THE parents of Gabby Petito have changed their lawsuit against Brian Laundrie’s parents, alleging several wrongdoings by the couple.
Among them, Joe Petito and Nichole Schmidt allege that Chris and Roberta Laundrie went on vacation with their son knowing that he had just murdered Gabby.
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Petito and Schmidt originally filed a lawsuit against the Laundries in March, but their attorneys recently made changes.
The new lawsuit claims that the Laundries knew Brian murdered Gabby as soon as he returned home to Florida from the driving trip without her, and claims they tried to help him leave the country to avoid prosecution.
The Laundrie’s lawyer Steven Bertolino told WFLA that all of the new allegations are “baseless.”
Petito and Schmidt’s attorney Pat Reilly told WFLA last month the Laundries would “have to wait and see,” about the evidence.
“If we didn’t believe it was true, we wouldn’t have put them in the complaint.”
WFLA reported that there are six major changes to the lawsuit.
The Laundries took Brian on vacation knowing her had murdered Gabby
The new lawsuit claims that after returning from his vacation, Brian informed his parents of Gabby’s murder.
Instead of turning him in, it alleges that the family went on vacation to Fort DeSoto campground while knowing the location of Gabby’s body.
“While Gabrielle Petito’s family was suffering, the Laundrie family went on vacation to Fort DeSoto Park on September 6-7, 2021,” the lawsuit says.
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“They went on vacation knowing that Laundrie had murdered Gabrielle Petito, it is believed that they knew where her body was located, and further knew that Gabrielle Petito’s parents were attempting to locate her.”
The Laundries made ‘beyond outrageous’ statements
The lawsuit also claims that Brian’s parents’ statement saying they hoped the search for Gabby would be successful was “beyond outrageous.”
“For the Laundries to express their ‘hope’ that Gabrielle Petito was located and reunited with her family, at a time when they knew she had been murdered by their son was beyond outrageous,” the suit says.
The original lawsuit claimed that the Laundrie family refused to cooperate with the Petito family and law enforcement.
In the new suit, the law enforcement part is removed, saying instead that the Laundries simply refused to communicate with Gabby’s parents.
Mental anguish for Gabby’s parents
The new suit claims that the Laundries were aware of the “mental suffering and anguish of Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt in not knowing the well-being or location of their daughter, and further knew that such mental suffering and anguish increased each day that Gabrielle Petito was missing.”
Outrageous conduct by the Laundries
The main five allegations of the lawsuit have been amended to argue extreme and outrageous conduct.
The allegations say that the Laundries didn’t tell Gabby’s parents she was dead, they didn’t tell them the location of Gabby’s body, they took a family vacation, they blocked access to their phones and Facebook pages, and they issued a statement of hope when they knew Gabby would never be found.
Separating the counts between Chris and Roberta
The lawsuit breaks down the filing of charges into the following parties:
Count 1: Joseph Petito v. Christopher Laundrie
Count 2: Joseph Petito v. Roberta Laundrie
Count 3: Nichole Schmidt v. Christopher Laundrie
Count 4: Nichole Schmidt v. Roberta Laundrie
The Laundries and their lawyer are expected to file a motion for dismissal, and if the motion fails, the Laundries will be tried the week of August 14, 2023.
This would be the first time a case regarding Brian and Gabby has gone to trial.
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Gabby’s body was eventually located in September 2021 in Grant Teton National Park, Wyoming where she had been camping with her fiancé when she disappeared.
She had been strangled to death.
After returning to Florida, Brian disappeared and his body was later found in November with a gunshot wound to the head.
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