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- The cause of death was released for the missing hiker whose body was found in same forest as Gabby Petito's.
- Robert "Bob" Lowery, 46, a father of two from Houston, Texas, died by suicide, a local coroner said.
- Lowery's body was found in Wyoming's Bridger-Teton National Forest on September 28.
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The missing hiker whose body was found in the same Wyoming national forest as the remains of Gabby Petito died by suicide, a local coroner said Wednesday.
Robert "Bob" Lowery, 46, a father of two from Houston, Texas, died as a result of suicide from a gunshot wound to the head, Teton County Coroner Dr. Brent Blue told Insider.
Lowery's body was discovered on September 28 by the Teton County Search and Rescue team at the base of Wyoming's Teton Pass after he was last seen on August 20.
Officials have said that the national attention surrounding the disappearance and death of Petito led the search and rescue team to find Lowery's remains.
"The widespread news coverage of the Gabby Petito search helped bring light to Lowery's case, and resulted in at least two members of the public calling local authorities … with new information about his possible last seen point," the search and rescue team previously said in a statement.
That new information, the search team said, placed Lowery on the Black Canyon Trail in the vast Bridger-Teton National Forest - where Petito's body was discovered on September 19, eight days after the 22-year-old woman was reported missing by her family.
Petito's death has been ruled a homicide, and her now-missing fiancé, Brian Laundrie, has been named the sole person of interest in her disappearance.