From outer space? Sask. farmers baffled after discovering strange wreckage in field
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
The father of Gabby Petito, who was reported missing over the weekend, made a public plea Thursday for information on the disappearance of the Florida woman.
Petito, 22, was reported missing by her family on Saturday, after they had not heard from her since late August, according to police in North Port, Florida.
"Finding this girl is what matters," her father, Joe Petito, said Thursday during a news briefing with North Port police, pointing to a photo of the missing woman. "Anything else ... comes second to this."
Petito is believed to have been in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming before her last contact with family, police said. She was travelling with her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, who has returned to Florida, hired a lawyer and, along with his family, has refused to speak with investigators.
"I'm asking for help from everyone here. I'm asking for help from everyone at home. I'm asking for help from the parents of Brian," said Petito's father, urging anyone with information to call the FBI hotline at 1-800-CALLFBI (225-5324).
Separately, Petito's family -- via a letter read Thursday by their attorney, Richard Stafford -- also appealed to Laundrie and his parents for information on her whereabouts.
"Please, if you or your family have any decency left, please, tell us where Gabby is located," Petito's relatives said in the letter.
"Tell us if we are even looking in the right place. All we want is for Gabby to come home. Please help us make that happen."
Laundrie was travelling with Petito in her white 2012 Ford Transit van with Florida plates, according to a police statement. The van was recovered on Sunday at the North Port home she shared with Laundrie and his parents, the statement said. Laundrie reportedly returned to North Port on Sept.1.
"We haven't been able to sleep or eat, and our lives are falling apart," Petito's parents and stepparents said in Thursday's appeal to the Laundries, referring to her as their future daughter-in-law.
"We believe that you know the location of where Brian left Gabby. We beg you to tell us as a parent, how could you let us go through this pain and not help us? As a parent, how could you put Gabby's younger brothers and sisters through this?"
An attorney for the Laundrie family said in a statement Tuesday that his clients were "remaining in the background ... and will have no further comment" on the advice of counsel.
"It is our understanding that a search has been organized for Miss Petito in or near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming," Laundrie family attorney Steven Bertolino said in the statement.
North Port Police Chief Todd Garrison said Thursday that a missing persons investigation is being conducted and no criminal charges were forthcoming at this time.
"Brian is exercising his constitutional rights, and I have to respect them," Garrison said of Laundrie and his family. The focus of the investigation, he added, "isn't to bring Brian in right now."
Police describe Petito as White, about 5 feet, 5 inches tall and 110 pounds, with blonde hair, blue eyes and several tattoos, including one on her finger and one on her forearm that reads "Let it be."
North Port police are leading the investigation, with assistance from the FBI. Petito's family lives in New York and reported her missing to the police department in Suffolk County, New York.
Petito and Laundrie embarked on a cross-country trip in early July and were expected to be in Oregon by early October, according to Stafford.
The family received a text message from Petito's phone on August 30, Stafford said, but they doubt that she wrote it. The family's attorney declined to share the message or why they doubted it was from their daughter.
Petito's family reached out to Laundrie's parents on Friday or Saturday but they refused to answer any questions, according to Stafford.
"We understand you are going through a difficult time, and your instinct is strong to protect your son," Petito's parents and stepparents said in Thursday's letter. "We ask you to put yourselves in our shoes."
In August, police in Moab, Utah, encountered Petito and her fiancé as they were "engaged in some sort of altercation," according to a report released by the Moab City Police Department.
Moab City police responded to reports of disorderly conduct on August 12 and encountered Laundrie and Petito, along with a witness whose full name was redacted from the report.
Laundrie and Petito were described as having a physical fight following an argument but "both the male and female reported they are in love and engaged to be married and desperately didn't wish to see anyone charged with a crime," according to the report from Officer Eric Pratt.
At the officers' suggestion, Laundrie and Petito separated for the night, the report said. Petito was described by an officer as "confused and emotional."
"After evaluating the totality of the circumstances, I do not believe the situation escalated to the level of a domestic assault as much as that of a mental health crisis," Officer Daniel Robbins wrote in the police report. No charges were filed.
Robbins wrote that Laundrie said the couple had been traveling for "4 or 5 months."
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
Andy Kim's 'Rock Me Gently' is marking a major milestone, as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Oprah Winfrey said on Thursday evening that she has long played a role in promoting unhealthy and unrealistic diets.
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.
Toronto police say a man who allegedly attempted to access Drake’s Bridle Path property was taken to hospital on Thursday after an altercation with security guards.
If you're cruising down a highway and realize you have a flat tire, you may want to think twice before stopping to fix it on the side of the road.
Dangerous storms crashed over parts of the U.S. South on Thursday even as the region cleaned up from earlier severe weather that spawned tornadoes, killed at least three people, and gravely injured a boy who was swept into a storm drain as he played in a flooded street.
The National Post is reporting that Rex Murphy, the pundit and columnist who hosted a national call-in radio show for decades, has died.
Over the last decade, students have pushed universities to cut financial ties with fossil fuel producers, weapons manufacturers, tobacco companies and prison firms. Here's why it's not always that simple.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
The stakes have been set for a bet between Vancouver and Edmonton's mayors on who will win Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
A grieving mother is hosting a helmet drive in the hopes of protecting children on Manitoba First Nations from a similar tragedy that killed her daughter.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
A P.E.I. lighthouse and a New Brunswick river are being honoured in a Canada Post series.
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.