Brian Laundrie's behaviour displays 'signs of a narcissist' in chilling bodycam footage
An internet sleuth who investigated the death of YouTuber Gabby Petito has described her boyfriend Brian Laundrie's behaviour as 'textbook narcissistic abuse'.
Gabby was sadly killed by Laundrie while the couple were travelling around the US in a van in 2021.
The couple had begun their nationwide road trip back in July.
But when Gabby's parents failed to hear from her, they became increasingly concerned - especially when Laundrie returned home to Florida at the beginning of September without Gabby.
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The case gained international attention, with social media users and internet sleuths desperately searching for answers that could help them find the missing YouTuber.
Sadly, on 19 September, Gabby's body was found in Wyoming.
At the time the Teton County Coroner, Dr. Brent Blue, confirmed that Gabby had died as a result of a homicide, which was later reported by strangulation.
In the weeks following, Laundrie fled his home in Florida, before his body was later found in a nature preserve not far from his parents' house. It appeared he had taken his own life.
In a suicide note found with his body, Laundrie took responsibility for Gabby's death.
A new ITV documentary, The Disappearance of Gabby Petito, will air on Thursday, 9 May, taking a deeper look into the investigation and the role of social media in solving the case.
In police bodycam footage - which features in the doc - authorities could be seen talking to Laundrie after they pulled over Gabby's Ford Transit van, which the couple were travelling in.
They stopped the pair after a witness reported seeing Laundrie 'slapping' Gabby' while they were travelling in the van.
Speaking about the footage, internet sleuth Justin Shepherd called Laundrie's behaviour 'textbook narcissistic abuse'.
You can watch the footage below:
Justin said: "Once that footage came out, the internet exploded. Everything you see in that bodycam footage is textbook narcissistic abuse."
In a TikTok video Justin shared at the time, he explained: "I myself am a narcissistic abuse survivor so I can recognise narcissistic abuse behaviour from a mile away and I can tell you that everything you see in that bodycam footage is narcissistic abuse."
According to TalkSpace, narcissistic abuse "describes a type of emotional abuse that comes from a person with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). People with NPD have low empathy and see others as beneath them, which can lead to harmful, toxic, abusive behaviours."
In the bodycam clip, police pull over Gabby and Laundrie at the side of the road. The 22-year-old can be seen crying after telling officers her and Laundrie had been arguing.
"I’m sorry, we’ve just been fighting this morning. Some personal issues," Gabby can be heard explaining to the officer.
"It was a long day. We were camping yesterday," says Laundrie.
The 23-year-old then apologises for the 'bump' in the road, with Gabby adding: "I was distracting him, I’m sorry."
The officer then asks Gabby to step out of the campervan, and questions her about 'what's going on', to which she says: "Some days, I have really bad OCD."
She also told officers she slapped and scratched Laundrie, saying: "I was trying to get him to stop telling me to calm down."
In the ITV doc, internet sleuth Rively Lively points out the differences between Gabby - who seemed distraught in the clip - and Laundrie, who at one point describes Gabby as 'crazy'.
"I thought Brian's behaviour and mannerism was very strange, the fact that he was laughing, he had a very different attitude to Gabby," says Riley.
"It was clear, it was polar opposite. If your fiance who you love and care for is crying and hysterical and very upset, why are you laughing? That bothered me."
The couple were separated for a night after the incident, but no further charges were filed. After the incident, Moab Police were investigated over their handling of the altercation.
The Disappearance of Gabby Petito will be available to stream on ITVX on Thursday 9 May.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, please know that you are not alone. You can talk in confidence to the national domestic violence helpline Refuge on 0808 2000 247, available 24/7, or via live chat, available 3pm-10pm, Monday to Friday.
Lucy Devine