Brian Laundrie Reportedly Told Parents Gabby Petito Was 'Gone' In 'Frantic' Call

For three weeks, Brian Laundrie s parents knew that his fiance, Gabby Petito , was dead after he called them saying she was gone, but they instead issued false public statements of hope and lawyered up, to the agony of her family, Petitos parents allege in an amended civil complaint filed in Florida.

In the amended legal filing Thursday, Petitos parents accuse the Laundries and their attorney of intentionally withholding information about the 22-year-olds death after their son frantically called them for legal help during an ill-fated cross-country trip in August 2021. Brian Laundrie confessed to killing Petito on that trip in a notebook found near his body after his death by suicide a month later.

The filing, which is part of an ongoing civil lawsuit seeking more than $30,000 in damages for emotional distress, was amended following depositions with the Laundries and their attorney, Steve Bertolino, in October, a lawyer for the Petito family told HuffPost on Tuesday.

Prior to the deposition, we had a belief that they knew, but we didnt know what they knew, attorney Pat Reilly said. In their deposition, they acknowledged that Brian called them frantically. He said Gabby was gone and he needed a lawyer.

Christopher and Roberta Laundrie have denied claims that they concealed their sons murder confession. Bertolino on Tuesday dismissed the details released in the amended complaint as nothing new. 

The Plaintiffs are now tweaking their allegations in a Third Amended Complaint, he told HuffPost in an email while declining further comment. 

According to the complaint, Laundrie placed a frantic call to his parents on Aug. 29 seeking legal help. His parents reached out to Bertolino that day, shared what their son had told them and secured his services. Bertolino then reached out to lawyers in Wyoming, where Petitos body was found weeks later.

To buy him some time, Laundrie texted Petitos family using her cellphone to make them believe that she was still alive. He returned to his parents Florida home without her on Sept. 1. On Sept. 13, two days after Petitos family reported her missing, he went missing, too, the complaint states.

Petitos body was found on Sept. 19 near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, and Laundrie was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound a month later in Florida. Her death was ruled a homicide, and Laundrie had confessed to killing her in a notebook that was found with his body, authorities said.

The Laundries conduct throughout the search for Petito was outrageous and went beyond all bounds of decency, the complaint states on behalf of Petitos parents, Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt.

The Laundries were in cahoots with their son and knew he had killed her but they didnt speak up. Instead, the couple left on a two-day trip on Sept. 6. On Sept. 10, Laundries mother, Roberta, blocked Nichole Schmidt on her phone and then Facebook so that the distraught mother couldnt contact her, the complaint states.

From Sept. 10 until their daughters body was found on Sept. 19, the couple claim they were extremely distraught and given no relief by Laundries family, who released a statement to the media that expressed hope that the young woman would be found.

For the Laundries and Steven Bertolino 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 Brian Laundrie was beyond outrageous, they said. They knew or should have known that Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt would likely suffer emotional distress from the statements.

The Petito and Laundrie families settled a separate, wrongful death lawsuit in Florida for $3 million last year.

The Petito family has an additional lawsuit outstanding against police in Moab, Utah. That lawsuit accuses police of failing to recognize signs of domestic violence and to help Petito after the couple was questioned by officers days before the young woman was found strangled to death.