HAUNTING WORDS
Brian Laundrie’s ‘disturbing’ Pinterest revealed as Gabby Petito’s fiancé posted ‘don’t try to find me’
Luke Kenton
BRIAN Laundrie appeared to upload and save a series of "disturbing" images on Pinterest in the weeks before his fiancee Gabby Petito vanished during their cross-country road trip.
Laundrie, 23, has not yet been named a suspect in Petito's disappearance but is considered a person of interest.
He returned home to Florida on September 1, driving the couple's converted white Ford Transit van. However, there was no sign of Petito.
Petito, 22, was officially reported missing on September 11 by her mother in New York.
Human remains believed to belong to Gabby were discovered in Grand Teton National Park on Sunday. An autopsy is being carried out today to determine their identity.
Laundrie, meanwhile, has refused to cooperate with investigators and has since vanished himself.
He told his parents he was going hiking in Carlton Reserve in Florida last Tuesday but has not been seen since.
'CREEPY' POSTS
As Petito's family desperately waits for answers, images allegedly uploaded and shared to Pinterest by Laundrie weeks before she vanished have surfaced on social media.
The account, @blaundrie1197, is not confirmed to belong to Laundrie but does share albums with a page belonging to Petito and an account with the display name Roberta Laundrie, which is the name of his mother.
It features images of Petito modeling custom facemasks made by Bizarre Designs, which includes links to Laundrie's Instagram and Depop pages.
Amid his own disappearance, one of the posts now causing a stir online is a pin he saved a number of weeks ago titled "The Opposite Of Lost."
The image, saved to a folder titled "my Heart", features pale purple and pink clouds. Also written beneath are the words: "Don't try to find me. I have finally escaped my 'master's' wicked clutches.
"To the others I say: JOIN ME. Bite the hand that feeds you. Vive La Beberte - Pierre."
The bizarre image appears to originate from a missing dog flier that was spotted in Portland, Oregon, in 2006. Oregon, incidentally, was the final planned destination of Petito and Laundrie's trip.
Also featured in the same folder is a series of quotes, including one from the movie Fight Club which reads, "It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything."
A second, this one from Pokemon, says: "It hurt itself in its confusion."
'MY BABY'
The account's most recently saved post - or "pin" - came around five weeks ago in a folder titled "bleak."
The pin pertains to a book listed for sale on Etsy called, Burnt Out: How to Cope with Autistic Burnout.
"Autistic burnout is when autistic people can't do things they used to because of how little energy they have left. it takes a whole lot more energy to function whilst being autistic and do basic tasks such as remembering to eat or doing laundry," a synopsis of the eight-page book explains.
"Burnout leaves us feeling weak and exhausted."
A third post, saved to the account's "things to burn off" album, contains a digital sketch of ghosts, clowns, and skeletons which is drawing alarm elsewhere on social media.
In the center of the artwork, designed by Sacha Strange, is a cartoon gravestone with the words "My Baby" written across it.
The words "She'll never find a sweet man like me", and
"Let her go, let her go, GOD BLESS HER, wherever she may be" also appear around the headstone.
Much like his Instagram page, Laundrie has shared a number of his own sketches to Pinterest, including watercolor paintings of Hell Boy, other superheroes, and scenes from movies.
Images created by others feature heavily in the folder "watercolor" including several depictions of Joaquin Phoenix as The Joker and cover art for H. G. Well's Sci-Fi novel, The Invisible Man.
The book was loosely adapted into a feature film last year, which told the story of a crazed scientist who fakes his own suicide and makes himself invisible to stalk and terrorize his ex-girlfriend.
'LIFE GOALS'
The vast majority of the Pinterest profile is made up of outdoorsy images and nomadic-lifestyle inspired posts.
He shares at least two joint folders with an account belonging to Petito, one of which is called "Life goals." Also included in the group folder is Roberta Laundrie and a fourth account, @PinJunkeeMama.
The folder essentially appears to be a mood board for their dream wedding, including images of wedding dresses, beach ceremonies, and couples holding hands in their wedding garbs as they trek through scenic settings.
The disappearance of Petito and the subsequent vanishing of Laundrie has captured the attention of much of the world after the story went viral across social media in the last week.
Armchair detectives and internet sleuths have been discussing and dissecting Laundrie's believed Pinterest posts on Twitter, with one calling them "dark and chilling."
Another called the collated array of images "really disturbing."
SEARCH FOR LAUNDRIE
Laundrie is not currently suspected of committing any crime in relation to Petito's disappearance but he is being sought by police.
North Port Police said on Tuesday morning they are searching for him on the Venice side of the Carlton Reserve, a 25,000-acre nature reserve near Venice, Florida.
A day earlier, police were seen towing away Laundrie's silver Mustang from his parent's home in North Port as they carried out a search warrant.
The FBI removed Chris and Roberta Laundrie from the home as more than 20 agents went inside and hauled out several boxes of evidence.
It's believed that Laundrie may have driven the Mustang when he allegedly went for a hike in a 25,000 acre nature reserve in the Sarasota area on Tuesday, the last time his family says they saw him.
Laundrie's parents reportedly told police they realized Brian hadn't come back from his hike "on Wednesday or Thursday," and that's when they went to pick up the Mustang and drove it back to their home.
When asked by local reporter Brian Entin if Laundrie's parents could be leading them in the wrong direction, police said they are "working to corroborate their story."
"They did not say 'we believe the parents or we know for sure that Brian was hiking in this reserve'," shared Entin.
As part of the search police also gained access to a hard drive found in the couple's van.
According to the filing, the hard drive may contain "evidence relevant to proving that a felony has been committed."
MAY HAVE 'EASILY' FLED US
Meanwhile, a top investigator warned on Monday that Laundrie may have already fled the country on a plane.
Private investigator Harvey Morse, from Florida’s Locators International, explained that Laundrie could have simply slipped through the airport as he has not been charged with a crime.
The veteran detective with 50 years of experience said he could be taking advantage of the ability to remain undetected while donning a face covering.
"It would be easy for him to get on a plane," he told Insider.
Morse believes cops will be considering two separate scenarios regarding Laundrie's whereabouts - that he is in hiding and that he will — or already has — attempted suicide.
He thinks the intense media coverage and potential legal consequences of the case mean the chances of Laundrie taking his own life were "above average".