Gabby Petito's Parents Amend Lawsuit Alleging Brian Laundrie's Parents Knew Where Her Body Was

The body of Gabby Petito, a 22-year-old woman who went missing in August 2021 during a cross-country trip with her fiance Brian Laundrie, was found, strangled to death, a month later. Laundrie disappeared two weeks after returning home by himself, leading police on a nationwide manhunt. His remains were later found in a Florida reserve.

In an amended lawsuit, the parents of Gabby Petito, a young woman who went missing in August 2021 during a cross-country trip with her fiance Brian Laundrie and was found dead a month later, allege that during the search for Gabby, Laundrie's parents were aware that their son had killed her. They also assert that the Laundries knew "the whereabouts of her body."

Joseph and Nichole Petito are amending their lawsuit against the Laundrie family to say that they went to Fort De Soto Park in the Tampa Bay area just days before Gabby was reported missing.

"They went on vacation knowing that Brian Laundrie had murdered Gabrielle Petito, it is believed that they knew where her body was located, and further knew that Gabrielle Petito's parents were attempting to locate her," the lawsuit says.

Christopher and Roberta Laundrie have denied that they knew Petito was dead or that they'd helped their son flee.

The Laundrie family attorney said they are confident the case will be dismissed:

"The allegations in the amended complaint may now conform to proper pleadings but they do not give rise to liability under the law. Thus, we are still confident the Court will dismiss the action," attorney Steven Bertolino said.

CNN has previously reported that documents from Pinellas County, Florida, showed Roberta Laundrie had made a camping reservation at Fort De Soto Park for the first weekend of September. She then pushed it to a later date and added another person.

County records suggest the new reservation was made by Laundrie's mother on 3 September, two days after Brian returned home.

A trial is set to begin in Sarasota County, Florida on 14 August 2023.

The Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie story gained national attention in September 2021. Gabby and Brian were on a cross-country trip for weeks and were documenting their journey on social media. But when the time came to return, the young man came back to their Florida home driving Gabby's car, refusing to comment on her whereabouts. It wasn't until 11 September when the Petito family, after not hearing from their daughter for nearly two weeks, alerted the authorities that she was missing. From that moment on, a nationwide search was launched to locate her, while her fiance Brian Laundrie became a person of interest.

Laundrie himself went missing days after driving home alone on 1 September.

Gabby's remains were discovered on 19 September 2021 at a campsite about 300 meters from where her van had been parked. Before her remains were recovered, she had likely been dead for three to four weeks. A coroner revealed that Petito died of blunt force injuries to her head and neck, despite the fact that her cause of death is officially ruled to be by manual strangulation.

In mid-October, Laundrie's remains were found in a Florida reserve. It was established that he died by a gunshot wound to the head consistent with suicide. According to an autopsy, the skeletal remains of Luandrie showed signs that they were eaten by wild animals. Authorities also found a notebook in which they said Laundrie claimed responsibility for Gabby's death.