A Wyoming woman said she picked up Brian Laundrie at Grand Teton National Park after he was allegedly dropped off by another woman five days after his girlfriend Gabby Petito went missing.
Norma Jean Jalovec, a seasonal Wyoming resident, picked up Laundrie, 23, on August 29 around 6.15pm at the Jackson Lake Dam near Pacific Creek Landing, she told Fox News.
She came to the park to attend the 5pm mass at the Catholic church Chapel of the Sacred Heart, which is located 1.2 miles from the dam, after admitting she doesn’t go to the area very often.
‘I picked him up,’ Jalovec told Fox News. ‘Something just said: “Hey, ask him where he’s going.”‘
A seasonal Wyoming resident Normal Jean Jalovec reported she picked up Brian Laundrie (pictured with his deceased fiancée Gabby Petito) shortly after another woman and her boyfriend dropped him off at Jackson Lake Dam on August 29
Jalovec picked Laundrie up around 6.15pm near Pacific Creek Landing minutes after Miranda Baker dropped him off at the dam at 6.09pm. She drove him to Spread Creek dispersed camping area around 6:30pm and said he tried to get out of her moving vehicle after she offered to drive him to the campsite his fiancée was at
Jalovec said she learned she picked up Laundrie after seeing Miranda Baker’s TikTok and realized it was the same person.
Like Baker, Laundrie asked if she was heading to Jackson and enjoyed small talk with him. She told him she lived in the opposite direction, but agreed to drop him off at Spread Creek dispersed camping area 20 minutes away.
He told both women that he had been camping alone along Snake River in the park and that his fiancée was staying in another camping area. He told Baker his fiancée was at the campsite working on their social media page.
Gabby Petito was seen at a restaurant near the park with Laundrie where he allegedly had a fight with a hostess.
Petito, who was last seen alive on August 24, was trying to diffuse the situation at Merry Piglets restaurant in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
The FBI desk in Denver released a statement issuing Brian Christopher Laundrie’s arrest
The FBI issued an arrest warrant (pictured) for Brian Laundrie, 23, after a federal grand jury indicted him for his ‘use of unauthorized devices’ following the death of Gabby Petito. His arrest warrant is not for the death of Gabby Petito, but the activities that occurred after her death
‘He did say he had a fiancée and that she was working on their social media page back at their van,’ Baker said in a TikTok. She also reported that Laundrie had offered her $200 for the ride.
It is unclear if he offered Jalovec money as he did with Baker and her boyfriend.
When Jalovec dropped him off at the gate to the remote camping spot – a single dirt road that extends miles in various campsites in the park – she offered him to drive inside, but he responded by trying to ‘get out of the moving car.’
She allegedly followed up with a joke about him wanting to impress his fiancée by hiking into the campground rather than getting a ride. He apparently insisted she let him out of her vehicle.
Jalovec’s encounter with Laundrie came only minutes after Miranda Baker and her boyfriend had dropped him off at the dam.
In the video posted to TikTok, Baker said she and her boyfriend were at Grand Teton National Park in Colter Bay, Wyoming, when Laundrie approached the couple and asked them for a ride at 5.44pm.
‘He approached us asking for a ride because he needed to go to Jackson and we were going to Jackson that night. So I said, ya know, “hop in” and he hopped in the back of my Jeep,’ Baker explained.
She noted Laundrie, 23, was wearing ‘a backpack, a long sleeve, pants and hiking boots’ and said that before he got in the car he offered to pay the couple $200 to give him a 10-mile ride.
‘So that was kind of weird,’ she said.
In a later video, she added that Laundrie supposedly told her he and Petito, 22, were not camping on a regulated campsite through the national park. ‘They were camping basically out in the middle of nowhere along Snake River,’ she said.
Jalovec said she didn’t realize she had picked up Laundrie until she saw Miranda Baker’s TikTok (Baker pictured)
Baker recounted the alleged story Laundrie told her and her boyfriend: ‘This is key information. He said that he had hiked for days along Snake River but looking at his backpack, it wasn’t full.
‘And he said all he had was a tarp to sleep on. And, if you’d think you’re going camping for days on end you’d want food and a tent and he had none of that.’
She added: ‘He had scruff but he didn’t look dirty for someone who was camping for multiple days. He didn’t look dirty, he didn’t smell dirty, so that part was kind of weird.’
Then, when Baker told Laundrie they were driving to Jackson Hole he supposedly ‘freaked out’ and asked them to pull over and said: ‘Nope, I need to get out right now.’
Baker said they pulled over at the Jackson Dam in Grand Teton National Park, which she noted was not very far from where they originally picked Laundrie up.
He allegedly hurried out of the car and told the couple he would find someone else to hitchhike with.
‘We dropped him off at 6.09pm on August 29,’ Baker said, adding that she hopes her videos would find someone who could also help solve the case and find Petito.
Both women have reported they talked to the FBI to tell their stories.
‘Everything’s legitimate. Everything’s corroborated. I already talked to the FBI,’ Jalovec said.
Baker (pictured) said she and her boyfriend picked up Laundrie at 5.44pm in Colton Bay, Wyoming, where he offered the couple $200 for the ride. The pair dropped him off at Jackson Lake Dam at 6.09pm
Baker also reported on her TikTok: ‘I am actively in contact with these people.’
Laundrie would return to North Point, Florida on September 1 with Petito’s van alone.
Today, the FBI has issued a warrant for his arrest after he fraudulently used a Capitol One Bank debit card that was not his.
The FBI said Laundrie is wanted for ‘use of unauthorized access device’ related to his activities between August 30 and September 1, following Petito’s death, and that he used the card to obtain items totaling $1,000 or more.
The statement was released today by the Bureau’s Denver desk, reading: ‘While this warrant allows law enforcement to arrest Mr Laundrie, the FBI and our partners across the country continue to investigate the facts and circumstances of Ms. Petito’s homicide.
‘We urge individuals with knowledge of Mr Laundrie’s role in this matter or his current whereabouts to contact the FBI.’
Authorities are continuing to search for Laundrie, 23, who was last seen by his parents and his attorney last week.
Steve Bertolino, Laundrie’s attorney, issued a statement Thursday evening after the FBI’s arrest warrant for his fugitive client was made public, emphasizing that the warrant was not for Petito’s death but for related activities that took place after her demise.
‘It is my understanding that the arrest warrant for Brian Laundrie is related to activities occurring after the death of Gabby Petito and not related to her actual demise,’ Bertolino told Dailymail.com
