Gabby Petito documentary latest – Parents speak to Peacock and shed new light on her relationship with Brian Laundrie

Gabby’s last texts and post

Gabby Petito’s remains were found less than 1,000 feet (300m) from where, on the evening of August 27, another pair of travel bloggers caught video images of the couple’s 2012 white Ford Transit van parked along a dirt road.

Petito, who was documenting the couple’s “van life” road trip on social media, posted her final photo to Instagram on August 25, the same day that she last spoke to her mother by phone.

The family believes the couple was headed to Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming at the time.

Schmidt received text messages from Petito’s phone on August 27 and August 30, but suspects that someone other than her daughter sent them, according to investigators.

Brian’s notebook is ‘key evidence’

Brian Laundrie’s notebook, which was found next to his remains at a Florida nature reserve, may reveal the truth about what happened between him and his late fiancée, Gabby Petito, an ex-prosecutor says.

The notebook and remains were found by police next to a backpack belonging to Laundrie at Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park, near the Carlton Reserve.

Neama Rahmani, a former assistant US Attorney and the current president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, told The Sun the notebook and bag will be “crucial evidence” in helping to solve Gabby’s murder.

“Law enforcement found a backpack and notebook, that’s key evidence,” Rahmani said.

Gabby’s mom speaks of her daughter’s ‘magical’ presence

In the documentary, Gabby’s mom Nichole Schmidt said everyone who met their daughter instantly “fell in love with her.”

The devastated mother said: “People would meet her and just fall in love with her.

“She just had this presence. I don’t know what it was. It was just magical.”

“There are so many good memories over the years, but the one thing I hold dear to me is the hug that we had before she left for the trip in the driveway.”

“It’s still unbelievable. I still don’t understand it. It doesn’t make sense,” she added.

Rare photos of Gabby Petito shared in documentary

Rare photos of Gabby Petito were shared in a new documentary, prompting her heartbroken parents to say “this is all we have left now.”

Gabby‘s heartbroken parents, Nichole Schmidt and Joe Petito opened up about what made their daughter special in the new Peacock documentary, The Murder of Gabby Petito: Truth, Lies and Social Media.

“Man, that smile. That smile didn’t change. Those eyes didn’t change. Those eyes, they would get her out of so much trouble,” Joe said.

“No matter how old she got, she would still be my baby girl, you know, how much trouble she was in, it didn’t matter. She was still my baby girl, you know?

“These are all I have left now,” Joe said as he stared down at his daughter’s childhood photos.

What does the Gabby Petito Foundation do?

On October 3, 2021, Gabby’s family announced that they had launched the Gabby Petito Foundation in honor of their late daughter.

According to the website, the organization’s mission is “to address the needs of organizations that support locating missing persons and to provide aid to organizations that assist victims of domestic violence situations, through education, awareness, and prevention strategies.

“We wish to turn our personal tragedy into a positive,” the mission statement reads.

“It is our hope that Gabby’s foundation will bring these important issues into the forefront of the public eye to the benefit of all our communities.”

The foundation’s tagline is a phrase coined by Gabby’s dad in an Instagram post after her remains were found at a Wyoming campsite on September 19: “She touched the world.”

The Gabby Petito Foundation

On October 3, 2021, Gabby’s family announced that they had launched the Gabby Petito Foundation in honor of their late daughter.

“The Gabby Petito Foundation is up and running!,” a post on the foundation’s Twitter page read. “We have a lot of work to do, website is just starting out so be patient with us, we will get there. Thank you for all the support and love!”

Gabby Petito’s dad at her funeral, continued

“And she’s inspired a lot of women and a lot of men to do what’s best for them first. Put yourself first and do it now while you have the time. I couldn’t be more proud as a father,” he added.

Joe also warned women in toxic relationships to “leave now” so that way this tragedy does not happen to them.

Just days after, the family then held a press conference, where Nicole showed off matching tattoos that were designed by Gabby prior to her death.

On October 3, 2021, Gabby’s family announced that they had launched the Gabby Petito Foundation in honor of their late daughter.

Gabby Petito’s dad at her funeral

On September 26, the Petito family held a memorial service for Gabby to lay her to rest following the autopsy results.

At the service, her father Joe said that he wanted people to be “inspired” by the life she embodied.

“So when you leave here today, be inspired by what she brought to the table because the entire planet knows this woman’s name now,” he said.

Gabby had ‘no fear’ about Florida move

In 2020, when Brian’s parents Roberta and Chris Laundrie decided to move to North Port, Florida, Gabby asked Brian if she could come along, according to her mom.

“When she and Brian started dating and he was like ‘I’m moving to Florida,’ she was like, ‘can I come with you?'” said Nichole in the documentary. “So she had no problem doing that. She had no fear to move to another state.”

When the couple moved to Florida, they reportedly lived with Brian’s parents, who treated Gabby “like a daughter,” according to a journalist quoted in the documentary.

Family saw ‘no red flags’

When asked about Brian, Nichole and Jim Schmidt said he would often visit their home and seemed like a nice, polite young man.

“Brian would come to my home and he was very polite, very kind,” said Nichole.

“I didn’t see anything in him that would worry me at all. No red flags.”

Jim said Brian was “respectful” and even made the effort to speak to Gabby’s younger siblings and color with them.

Mom: ‘She was so happy’

Gabby’s mom Nichole Schmidt and stepdad told in the documentary that Gabby and Brian met in high school in Blue Point, New York, and were just friends at first.

“They were in the same group of friends in school, [had] common interests, they liked to do things together, [they were] both artistic,” said Jim.

Nichole added: “They started dating after the first road trip, when they took the car to California.”

“They were kind of friends when they left. They came back dating. She was so happy.”

Gabby’s family on her engagement

Gabby’s stepdad Jim said he was excited about the young couple.

“You know as a dad, you’re like, okay, you know, that’s great, you know, you can settle down a little bit.

“You’re happy for her, you know, that she’s found who she wanted to be with,” Jim shared.

However, Joe and Gabby’s stepmom Tara refused to speak about their daughter’s engagement on camera, simply saying: “We’re not going to talk about that.”

Gabby announced engagement to Brian

In July of 2020, after 15 months of dating, Gabby and Brian became engaged.

“Brian asked me to marry him and I said yes! You make life feel unreal and every day is such a dream with you,” Gabby wrote on Instagram at the time.

Gabby was killed by ‘throttling’

While Dr. Blue’s initial remarks lacked specificity, he later appeared on CNN and elaborated on Gabby’s cause of death, insisting she had been killed by “strangulation via a throttling.”

Professor Joseph Scott Morgan, a forensic expert and former medical examiner teaching at Jacksonville State University in Alabama said Brent’s comments are significant, as “that really narrows the field down because throttling is so very specific.

“He went to great lengths to even say that this was not mechanical, which essentially means that there wasn’t a ligature involved,” Morgan said. “When they say throttling, they’re talking about the application of two hands on this young woman’s throat.”

Morgan called the manner of death “intimate”, adding that throttling can either happen anteriorly — from the front — or posteriorly — from behind, and is often driven by a component of passion.

How did Gabby go missing?

Gabby Petito had quit her job and packed her life into a camper van for a cross-country adventure with Brian Laundrie, starting in July, documenting their journey in a stream of social media posts.

In images shared by the couple online, they are all smiles — barefoot in a canyon or surveying the ochre rocks of state and national parks.

In one YouTube video published during their trip, Petito and Laundrie are shown kissing tenderly, enjoying a sunset together, and strolling on a beach.

But the young woman’s family filed a missing person report on September 11 after the 22-year-old mysteriously vanished, and Laundrie returned home to Florida without her.

Mysteries surrounding the case, continued

Six days later, on Sept. 19, Gabby’s remains were found at a campsite near Grand Teton National Park.

A five-week nationwide search for Laundrie then ensued. While he wasn’t named as a suspect in her death, a warrant was issued for his arrest on allegations of bank fraud.

That search came to an end on October 20 after skeletal remains were found in Myakkahatchee Creek Park, which is adjacent to the Carlton Reserve, in Sarasota County, Florida.

Mysteries surrounding the case

Brian quietly returned home to Florida alone on September 1, failing to alert police or Gabby’s family that she was missing.

Gabby was eventually reported missing by her mother in New York on September 11. That came after 10 days of allegedly being stonewalled by Brian and his parents about where her daughter was.

Brian then vanished himself on September 13, telling his parents he was going hiking in the Carlton Reserve. They described him as being “upset” and “out of sorts” when he left their home for the last time.

‘It appears as if the story is over’

Brian Laundrie’s friend also told The Sun: “It appears as if this story is over.”

The friend alluded to Laundrie’s notebook as showcasing an important look into Laundrie’s private life and his potential last days with Petito.

“Hopefully his notebook can detail what it is we all want to know,” the friend said, alluding to Petito’s cause of death that was determined to be by strangulation.

Brian’s best friend asks ‘why?’

Brian Laundrie’s best friend exasperatedly asked “why” he would do such a thing, adding they believe Laundrie is the person behind Gabby Petito’s death.

The friend told The Sun in an exclusive interview that Laundrie’s notebook could contain clues to solve Petito’s death, whom a medical coroner determined had died due to strangulation.

“I think this is the outcome we expected,” the friend told The Sun in an exclusive interview after Laundrie’s remains were found and subsequently identified.

“I don’t know if it’s the one we would ask for,” the friend, who wishes to remain anonymous, said.

Are the Laundries selling their home?

Brian Laundrie’s parents are not selling their home and a “for sale” sign that appeared on their lawn was put up as “a hoax”, according to their lawyer.

Pictures taken on Tuesday showed the sign wedged in the grass outside their North Port, Florida house, fueling speculation that the property may be on the market.

But Steven Bertolino, who represented the Laundrie family during the search for Brian, told The Sun: “It’s untrue. The sign is a hoax.

“It was either photoshop or someone put the sign, took the picture, and then took the sign down. We don’t know nor do we care.”

The ‘GABZ’ license plate

Gabby’s mother Nicole Schmidt said a third sign came when she was driving.

She said she looked up and noticed the car in front of her had a Wyoming sticker and the letters GBZ on the license plate – which she interpreted as “gabz.”

“It’s hard to put into words, but it means a lot to me that she’s touched so many lives already and it’s only weeks into it and I’m so proud of her,” Nicole said.

Gabby’s stepdad describes rainbow ‘sign’

Stepdad Jim Schmidt said a rainbow helped lead authorities to Gabby’s body.

“It’s wild stuff,” Jim told Dr Phil. ”When they started with the grid search in the area where she was found, it had to be called off at the end of the day because of the weather.

“But as the weather started to break, a rainbow was over the area and stopped over the area where she was found the next day.”

Gabby’s family believes in signs

Gabby’s family believes she is sending them signs through chipmunks appearing to watch them.

“A chipmunk was following me along the path where I went out to where the body was found,” stepfather Jim Schmidt said.

“And when I was placing the rocks to make the cross a chipmunk came out from a hole and sat there and watched me.

“I thought maybe that was Gabby watching me.”

Gabby and Brian’s bodies identified exactly one month apart

Brian Laundrie’s remains were identified to be his on October 21, 2021.

The fugitive’s remains were found after an extensive search at Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park

On September 21, 2021, the Teton County Coroner Dr. Brent Blue confirmed that the body found in Wyoming was that of Gabby Petito.

Petito died as a result of a homicide.

How to get help

If you are being abused in a relationship, anonymous and confidential help is available.

For help, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE) or  1-800-787-3224 (TTY).

However, if you are actively in danger, call 911.