This is the Birkenhead News round-up of police and crime news in and around Wirral during the previous seven days. Birkenhead News has a Facebook group for Birkenhead. You can…
THE mysterious disappearance of social media star Gabby Petito caught the world’s attention in 2021.
A new Netflix docuseries called American Murder Gabby Petito delves into the final days of the influencer’s life.
Gabby Petito was a 22-year-old woman who went on a trip around America with her boyfriend Brian Laundrie.
They planned to travel around the country for four months — but a tragic series of events unfolded.
On July 2, 2021, the pair embarked on their travels, but before long Gabby’s family began to worry.
Gabby had six younger siblings and half-siblings, and was born and raised in Blue Point, New York.
She documented her life and travels on social media sites including YouTube and Instagram.
Gabby and Laundrie set off on their four-month trip at the start of July 2021, and she documented their trip on her YouTube channel Nomadic Statik.
They appeared to be having the time of their lives as they visited some of the most picturesque parts of the US.
Gabby’s family stayed in touch with her until the end of August when communication suddenly stopped.
Her parents began to worry and started their search for their daughter, with internet sleuths getting involved in the missing persons case.
Laundrie returned to his home in Florida at the beginning of September in the van that he and Gabby had been travelling in, but he was alone.
Before this, on August 12, 2021, a witness called the police to report that a couple, later identified as Gabby and Laundrie, were seen fighting in Utah.
The caller said they saw a man slap a woman before they drove off together.
Police approached the couple and body cam footage showed them both talking about the physical altercation.
Gabby told the officer that she hit Laundrie first.
I’ve lost our whole future together, every moment we could have cherished.
Brian Laundrie
The search for Gabby came to a tragic end when a body was found on September 19, 2021.
Her body was found at the Spread Creek Dispersed Camping area in Wyoming which is where the Ford Transit Connect was previously seen before Laundrie drove it home.
An autopsy determined that the manner of death was homicide by “blunt-force injuries to the head and neck, with manual strangulation” which occurred three to four weeks before the body was found.
Laundrie was described as a person of interest on September 15 by police after he returned home to Florida on his own as he was the last person to have seen Gabby before she disappeared.
However, just two days later his parents told police they had not seen their son since September 14.
Police then announced that they were searching for the Carlton Reserve Laundrie.
More than a month later, on October 20, Laundrie’s body was found in a Florida park along with a notebook and backpack.
It was confirmed on November 23 that Laundrie had taken his own life.
Here we take a look at the sad events surrounding Gabby going missing:
In the notebook that was found with Laundrie’s body, a letter was found where he took responsibility for Gabby’s death.
He claimed that he killed her after she injured herself in a fall in Wyoming, saying he thought it was “merciful”.
He said that he loved Gabby and he apologised to “everyone who this will affect”.
He ended the note by writing: “I am ending my life not because of a fear of punishment but rather because I can’t stand to live another day without her.
“I’ve lost our whole future together, every moment we could have cherished.”
When Gabby was reported missing and her body had not yet been found, her family spoke out at new conferences.
At one her father Joseph Petito said: “We ask you to put yourselves in our shoes.
“We haven’t been able to sleep or eat.
“And our lives are falling apart.”
Since Gabby’s death, her mother Nichole has made several public appearances, including one on NBC’s TODAY.
On August 4, 2022, she revealed on the show that The Gabby Petito Foundation would be donating $100,000 to the National Domestic Violence Hotline in memory of her daughter.
“We’re trying to do good for Gabby, and for everybody else,” Nichole told NBC News senior national correspondent Kate Snow, via TODAY.
“Our story begins because of domestic violence tragedy, and we don’t want to see that happen to anybody else.
“Every potential call that’s coming in is someone’s life, and that’s how we have to think about this.
“Time is precious, lives are precious,” continued Nichole
Gabby’s parents sued Laundrie’s parents and their attorney for pain and emotional distress — they believed the Laundries withheld information regarding Petito’s death.
They have since reached a settlement where Gabby’s family received $3million.
American Murder Gabby Petito dropped on Netflix on Monday, February 17, 2025.
Exploring the sad story of Gabby’s disappearance and death, the docuseries is made up of three parts.
The show features interviews with her loved ones, who reveal the untold story behind her tragic murder.
EVERY 90 minutes in the UK a life is lost to suicide
It doesn’t discriminate, touching the lives of people in every corner of society – from the homeless and unemployed to builders and doctors, reality stars and footballers.
It’s the biggest killer of people under the age of 35, more deadly than cancer and car crashes.
And men are three times more likely to take their own life than women.
Yet it’s rarely spoken of, a taboo that threatens to continue its deadly rampage unless we all stop and take notice, now.
That is why The Sun launched the You’re Not Alone campaign.
The aim is that by sharing practical advice, raising awareness and breaking down the barriers people face when talking about their mental health, we can all do our bit to help save lives.
Let’s all vow to ask for help when we need it, and listen out for others… You’re Not Alone.
If you, or anyone you know, needs help dealing with mental health problems, the following organisations provide support:
SPOTTING the happy dog is easy, but can you outsmart everyone and find the hidden butterfly in this optical illusion?
Time to put your vision and brain skills to the test and solve this tricky brainteaser in just seven seconds or less.
This image is known as an optical illusion, meaning there could be other not-so obvious elements to be found.
Everyone can quickly see the happy dog sat next to his owner in their comfy living room.
But only those with 20/20 vision and a high IQ can solve this mind-bending puzzle in time.
Are you able to find the hidden butterfly or will you be left scratching your head?
It might seem a bit daunting at first, but the key is to carefully examine each section of the image.
You might wish to start from the top left corner of the image and work your way down, or maybe do the complete opposite – whatever gives you more confidence!
Another useful tactic is picking an element of the picture – in this case a card – and analyse what’s around it.
Were you able to catch the butterfly? If so, congratulations!
Still struggling to figure this one out? Have a look at the solution image at the bottom to check if you were close enough.
Engaging in activities like solving optical illusions and brainteasers can have many cognitive benefits as it can stimulate various brain regions.
Some benefits include:
Did you know that solving optical illusions is a great way of training your brain and improving creative thinking?
Brainteasers are purposefully designed to trick our vision and can be used as simple determiners of intelligence.
So you might want to try The Sun’s wide range of optical illusions created to stimulate the deepest parts of your brain.
In this puzzle, you must be a genius if you can help a family find a mistake in their game.
If you think you have a high IQ, then try spotting the strawberry amongst the carnival scene in less than nine seconds.
And if you have 20/20 vision you might be able to spot the hidden number in this mind-boggling image.
SUN readers can win a stunning four-bed Marbella villa or £650,000 cash alternative from just £1.79 with our discount code.
We have teamed up with 7days Performance to offer one lucky winner the chance to claim this amazing prize this week.
The villa is situated near Marbella and is equipped with a private garden, swimming pool and spectacular views of the Strait of Gibraltar and Africa.
With a privileged location in a new residential area in San Diego, a 10 minute walk along the “Camino Verde” which leads to the exclusive area of Cala Sardina.
The competition is open now and closes at 8.45pm on Sunday 2nd March with the draw available to watch live on Facebook at 9pm.
Tickets are normally £1.99 but Sun readers can claim a discounted price of £1.79 when you sign up and use promo code SUN10.
You can enter online, or with a postal entry.
Every competition has a limit on the number of entries, and each prize is guaranteed to be won regardless of the number of entries.
7days Performance have competitions almost every day for amazing prizes as well as massive cash jackpots. So far they have given away over £105million with 800,000+ prizes won.
4 Bed Luxury Villa near Marbella + £10,000 Cash
This wonderful property is distributed over three floors, built with high quality materials and excellent finishes.
It enjoys great luminosity thanks to its large windows throughout the house and its south-east orientation.
On the first floor there is a spacious living-dining room with integrated kitchen, all in an open plan style.
On the upper floor there are 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
The master bedroom has an en-suite his and hers bathroom and its own private balcony.
All the bedrooms are equipped with custom made wardrobes, creating a minimalist and tidy feel that achieves the whole design of the Villa.
Parking space for two vehicles in the grounds of the property.
Swimming pool to enjoy the hot days, very comfortable and practical garden, with space for sun loungers, and a spacious area for the barbecue area.
It is really a dream home to enjoy, with a high potential for holiday rentals or long term.
HAVE you ever been tempted to try out a side hustle to earn some extra cash?
You’re not alone, plenty of people across the nation are giving it a go as they struggle to keep up with the cost of living.
One smart side-hustler set herself the challenge of raking in an additional £10,000 this year through alternative money-making methods.
Charlie Louise documents her progress on her TikTok account, @charlie_louise_cc, breaking down her profits to her 8,600 followers.
This week, she’s made a cool £237, through some pretty unusual (and yummy!) methods.
Charlie captioned her video: “Part 6 – Is it possible to make 10k a year? Day 6 of my side hustle challenge and I’ve exceeded my goal. A study for £100 supposed to happen today for [sic] postponed though.”
Despite missing out on the well paid study, Charlie smashed her target of making £27 a day.
She showed video clips of the four clever money-making schemes she’d completed this week.
First, Charlie made a tidy £18 by walking her four-legged friend Simba.
The pair enjoyed a leisurely stoll, while Charlie cashed in on their cute bonding time.
She then made £39 as a mystery shopper.
The savvy saver went undercover at the pub, a bowling alley and a dress shop – and was reimbursed for all her spends.
She even managed to use the opportunity to treat her other half to two fancy date nights, where they tucked into burgers and scored strikes at the bowling alley.
Without costing Charlie a penny!
Charlie came away from method number three with a stunning glow.
She earned £30 as a product tester trying out a brand of fake tan, pocketing the cash without even having to leave her home.
Finally, Charlie earned a whopping £150 by devouring some delicious pasta.
She joined in on a market research study that required her to try the tasty meal.
Happy with her progress, she told viewers in the comments: “The easiest £237 when it’s all fun and games.”
And people were quick to praise Charlie for her smart side hustles.
One person told her: “Good work honey.”
While another said: “That’s amazing! And had date nights paid for. Perfect.”
And someone else had clearly been inspired, writing: “I want to do it!”
LOVE Island All Stars fans have spotted another ‘clue’ that Sammy Root and Elma Pazar were dating before the show.
Tonight’s Love Island All Stars final will see Sammy and Elma take on four other couples to scoop the £50,000 prize.
But fans think they’ve worked out they were actually a couple before their time in the villa.
Sammy joined Towie for its most recent series and one storyline involved him pursuing Elma.
And someone posted a clip of the ITVBe show’s finale, during which Elma said of their romance: “We’re getting there.”
And Sammy added: “Step by step.”
“I will put any money on that these two have been together since December…
“Completely makes sense now.”
It comes after eagle-eyed fans spotted a comment on Sammy’s Instagram from Elma from eight weeks ago.
She posted a string of heart hand emojis, with Sammy responding by posting the couple holding hands.
Sunday’s dramatic All Stars episode had axed Islanders from the series return to dump a couple.
Harriett Blackmore and Ronnie Vint were axed – but not before she brutally hit back at Liv Hawkins, who tried to shade both their relationship and Grace Jackson and Luca Bish‘s.
Liv claimed she’d seen messages from Grace saying she’d “do whatever it takes” to win the show.
Rushing to defend her best mate, Harriett said: “Babe, you’ve made it up… f****** go home.”
EMAIL users have been warned of a dangerous new phishing attack that swipes their login details and accesses accounts.
The attack “bypasses two-factor authentication (2FA) through session hijacking and real-time credential interception,” according to researchers at SlashNet, who discovered the scam.
Cyber crooks will send a link to email users, which will infect their device as soon as they click it.
This link will redirect users to a malicious server that shows as a fake sign-in page.
The fake page “mirrors” the legitimate sign-in page – so there are no security warnings.
Most people will assume they are on the legitimate site.
Users then, unknowingly, enter their login details into the fake page, handing access to their accounts to fraudsters.
The new phishing campaign, known as Astaroth, “distinguishes itself by not only intercepting login credentials but also by rapidly capturing 2FA authentication tokens and session cookies as they are generated,” researchers added.
This allows attackers to bypass two-factor authentication protections “with remarkable speed and precision.”
So, even if you are sent an SMS code to access your email account, the attackers can intercept it.
There are plenty of phishing scams out there that deploy fake login pages.
But Astaroth is particularly sophisticated, SlashNext warned in its report, because of its ability to capture all authentication data in real time.
“Astaroth significantly raises the bar, rendering conventional phishing methods and their inherent security measures largely ineffective,” said researchers.
The Astaroth phishing kit is currently being sold on the dark web, where cyber criminals can buy it for $2,000 and six months worth of updates.
HERE's what you need to know:
Over the weekend, Gmail users were warned of a new AI-fuelled scam that steals their personal information and hijacks their accounts.
The FBI first warned about the attacks in May last year.
The “devastating” attack saw not just funds stolen from accounts but also victims’ identities.
FBI Special Agent in Charge, Robert Tripp, said: “Attackers are leveraging AI to craft highly convincing voice or video messages and emails to enable fraud schemes against individuals and businesses alike.
“These sophisticated tactics can result in devastating financial losses, reputational damage, and compromise of sensitive data.”
IF you’re on a mission to banish mould in your home, you’ll be thrilled to hear that you’ve come to the right place.
Mould in grout is very common, considering many people don’t clean their bathrooms often enough.
Not only does mould on grout look terribly unsightly, but it can also be potentially harmful to your health too.
And while many may argue that mould can be removed entirely with bleach, one cleaning fan has come up with a much better solution – and it works in minutes.
Whilst bleach works to remove the colour of mould stains, giving the illusion of a mould-free bathroom, in fact, the nasty stuff is often still there, alive and growing.
But luckily for you, a cleaning whizz named Courtney has taken to social media to share the mould removal method she swears by – and you’ve probably already got the ingredients at home.
Taking to her Instagram page, Courtney urged households to ditch bleach when combating mould and instead, swore by her three-ingredient DIY non-toxic grout cleaner.
In the video, she said: “I wish more people knew about my three-ingredient non-toxic grout cleaner is more effective than bleach.”
In the caption, she added: “Not only is bleach toxic, but it only cleans the surface so mould and mildew will grow back and it can weaken grout over time.
“When bleach reacts with mould and mildew, it can produce hazardous compounds, like chloramines, which are toxic to breathe (on top of the already toxic bleach fumes).”
As a result, she advised: “So skip the bleach and make your own grout cleaner with three simple ingredients.”
For this cleaning trick, Courtney simply combined half a cup of baking soda with a quarter cup of hydrogen peroxide and a teaspoon of washing-up liquid.
Once she had mixed the ingredients to form a paste, she applied it to the stained grout, gave it a good scrub and let it sit for 20 minutes.
Once the time was up, Courtney wiped away the paste to reveal whitened grout that was fully free from mould.
Mould is more likely to grow during the winter months.
Olivia Young, Product Development Scientist at Astonish revealed exactly why this is.
“Unfortunately, mould is a common problem many people face during winter. It thrives in conditions that are warm and damp, so your bathrooms are likely to be the most affected place.
“That said, during the colder months most rooms in your home could be vulnerable to mould growing.
“This occurs primarily from condensation that builds up on your windows when you’ve got your radiators on.
“If you think about it, when windows and doors are closed, there’s not much chance for the air to circulate and the moisture to make a swift exit.
“This build up is what can cause dreaded mould to make an appearance, especially in bathrooms, as it creates that warm and wet environment that is a breeding ground for mould.
“If left untreated, not only is it unsightly but it can also pose a serious risk to your health, so it’s really important you treat it.
“The key to tackle mould is to act fast.
“Try to come into as little contact with it as you can. So, grab your gloves, tie up your hair and get to work to remove any signs of mould as soon as you notice them.
“To keep mould at bay, there are some simple solutions you can introduce throughout home.
“The first is keep it ventilated. Yes, even in the cold winter months try to leave your bathroom window open for at least 10/15 minutes post shower or bath. This will get rid of any excess moisture quickly preventing mould gathering.
“If you’re having a repeat problem with mould in one particular area, it might be because the humidity levels are too high. You can get a dehumidifier that will help keep the levels low and reduce the risk of mould returning.
“The golden rule to remember when dealing with mould is the quicker you can treat it, the better. If you leave it, it will only get worse so never ignore it!
“To successfully get rid of mould every time, I recommend opting for the UK’s No 1 Mould & Mildew Remover, that effectively removes mould and mildew stains almost instantly, with no scrubbing necessary.”
Courtney’s super simple but incredibly effective trick has clearly left many open-mouthed, as her short clip has quickly racked up 542,000 views and over 4,000 likes.
And if you’re looking to give this trick a try but are faced with bare cupboards, you’ll be pleased to know that this method won’t need to break the bank.
Not only is bleach toxic, but it only cleans the surface so mould and mildew will grow back and it can weaken grout over time
Courtney
Whilst you’ll be able to nab washing-up liquid for as cheap as 69p from Sainsbury’s, you’ll also find baking soda there for just 50p.
Hydrogen peroxide is on the slightly more expensive side, but you can find it on Amazon for only £2.99 and in many pharmacies from £3.
And once your grout is cleaned, it’s highly important that you follow some crucial steps to prevent mould from reappearing.
Firstly, you’ll need to ensure adequate ventilation within bathrooms, as this will help to expel excess moisture, which is a breeding ground for mould.
As well as this, for poorly ventilated bathrooms, installing a dehumidifier can help to maintain optimal humidity levels.
Dehumidifiers extract excess moisture from the air, preventing condensation and inhibiting mildew and mould growth, ensuring your grout stays sparkling without regular scrubbing sessions.
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Plumbworld, a leading expert in bathroom and kitchen products, has shared the daily habits that increase the chance of mould growing in homes.
Leaving wet towels and bathmats on floor
Wet towels and bathmats on the floors after a shower or bath can increase humidity levels which provides a perfect breeding ground for mould spores.
To prevent this, hang towels and bathmats in an area where they can dry quickly and to wash them regularly.
Not turning on the fan
An exhaust fan is critical in reducing moisture levels in the bathroom.
When taking a hot shower or bath, steam increases the room’s humidity level, creating an ideal setting for mould to flourish on walls, ceilings, and other surfaces.
An exhaust fan helps by moving the moist air outside, significantly reducing the risk of mould growth.
Experts suggest running the fan during the shower and for at least 20-30 minutes afterwards to lower humidity levels.
Ignoring small leaks
Even minor leaks from the sink, toilet, or shower can contribute to increased moisture levels in a bathroom, fostering an environment where mould can thrive.
Over time, these leaks can cause significant water damage, promoting mould growth in less visible areas such as inside walls or under flooring.
Fix leaks promptly to prevent mould and potential structural damage.
Keeping shower curtains or doors closed
Keeping the shower area closed after use traps moisture inside, delaying the drying process and creating a humid environment conducive to mould growth.
Mould can easily develop on shower curtains, doors, and in tile grout if they remain wet for too long.
To avoid this, leave the shower door or curtain open after use to improve air circulation and allow the area to dry more quickly.
Storing too many products
Shower caddies and corners filled with bottles and accessories may seem harmless, but they can obstruct airflow and trap moisture and creates hidden, moist niches where mould can grow unnoticed.
Keep shampoo and shower gel bottles to a minimum, and regularly clean and dry the areas underneath them to prevent mould growing.