Featured Image Credit: Instagram/@josephpetito
Topics: Gabby Petito, True Crime, Crime, US News, Documentaries, Netflix, TV And Film
Rhianna Benson
Topics: Gabby Petito, True Crime, Crime, US News, Documentaries, Netflix, TV And Film
On 11 September 2021, Gabby Petito's mother Nichole Schmidt filed a missing persons report, claiming she hadn't heard from her 22-year-old daughter for several days.
A month prior, the aspiring-YouTuber had embarked on a road-trip with her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, but had stopped communicating with her parents - aside from sending a handful of bizarre texts.
Not convinced the messages had been written by her daughter, Nichole and Joe Petito, Gabby's dad, launched a campaign that would subsequently uncover one of America's most sickening crimes.
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Brian, 23, had murdered Gabby, before abandoning her body in the Wyoming wilderness and returning home to Florida in her van.
Three years on and following the release of a Netflix true-crime documentary recounting Gabby's story, her parents have discussed their experience at length - beginning with those text messages.
On 30 August, Nichole received a strange text from Gabby's phone.
It read: "Can you help Stan? I keep getting his voicemails and missed calls. My phone doesn't even ring, there's no service."
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In the documentary - titled American Murder: Gabby Petito - the devastated mum recalled: "The thing that stuck out to me about that text was, it says Stan.
"Stan is Gabby's grandpa, who she referred to as 'Grandpa'."
Speaking in the series, Nichole admitted that she wondered at the time if Brian had composed the text while Gabby was driving.
"I could not get a hold of Gabby," she continued, revealing that any texts sent from 1 September onwards were ignored.
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After filing a report to police on 11 September - following several failed attempts to contact the Laundrie family - the Petitos later discovered that Brian had actually returned home to Florida.
He'd driven home in Gabby's van at the end of August, claiming he'd left his fiancé at a hotel in Wyoming after getting onto a fight.
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After refusing to talk to police, Brian's parents - Roberta and Chris Laundrie - hired at attorney.
Eventually, Brian was named as a person of interest - but by 17 September, he'd disappeared from his Florida home.
Two days later, Gabby’s body was found near Grand Teton National Park. An autopsy later determined that she'd been strangled to death.
The following month, Brian's body was discovered by his parents at Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park. He'd died by suicide.
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Beside his body, Brian had written a story about Gabby's death in a waterproof notebook.
He claimed his fiancé had gotten injured during the trip, and that he'd made the decision to 'end her life'.
"I thought it was merciful," Brian claimed.
Following the release of the documentary, Gabby's mother Nichole spoke to NewsNation, admitting she and Joe 'don't think we'll ever known why' Brian murdered their daughter.
"The only two people that will know why are the two people that were there when this happened," Nichole said.
"I think we have the answers we needed. We know that things were known. I don't want to talk about them or say their names."
The Petitos filed a lawsuit against Roberta and Chris Laundrie in 2022 for at least $100,000 in damages.
The grieving mother and father claimed the Laundries had assisted their son in covering up Gabby's murder, and accused them of knowing she was already dead throughout the initial investigation.
In 2024, the case was settled out of court, with the Petito's telling press that, after a 'long day of mediation', all parties had 'reluctantly agreed' to the deal to 'avoid further legal expenses and prolonged personal conflict' - as per the BBC.
Steven Bertolino - an attorney for Roberta and Chris Laundrie - reportedly told The Sun US that, although the documentary was formatted how the family had expected, they do not believe their portrayal is fair.
"One perspective depicted as the 'truth' as seen through their lens," the lawyer told the publication. "Similar to Republicans and Democrats fighting it out lately."
Bertolino continued: "Each side believes their perspective is correct. Hard to see through the lens of the other with all the noise and distrust.
"To be clear though, there were no contradictions by my clients Chris and Roberta Laundrie."
He added that the doc 'contained many inaccuracies, incorrect juxtapositions of timelines, and misstatements and omissions of fact', suggesting that this could have been 'deliberate to capture their 'truth'', or 'due to simple error'.
"We all know Brian took Gabby's life and Brian then took his own as well. Let the parents of both Gabby and Brian mourn them in peace."