Internet sleuths claim Gabby Petito’s boyfriend Brian Laundrie is seen reading a book about women who go missing in a video uploaded to the couple’s Youtube travel channel.
Laundrie, who has been named a person of interest in the case, is briefly shown reading what appears to be Jeff VanderMeer’s “Annihilation,” a 2014 novel about four women who venture into the so-called Area X, where three of them die and the fourth stays permanently.
“The clip is of … Brian reading a book, and it is apparently called Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer, about groups of people exploring uncharted terrain that go missing,” TikTok user Alyssa Rose said about the “disturbing” video, according to Newsweek.
The eerie clip was posted to the couple’s channel, “Nomadik Statik,” on Aug. 19.
“This particular book in the series follows four women. What?” she said under her handle, @alyssaest93 said. “So many people have said that that information needs to be handed over to the police.”
But other TikTok users found the connection far-fetched, the outlet noted.
“This book ‘Annihilation’ 10000% has nothing to do with this case. It’s literally about aliens. This is almost just offensive at this point,” wrote @julezandtherollerz.
Rose responded: “Don’t dig into the little details of the book. Just look at it as a whole.”
In the book, the four women — a biologist, an anthropologist, a surveyor and a psychologist — cross the border into the uninhabited area that has been closed to the public for 30 years, Conan Daily reports.
In the end, the biologist was the only surviving member and decided to stay in Area X.
A 2018 movie based on the novel starred Natalie Portman and Jennifer Jason Leigh.
On Sunday, the FBI confirmed that the body found in a Wyoming national park is likely that of the 22-year-old Long Island native.
The attorney representing Laundrie and his parents — who have all refused to speak to police about Petito’s disappearance — called the discovery of her apparent remains “heartbreaking.”
Teton County Coroner Dr. Brent Blue confirmed earlier Sunday that authorities had discovered a body at Bridger-Teton National Forest, where FBI, National Parks and local law enforcement officials have been searching for Petito since last week.
Petito went missing late last month while on a cross country trip with Laundrie, who returned home without her on Sept. 1.
Her boyfriend also disappeared last week, prompting a massive search of the 25,000-acre Carlton Reserve near his parents’ home in North Port, Florida.