Courtesy of Gabby Petito/Instagram (2)
Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie’s Families ‘Reluctantly’ Reach Settlement in Civil Lawsuit
Gabby Petito‘s parents have reached a settlement in their civil lawsuit against those of their daughter’s murderer, Brian Laundrie.
“Christopher and Roberta Laundrie and I participated in mediation with the Petito family and the civil lawsuit has now been resolved,” a statement from Chris Laundrie and Roberta Laundrie’s lawyer, Steve Bertolino, to Fox News on Wednesday, February 21, read. “The terms of the resolution are confidential, and we look forward to putting this matter behind us.”
In their own statement, Joe Petito and Nichole Schmidt described their decision to settle as being made “reluctantly” to avoid further legal fees and “prolonged personal conflict,” per WFLA-TV.
“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,” the message continued.
The settlement in the lawsuit, which was first filed by the Petitos in March 2022, will prevent the case from going to trial in May, as previously planned. The suit claimed that the Laundries intentionally caused the Petitos emotional distress by withholding known details about Gabby’s death at the hands of their son from authorities. Gabby’s parents had previously been awarded $3 million in a wrongful death lawsuit against Brian’s estate in November 2022.
Gabby’s remains were found on September 19, 2021, after a nationwide search following her disappearance in late August 2021. Her fiancé at the time, Brian, was confirmed to be her killer after a written confession was found in a notebook alongside his skeletal remains on October 20 of that year. An autopsy confirmed that Brian had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound following the murder of Gabby.
Weeks before Gabby’s death, the pair, who were on a cross-country road trip in a converted van, were pulled over while traveling through Moab, Utah, after a passerby reported a domestic dispute between them.
Following police’s determination that Gabby was the aggressor in the situation after she admitted to hitting Brian first, the couple was allowed to leave under the condition that they spend the night apart.
Gabby, an aspiring “vanlife” vlogger, had been documenting the couple’s journey, which began in Long Island, New York, and was set to end in Yellowstone, on social media. Much of the attention surrounding Gabby’s case centered on their online presence before the tragic outcome of her disappearance.
On August 19, 2021, Gabby uploaded their first and only vlog to their YouTube channel called Nomadic Statik, which featured many clips of her and Brian appearing happy and carefree as they traveled the country together.
The video’s caption read, in part, “A glimpse into our van adventures! … Follow our van life journey for some awesome van life ideas, tips, hacks, camping spots, and so many beautiful places to travel!”
In a September 2021 article from Hartford Healthcare, child and adolescent psychologist Laura Saunders weighed in on what the public can learn from the tragedy.
“The Petito case has received widespread media attention, showcasing once again how what you see on social media is not reality, but instead a curated feed of images,” the article read, in part. “She and her fiancé were traveling the country camping in their van, posting pictures of scenic shots of state parks and them having fun as a couple, but now her body has been found in Wyoming and her fiancé is a suspect in the homicide.”
Have a tip? Send it to us! Email In Touch at contact@intouchweekly.com.
