NOTE: Thank you to Denison Forum staff writer Mark Legg for writing today’s Daily Article. Mark has written twenty articles for Denison Forum and has provided research for many others.

True crime shows seem to have an undeniable draw. Netflix’s show Tiger King was watched by 64 million households over the first month of its release, and Tiger King 2 was just announced. True crime podcasts often land in the top twenty in ratings. Sometimes, the public will become caught up in a high-profile case as it plays out, perhaps most infamously in the O. J. Simpson trial.

The disappearance and death of twenty-two-year-old Gabby Petito has similarly captured the nation’s attention. The story was swept up by social media and national news sites alike, fueled primarily by TikTok.

Petito and her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, gathered a social media following with their minimalist van life and adventures across the country. But their purportedly pristine life covered up increasing tension between the couple, reports of Laundrie’s temper flaring, and Petito’s eventual disappearance.

The investigation is ongoing, but what do we know for sure?

A timeline for the disappearance of Gabby Petito

Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie set out on a several-month-long cross-country trip in their van at the beginning of July. Petito documented the “van life” with her fiancé on social media, appearing to experience beatific bliss camping together. In August, they uploaded their first YouTube video to document the trip. Nothing seemed amiss.

In late August, the couple traveled to Grand Teton National Park. Suddenly, Petito stopped posting to social media, and her parents were unable to reach her. They received one last suspicious text from her phone on August 30 which read “No service in Yosemite.”

On September 1, Brian Laundrie returned to his house in Florida in their van without Petito. Laundrie refused to give Peitito’s whereabouts or even talk about what happened.

On September 11, Petito’s family reported her as missing. Laundrie’s lawyer told police that he advised Laundrie not to speak with authorities, and Laundrie “plead the Fifth.”

On September 15, the police described Laundrie as a person of interest.

On September 17, Laundrie’s parents told police they had not seen him since September 14, when he supposedly went hiking.

The FBI found Petito’s body on September 19.

On September 22, they publicly ruled her death a homicide.

As of this writing, the police haven’t found Laundrie. As of Thursday evening, the FBI placed a warrant out for his arrest because he used Petito’s debit card, though they are still investigating his involvement in her homicide. Laundrie’s large head start makes the manhunt incredibly difficult. Though they are searching in the swamps of a Florida national park, many suspect that this is a false lead.

The good and bad of social media and “web sleuthing”

Underneath the facts lurks the involvement of social media, both apparently for ill and as a tool for good.

Gabby Petito and her fiancé’s lives were public, but social media hid their domestic disputes that arose in the days leading to her death. The police released bodycam footage of when they stopped the couple on August 12 because of a 911 call that reported Laundrie hitting Petito. They stayed in separate places for the night, per the recommendation of the officers, but the next day the couple reunited and continued their road trip. This presents a tragic reminder showing how social media can whitewash people’s broken lives.

The difference between previous crimes that garnered nationwide attention is that, with TikTok, this case unfolded in almost real time to millions of people and allowed them to “investigate” themselves. The involvement of interested but ordinary people trying to uncover crimes is called “web sleuthing.” With so much attention, video clips and eyewitness testimonies were discovered that aided the investigation, narrowing their search for Petito. These testimonies may become critical evidence in an upcoming trial.

Due to the Laundrie family’s perceived reluctance to cooperate with the police, a protest gathered outside their house on September 17, demanding that he and the family speak up. At that point, unbeknownst to the crowd, Laundrie had already gone on the run.

As of September 22, #GabbyPetito received more than 794 million views on TikTok. The family used the platform to garner support and raise awareness of her case, but many are criticizing the sensationalizing effect of TikTok.

So, while amateur investigators on social media and the public’s attention did aid the investigation, it also led to confusion and, in the opinion of some, it made a tragedy into a public spectacle. Countless theories cropped up in the days where Gabby was still missing. Some were conspiratorial, some were reasonable, but everyone seemed to have an opinion.

Now the Petito family seeks justice and mourns the loss of the young woman. Undoubtedly, the court case will draw similar national attention when it comes to trial.

Imperfect justice and “missing white woman syndrome”

Some are using this case to bring another issue of justice and human imperfection into focus. On most news sites covering the Petito case, they are drawing attention to a trend in public attention called “missing white woman syndrome.”

This observation claims that missing persons cases usually gain nationwide attention only if the subject is a woman and white. One study at least tentatively supports this conclusion, and anecdotal evidence seems to confirm this correlation. (For more, read what the Bible says about racism and look through the resources we’ve compiled on the subject.)

I have two simple observations: most news sites reported on the “missing white woman syndrome,” and most of those same news sites extensively reported on the Gabby Petito case anyway.

Gabby Petito’s bright life was cut short through homicide. Turning her death into a political point seems inconsiderate at best. How do we honor her family while still redressing the racialized tendency of the public eye?

It all becomes a tangled mess. I certainly have no answers, but thankfully someone does.

Perfect justice for Gabby Petito

Governments must carry out justice. That is part of their purpose according to Scripture (1 Peter 2:13–14). However, human institutions will always fail to mete out perfect justice. The power and knowledge of human institutions will remain limited, yet they are not in the case of God.

May God reveal tainted hearts and eyes to us; only he alone knows true justice untainted by prejudice.

Convicting each of us, Christ teaches that anger itself reveals a heart of murder. Sin, though varying in its severity, is common to all people. Christ both deals out justice and, praise God, forgives us our own sins and our own anger, which infects our hearts and which Christ says is akin to murder (Matthew 5:21–23). In our own relationships, we should pray for healing from malice and “not let the sun go down on our anger” (Ephesians 4:26).

Though officials will likely find Laundrie—and hopefully justice will prevail—ultimate justice will be dealt from God’s perfect throne of judgment.

Pray for the Petito family and that they will find justice and peace. Empathize and mourn with them. Join me in praying that they will be blessed and comforted (Matthew 5:4).

Then, consider others in your lives who are mourning and mourn alongside them. Though we cannot directly show love to the Petito family, tragedy will strike at friends and family close to us.

When it does, let us draw near to them with compassion.

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Please give by midnight tonight, knowing that a $120,000 Matching Grant will double the amount and impact of any donation you give.

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NOTE: Thank you to Ryan Denison for writing today’s Daily Article. He is the Denison Forum Senior Fellow for Theology and has written more than four hundred articles for Denison Forum.

The United Nations General Assembly began this week in New York City and it didn’t take long to start making waves. But while a number of issues—ranging from climate change to Covid—have dominated the discussion, the storyline I’ll be watching most closely revolves around the Taliban seeking to replace Afghanistan’s current representative with one from the new regime.

Currently, the former Afghan government is the only authority from the country credentialed by the UN, meaning that the Taliban is currently locked out even though they are clearly in control of the country. As such, the people representing Afghanistan to the world have been largely forced to flee their own nation.

The UN has said that they are unlikely to make a decision during the current session, though it’s possible something could happen later this year. However, recognizing a representative from the Taliban would, in the eyes of many, be akin to recognizing and legitimizing their government—and that has left many nations more than a little wary.

As such, the UN is using the status as a carrot of sorts to try and entice the terrorist organization turned ruling government to make some changes on how they operate. Chief among those changes is addressing what remains a concerning record of human rights violations, both before taking power and in the weeks since.

Amnesty International, for example, outlined earlier this week how the “Taliban are steadily dismantling the human rights gains of the last twenty years . . . including targeted killings of civilians and surrendered soldiers and the blocking of humanitarian supplies in the Panhshir Valley, which constitute crimes under international law.” Moreover, they warn that “restrictions have also been reimposed on women, freedom of expression, and civil society.”

In short, the Taliban has yet to show a genuine interest in governing according to the standards by which most nations are judged. And while other countries that have UN representation are also guilty of similar crimes—China among the most prominent—the new leaders of Afghanistan are being held to an understandably high standard (at least for now).

“Dialogue could be fruitful”

That the Taliban is encountering resistance in their quest to be recognized as the official government of Afghanistan should not come as a surprise. That they want to be legitimized on the global level, however, is an even more important development.

Such a desire demonstrates that their goals are not necessarily the same as we often think about when it comes to radical Islam and terrorist activity. While certain groups, such as al-Qaeda, are often focused on attacking western countries in defense of Islam—or at least that’s what they claim—the Taliban have long had a different objective in mind. For them, Afghanistan is not just a launching pad for jihad. It’s home, and it has been for centuries.

While many of their ideals are aligned with other terrorist organizations, they legitimately desire to be seen by the world as the ones in charge of their homeland. It’s why they can state with all sincerity that they believe “It is the responsibility of the United Nations to recognize our government (and) for other countries, including European, Asian, and Islamic countries, to have diplomatic relations with us.”

That the world doesn’t seem to agree is of lesser importance than that they see themselves as worthy of that level of legitimacy.

And there is, perhaps, some logic behind the idea that they should be treated as more than usurpers. As the leadership from Qatar noted, “Boycotting them would only lead to polarization and reactions, whereas dialogue could be fruitful.”

If the Taliban show signs that global recognition is more important than re-establishing their old ways of governance, then perhaps there is hope that the situation for the Afghani people could begin to improve. However, it is uncertain what that would mean for their relationship with other radical Islamic groups—most of whom do not tend to look kindly upon compromising what they perceive to be the only way to correctly live out their faith. Stranger things have happened, though, and we can (and should) be praying that they are willing to make those changes.

But it’s hard to pray about what we’re not thinking about, and therein lies the problem for many of us.

What to do when you lose spiritual focus

I suspect that for most Americans, the situation in Afghanistan has already begun to work its way to the periphery of our collective awareness. We know it’s not good, but unless something abnormally bad happens—a high bar to clear for that region at the moment—then we’re probably not going to give it much thought.

And the same is true for other areas of our lives as well. That’s just part of what it means to be fallen, finite humans.

Fortunately, we serve a perfect, infinite God and, if we’ll take the time to stay in touch with him, he will direct our focus where it needs to go. And when it comes to praying in a way that aligns our hearts and minds with his, giving him that authority is essential.

So take some time right now to ask God to help you see the world around you through his eyes today. Ask him to make the things he wants you to be praying about stand out in a way that’s hard to ignore. Ask him to bring to mind people and places that need to go to the top of your prayer list. Then stand back and silently give him room to work.

When giving God the authority to direct your thoughts becomes a way of life, you’ll start to notice a real difference in how you pray and how you perceive the world around you:

• Seemingly innocuous Facebook posts will start to look like requests for prayer.
• Conversations will take on an added layer of depth.
• People you haven’t thought about for years will pop into your mind without any explanation other than that God wanted you to think about them.
• And your interactions with coworkers, neighbors, family members, and anyone else the Lord brings across your path will seem like opportunities rather than obligations.

In short, when God is the one in charge of how you experience and interpret life throughout the course of your day, then every day takes on a new level of purpose and meaning.

It won’t happen unless we are intentional about asking God to make it happen, though.

Have you made that request today?

Denison Forum