Lighting Up Long Island’s Sky For Gabby Petito

SELDEN, NY — People came in groups, others drifted in by themselves Friday night to gather in a small pocket park only steps away from a busy main thoroughfare on Long Island.

Friday night signals the end of the workweek and many of the working class, who call eastern Suffolk County home, look forward to it as a time to unwind with friends and family at home, a restaurant, entertainment venue, or the ever-ready sand of the beach — absent tourists.

Instead, this Friday night, residents gathered in the grassy area, surrounded by trees with teal ribbons tied to them, near The Home Depot in Selden, where Joseph Petito, the father of Gabby Petito, once worked.

Some wore t-shorts with Gabby’s now iconic image standing in front of angel wings, and carried small tokens, like stuffed teddy bears and angels.

Others carried candles to be placed at the base of a large tree, where there were several blown-up photos of the Blue Point native amidst some heart-shaped balloons floating softly in the autumn breeze.

Not many an eye was dry after the brief memorial. A few people openly wept, while other attendees caught tears on their cheeks as they dispersed — heads down as they walked to their cars in the shopping center's parking lot.

Over 150 people all showed to remember the slain 22-year-old.

Good words were said, and prayers were made.

“It was beautiful,” said Valerie Pellegrino, whose family also lit a candle for Petito in their driveway in Selden, as she walked back to her car.

Pellegrino, who attended with her husband, Bobby, and 17-year-old son, Robert, said she had to pay her respects because “Gabby,” was so special.

Like many Long Islanders, Pellegrino had been following Petito’s case since it was announced that she was missing on Sept. 12.

She had to come to the event for comfort.

Petito, an up-and-coming Van Life influencer, disappeared on a cross-country road trip with her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, while documenting their travels for social media. Her photos and videos can still be seen on Instagram and YouTube. She was always exuberant, smiling, and delighted in making updates on her travels of the national park system — an item on her bucket list from her early teens.

She was found murdered last Sunday in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

“I don't know if it was a free spirit, that touched us all — because this is not going to be the last time something like this happens — but there's something special about Gabby,” Pellegrino said.

After the speeches were over, luminaries were released.

Then someone broke the tension, remarking when a luminary fizzled out and fell from the sky onto the ground below.

"It divebombed," one man exclaimed.

Those who lingered at the gathering discussed the horrific events leading to their gathering.

Laundrie, a person of interest in her disappearance, allegedly left his parents’ home on Sept. 14 and has not been seen since.

And a search for him underway in a nature preserve in Florida, has now escalated into a massive manhunt with a combination of Federal Bureau of Investigation agents and local police now involved as they investigate out-of-state leads, as well as sightings as far away as Canada and Mexico. It's now the seventh day of an unsuccessful search.

People continued to arrive at the memorial, placing their candles at the base of the tree, many of them teen girls in varying ages, sadly lighting the wicks as they walked away tearfully.

A group of teens close to Petito’s age huddled near the tree after the ceremony.

One with tears in her eyes said: "I thought it was nice but nothing's going to make up for it unless she gets justice.”

MORE RELATED STORIES FROM PATCH IN NEW YORK AND FLORIDA:

• Gabby Petito Was An Artist 'Who Loved Living Life'
• Laundrie: Cops 'Not Wasting Our Time' With Search
• Brian Laundrie Indicted, Sought By FBI On Arrest Warrant
• GoFundMe Will Continue Helping Gabby Petito's Family: Organizer