A Free Spirit Who Was 'Living the Dream': Inside the Tragic Gabby Petito Case

In their converted white Ford Transit van they started out at Blue Point, N.Y., and visited national parks and campgrounds in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. Whenever they selected a spot to stop, they’d film and upload videos of the scene around them, documenting their “van life journey” with shots of themselves swimming, hiking and kissing.

“All of their friends are either still in college or searching for entry-level jobs,” the couple’s friend Ben Matula tells PEOPLE exclusively in its latest issue. “They were living the dream that we all want. They were having the adventure of a lifetime.”

The couple’s relationship began when she was a sophomore and he was a junior at Long Island’s Bayport-Blue Point High School. The romance was on-again, off-again to the point that sometimes it was hard for friends to know if the couple were together.

The pair seemed to fall in and out of love, but friends say they didn’t see anything concerning between them.

“They had very high highs and very low lows,” says Chen. “But she always said he was a good boyfriend.”

He has not been named a suspect at this time. Laundrie’s lawyer has not responded to PEOPLE’s requests for comment.

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“It seemed,” Matula tells PEOPLE, “like they were seeing the world with the person they loved.”

If you have information on this case, call 1-­800-­CALL-­FBI (225­-5324).

source: people.com