Photo: Instagram
Were her posts a warning?
By Alice Kelly — Written on Sep 28, 2021
As the investigation into Gabby Petito’s death and the search for missing person of interest Brian Laundrie continues, the couple’s social media accounts have provided many clues about their final moments together.
Across social media, those seeking justice for Petito have been piecing together posts from her fatal ‘van life’ road trip, prior to her homicide in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming in late August.
What is the meaning of Gabby Petito’s final Instagram post?
One TikTok user, Danielle Radin, is comparing the final Instagram post shared to Petito’s Instagram to a message sent by the Zodiac Killer during his 1960s killing spree.
Gabby Petito was reading about the Zodiac Killer before her death.
Petito shared an image to her Instagram story back in February in which she is reading Robert Graysmith’s ‘Zodiac,’ a non-fiction book about the Zodiac Killer.
Petito was known to post books that she was reading, which she often shared with Laundrie.
The pair both shared images of them reading Chuck Palahniuk’s ‘Lullaby,’ so it's possible Laundrie had also read ‘Zodiac.’
Petito’s final Instagram has raised suspicion from followers.
The book itself, though a somewhat disturbing choice given what we now know, is not necessarily a clue as to what happened to Petito.
However, it does have a concerning link to the final Instagram post shared to Petito’s page.
On August 25, an image of Petito holding a small pumpkin was shared to her page with the caption “Happy Halloween.”
Many have pointed out that the post was unlike most of her others. There is no location tagged, which was uncommon for the 22-year-old, and the choice of emojis were unlike ones Petito typically used.
The caption is dissimilar to other posts to Petito’s page which were typically lengthy accounts of her ‘van life’ road trip with Laundrie.
Also, the fact that Petito posted the caption over two months before Halloween has bewildered many.
The Instagram post is similar to one of the Zodiac Killer’s letters.
The Halloween reference does have an eerie similarity to a message sent by the Zodiac Killer in 1970.
During the height of the killer’s activity, he sent a “Happy Halloween” card to San Francisco Chronicle journalist Paul Avery, who was covering the case at the time.
"But, then why spoil the game. Happy Halloween," the inside of the card read. The Zodiac Killer also added an image of a pumpkin.
The card appeared to confirm the killer’s involvement in four attacks known to authorities at the time.
People are wondering if Brian Laundrie could have made the post.
Doubts have been raised about whether or not Petito was controlling her own social media accounts prior to her death.
We know that she was last seen alive on August 27 in a Wyoming restaurant. But Petito’s family also began receiving odd texts on this day until their last text from her on Aug 30.
Her family believe Petito may not have been the one sending these texts so it is possible she was not in control of her phone when her final Instagram was posted.
On TikTok, Radin speculated that Petito’s Halloween post was actually created by Laundrie as his very own Zodiac Killer letter.
At this time, Laundrie remains a person of interest in Petito’s death, not an official suspect. However, there is a federal warrant out for his arrest for allegedly using Petito’s debit card after her death.
Alice Kelly is a senior news and entertainment editor for YourTango. Based out of Brooklyn, New York, her work covers all things social justice, pop culture, and human interest. Keep up with her Twitter for more.