Gabby Petito's Ex-Boyfriend Shares Emotional Tribute — "I Love You Now And Forever"
"You will never be forgotten Gabby."
Instagram / Facebook Gabby Petito’s ex-boyfriend, Brandon Williams, shared an emotional tribute after the news broke of her disappearance as well as the announcement of her apparent homicide.
Williams shared several photos of when they were together in middle school and offered a glimpse at who Petito was before she became a ‘missing persons report’ or ‘a victim.’
Who is Gabby Petito's ex-boyfriend, Brandon Williams?
Williams dated Petito while the two were living in Blue Point, New York as teenagers. Petito also met Laundrie while living in the area as both attended Bayport-Blue Point High School.
Blue Point is a hamlet in Suffolk County on Long Island, New York — where Petito was from
Just 3 days after she was reported missing on September 11th, Williams took to Facebook for the first time in what appears to be 3 years to make a post about her disappearance.
“Doesn't even feel real seeing your name and pictures on the news,” he wrote. “You didn't deserve this Gabby. Praying for you and your family, and a safe return home.”
He shared a photo of the missing persons report on the post along with 4 other photos of them being together in what could have been middle school.
They went to amusement parks together, hung out with their friends, did normal things that middle schoolers would do.
Brandon Williams posted a second tribute for Gabby after she was found dead.
On September 20th, when they found a body to be “consistent” with descriptions of Petito, Williams made another post acknowledging the announcement — this one with more information and vulnerability.
“Before this happened, I don't think there was a single person in Blue Point who didn't know who you were,” he wrote in the post. “I was lucky enough to have the privilege of both knowing and loving you.”
Everyone — from her parents to her best friend Rose Davis — said that Petito was an incredible influence on those around her, and that she “touched the world.”
“Even though we were only a bunch of stupid kids when we first met,” wrote Williams, “you have been a recurring influence in my life even to this day.”
He recounted the last memory that he had with her in 2017, meaning that they remained friends well throughout high school before he was deployed outside of the country.
“You had a journal in your hand. Any ordinary person would write in a journal, with words, but not you, you were extraordinary,” Williams said in his post.
“Each page had these in-depth drawings depicting how you felt and what you were experiencing, all I can remember was how impressed I was, telling you how talented, and creative you were, honored and touched that you trusted me enough to even share with me, something so personal.”
Petito shared her artwork on her Instagram from time to time and judging by her cataloging of the adventure she and Brian Laundrie went on, it can be assumed that she was fond of expressing herself through her various passions and hobbies.
Unfortunately, her life was cut short, and Williams shares his heartbreak in knowing that the world will only see her for what she was in the news.
“It absolutely breaks my heart that the rest of the world only knows you as a case file,” he shared, “a missing persons report, a victim. Because to your friends, your family, my family, me and Blue Point as a community, you were simply just Gabby, and that was more than enough.”
Petito’s family didn’t want the virality of the case to end in sorrow, so they decided to create the Gabby Petito Foundation, which would set out to help bring other missing children home.
“We wish to turn our personal tragedy into a positive,” reads the foundation’s mission statement. “It is our hope that Gabby’s foundation will bring these important issues into the forefront of the public eye to the benefit of all our communities.”
In Williams’ closing words, he mentioned how much it haunted him that he could no longer be there for her or check in on her, and how he would continue to love her forever.
He wrote, “You will never be forgotten Gabby, your loved ones, and now the whole world will make sure of that. I love you now and forever, rest in peace Gabby.”
Laundrie remains missing after nearly a month of searching, and until he is found there will be no justice served and no clue as to what really happened on that fateful trip.
Isaac Serna-Diez is a writer who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Follow him on Twitter here.