Where are Brian Laundrie’s parents now? What they’ve said about their son and Gabby Petito

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A new Netflix documentary is bringing fresh attention to the story of Gabby Petito, a young travel vlogger who was murdered by her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, in 2021.

The three-part docuseries “American Murder: Gabby Petito” explores what officials and family members know about the young couple’s final months.

Petito’s body was discovered in Grand Teton National Park in September 2021, weeks after her family reported her missing. Her death was ruled a homicide by strangulation, NBC News reported.

Brian Laundrie’s remains were discovered the following month, and officials said he died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He left behind writings in which he claimed “responsibility” for Petito’s death, the FBI said in a statement, according to NBC News.

While Gabby Petito’s parents and step-parents participated extensively in the Netflix documentary, Brian Laundrie’s parents declined to take part.

“We reached out to them, they didn’t want to participate, and we respect that. This is a very difficult story,” director and executive producer Julia Willoughby Nason told TODAY.com.

She acknowledges there has been “a lot of speculation, a lot of conspiracy” around what Brian Laundrie’s parents may have known about the murder prior to their son’s death.

In a 2022 lawsuit, the family of Gabby Petito alleged that the Laundries knew their son had killed her, but concealed that information from authorities.

Nason says she doesn’t have a “definitive answer” about how much the Laundries knew, and said the documentary simply lays out facts about how the case unfolded.

“We show certain things that came out about Brian’s phone calls to his parents a couple of days after the murder,” she said. “Certain things like that, and many more, just leave it open for discussion for the audience.”

Director and executive producer Michael Gasparro says he was left with questions after working on the documentary.

“What exactly did the (Laundrie) parents know?” he told TODAY.com. “What did they know, and what did they talk about?”

Brian Laundrie’s parents have never been charged with any crime in relation to their son’s actions. They have maintained they did not know their son murdered Gabby Petito before this information became public.

In a statement to TODAY.com issued through their lawyer Steven Bertolino, Brian Laundrie’s parents responded to the documentary and said it “contained many inaccuracies,” including “incorrect juxtapositions of timelines” and “misstatements and omissions of fact.”

“We all know Brian took Gabby’s life and Brian then took his own as well. Let the parents of both Gabby and Brian mourn and remember them in peace,” the statement said.

Read on to learn more about Brian Laundrie’s parents, Roberta and Christopher Laundrie.

Who are Brian Laundrie’s parents?

Brian Laundrie’s parents are Roberta and Christopher Laundrie. As of October 2023, they lived in North Port, Florida, according to court documents.

In addition to their late son, they share one daughter, Cassandra, born in 1989.

Roberta Laundrie retired in 2020 after working as a secretary for the Office of Water Resources in Suffolk County, Florida. Christopher Laundrie owned his own business repairing and selling juice-making machines, according to a 2023 court deposition.

The Laundries have said they had a good relationship with their son.

“He was a great kid. He was ambitious. He was outgoing, he was a great guy,” Christopher Laundrie said in a 2023 court deposition related to a civil case involving Gabby Petito’s parents.

The Laundries met Gabby Petito in 2019 when their son Brian Laundrie brought her home, Roberta Laundrie said in her 2023 deposition.

“I thought they were very sweet together, very playful together,” she said. “They enjoyed each other and I thought it was a nice, good relationship.”

Christopher Laundrie also said he recalled Petito as being “very nice, very respectful” and said he didn’t have any serious concerns about her relationship with his son.

“I thought it was a very good relationship,” he said in his deposition. “They were young, two young people really trying to have a good time, you know, and they did as far as I know.”

In early 2020, the Laundries invited Brian Laundrie and Gabby Petito to live for free in an investment condo they owned in North Port, and they lived there for about a year, per the deposition.

The young couple then moved in with the Laundries and lived with them between January and May of 2021, before leaving for their cross-country road trip in June of that year, Roberta Laundrie said in her deposition.

Why were Christopher and Roberta Laundrie sued?

The Laundries faced a civil lawsuit from Petito’s parents, who sued them in 2022 for intentional and reckless infliction of emotional distress. The Laundries’ lawyer, Steven Bertolino, was also named as a defendant.

In the lawsuit, Petito’s parents, Joe Petito and Nichole Schmidt, alleged that the Laundries knew their son had murdered Petito and intentionally withheld that information. Petito’s parents claimed this gave them false hope that their daughter was still alive.

Christopher and Roberta gave depositions for this case in the 12th Judicial Circuit Court in Sarasota County, Florida, in October 2023.

In their depositions, the Laundries discussed their relationship with their son and Gabby Petito. They were also asked what they knew about their son’s crime, and when they knew it.

The parties involved in the civil case reached a settlement in February 2024, under undisclosed terms.

What did Brian Laundrie’s parents say about his crime?

Both Roberta and Christopher Laundrie have said that when Petito disappeared, they were not aware their son had murdered her.

In his October 2023 deposition, Christopher Laundrie described a phone call he had with Brian Laundrie on Aug. 29, 2021.

“He was not calm and he got very excited and told me things had — you know, ‘Gabby’s gone’ and he got very frantic,” he said.

Christopher Laundrie said he had “no idea” what his son meant by these words.

“He was very panicked and he said he didn’t know what to do. He said, you know, ‘Can you help me,’ you know, and he might need a lawyer,” Laundrie said.

He said he tried to calm his son down, and told him he would call an attorney the family knew, Steven Bertolino.

Asked in his deposition why he thought his son might need an attorney, Laundrie said he “didn’t even know what to think at the moment” and said at that time, he did not believe Petito was dead.

Roberta Laundrie also discussed this phone call in her deposition. She said her son sounded “upset” but not “frantic” on the call and “didn’t sound like himself.”

She said the fact that her son said he needed a lawyer did not necessarily lead her to believe that Petito had died.

“I didn’t know what to think. I don’t remember if that crossed my mind or if I just was so nervous I just thought he was in some kind of trouble,” she said.

“A lot of things ran through my head,” she added. “Possibly they got in a fight and, you know, maybe she’s going to press charges against him or something? I didn’t know.”

The Laundries both said in their depositions that they did not contact Petito’s parents at the time because their attorney had advised them not to speak to anyone.

On Sept. 11, 2021, the Petito and Schmidt family reported Gabby Petito as missing.

On Sept. 14, the Laundries issued a statement about Petito’s disappearance via their lawyer, Steven Bertolino.

“This is understandably an extremely difficult time for both the Petito family and the Laundrie family,” the Laundries’ statement read, as shared in a 2023 court document. “On behalf of the Laundrie family it is our hope that the search for Miss Petito is successful and that Miss Petito is reunited with her family.”

Roberta Laundrie said in her deposition that she and her husband released this statement to “calm the public down so that we’d know we did extend our best wishes to the Petitos.”

“It was a very scary time. We couldn’t leave the house. It was frightening,” she said.

She was asked during her deposition whether she had considered this statement might be “upsetting” to Petito’s parents and give them “false hope that their daughter was still alive.”

“I had hope she was alive and I wasn’t giving false hope,” Roberta Laundrie replied. “I didn’t know until I heard it on the news that she was gone. I had hope, also.”

Christopher Laundrie was asked in his deposition whether he was concerned about “how the Petitos might be feeling, not knowing where their daughter was.”

“I’m a considerate person. Of course I was. It was not a pleasant thing of any — for anybody, I’m sure,” he said.

On Sept. 17, 2021, the Laundries reported Brian Laundrie as missing. Two days later on Sept. 19, Petito’s body was found at the Spread Creek camping area in Grand Teton National Park.

Roberta Laundrie said the news that Petito had died was “heartbreaking,” as did her husband.

“It was heartbreaking all along, the whole situation,” Christopher Laundrie said.

The Laundries issued a statement after the release of the docuseries

In a statement given to TODAY.com,

“The documentary was what we expected. One perspective depicted as the “truth” as seen through their lens. Similar to Republicans and Democrats fighting it out lately. Each side believes their perspective is correct. Hard to see through the lens of the other with all the noise and distrust.

The documentary contained many inaccuracies, incorrect juxtapositions of timelines, and misstatements and omissions of fact — perhaps deliberate to capture their “truth”, perhaps due to simple error.

We all know Brian took Gabby’s life and Brian then took his own as well. Let the parents of both Gabby and Brian mourn and remember them in peace.”

There has ‘never been an apology,’ Petito’s father and stepmom say

In an interview with NewsNation that aired Feb. 17, Joe Petito and his wife Tara Petito said they have never received an apology.

“And we’re never going to get one,” Joe Petito said.

“At this point, I don’t want one. I would love for them to be charged with something. I really, really would love that. Do I think that’s happening now? Unfortunately, no. I want to erase that name out of my memory. I want to not think about them. i want to focus on what we’re doing with the foundation,” Tara Petito said.

In her own interview, Nichole Schmidt, Gabby Petito’s mom, spoke about getting answers and closure.

“I don’t think we’ll ever know why. The only two people who know why and how are the two people that were there when this happens. I think we have the answers we needed,” Nichole Schmidt said.

“We know that things are known. I don’t like to talk about them or say their names,” she continued.

She added that she has “forgiven Brian” to “let that anger go.”

This article was originally published on TODAY.com