A 22-year-old woman who was on a cross-country road trip with her boyfriend has disappeared, her parents said. It was unclear if her boyfriend was also missing.
Gabrielle Petito was last known to be in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming in late August when she stopped communicating with her family, police said. Her mother, Nichole Schmidt, of Blue Point, reported her missing Saturday evening, Newsday reported
Petito is described as a 5 feet 5 inches tall and 110 pounds woman with blonde hair and blue eyes. She also has several tattoos, including one on her forearm that reads, “let it be.”
Joe Petito, her father, told Newsday Sunday that Gabrielle’s disappearance felt like “drowning with your hands tied behind you.”
“You can’t describe it. There’s nothing you can do. You can’t control anything,” he said.
Petito was traveling across the country in a white 2012 Ford Transit van with a Florida license plate, which police said since has been recovered. It was unclear where her vehicle was recovered.
Gabrielle Petito was on a FaceTime call with her mother on Aug. 23 or 24, Schmidt said Sunday. She said she received texts sent from her daughter’s phone until Aug. 30, but wasn’t sure whether her daughter sent them.
Her parents said she was traveling with her boyfriend at the time, but couldn’t provide any further details because of the ongoing investigation.
Schmidt said she would remain vigilant and keep looking for her daughter.
“I just want people to keep looking and not stop until we find her,” Schmidt told Newsday. “She’s out there somewhere… We won’t stop until we find her.”
Efforts to reach her parents were unsuccessful Monday.
She last posted a photo to her Instagram account on Aug. 25. Her profile links to an 8-minute YouTube video posted on Aug. 19, which features herself and a man embarking on their “van life journey” in the U.S.
In the video, Petito and the man can be seen driving, hiking and camping at different roads, parks and beaches across the country.
Police are asking anyone with information about her whereabouts to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS.
Matteo Moschella and Mohammed Syed contributed.