Gabby Petito’s heartbroken dad posted a photo of one of the last spots his daughter visited on her tragic road trip, with a poignant message for her.
“I now know why you came here,” Petito said late Friday, above a photo of Jenny Lake in Grand Teton National Park “#gabbypetito has a beautiful view from now on. Love you, and miss you.”
A second post was a retweet of a photo his wife, Tara Petito shared of herself and Gabby’s mother, Nichole Schmidt, with the comment, “Two moms out at Jenny Lake, taking in the beauty of it all.”
In his retweet, Joseph Petito praised the women, stating, “Two amazing moms @Nikischmidt927@TaraPetito being there for each other. @Jim_Schmidt416 and I are very lucky husbands.”
The two couples were in Wyoming to claim the body of the 22-year-old Blue Point, Long Island, native, whose disappearance captivated the country last month. Petito’s remains were released this week following completion of an autopsy that found she had been strangled.
Jenny Lake is one of the park’s iconic locations and witnesses said they saw the van that Gabby and the now fugitive Brian Laundrie traveled in near the lake on Aug. 25. Laundrie remains the only person of interest in her death.
Jospeh Petito’s Friday tweet received more than 25,000 likes and more than 1,500 retweet as of Saturday morning. Commenters continued to share sympathetic messages, and in some cases tips for finding Laundrie, in the comments.
Some suggested they saw a heart shape on the mountain looming behind the pristine lake in the photo.