The most mysterious question about the Petito and Laundrie affair is the question apparently not posed by any of the Laundrie family on September 6 at Fort De Soto: Where is Gabby?
It was the most obvious question to ask.
There were four adults with Brian on that day, and nobody asked where Gabby was?
Gabby never came up?
Nobody talked about Gabby once?
This is difficult to believe.
If my friend Pat shows up without his wife, Mary, at my house, I’m going to ask: Where’s Mary?
Likewise, if Mary shows up as a function, and I don’t see Pat, I am going to ask: Where’s Pat?
Married couples are a team. Engaged couples are a team.
It’s the most natural question to ask.
Not only that, Brian has just returned from the trip of his lifetime, and nobody is going to ask questions about the trip?
Veto.
Nix.
Try again.
How is it possible to not ask about Gabby?
Assuming that they didn’t, is it possible that Cassie, her husband, and the Laundrie parents already knew so much about the trip through constant posting, that they didn’t feel the need to talk about the trip?
Or was Cassie warned not to talk to Brian about Gabby by Cassie’s mother who told her that Brian and Gabby had broken up and that this was a sensitive topic that Brian didn’t want to talk about?
This option seems possible but less likely as Cassie comes off as a normal, candid, innocent individual during that brief interview that she conducted outside her house.
I feel confident that if her mother had told her not to bring up Gabby on 6 September Cassie would have revealed this to us.
Unfortunately, this brings us back to square one.
Perhaps Cassie does not recall asking Brian about Gabby.
Unlikely.
Or perhaps Cassie did ask Brian about Gabby, and Brian waved her off while walking away.
This option seems possible although, again, Cassie seems forthcoming enough that she would admit this during the interview.
If this is the case then how did the subject of Gabby not come up?
Perhaps Brian spent very little time with Cassie and her husband on that day. Brian is a loner, and so it is possible that he spent the majority of Cassie‘s visit walking around in the woods.
Or perhaps he spent most of the time playing with Cassie‘s children.
This is possible. Loners like Brian feel most comfortable when they are alone. Whereas socializers and extroverts become relaxed around people, introverts and loners become more agitated.
It is possible that Brian had attention deficit disorder. This might explain his penchant for being alone, and his impulsiveness. It also might explain why he gravitated toward the arts.
Individuals with attention deficit disorder who go untreated are generally ostracized from society. They are ostracized because they are flighty and impulsive. Since they can’t do well in school, options are limited for them. If they have not turned to crime, they generally turn to manual labor, acting, singing, or the arts. One doesn’t need to read a book or pass a test to become proficient in these fields.
With ostracism comes low self-esteem and anger. It’s not so much that people with attention deficit disorder do not like people, it’s that normal people do not like them. Social isolation, anger and impulsivity are the ingredients for a life of crime. Almost 2/3 of the men in prison have attention deficit disorder.
Did Brian have attention deficit disorder? It’s possible that he had that and more. Attention deficit disorder rarely occurs by itself. There are often comorbid disorders such as bipolar depression, mania, anxiety and so forth.
We know from one of Brian’s friends in high school that Brian had few friends in junior high school and perhaps two friends in high school. One of those was Gabby Petito.
Perhaps she had found a kindred spirit. It’s even possible that Gabby had attention deficit disorder as well.
What’s striking about Brian’s social history is how few people have come out of the woodwork to say that they were his close friend. Given the wide exposure of this case, it’s extremely unlikely that any of his close friends would remain reticent.
I think it’s safe to assume that Brian had few friends. Again, this might be a clue that Brian did have attention deficit disorder.
People with attention deficit disorder learn by osmosis to stay away from other people. Since they have been hurt by other people so many times, they internally rationalize that it’s better to be safe than it is to be exposed and hurt. They often don’t understand what it is about themselves that leads people to bully or hurt them; they just know that there’s something different about themselves.
Given all that, it is highly likely that Brian stayed away from Cassie and her husband during the visit on 6 September at Fort DeSoto.
The ADHD mind doesn’t work like the normal mind. Whereas the brain of a noted extrovert, Bill Clinton, will become more relaxed when more people walk into the room, the mind of an individual who has attention deficit disorder will become more disorganized as more people walk into the room.
I can tell you from personal experience with my own ADHD, that my mind is fine when I am conversing with people one-on-one, or even one-on-two, or one-on-three, but when a larger group of people begin to come into the room, my mind becomes more disorganized. I have to find refuge. I have to either walk out of the room, or retreat into my own thoughts.
I need one-on one interaction. If I can’t have that, my mind will become a total FUBAR.
Cassie can tell us best what Brian was like as a child.
Did he like nature and natural settings? Apparently so. Was he good at relating to children? Cassie thought so.
This isn’t surprising to me. Natural settings are quiet and don’t talk back. Children are trusting and non-judgmental. It takes learning to become an adult who inflicts pain.
Brian would have learned this all by himself just by living.
It wouldn’t surprise me at all to learn that he spent the entire six hours that day on 6 September playing with Cassie’s children in the woods.
The woods are safe.
Children are safe.
Children are trusting.
There in the woods, with Cassie’s children, who are friendly and innocent, Brian can retreat into his own world and be safe.
There in the refuge in his fortress of solitude no one is going to ask questions.
No one’s going to ask where Gabby is.
No one needs to know, he reasons.
What he believes is enough.
Sincerely,
Archer Crosley
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