The case sparked more public interest and coverage on news and social media than other missing persons and murder cases.[44][45][46] This heightened interest was attributed to several factors including: the refusal by Laundrie and his parents to comment on the status of Petito;[4] the amount of content on social media documenting their lifestyle;[47] the video footage of the Moab, Utah, traffic stop; the audio footage of the 9-1-1 emergency dispatch call;[44][47][48] the video posts by witnesses which provided a lot of publicly available evidence; the idea that the couple was young and attractive[47] and in a romantic excursion gone wrong;[45] the domestic violence incidents in their relationship; an increase in interest in cross-country vandwelling trips due to the COVID-19 pandemic,[47] as well as the general increase in interest in true crime television and podcast programming in the preceding decade.[45] Public involvement in the case included witnesses and others posting their observations and theories on social media,[45] protests outside the Laundrie home demanding answers,[49] a candlelight vigil for Petito in her hometown,[49] and donations to the Gabby Petito Foundation established by Petito's stepfather and mother to support searches for other missing persons.[50] The increased interest in the search for Laundrie and Petito led to the discovery of five bodies of other missing persons.[51] While some posts on social media regarding the case have been helpful in the investigation, many of them have been characterized as insensitive, unhelpful, monetized, motivated by increased exposure, or outright misinformation.[45][44][46][47]