EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS: Laundrie Parents Head to Deposition Amid Gabby Petito Case
In an exclusive development, the parents of Brian Laundrie left their North Port, Florida home around 8 a.m. on Wednesday, embarking on a journey to face questioning from an attorney representing their son’s former fiancée.
Their mode of transportation was none other than the same silver Ford Mustang convertible that Brian Laundrie had used to abscond from the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park, accompanied by a waterproof bag and one of his father’s firearms.
In a chilling suicide note, Laundrie had admitted to killing Gabby Petito in Wyoming before taking his own life in a Florida swamp. He had driven cross-country to his parents’ house, where the family had gone camping for Labor Day, stubbornly refusing to cooperate with investigators searching for Petito, who was considered missing at the time.
This marks the second face-to-face session, with family lawyer Patrick Reilly, representing the Petito-Schmidt family, set to question Roberta Laundrie, the mother of the perpetrator, following her husband Christopher Laundrie’s deposition the previous day.
Quest for Answers
Joseph Petito, Gabby’s father, sat in on the first interview, describing it as emotionally taxing. On Wednesday morning, as the Laundries left their North Port residence, he shared a photo of a rainbow on X (formerly known as Twitter) over a Florida road, expressing his apprehension and gratitude to Gabby for strength in these trying times.
He and Gabby’s mother, Nichole Schmidt, are pursuing a lawsuit against the Laundries and their attorney Steve Bertolino, alleging emotional distress and conspiracy to aid their son in evading justice.
The Petito and Schmidt families, along with millions of concerned Americans, are yearning for answers about what the Laundries knew and when they knew it. Brian Laundrie had returned with Gabby Petito’s van to his parents’ doorstep on September 1, 2021, after committing the gruesome crime in the Grand Teton National Forest. The family went camping near St. Petersburg and remained silent about Petito’s whereabouts.
When Schmidt filed a missing person report on September 11, the Laundries refused to cooperate with the authorities. By September 13, Brian Laundrie had slipped away from North Port police to the Myakkahatchee park, where his remains wouldn’t be discovered for over a month.
The Letter and Its Implications
Roberta Laundrie faces questioning not only about the suspicious circumstances of her son’s return in September but also regarding an undated letter she sent to him, labeled “burn after reading.” In the letter, she mentioned baking a cake with a file and offering to help dispose of a body with a shovel and garbage bags.
The Laundries have maintained that the letter was written and sent before their cross-country van life trip in 2021. However, Petito’s parents believe it was penned after her death and consider it evidence that the Laundries were aware of the crime before her body was found on September 19.
Patrick Reilly, the attorney representing the Petito family, declined to comment on the deposition process.
Steve Bertolino, set to be deposed next week, assured that the testimony would contain “no surprises.” He downplayed the significance of the letter, dismissing it as mere coincidence.
Preceding Events
Two weeks before the tragedy, a bystander in Moab, Utah, reported witnessing Laundrie assaulting Petito in public. While this domestic violence call didn’t lead to any arrests, the police separated the couple for the night.
Gabby Petito’s parents have since established the Gabby Petito Foundation to advocate for domestic violence awareness and missing persons cases, with October being National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE).