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Gabby Petito update: Search warrant documents reveal 'odd texts,' tension in days leading up to disappearance
One of the final messages that Gabby Petito’s family is believed to have received from her was in the form of an "odd text" sent at the end of August, when loved ones began to grow concerned about her wellbeing, according to the state search warrant released Monday.
Gabrielle Petito, 22, sent her mother, Nichole Schmidt, a text message on August 27, in which she wrote: "Can you help Stan, I just keep getting his voicemails and missed calls," states the search warrant, filed in the Sarasota County Circuit Court on Friday and made public Monday.
According to the document: "The reference to ‘Stan’ was regarding her grandfather, but per the mother, she never calls him ‘Stan.’ The mother was concerned that something was wrong with her daughter."
The text was one of a dozen grounds local law enforcement claimed it had for probable cause to conduct a search warrant at the home of Brian Laundrie, Petito’s fiancé, and his parents in North Port, Florida.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation raided the home on Monday morning in conjunction with local law enforcement. A spokesperson for the FBI’s Tampa Field Office told Fox News their search warrant was still under seal.
Local law enforcement officers were seeking, and received, permission to search a black Western Digital External Hard Drive, the document shows. CLICK HERE FOR MORE ON OUR TOP STORY.
In other developments:
- Laundrie neighbors describe last time they saw Gabby alive.
- Alarming red flag spotted in Gabby Petito body cam footage: psychologist.
- Gabby Petito case: Autopsy of remains found in Wyoming to be completed Tuesday.
- Gabby Petito: Timeline of missing woman's cross-country road trip.
- Gabby Petito investigation: 911 call reveals Brian Laundrie seen hitting, 'slapping' her before disappearance.
MSNBC's Ruhle dings Kamala Harris on the border: 'She was supposed to be in charge'
MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle criticized Vice President Kamala Harris Monday for being missing in action during the ongoing crisis on the southern border.
Startling images of thousands of migrants camped under the International Bridge in Del Rio, Texas over the weekend confirmed that the situation on the border remains chaotic. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has determined the situation to be so dire that he's asked President Joe Biden for a federal emergency declaration, saying that as of Saturday there were nearly 16,000 migrants in Del Rio.
"Thousands of families are immobilized in 100-degree heat as their numbers continue to swell as they wait to be processed by the approximately 64 federal agents in the area," Abbott wrote in a letter to the president. "Individuals are camping in squalid conditions and bathing in muddy river water, causing great health concerns."
Biden appointed Harris as his point person on the issue in March, and her critics are wondering what she is doing to stem the influx of migrants that has overwhelmed Customs and Border Patrol agents.
"How about the message from our Vice President?" Ruhle asked Monday. "Where is she? She was supposed to be in charge of all of these migration issues, going to those Northern Triangle countries that's obviously not Haiti."
Ruhle reminded viewers that on her trip to Guatemala to spearhead diplomatic outreach on the crisis, Harris told migrants rather pointedly, "do not come."
But "people aren't listening," Ruhle noted. CLICK HERE FOR MORE.
In other developments:
- Political firestorm surrounding Milley's phone calls with China ignored on CBS, NBC, CNN Sunday shows.
- Tucker Carlson: The military's COVID vaccine mandate amounts to a power grab.
- Hard-hitting news is extinct: CNN reports on dinosaur 'foreplay,' nearly six years after Forbes.
- NBC, CNN Sunday shows spend just seconds on botched Afghan drone strike after ignoring blunder last week.
- CNN's Lemon balks as Cuomo calls Ocasio-Cortez a 'poser' for Met Gala dress stunt.
St. Louis couple who waved guns at Black Lives Matter protestors could face suspension of law licenses
The St. Louis couple who was captured wielding firearms at Black Lives Matters protesters in front of their gated mansion last year is facing a new legal fight after Missouri's chief disciplinary counsel asked the state Supreme Court to suspend their law licenses.
Mark McCloskey and his wife, Patricia, both personal injury attorneys who were admitted to the Missouri bar in 1986, pleaded guilty in connection with the viral incident. Both were both pardoned by Republican Gov. Mike Parson in July.
Patricia McCloskey pleaded guilty to harassment and was given a $2,000 fine. Mark McCloskey pleaded guilty to misdemeanor fourth-degree assault for threatening a passersby with an AR-15 rifle and was fined $750. They did not lose their law licenses at the time.
Last week, Alan Pratzel, the state Supreme Court's chief disciplinary officer, filed a motion to have the law licenses for both Mark and Patricia McCloskey suspended, saying both crimes proved the couple showed "indifference to public safety" and "moral turpitude."
In court documents, he cited other Missouri cases in which lawyers were disciplined for crimes. He said their pardon has no impact on his request.
"In Missouri, a pardon obliterates a person's conviction, but the person's guilt remains," read court documents presented to the seven-member court. CLICK HERE FOR MORE.
In other developments:
- Houston veteran police officer killed, second wounded while serving narcotics warrant, chief says.
- Chicago Mayor Lightfoot’s $16 billion budget proposal includes more spending on police amid gun violence spike.
- Chicago weekend violence includes 56 shooting victims, 9 murders and alderman attacked at ‘problem corner.’
- PA baby shower argument over gifts prompts dad-to-be to open fire, injuring 3 people, police say.
- Black Lives Matter holds 'cancel Carmine's' protest in New York City.
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TODAY’S MUST-READS:
- Canadians re-elect Justin Trudeau's Liberal Party.
- Barry Morphew released from Colorado jail with 2 daughters by his side.
- Texas Border Patrol discovers hotel room packed with illegals in suspected human smuggling operation.
- Aaron Rodgers silences doubters with 4 touchdown performance vs. Lions.
- High school horror ignites as bullets send students running for their lives.
- GOP backs Defense Authorization Act that requires women to register for draft.
THE LATEST FROM FOX BUSINESS:
- Elon Musk mocks Biden after SpaceX completes first all-civilian flight.
- Beijing unlikely to save Evergrande, report says.
- Biden admin slammed for more travel restrictions that cripple state economies.
- Trump sanctions on Iran decimated regime's global trade: report.
- America’s next hot import might be record energy prices.
- Yellen warns failure to raise debt ceiling could trigger ‘economic catastrophe.’
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SOME PARTING WORDS
Sean Hannity on Monday criticized the vacationing President Joe Biden as thousands of illegal immigrants continue amassing under the Acuna International Bridge in Del Rio, Texas – and as the administration seeks to enforce sweeping vaccine mandates on American citizens.
"Biden's border crisis is worse than ever: Seven months after it started and eight months after he lifted nearly all of President Trump's border protections," the host said on "Hannity." "He [Biden] said nothing [about the crisis] then went bike riding… Maybe, Joe, your time would be better spent getting abandoned Americans home and securing the border."
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Fox News First was compiled by Fox News’ David Aaro. Thank you for making us your first choice in the morning! We’ll see you in your inbox first thing Wednesday.
