‘Not Your Typical Narcissist’
Petito and Laundrie first met at Bayport-Blue Point High School on Long Island, N.Y.
They reconnected in 2019, two years after Petito graduated.
“She started bringing him around as just a friend,” Schmidt recalls.
Schmidt describes Laundrie as “introverted” and “artistic.” “He would [choose to] sit and draw with my kids over sitting and having a conversation with us. He’d like to be off to the side, doing quiet things,” she says. “Not your typical narcissist.”
How Did Gabby Petito Die?
Exactly one year later, they were back in New York for Petito’s brother’s high school graduation. From there, they embarked on what was supposed to be a four-month cross-country road trip, visiting national parks in a van they retrofitted together.
“We were so proud of Gabby for growing up and deciding what it was she wanted to do,” Schmidt says. “She wanted to see the world, and she had finally gotten to a point where she was doing it. Unfortunately, she was doing it with the wrong person.”
Petito and Laundrie’s itinerary included stops at national parks in Colorado and Utah.
While Petito’s social media posts appeared to document their joyful travels, there was escalating discontent.
On August 12, 2021, police in Moab, Utah, responded to a domestic dispute involving the couple inside their van.
Petito appeared visibly distraught, as seen in police body cam footage, but no charges were filed, and the couple spent the night apart before resuming their travels together the next day.
By August 30, all communications between Petito and her family ceased.
“I was beyond concerned,” Schmidt admits. “I started calling her dad, and he said, ‘I'm sure they're fine.’ We tried to have a positive attitude.”
On September 11, Petito was officially reported missing.
Detectives in North Port, Fla., found the couple’s van parked outside Laundrie’s parents’ home, with no sign of Petito.
“We all panicked; we went into shock,” Schmidt says. “I knew that my daughter was gone.”
Authorities learned that Laundrie secretly returned home without his fiancée on September 1.
His parents, Christopher and Roberta Laundrie, refused to cooperate with police.
In 2024, Petito’s parents reached a settlement in an emotional distress case against the Laundries, after a judge previously awarded them $3 million in a wrongful death suit.
On September 15, Laundrie was officially named a person of interest.
Two days later, his parents reported him missing.
Petito’s remains were found September 19 in Bridger-Teton National Forest in Jackson, Wyo. She had been strangled to death.
Laundrie’s remains were recovered in a Florida swamp the next month, bringing the massive manhunt for Petito’s killer to an end.
He died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Nearby were his belongings, including a backpack and notebook in which he alleged he killed Petito after she was critically injured during their travels.
“I ended her life, I thought it was merciful, that it is what she wanted but I see now all the mistakes I made. I panicked; I was in shock. But from the moment I decided, took away her pain, I knew I couldn’t go on without her,” he wrote, in part.
He also confessed the reason for taking his own life was “not because of a fear of punishment but rather because I can’t stand to live another day without her,” Laundrie wrote. “…I have killed myself by this creek in the hopes that animals may tear me apart. That it may make some of her family happy.”
What Went Wrong?
Leading up to the couple’s fatal excursion, Schmidt says the family “didn't see any red flags on our end—not that we knew about red flags; we didn't really know about domestic violence—but what we saw was a kind, polite, quiet, young man.”
In hindsight, there were signs that Petito and Laundrie’s relationship faced trouble.
“Looking back, Gabby's personality changed. She became very aggressive and was pulling away. She didn’t seem like herself, but I thought maybe her moving and changing jobs, and then trying to figure out her van life, that she was under a lot of stress,” her mom explains.
The loss of her daughter pushed Schmidt to launch the Gabby Petito Foundation in an effort to prevent domestic violence through education and community partnerships.
“If I knew what I know now, I probably would have started asking [Petito] more questions,” Schmidt reflects.
Although Petito was visibly injured when police previously responded to the incident involving her and Laundrie in Moab, Utah, she claimed she was the instigator.
“She was in survival mode,” Schmidt says. “She only knew how to survive and take the blame because she wasn't ready to leave him.”
Laundrie manipulated Petito through “love bombing and isolation,” Schmidt speculates. “He just made her think he was this person that she needed.”
Despite their tragic loss, the founding of the foundation serves as the silver lining loved ones have found in Petito’s death.
“She's helped so many young survivors of domestic violence get through leaving safely. We are just so proud of her because she's the ultimate advocate,” Schmidt praises. “She's saving lives all over the world.”
And if Petito were still alive, her mom thinks she’d be doing what she did best: creating compelling travel content on a much larger scale.
“She would be overseas by now, traveling the world and vlogging, and I think everybody would just adore her. She would probably be showing us all the best food in the world and all the best places to stay,” she imagines. “It’d be great.”
