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- Gabby Petito's father said that every missing person should get the same attention as the case of his daughter's.
- "I want to ask everyone to help all of the people that are missing and need help," Joseph Petito said.
- He added, "This same type of heightened awareness should be continued for everyone."
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Gabby Petito's father said Tuesday that every missing person should get the same attention as the case of his daughter's, which has gripped the nation.
"I want to ask everyone to help all of the people that are missing and need help," Joseph Petito said alongside his wife, Tara Petito, his daughter's mother, Nichole Schmidt and her husband Jim Schmidt during a press conference at their lawyer's New York office.
"It's on all of you, everyone that's in this room, to do that," Joseph Petito said, also addressing the media present. "And if you don't do that for other people that are missing, that's a shame because it's not just Gabby that deserves that. So look to yourselves on why not that's not being done."
The dad explained that the use of social media "has been amazing and influential" in the case of his 22-year-old daughter, whose body was found at a remote campsite in Wyoming on September 19 – eight days after she was reported missing.
"To be honest it should continue for other people, too," Joseph Petito said. "This same type of heightened awareness should be continued for everyone, everyone and that goes for you all too."
Gabby Petito's body was discovered in Wyoming's Bridger-Teton National Forest after her fiancé Brian Laundrie returned home to Florida from the couple's cross-country road trip without her.
Her death has been ruled a homicide, according to a coroner's initial autopsy. Laundrie, who has been named a person of interest in the case, has since gone missing.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.