Gabby Petito’s family accuse Brian Laundrie’s parents of ‘helping him flee despite knowing he murdered vlogger’
GABBY Petito's family has accused Brian Laundrie's parents of allegedly helping him flee despite knowing he murdered the vlogger.
Petito's dad, Joseph, and mom, Nichole Schmidt, filed a civil lawsuit against Chris and Roberta Laundrie on Thursday, WFLA reported.
The bombshell allegations involved in the documents were not previously mentioned by the FBI, the outlet reported.
Despite a coroner determining that Gabby's cause of death was homicide by manual strangulation, the new lawsuit claims she also suffered blunt force injuries to the head and neck.
Petito's parents also allege that Laundrie told his parents what happened "on or about" August 28 - one day after her death.
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"It is believed, and therefore averred that… Brian Laundrie advised his parents, Christopher Laundrie and Roberta Laundrie, that he had murdered Gabrielle Petito," the lawsuit states.
"On that same date, Christopher Laundrie and Roberta Laundrie spoke with Attorney Steve Bertolino, and sent him a retainer on Sept. 2, 2021."
The document alleged that Laundrie sent text messages back and forth between his phone and Petito's after she died "in an effort to hide the fact she was deceased."
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It even goes on to claim that Laundrie sent an additional text from Petito’s phone on August 30 to Nicole saying there was no service in Yosemite Park "in an effort to deceive" her.
The lawsuit then details what happened in the days following, before the official missing person alert for Gabby went out.
Gabby's family says that there was no contact between the Petito's or the Laundrie's after Brian returned home on September 1.
But then, when an official search for Gabby's remains was underway, the lawsuit said that the Laundrie family refused to respond to questions both from law enforcement and the Petito family.
Nichole also alleges that Laundries mom, Roberta, blocked her phone number and also her Facebook profile around September 10, a WFLA reporter claims.
The Petito family also believe that Laundrie's parents were planning to help Brian flee the country, the suit added.
"While Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt were desperately searching for information concerning their daughter, Christopher Laundrie and Roberta Laundrie were keeping the whereabouts of Brian Laundrie secret, and it is believed were making arrangements for him to leave the country," it read.
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In more damning claims against the Laundrie family, the suit reads: "Christopher and Roberta Laundrie exhibited extreme and outrageous conduct which constitutes behavior, under the circumstances, which goes beyond all possible bounds of decency and is regarded as shocking, atrocious, and utterly intolerable in a civilized community."
Gabby's family are now seeking damages of at least $100,000, stating that they suffered pain and mental anguish.
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