Travel blogger identifies Gabby Petito's van in Wyoming before officials find body matching description
Jen Bethune said she was happy to be able to help the search for Gabby Petito.
A travel blogger who identified Gabby Petito's van in video footage from a trip to Wyoming revealed details about the chance encounter Monday on "Fox & Friends."
Jen Bethune reacted to the news investigators have found a body that matches that of the 22-year-old, saying it was heartwarming to at least be able to help bring closure to the Petito family despite the devastating discovery.
"I am so sad that we couldn't bring her back alive, but to be able to bring her back home to her family or to help with that is everything," Bethune told host Ainsley Earhardt.
"It is so heartwarming that everything fell in place in order to make that happen."
Over the weekend, officials located human remains in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, the last known location of Petito.
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Bethune said she remembers driving past the van and thought about stopping to introduce herself.
"The reason why we noticed the van is because we're from Florida and the van had Florida plates and we wanted to stop by and say hi," said Bethune when asked about how they took notice of the white 2012 Ford Transit van.
"But the van was very dark, closed up, looked like no activity so we ended up continuing to drive."
Bethune said she noticed the van in her blogging footage in recent days after someone tagged her in a story urging her and anyone in the Tetons at the end of August to look through photos and videos for any possible clues in Gabby's disappearance.
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"I got chills all over my body and ran straight back to my laptop, got my GoPro footage, and lo and behold Gabby's van was on there," she explained.
Bethune said she spoke to Gabby's mother after turning in her footage to law enforcement.
"It was beautiful, we got to share some moments together on a FaceTime," she said, when asked about how the conversation went.
"Just two moms, really just have a great cry."
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Gabby's fiance, Brian Laundrie, a person of interest in the case, went missing earlier this week in North Port, Florida, and has not yet been found.
Officials said the remains are consistent with the description of Petito, but have not yet confirmed the identity through DNA testing. An autopsy for the body is scheduled for Tuesday and will likely hold clues to her time and cause of death.
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