On Thursday, Oct. 22, the FBI's Denver office confirmed that remains found in a Florida nature preserve were Brian Laundrie, Gabby Petito's boyfriend and the only "person of interest" in the investigation into her murder. The remains were recognized thanks to dental records.
"On October 21st, 2021, a dental records comparison confirmed that the human remains found at T. Mabry Carlton, Jr. Memorial Reserve and Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park are those of Brian Laundrie," FBI Denver said through its official Twitter account.
#UPDATE: On October 21, 2021, a comparison of dental records confirmed that the human remains found at the T. Mabry Carlton, Jr. Memorial Reserve and Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park are those of Brian Laundrie. @FBITampa pic.twitter.com/ZnzbXiibTM
The case of
Petito's disappearance and death reopens the ongoing debate about the vulnerability of women in abusive and violent relationships in the United States.
According to U.S. National Domestic Violence Hotline records, every minute, 24 women suffer physical violence from their ex-spouse or ex-boyfriend nationwide, which corresponds to approximately 12 million women per year.
Records also indicate that most of these women have been victims more than once in their lifetime.
Miya Marcano
Women may also not only be victims of their partners, as many are victims of people they barely know or complete strangers. On Oct. 2, the lifeless body of
Miya Marcano was recovered from a wooded area in Orange County. The 19-year-old had been reported missing a month earlier.
Three days after Marcano's disappearance, authorities found Armando Caballero, the prime suspect, dead of an apparent suicide.
Caballero had lived in the same apartment complex as Miya at one point, and County Sheriff Jhon Mina said cell phone records placed him at the location for about 20 minutes at 8 p.m. the night Marcano disappeared.
Caballero allegedly used his master key to enter Marcano's apartment at 4:30 that afternoon and abducted her after she refused the man's advances,
Like Marcano, many women have been victims of men who would not take 'no' for an answer.
Recently, the young woman's family has accused the Arden Villas complex and its operator, The Preiss Company, of negligence in Marcano's death for employing Caballero, a 27-year-old maintenance worker who authorities say is responsible for her murder.
A balancing act
During the second week of October, a Hispanic woman walked into a Food Lion establishment in Clover, South Carolina, and gave the cashier who served her a note asking for help, saying the man she was with wanted to hurt her.
According to a communication from the York County Sheriff's Office, the woman "appeared to be in distress" and finally, after handing the note to the cashier while shopping, left and drove off with a Hispanic man driving a GMC pickup truck.
The cashier contacted authorities and shortly thereafter, the sheriff's office posted an announcement on its social media channels asking for help in locating the woman and explaining what happened. The posting included two photos of the woman taken with the surveillance camera at the scene and two photos of the van.
This search through social media aroused the emotions of Internet users, since, as they stated, providing the location of the woman, her clothing and other information could make it easier for the man she was trying to escape from to find her.
Authorities later reported that the woman was fine.
"This person has been located and is safe. Thank you for your help," they said through a statement.
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