Where Is Gabby? Family Begs for Help Finding NY Woman Who Vanished on Road Trip

Family and friends are pleading for help finding a 22-year-old woman from Long Island who went missing while traveling through Wyoming on a "van life journey" with her fiancé, according to investigators looking into her disappearance.

Gabrielle (Gabby, as those close to her call her) Petito of Blue Point was reported missing on Sept. 11 by her family, but police say the family hadn't heard from her since the last week of August. Petito had been traveling with her fiancé in a white 2012 Ford Transit when she stopped communicating with family.

Petito told her family that she and her fiancé were heading to Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming when she last contacted them.

The van has been recovered but police have not provided further details on where it was located, the condition of the van or what may have been found inside it. According to Petito's relatives, the fiancé drove the van back to his home in Florida — alone.

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The young woman last posted photos on her Instagram profile on Aug. 25 — which was also the last day she spoke to her mother — and several social media users have commented on her pictures, praying for her safe return. Comments on her fiancé's profile have turned accusatory but police have not identified him or anyone else as a person of interest, and have not linked him to the disappearance.

The family hasn't much discussed the fiancé. A message on a Facebook group created to help search for Petito read Monday, "WE ARE ONLY LOOKING FOR GABBY AT THIS TIME." They've also said the two had been dating for at least two years. They first met in high school but later rekindled their relationship.

They said they liked the fiancé and approved of the trip the two were taking at the time Petito vanished. Petito left for the journey on July 2 from her mother's home. Her mother, Nicole Schmidt, told multiple news outlets she had last received texts from her daughter's phone on August 27 and 30 but she never spoke directly with her.

"I just believe she's in danger because she's not in touch with us. She could be stranded somewhere in the wilderness ,"said Schmidt. "The first couple of days I wasn't getting responses. Day eight, day nine I got really concerned and figured she couldn't be off the grid for that long."

The couple appeared to have recently started a channel together on YouTube where they documented their "van life," a popular lifestyle and genre on the platform. Their first video was posted on Aug. 19. It featured 8-minute long footage of their travels in their white van.

The boyfriend's whereabouts Monday weren't immediately clear. NBC New York was unable to reach him for comment.

"Gabby's 22 years old, she a beautiful soul inside and out. She's artistic, creative, loving caring and free-spirited," said her step father, James Schmidt. "We love her, we miss her and we want her to come home."

Petito's father, Joe Petito, told Newsday his daughter's disappearance feels like "drowning with your hands tied behind you."

He added: "You can't describe it. There's nothing you can do. You can't control anything."

Gabrielle Petito is described as a white female, about 5 feet 5 inches tall and 110 pounds. She has blonde hair and blue eyes, and several tattoos, including one on her finger and one on her forearm that reads “let it be."

Suffolk detectives are asking anyone with information on Petito’s disappearance to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS.