- Gabby Petito disappeared while on a cross -way trip with her fiancé, Brian Laundrie.
- After Laundrie returned home without Petito, he and his parents did not cooperate with the police.
- Petito’s remains were found, and Laundrie then died of suicide. Her parents have sued his parents for death.
Gabby Petito’s disappearance captured the world in 2021. Now, is the focus of a new Netflix document.
Petito, a 22-year-old New York Vlogger and aspiration who had set out on a cross -way trip to build a career as a Van Life influential, was reported missing from her parents after they had not heard from her.
Petito’s parents had also not heard from their daughter’s fiancé, Brian Laundrie, who was traveling with her. Despite them, Laundrie had returned home to Florida with their van – but without petito.
The suspicion soon fell to Laundrie, who refused to cooperate with the police. He finally disappeared, days before Petito’s remains were discovered in Wyoming. Laundrie’s body was finally found in a reserve of nature in Florida near his parents’ house.
According to the FBI, Laundrie’s notebook, in which he took responsibility for Petito’s death, was found near his remains.
Although the author himself was dead, the matter did not end there. Documents with three parts of Netflix “American Murder: Gabby Petito” explores claims that Laundrie’s parents, Roberta and Christopher Laundrie, knew he killed Petito and was silent to protect their son.
Launderies have denied the claims.
Here’s what happened to Laundrie’s parents after the couple’s death, according to the previous BI report.
Gabby Petito was killed while on a road trip with her fiancé Brian Laundrie
Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie in their van. Netflix
Petito and Laundrie began meeting in 2019 and later moved to North Port, Florida, to live with the Laundrie family. The two were engaged in July 2020 and set off on a cross -way trip to their Ford Transit 2012 van in July 2021.
On August 12, 2021, Petito called her parents after joining a physical altercation with Laundrie in Moab, Utah, where police were called by a witness reporting a man hitting a girl. Police officers did not pursue allegations against anyone, instead advising Laundrie to search at a hotel to separate from Petito for the night.
Bodycam police footage from the Moab incident showed a restless and crying Petito interacting with the officers.
Petito’s latest Instagram post was split on August 25, 2021. Her family continued to receive texts from Petito’s phone by August 30. However, as Netflix Docuseries notes, Petito’s authorities and family later came to believe that they were messages sent from Petito’s recovered phone after he had already killed him to cover the crime.
Petito’s mother, Nichole Schmidt, was alarmed when her daughter, who would accurately post updates on her journey to her Instagram account and regularly called at home, stopped responding to her. After failing to get it on the phone, Schmidt finally reported missing Petito on September 11.
The Suffolk District Police Department, where Petito lived, coordinated with the North Port, authorities in Florida, where Petito and Laundrie lived with Laundrie’s parents in their original investigation. They eventually took the van to the residence of Laundrie’s parents. They learned that Laundrie had also returned home without his fiancé, causing immediate suspicion.
Brian Laundrie’s parents refused to speak to the authorities, press or family of Gabby Petito
Brian Laundrie and the van returned to Florida without Gabby Petito. Netflix
A northern port police spokesman previously told Business Insider that their officer had made “an attempt to talk to Brian, and his family refused to make it available” instead of saying to them They spoke with their lawyer.
Laundrie’s lawyer made several public statements in the press throughout Petito’s search, claiming that Laundrie and his parents would not speak to the authorities, even after Petito’s parents prayed for their help at news conferences for their daughter disappear.
Laundrie’s family informed the North Port police on September 17 that they had not seen Laundrie since he left for a solo walk to Carlton Reserve near their home a few days ago. Two days after that, the bones of Petito were found in the Bridger-Ton National Forest in Wyoming. A coroner later determined that the cause of Petito’s death would be drowning.
A federal arrest warrant for Laundrie was issued on September 22, and the Laundrie family lawyer told the press that his parents did not know where he was among speculation that they were hiding his location, which they denied.
Skeletal remains were found on October 20 after his parents joined the search efforts. It was soon confirmed that it was Laundrie. His cause of death was suicide in November 2021.
Laundrie took responsibility for the death of Petito in a notebook found near the remains, according to the authorities. As shown in the documents, Laundrie claimed that he would find Petito wounded and ended her suffering, a story that was contrary to the autopsy report of her cause of death.
Brian Laundrie’s parents were sued for the death of Gabby Petito but did not confront criminal charges
Gabby Petito with Brian Laundrie’s mother, Roberta Laundrie. Netflix
According to Netflix’s doctorates, no criminal charges were raised against laundry, despite the Petito family lawyer saying that prosecutors at one point had considered whether they would charge “additional individuals” in the disappearance and murder of Petito.
Petito’s family filed a misunderstanding of death against Brian Laundrie’s wealth in 2022 in Sarasota County, Florida, where laundry lives. In November 2022, a judge ordered Laundrie’s property to pay $ 3 million for Petito’s property. The Petito family lawyer said in a statement at the time that any recovered money would go to the Gabby Petito Foundation set in honor of their daughter.
Since February 2025, the family lawyer told BI by email that $ 3 million had not been paid, as the value of Laundrie’s property was “minimal”.
Petito’s parents filed a special lawsuit against the parents of Laundrie and their lawyer, Steve Bertolino, for emotional concerns. The lawsuit claimed that the three knew that Petito had died before her body was found and that they would cause emotional concerns for Petito’s family by keeping information and issuing public statements giving them “false hope” that Petito still could be found alive.
In a statement to BI at the time, Bertolino denied the allegations and claimed that the laundry had no legal obligation to speak to Petito’s authorities or parents while searching Petito.
According to a statement from Petito’s parents separated from their lawyer, the lawsuit was resulted in February 2024 “After a long day of mediation” for an indisputable amount.
“All parties agreed to avoid further legal expenses and prolonged personal conflict,” the statement said.
“Our hope is to close this chapter of our lives to allow us to continue and continue to honor the heritage of our beautiful daughter, Gabby,” she continued.
Gabby Petito’s mother and stepfather in an interview for Netflix documents. Netflix
In a 2023 deposit on the civil issue, viewed by BI, Roberta Laundrie claimed that she did not know that Petito had died until news reports that her body had been recovered on September 19, 2021.
Christopher Laundrie said in a 2023 deposit in the case that Brian had called him and told him “Gabby has gone” and that he may need a lawyer. He said he did not know what he would say exactly, though he then kept Bertolino on behalf of his son before Brian returned to Florida. Roberta Laundrie also addressed the call to her deposit and said she did not think “Gabby’s Gone” had thought she had died.
The laundry were not the only ones facing legal actions regarding the death of Petito. Petitos also filed a $ 50 million lawsuit against the MOAB police department, who claimed that the officers were negligent in dealing with the domestic violence incident in MOAB and that Petito’s death could have been prevented if they would have undertaken Actions then.
One judge rejected that case in November 2024. At the time, Petito’s parents indicated that they planned to appeal. Their lawyer, in this case, did not immediately respond to a commentary request from BI.
The Laundrie family did not participate in interviews on Netflix documents and refused to comment on producers through their lawyer.
Lawyers for Roberta and Christopher Laundrie and Stephen Bertolino did not immediately respond to a commentary request from BI. The lawyer represented by Nichole Schmidt and Joe Petito in their costumes against Laundrie’s wealth and his parents refused to comment.
“American Murder: Gabby Petito” is now broadcasting on Netflix.