Has Brian Laundrie Been Active on Spotify After He Was Reported Missing?

Why are followers of the Gabby Petito case finding Brian Laundrie's Spotify account activity suspicious? Petito's case has drawn national attention ever since she was initially reported missing on Sept. 11. Laundrie initially drew suspicion after returning home without Petito to North Port, Fla. in Petito's van on Sept. 1. Petito's boyfriend refused to speak with authorities about her whereabouts, even though he was the last person with her. Laundrie has been missing since Sept. 14.

Laundrie's behavior and strange disappearance drew even more scrutiny after Petito's body was tragically found in Grand Teton, Wyo. Her death was ruled a homicide. Social media sleuths have been poring over Laundrie's online activity and seeking out clues that might help the FBI locate him, so Petito's family can finally have answers. Currently, there is an arrest warrant out for Laundrie, but it is for bank fraud and not Petito's murder.

One sharp Twitter user noticed a key change on Laundrie's Spotify account (display name Nomadic Statik) on Sept. 21:

The reason why the Twitter user was freaked out about the name disappearing was due to the assumption that someone has to remove a name from a playlist manually on Spotify. Another notable change in the Nomadic Statik account was the fact that photos of Gabby were removed as the header images for each personalized playlist.

While these changes are certainly noteworthy, several Reddit users have pointed out that these changes may actually have been made by Spotify itself. Apparently, if a playlist receives a lot of reports, Spotify — or an automatic bot — will wipe certain details from an account.

It is also worth noting that while the display name of the account is Nomadic Statik, the actual username is "gabbypetito." Although Petito and Laundrie reportedly shared the Spotify account in question, the suspicious Spotify activity on the Nomadic Statik account on Aug. 30 just appears to lend more credence to the pattern of Laundrie allegedly utilizing Petito's own possessions and accounts for himself.

One of the last songs added on Aug. 31 was "The Badger's Wake" by Matt Berry. Although Spotify accounts obviously can't show whether it was Petito or Laundrie who added "The Badger's Wake," the lyrics about death are rather disturbing in hindsight, considering that investigators reportedly believe that Petito was likely already dead by Aug. 31:

"In slumber of blood and bone/The badger lies still as he dreams/I hear one last slow breath/Underneath the beech tree home/The smell of a badger's death/In the ground leaves a mighty hole/And so the evening it dies/On the trees the ash bloods break/If you look there you'll see the last rise/In time for the badgers to wake."

Several other Matt Berry songs were added to the Nomadic Statik account on Aug. 31, including, "Woman," "Take My Hand," and "The Pheasant." Only one song was added the day before on Aug. 30. and then one 10 days before that on Aug. 20. The most recent Spotify playlist on the Nomadic Statik account includes six songs, also added on Aug. 30.

The most recent playlist with six songs was reportedly initially titled "Selfconsumption." People believe the name playlist title change to Nomadic Statik is possible evidence that Laundrie may have a burner phone. Currently, all of the playlists on the account are titled Nomadic Statik.

With so many unanswered questions remaining regarding Petito's death, it is easy to drift off in the realms of speculation as many well-meaning followers of this case try to aid in the search for Laundrie. Hopefully, the Petito family will get actual answers sooner rather than later.