The family of Gabby Petito announced on Monday a wrongful death lawsuit against police in Moab, Utah, who stopped and interviewed Petito and her fiancé Brian Laundrie the month before she was murdered in September 2021.
Brian Laundrie allegedly called his parents nearly two weeks before Gabby Petito was reported missing, saying his fiancée was “gone” and he needed a lawyer, according to new court filings. Petito, 22, and Laundrie were on a cross-country road trip in the summer of 2021 when she vanished, in a case that made headlines across the globe.
Laundrie disappeared while he was named person of interest in the case and was found dead in Florida one month after Petito's body was found in a national forest in Wyoming. Officials said he left a note saying he was responsible for her death.
Petito's parents — Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt — allege that Laundrie's parents and their attorney knew Petito was dead but lied to them and the public by issuing messages of hope that she'd be found.
In an amended complaint filed Nov. 30 in the Petito lawsuit against Christopher and Roberta Laundrie and lawyer Steven Bertolino, Petito's parents allege that Brian Laundrie told his parents “in a frantic telephone call” that Gabby was “gone” and he “needed a lawyer” on Aug. 29, 2021.
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