Gabby Petito’s parents are suing Brian Laundrie’s parents after the mental anguish and heartbreak that followed the search for their son.
Gabby Petito’s parents made strong allegations against Brian Laundrie’s parents Christopher and Roberta including that they’d withheld information that could’ve helped in the search for their son during the nationwide hunt for him in September 2021. Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt argued that the Laundries were trying to find a way to help their son escape the country, in a lawsuit against the Laundries, filed on Thursday March 10 in Florida.
When Gabby’s disappearance and murder were underway in August and September 2021, her parents contend that Brian’s parents were “keeping the whereabouts of Brian Laundrie secret,” and were allegedly making an escape plan for him. “It is believed [they] were making arrangements for him to leave the country,” the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit filed against the Laundries. (The Circuit Court of the Twelfth Judicial Circuit)By withholding the information, Joseph and Nichole said in the suit, the Laundries caused much further pain to Gabby’s parents, who they already knew were going through “mental suffering and anguish.” The lawsuit claims that the Laundries could’ve eased the suffering “by disclosing what they knew about the well-being and the location of the remains of Gabrielle Petito, yet they repeatedly refused to do so.”
The lawyer’s request that Brian’s parents pay Gabby’s for the ‘mental anguish’ experienced during the search for Brian and their daughter. (The Circuit Court of the Twelfth Judicial Circuit)The lawsuit describes the couple not sharing information as “shocking, atrocious, and utterly intolerable,” and it claimed that the pair acted “with malice or great indifference” to Gabby’s parents. The suit continues to argue that by not sharing information about the case, Brian’s parents further caused Joseph and Nichole hurt, including “loss of capacity for enjoyment of life.”
Brian and Gabby went missing in August 2021 while on a nationwide road trip. (Uncredited/AP/Shutterstock)The lawsuit ended by requesting the court to award Joseph and Nichole compensation from the Laundries in both cost and “other such relief.”
Brian’s remains were found in a Florida park on October 20, just over a month after Gabby’s were found in the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming. It was later revealed his family’s lawyer that Brian had died by suicide. In a notebook found with Brian’s body, he’d admitted to killing Gabby, via The Associated Press. Gabby’s death and the search for Brian had sparked national attention, including the likes of Dog the Bounty Hunter joining in.
HollywoodLife reached out to lawyers for both Brian Laundrie’s and Gabby Petito’s parents for comment.
