‘The Gabby Petito Story’: Lifetime Taps Thora Birch to Unpack Harrowing Social Media Phenomenon
After the harrowing story of Gabby Petito went viral on TikTok, Lifetime has opted to examine her disappearance and murder in a longer form. In her directorial debut, American Beauty’s Thora Birch will helm and star in The Gabby Petito Story, which is part of Lifetime’s Stop Violence Against Women public affairs initiative.
Last fall, Petito’s name made headlines after she disappeared while on a cross-country road trip with her fiancé Brian Laundrie. The 22-year-old went missing in September, and not long after, a flurry of social media attention followed, with folks all over the nation trying to figure out Petito’s whereabouts. In October, Petito was found and her case was ruled a homicide after a coroner found that she had been strangled to death.
Petito’s case had a particular draw on TikTok, where amateur sleuths took credit for solving details in the van-life influencer’s murder. The posts, which ranged from folks who had actually encountered Laundrie to conspiracy theorists, could’ve spawned enough true crime content for an entire series.