Thierbach-McLean, OlgaOlgaThierbach-McLean2024-04-152024-04-152024978-3-86309-973-2https://fis.uni-bamberg.de/handle/uniba/94623Few criminal cases have galvanized the global public like the murder of travel vlogger Gabby Petito in 2021. The fact that it was solved with the help of social media has perceivably shifted public discourses on the merits of amateur internet sleuthing. But at the same time, media narratives of Petito’s death have been widely framed as a cautionary tale about the dangers of the online environment for women, thus reproducing a centuries-old pattern of linking female victimization to female public visibility. This article examines the Gabby Petito case as a cultural phenomenon, illustrating how collective perceptions of crime are shaped by the social concerns of the day – and how timeworn gender biases are replicated in allegedly disembodied virtual spaces.engGabby Petitofemicide in popular mediacultural impact of social mediadomestic violenceonline misogyny300conferenceobject