Vloggers Who Found Gabby Petito's Van Say Deceased Son Led Them To Her
It's both miraculous and chilling.
Instagram / Red White & Buthane Yesterday, FBI Supervisory Special Agent Charles Jones announced the news everyone was dreading: a body was found and is believed to be the missing 22-year-old Gabrielle "Gabby" Petito.
The discovery of Petito's body is linked to footage submitted by the family behind Youtube vlogging channel, "Red White & Bethune," who believe their deceased son helped them locate Petito.
What happened to "Red White & Bethune" son, Ethan Bethune?
The family made a post yesterday to commemorate the birthday of their deceased son, who passed away on September 16th, 2011.
Ethan was only six years old when he died in a tragic car accident. He was headed to Disney World to celebrate his 7th birthday.
The family of five, which consists of parents Jenn & Kyle and their children Ben, Molly, and Eli, regularly film their trips across America in their 1983 Silver Eagle Bus.
Footage from a 'Red White & Bethune' vlog helped locate Gabby Petito's remains.
On September 19th, they uploaded the now-viral video that's taken the Internet by storm.
"We were editing our Sunday video tonight and we were looking at footage from on August 27th, 2021 around 6:00pm to 6:30pm in Spread Creek Dispersed Camping," the video description starts off saying.
The spot the family identify is located in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, where the remains were found.
"We had passed by a white van with Florida Plates. We noticed it because we are originally from Florida and wanted to stop and say hi. When we passed the van, all the lights were off and it didn't look like anyone was there. We ended up leaving because we couldn't find a spot."
After notifying authorities about their sighting of Petito's van, law enforcement was then able to narrow search efforts. Petito's body was found in the same area the vehicle was spotted.
'Red White & Bethune' say their late son led them to Gabby Petito.
"It’s a VERY big day!" the family wrote on social media after Petito's body was discovered, "I truly believe that Ethan is trying to help us bring Gabby home."
"He led me to the footage we had from our go pros and I found it at 12:05am on September 19th. Today is September 19th and Ethan’s birthday. He would have turned 17 today."
The video also prompted Internet sleuths to analyze the clip, with some pointing out that a shoe and flashlight can be seen in a still. The discovery of these items led to theories of a struggle, though nothing is yet confirmed by authorities.
Jenn Buthane reportedly spoke to Gabby Petito's mother.
According to Insider, Jenn Bethune revealed she spoke with the victim's mother, Nichole Schmidt, on a FaceTime call yesterday. Schmidt reportedly thanked her for sharing the clip.
"We had a very good cry together from one mom to another," Bethune said.
In honor of Ethan's passing, the family created the #PayItForwardForEthan Campaign to celebrate their son's love of random acts of kindness.
"I’m not going to be sad that he isn’t here with us today because he did the biggest #payitforwardforethan thing imaginable…. He helped us find this footage. I wholeheartedly believe that," the post reads.
Yona Dervishi is a writer who is currently working at YourTango as an editorial intern. She covers topics pertaining to news and entertainment.