What was once a missing persons case is now a homicide investigation. Pei-Sze Cheng reports from Florida and Sarah Wallace has the latest from Wyoming in the Gabby Petito case.
A mysterious stone cross has appeared near the area where a body belonging to missing Long Island woman Gabby Petito was found over the weekend.
It's also unclear when the cross, made from rocks gathered by a nearby creek bed, appeared at the Spread Creek Dispersed Camping Area in the Bridger-Teton National Forest.
It's an area that had been cordoned off by search crews until Tuesday morning, and the same area where the body was found on Sunday. YouTubers also reported seeing a white Ford Transit van similar to Petito's parked in the area as well.
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Authorities in Wyoming conducted an autopsy to confirm the body's identity and manner of death. A coroner confirmed on Tuesday that the body found in the park over the weekend is that of Gabby Petito, and has ruled that her death was a homicide. The cause of death is still pending the final autopsy results, the FBI said in a tweet.
It's not the only apparent memorial for Petito, who was reported missing on Sept. 11 by her parents in Suffolk County. Residents in North Port, Florida, where Petito and fiance Brian Laundrie lived before setting out on their months-long road trip, have built a small remembrance for Petito where people have left photos of the 22-year-old, along with stuffed animals, candles and other items.
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The couple had been on a cross-country trip in a van, which they had documented heavily on Instagram and their YouTube channel. But, her feeds went dark on Aug. 25, and authorities said her phone had shut off two days later.
Laundrie returned home to their Florida home on Sept. 1 and wasn't cooperating with authorities looking for her. Then, Laundrie himself vanished on Sept. 14 after leaving for a hike in the Carlton Reserve, a 24,500 acre nature preserve near North Port.
Now, authorities are conducting a second search for Laundrie, who was named a person of interest in Petito's disappearance last week.
