyone else involved in the death.

Laundrie disappeared in September, shortly after police described him as a “person of interest” in the investigation into the killing.

Petito’s family, after talking to the FBI, said they are convinced Laundrie killed their daughter.

“The quality and quantity of the facts and information collected by the FBI leave no doubt that Laundrie murdered Petito,” said the family in a statement released by their lawyers.

The Petito case caused a huge media stir in the United States (US) for weeks. Petito, 22, and Laundrie, 23, left New York in July to tour the western US in a van for four months after the former quit her job.

For days, they published images on social networks, in which they were seen smiling on what appeared to be an idyllic road trip.

But Laundrie returned without his girlfriend to North Port, Florida, where they both lived with his family on September 1.

His attitude raised suspicions about his role in her disappearance, especially after he refused to answer police questions and fled on September 13.

Petito’s body was found in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, on September 19, and police announced that she had been strangled to death on October 12.

A video released by police in Moab, a small town in Utah, in September, further raised suspicions around Laundrie. In the images, Petito could be seen crying in a car after police intervened in a dispute she had with him.

Her story is all too common in a country where hundreds of thousands of people go missing every year.

But the non-stop media attention devoted to the case sparked controversy over the disproportionate attention paid to the disappearances of white women compared with those from minority groups. – AFP, January 22, 2022.