- The family of Gabby Petito has filed a lawsuit against Brian Laundrie's parents, claiming they knew Petito was killed.
- Petito, 22, was found dead at a remote campsite in Wyoming last September. She was strangled, a coroner ruled.
- The FBI later concluded that its investigation did not identity anyone else besides Laundrie involved in her death.
The family of Gabby Petito has filed a lawsuit against the parents of the slain woman's fiancé, Brian Laundrie, claiming that they knew Petito had been killed — but kept the information to themselves and even tried to help their son flee the country.
Petito was found dead at a remote campsite in Wyoming last September, roughly three weeks after her last known communication.
The aspiring travel influencer was strangled to death and the FBI later concluded that its investigation into the high-profile case "did not identify any other individuals other than Brian Laundrie directly involved" in Petito's death.
Laundrie was the subject of a massive FBI-led manhunt in the case that garnered national attention before his remains were ultimately discovered at a Florida nature preserve. He died by suicide, a medical examiner ruled.
The civil lawsuit, filed on Thursday in a Florida court by Petito's parents Nichole Schmidt and Joseph Petito, alleges that Laundrie, 23, told his parents "that he murdered Gabrielle Petito" one day after her death.
The suit states that it is "believed" that Laundrie murdered Petito on August 27, 2021.
On August 28, the suit says, Laundrie's parents spoke to attorney Steven Bertolino and sent him a retainer on September 2. They then refused to cooperate with authorities, putting out a statement that they hoped Petito would be found.
While Petito's parents were "desperately searching for information concerning their daughter," the suit claims that Laundrie's parents "were keeping the whereabouts of Brian Laundrie secret, and it is believed were making arrangements for him to leave the country."
"Christopher Laundrie and Roberta Laundrie knew of the mental suffering and anguish of Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt, and know that they could alleivate, at least in part, such mental suffering and anguish by disclosing what they knew about the well-being and the location of the remains of Gabrielle Petito, yet they repeatedly refused to do so," alleges the lawsuit.
It added, "In doing so, Christopher Laundrie and Roberta Laundrie acted with malice or great indifference to the rights" of Petito's parents.
Laundrie's parents "exhibited extreme and outrageous conduct" that "goes beyond all possible bounds of deceny and is regarded as shocking, atrocious, and utterly intolerable in a civilized community," the lawsuit says.
In a statement to Insider, Bertolino said that Laundrie's parents, Christopher and Roberta Laundrie, deny the allegations.
"The Laundrie's have not publicly commented at my direction which is their right under the law," Bertolino said. "Assuming everything the Petitos allege in their lawsuit is true, which we deny, this lawsuit does not change the fact that the Laundries had no obligation to speak to Law Enforcement or any third-party including the Petito family. This fundamental legal principle renders the Petitos' claims to be baseless under the law."
Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie had embarked on a road trip out West in a converted camper van last summer, documenting their travels on social media along the way.
A coroner concluded that Petito, 22, died of "blunt-force injuries to the head and neck, with manual strangulation."
Brian Laundrie returned from the trip to the North Port, Florida, home that the couple shared with his parents without Petito on September 1. Two weeks later, he disappeared.
His body was later found at a Florida nature preserve and authorities say he died by suicide.
The FBI revealed earlier this year that Laundrie admitted in a notebook found near his skeletal remains at the nature preserve that he was responsible for Petito's death.
The lawsuit brought by Petito's parents is seeking damages in excess of $30,000.