DISTURBING MESSAGE
BRIAN Laundrie told his friend that he and fiancée Gabby Petito had a once-in-a-lifetime trip days after he strangled her and returned home alone, a bombshell report has revealed.
Laundrie caught up with his friend Ben over text while 22-year-old Gabby's body was left hidden in Teton National Forest.
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"Trip was good," Brian, 23, told his friend on September 4, according to text messages seen by The Messenger.
"Gab and I had fun. Tired now, gonna sleep for a week."
Brian had just returned home to Florida without Gabby when he sent the messages.
They had been sharing idyllic videos of their so-called van life during a four-month excursion across the United States.
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'ONCE IN A LIFETIME'
Brian discussed the vlogs with his friend in a text, saying: "We made a lot of content."
"It was once in a lifetime," he said of the trip.
The couple left New York on July 2 and documented their travels on both Instagram and YouTube.
Gabby's parents last heard from her on August 23 or 24, when she told them she and Brian were leaving Utah and driving to Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
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Gabby's mom, Nichole Schmidt, got a text from Gabby's phone on August 30, saying: "No service in Yosemite."
Brian returned to his home in Florida two days later, on September 1, in Gabby's van but without his fiancée.
A frantic search ensued, and Gabby's parents reported her missing on September 11.
Her body was discovered on September 19.
An autopsy found that she had been strangled to death with her body left to succumb to the heartless elements.
Police had been trying to get in touch with Brian since she was reported missing, but couldn't track him down.
On October 20, his body was found with a single gunshot wound in a swampy nature preserve not far from his parent's home in Florida.
His nearby journal contained the eerie confessions that proved he was Gabby's killer.
SETTLEMENT OFFER
The murder sparked a slew of lawsuits by Gabby's parents, Schmidt and Joe Petito.
In the past two years, the heartbroken mom and dad have accused Utah police of failing to help their emotionally distressed daughter during a traffic stop that was captured on bodycam footage in the weeks before her death.
They also have been awarded $3million from Brian's parents Christopher and Roberta after winning a wrongful death lawsuit.
The Laundries are still fighting another emotional distress suit filed by the Petitos which alleges that they knew about the killing, but did nothing to notify police.
As part of the lawsuit, a chilling letter Laundrie wrote to her son became public.
"If you’re in jail, I will bake a cake with a file in it," Roberta wrote.
"I will show up with a shovel and garbage bags."
She wrote the words "burn after reading" on the outside of the note.
Earlier this month, it emerged that the Laundries' legal team offered to settle the lawsuit but a resolution has not been met.
No criminal charges have been filed against Christopher and Roberta in the case and they've denied any wrongdoing.
MEMORY LIVES ON
Two years after her death, Gabby's parents still fight to keep her memory alive through the Gabby Petito Foundation.
The organization spreads awareness for domestic abuse by turning her tragedy into purpose, according to the website.
On 9/11, Gabby's mom shared a heartbreaking tribute that acknowledged the national tragedy on the same day that she reported her daughter missing.
The post reads: "9/11 is a day we will never forget. Please #bekind to one another today, #stronger together."
"For me, it's also the day I walked into a police station 2 years ago, and was finally able to report our daughter missing.
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"Share #Missing posters please. #TogetherWeCan."
The U.S. Sun contacted attorneys for the Petito and Laundrie families for comment on this story.
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