THE legal battle between Gabby Petito's and Brian Laundrie's parents may finally be over after a resolution was reached in a civil lawsuit.
The Petitos' lawyer announced on Wednesday that the two families came to a confidential agreement which means the case will not go to trial.
One of the Petito family's lawyers, Pat Reilly, announced that the deal was reached in a statement to NBC affiliate WFLA.
“After a long day of mediation, a confidential resolution has been reached between the parents of Gabby Petito, the parents of Brian Laundrie and attorney Steven Bertolino to which all parties reluctantly agreed in order to avoid further legal expenses and prolonged personal conflict,” Reilly wrote on behalf of Gabby's parents.
"Our hope is to close this chapter of our lives to allow us to move on and continue to honor the legacy of our beautiful daughter, Gabby."
Petito's parents — Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt — sued the Laundries and their attorney Steven Bertolino for intentional infliction of emotional stress for their behavior after Gabby disappeared.
Christopher and Roberta Laundrie did not share any information about the situation with the Petitos when they asked for help locating their daughter.
Gabby was last seen during an explosive argument with Brian at a restaurant in Jackson Hole, Wyoming on August 27, 2021.
Later the same day, travel bloggers passing through nearby Grand Teton National Park noticed the couple's van abandoned on the side of the road.
Brian returned to Florida without Gabby or an explanation for her disappearance on September 1.
Gabby's body was found in Grand Teton National Park on September 19, 2021.
After being identified as the primary suspect in her death, Brian died by suicide about a month later.
His body was found in a nature preserve called Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park in North Port, Florida, in October 2021.
The civil case that settled today centered on a statement that the Laundries made through their attorney on September 14, 2021, when Gabby was missing.
The Laundries said they were hopeful that Gabby would be found and reunited with her family.
Chris and Roberta argue that they were unaware that Gabby was dead at the time.
However, during the civil case, it was revealed that Brian called them on August 29, 2021, two days after Gabby was last seen, and told them that Gabby was “gone” and he needed a lawyer.
Chris admitted Brian sounded frantic when previously asked what they spoke about during the phone call in questioning.
“And what did he say to you?” Chris said, WFLA reported.
“I asked him, you know, how is he doing, and he—you know, he was not calm and he got very excited and told me things had—you know, ‘Gabby’s gone’ and he got very frantic,” Chris said.
"Everything was frantic and quick. So, you know, 'Gabby’s gone.'”
The attorney asked, “Meaning what?”
“Well, I have no idea what he meant,” Chris said.
However, Chris told Reilly that murder was something that crossed his mind, according to the deposition.
“After the conversation of how frantic he was and, you know, it was something I thought we had to consider,” Chris said.
Brian’s mother was questioned a day after her husband.
She was asked what she thought Brian meant when he said Gabby was "gone."
Roberta pushed back on the term frantic and denied having any understanding that Gabby was murdered.
But she could tell something was wrong, she said.
“I wasn’t sure. I didn’t even — I don’t even remember what I thought,” Roberta said, CBS affiliate WCAX reported.
Joseph slammed the Laundries during a fiery deposition made public last week.
Gabby's father called Brian a "piece of s**t" and added that he was "raised by pieces of s**t” for their silence over Gabby's wellbeing.
In their remarks to attorneys, Brian's parents spoke of their son's character and described him as an outgoing person with a lot of friends.
But they couldn't think of any other girlfriends he had besides Gabby.
In the depositions, the Laundries were pressed on whether they knew their son had murdered Gabby.
Christopher recalled the moment Brian returned from the road trip without Gabby and referred to it as, "Like a kid who came home, you know, in trouble."
Earlier in Wyoming, after Brian called his parents asking for help, they sent a $25,000 check to their attorney, Steve Bertolino, to get their son a lawyer.
Despite admitting that Brian told them Gabby was “gone,” they stood their ground, saying that they did not know she was dead.
The Petitos have filed another lawsuit against Utah police officers who stopped the couple over a domestic violence dispute but "failed to protect" Gabby, according to her parents.
Cops had been alerted to a possible domestic dispute between Laundrie, 23, and Petito, 22, near a supermarket with one witness calling 911 to report a man "slapping his girlfriend."
An investigative review found officers did not properly document Petito's injuries to her face, which were later revealed in a shocking selfie provided by the family's attorney as part of the lawsuit.
The police concluded she was the "primary aggressor" after she admitted to hitting Laundrie during their cross-country trip, but cops only chose to separate them for the night.
