A Minnesota man who allegedly once compared his ex-girlfriend to high-profile homicide victim Gabby Petito has been found guilty in her murder.
On Nov. 7, jurors convicted Adam Fravel of first-degree murder in the death of Madeline “Maddi” Kingsbury, who went missing in March 2023 after taking her and Fravel’s two children to daycare in Winona, Minn., according to a local NBC News affiliate reporter in the courtroom.
Three months after her disappearance, the 26-year-old’s remains were found in June 2023 in a wooded area roughly an hour outside of the city and Fravel was subsequently arrested.
According to a criminal complaint filed by the state obtained by E! News, Fravel, 30, told local authorities he was “infatuated” with the Petito case, in which the 22-year-old travel influencer disappeared while on a road trip with fiancé Brian Laundrie in 2021. Laundrie, 23, died by suicide not long after her remains were found, with him leaving a note taking “responsibility” for her death, the FBI said.
Fravel admitted to police that he made a statement to Kingsbury about ending up like Petito, though he claimed the comment was a joke, per the complaint.