Gabby Petito’s parents are suing Brian Laundrie’s family over the death of their daughter.
Fox affiliate WFLA reports Petito’s parents, Joseph Peitio, and Nichole Schmidt, have filed a civil lawsuit against the parents of Laundrie, accusing them of knowing that their son murdered their 22-year-old daughter.
Petito was officially reported missing on Sept. 11, less than two weeks after Laundrie had returned to his Florida home without his fiancée. The woman was found strangled to death in Grant Teton National Park in Wyoming, where she and Laundrie had been camping before her disappearance.
According to court documents, Petito’s parents allege that Laundrie told his parents “on or about” Aug. 28 that he murdered Gabby.
“It is believed, and therefore averred that… Brian Laundrie advised his parents, Christopher Laundrie and Roberta Laundrie, that he had murdered Gabrielle Petito,” the lawsuit states. “On that same date, Christopher Laundrie and Roberta Laundrie spoke with Attorney Steve Bertolino, and him a retainer on Sept. 2, 2021.”
The lawsuit also claims that following Petito’s death Brian used Gabby’s phone to send text messages “in an effort to hide the fact that she was deceased.”
Among the texts referenced in the suit is one sent to sent to Schmidt by Laundrie from Gabby’s phone, in which he referred to Gabby’s grandfather by his first name, Stan, which Schmidt claims her daughter had never done before.
Petito’s parents also accuse Laundrie’s parents of planning to help their son leave the country.
“While Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt were desperately searching for information concerning their daughter, Christopher Laundrie and Roberta Laundrie were keeping the whereabouts of Brian Laundrie secret, and it is believed were making arrangements for him to leave the country,” the lawsuit alleges.
The documents continue, “Christopher and Roberta Laundrie exhibited extreme and outrageous conduct which constitutes behavior, under the circumstances, which goes beyond all possible bounds of decency and is regarded as shocking, atrocious, and utterly intolerable in a civilized community.”
