Gabby Petito’s grieving father shares heartbreaking tribute on anniversary of her death
Gabby Petito’s father paid an emotional tribute to his daughter on the third anniversary of her death.
Petito, 22, disappeared in 2021 while on a cross-country road trip with her fiancé Brian Laundrie.
Laundrie, 23, returned home to Florida without Petito, sparking a search that ended with her body being found on the edge of Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park.
It was determined that she had been strangled a few weeks earlier and the date of her disappearance was August 27, 2021. An arrest warrant was issued for Laundrie and his remains were found at the campsite weeks later, from an apparent suicide.
Petito’s father drew attention to the gruesome event on Tuesday by he writes to his more than 90,000 followers on Instagram.
Gabby Petito’s father shared a tribute to his daughter on Tuesday to remember her death
“Three years ago tonight you were taken from us,” the 45-year-old father wrote in a post showing him and his late daughter enjoying a spa treatment.
“We can’t stop crying when we think of you,” he continued. “There is no waking up from this nightmare.
“We will continue for you and everyone you have inspired and nothing can stop us. I ask everyone reading this to share a #missingperson flyer today.”
Words of comfort poured in from the comments, as bystanders who had followed the high-profile case so many years ago expressed their support.
“Thinking of your family,” one person wrote. “I can’t believe it’s been three years already.”
“You are doing everything you can and she would be so proud,” another added. I am so sorry for this terrible pain you feel every day.
“My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family!” said someone else.
“She will never be forgotten.”
Petito, 22, was murdered in 2021 by her fiancé Brian Laundrie during a cross-country road trip that ended with her disappearance on August 27 of that year.
Laundrie, 23, returned home to Florida without her, sparking a search that ended with the discovery of Petito’s body on the edge of Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park
Joseph previously wrote a tribute to his only daughter on August 27, with a photo of her posing in front of a waterfall,
“If her story touched you, I ask you to share a #MissingPerson flyer,” he wrote at the time. “Help someone get home safely to their missing loved ones.”
Petito’s mother, Nichole Schmidt, also asked the public to pay attention to domestic violence.
Both parents have said Laundrie posed an “emotional and mental threat” to their daughter, according to a lawsuit filed against Moab police after an officer pulled over the couple after an argument two weeks before Petito’s disappearance.
The lawsuit, filed in Utah’s Seventh District Court, includes transcripts of an interrogation between the officer and a phone call from Petito in which she alleged she was assaulted by her 23-year-old boyfriend. She is seeking more than $50 million in damages.
Officer Eric Pratt is named as a suspect. Both he and his department allegedly failed in their duties as police officers by failing to make an arrest, despite the fact that Pratt later told other officers that Laundrie had “sent out more warning signs than a Chinese communist rally.”
A Utah law requires all officers to make an arrest or write a ticket in all domestic incidents.
Pratt told other investigators at the time that he considered Laundrie a threat, but he let him go anyway, the case file shows.
Pictured: Petito crying and visibly upset as officers questioned her during a traffic stop two weeks before her disappearance
A photo shared by attorneys for Gabby’s family, who are filing a lawsuit against police in Moab, Utah, shows bruises Petito sustained before the traffic stop. The lawsuit alleges that police mishandled the incident
Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt (pictured) filed a lawsuit against Christopher and Roberta Laundrie earlier this year, alleging that the couple knew their daughter was dead and refused to tell them where her remains were located.
“I thought he was an emotional threat to her,” the officer, who is still on the force, reportedly told a Price police chief during an independent investigation into the incident, which was launched after no arrests were made. “I thought he was a mental threat to her.”
Transcripts of the interview, which were prepared by Petito’s parents, further revealed that Pratt violated proper police policy by letting Laundrie go, despite the fact that he had told Price Police Chief Brandon Ratcliffe that the suspected killer showed “red flags.”
Pratt is said to have told Ratcliffe that Laundrie was “a strange, unhealthy fellow who “looked unappetizing,” the complaint reads.
Body camera footage of the incident showed Petito visibly shaken during the encounter with Pratt, telling him and officers that Laundrie grabbed her face while pointing to her neck.
A photo shared by Gabby’s family’s attorneys also shows bruises Petito had before he was arrested.
The wrongful death lawsuit has been in the works for more than a year, and last month, attorneys for Petito’s family asked a Utah judge to let the case go forward
while her parents criticize Moab police for minimizing their alleged mistakes during a traffic stop in August 2021, just two weeks before her murder, in order to make money.
Moab attorneys asked the judge in April to dismiss the case, arguing that the police were protected by government immunity. They also accused Petito’s parents of just wanting money, prompting a scathing response from the grieving father. The lawsuit has not yet been dismissed
Moab’s attorneys asked the judge in April to dismiss the case, arguing the police were protected by government immunity.
“Petito’s murder is an undeniable sorrow,” department lawyers wrote in that document.
“Laundrie’s crime was undeniably depraved, but the justice system is no substitute for a GoFundMe,” they wrote. “Heartbreak is not enough.”
The Petito family’s team subsequently filed a statement of defense in July, arguing that wrongful death claims against the government are protected under the Utah Constitution. Joseph also provided his own personal response.
“Moab still doesn’t get it,” he said Fox News. ‘This case was never about money.
“It’s always been about seeking accountability and fighting for change that will save lives. When law enforcement fails to uphold the law, fails to protect, and refuses to learn from its mistakes, like the Moab Police Department, it puts us all at risk.”
The case is still pending in Utah court.