Gabby Petito Case: Moab Stop, Lawsuits, and Foundation

The Gabby Petito case refers to the 2021 murder of 22-year-old Gabrielle Petito by her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, during a cross-country van trip through the western United States. Petito was strangled near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming in late August 2021. Laundrie returned to Florida alone, disappeared into a nature preserve, and killed himself; his remains and a written confession were found in October 2021. The case has since produced civil settlements, a wrongful death appeal pending before the Utah Supreme Court, and new domestic violence laws in Florida and elsewhere.

What Happened to Gabby Petito

Petito and Laundrie were engaged and living together in North Port, Florida, when they set out in the summer of 2021 in a white 2012 Ford Transit van to travel through national parks in the West.¹

Petito’s last call with her mother, Nichole Schmidt, was on August 25, 2021. She said she and Laundrie were in Grand Teton National Park. Two days later, Schmidt received a text from Petito’s phone that referred to her grandfather as “Stan,” a name Petito never used; the family later regarded the message as suspicious and possibly not sent by Petito.²

Laundrie drove Petito’s van back to his parents’ North Port home alone on September 1, 2021. He did not contact her family and retained an attorney, Steven Bertolino. Petito’s parents reported her missing on September 11, and Laundrie was named a person of interest on September 15.¹

On September 19, 2021, the FBI found Petito’s remains at the Spread Creek Dispersed Camping Area in Bridger-Teton National Forest.³ Teton County Coroner Dr. Brent Blue performed the autopsy two days later and ruled the cause of death manual strangulation, or “throttling,” and the manner of death homicide. He estimated her body had been exposed to the elements for three to four weeks.⁴

The Moab Police Stop

Two weeks before the killing, on August 12, 2021, Moab, Utah, police pulled the couple over near the entrance to Arches National Park after a 911 caller reported seeing Laundrie hit Petito. When officers arrived, Petito was visibly emotional and told them she had hit Laundrie. The officers classified the incident as disorderly conduct, separated the two for the night, and did not charge Laundrie.²

Officer Eric Pratt later testified in a deposition that he believed Laundrie was “an emotional threat” and “a mental and emotional bully” to Petito, and that Laundrie “showed more red flags than a Chinese communist rally.”⁵

An independent review by Captain Brandon Ratcliffe of the Price City Police Department concluded the Moab officers made “several unintentional mistakes.” The review found officers failed to cite Petito for domestic violence as required under Utah law, never obtained a statement from the 911 caller, and misinterpreted the state assault statute. The finding that officers failed in their primary duty to protect the victim and enforce the law was sustained. The report also said Petito was “likely a long-term victim of domestic violence.”⁶⁷ The City of Moab committed to additional domestic violence training, a policy review, and the appointment of a domestic violence specialist.⁸

How Brian Laundrie Was Found and What He Confessed

Laundrie left his parents’ home on September 13, 2021, telling them he was going hiking, and walked into a nearby swampy preserve.⁹ On September 22, a federal grand jury in the District of Wyoming charged him with unauthorized use of Petito’s debit card between August 30 and September 1.³

Floodwaters slowed the search of the Carlton Reserve for weeks. On October 20, 2021, Laundrie’s father, Christopher Laundrie, accompanied by a North Port detective and an FBI agent, found human remains, a backpack, a revolver, and a notebook in Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park, bordering the reserve. The remains were identified as Laundrie’s the next day. The District 12 Medical Examiner’s Office in Sarasota determined he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.³

The notebook, submerged in water for roughly five weeks, contained a written confession. Eight pages were released publicly by the Laundrie family attorney in June 2022. Laundrie wrote, “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.” He claimed Petito had been injured in a fall and was in extreme pain, and wrote, “From the moment I decided, took away her pain, I knew I couldn’t go on without her.”¹⁰ Petito’s family has said they do not believe his account of the circumstances.¹¹

On January 21, 2022, the FBI’s Denver Division formally closed the investigation. Special Agent in Charge Michael Schneider said “the investigation did not identify any other individuals other than Brian Laundrie directly involved in the tragic death of Gabby Petito.”³

The Civil Lawsuits

Wrongful Death Judgment Against Laundrie’s Estate

On May 6, 2022, Petito’s family sued Brian Laundrie’s estate for wrongful death in Sarasota County Circuit Court, where Christopher and Roberta Laundrie served as estate administrators. On November 17, 2022, a judge ruled for the Petito family and awarded $3 million, an amount described as largely symbolic. Attorney Patrick Reilly said the proceeds would go to the Gabby Petito Foundation.¹²

Emotional Distress Suit Against Laundrie’s Parents

In March 2022, Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt sued Christopher and Roberta Laundrie for intentional infliction of emotional distress, alleging the Laundries knew their son had killed Petito and stayed silent while she was being searched for. The suit was later amended to add Steven Bertolino as a co-defendant, a decision upheld by Sarasota County Judge Danielle Brewer in January 2023.¹³

Depositions showed that during an August 29, 2021, phone call, Brian told his parents Petito was “gone” and that he needed a lawyer.¹⁴ The plaintiffs pointed to a September 14, 2021, statement issued through Bertolino in which the Laundries said they hoped “the search for Miss Petito is successful and that Miss Petito is reunited with her family,” arguing that statement was made while the Laundries knew she was dead.¹³

Another contested piece of evidence was a letter from Roberta Laundrie to her son, found in his backpack, in an envelope labeled “Brian Christopher Laundrie (burn after reading).” The letter contained the line, “If you need to dispose of a body, I will show up with a shovel and garbage bags.” Roberta Laundrie said in an affidavit that she wrote it before the trip as an expression of unconditional love during a strained period, and that the envelope title referred to a book called “Burn After Writing.” A Florida judge denied the Laundries’ motion to keep the letter out of discovery.¹⁵

On February 21, 2024, the parties reached a confidential settlement in mediation, avoiding a trial that had been scheduled for May 2024. In a joint statement, the families said they had agreed to the resolution “in order to avoid further legal expenses and prolonged personal conflict.”¹⁶ The Laundrie parents were never charged with any crimes in connection with Petito’s death.¹⁷

The $50 Million Suit Against Moab Police

In 2022, Petito’s family filed a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit against the Moab City Police Department, alleging responding officers had failed to protect Petito and had effectively treated Laundrie as the victim rather than the aggressor.¹⁸ A Grand County court dismissed the case on governmental immunity grounds. The family appealed, and the Utah Supreme Court was scheduled to hear oral arguments on whether the case can proceed. The appeal raises questions about municipal liability and the right to recover for wrongful death under Utah’s governmental immunity framework.¹⁹

Laws Passed Because of the Case

In 2024, Florida enacted a domestic violence law inspired by the case. Senate Bill 1224, signed as Chapter 2024-70 and effective July 2, 2024, requires law enforcement officers responding to domestic violence incidents to administer a 12-question lethality assessment designed to identify victims at high risk of being killed by an intimate partner. The questions cover things like whether the aggressor has used weapons, threatened to kill the victim or children, choked the victim, or stalked them. If the victim answers yes to any of the first four questions, or to at least four of questions five through eleven, the officer must refer the victim to the nearest certified domestic violence center.²⁰ Joseph Petito served as chair of Florida’s Lethality Assessment Program Committee and advocated for the bill before the state senate.²¹

At the federal level, the Help Find the Missing Act, also known as Billy’s Law, was signed by President Biden on December 27, 2022, with support from the Petito Foundation’s founders.²² In New York, a similar lethality assessment bill (S2280A) passed both the State Senate and the Assembly by May 2026, but as of mid-2026 had not yet been signed by the governor.²³

The Gabby Petito Foundation

Petito’s family established the Gabby Petito Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, shortly after her death, with an effective registration date of October 22, 2021.²⁴ The foundation works on domestic violence prevention, education, and locating missing persons. It has donated $100,000 to the National Domestic Violence Hotline’s “Hope Can’t Wait” campaign,²⁵ funded organizations such as SafeSpace, and partnered with the Black and Missing Foundation and the Light The Way Missing Persons Advocacy Project. In 2025 it launched the Gabby Petito Alliance with Looped Solutions as an educational resource library for domestic violence prevention.²²

1
Fox 7 Austin. Gabby Petito Case: Timeline of 22-Year-Old Woman’s Disappearance
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People. Gabby Petito Brian Laundrie Case Timeline
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FBI. FBI Denver Provides Final Investigative Update on Gabrielle Petito Case
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WFLA. Teton County Coroner Clarifies Comments in Gabby Petito Case
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ABC News. Gabby Petito’s Family Contends Lawsuit Utah Cops’ Treatment
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City of Moab. Combined Statement and Investigative Report – Petito Laundrie Incident
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Fox 5 NY. Utah Judge Dismisses Petito Lawsuit
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City of Moab. Investigative Review of Aug 12, 2021, Petito-Laundrie Incident
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Fox 13 News. Gabby Petito Murder: Brian Laundrie’s Notebook Confession Revealed
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CNN. Laundrie Notebook Petito
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ABC News. New Interview Gabby Petito’s Parents Reveals Disturbing Details
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ABC 7. Gabby Petito Lawsuit Laundries Wrongful Death
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Court TV. Judge Rules Brian Laundrie’s Family Lawyer Can Be Named in Civil Lawsuit
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CNN. Gabby Petito Brian Laundrie Parents Settlement
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NBC News. Brian Laundrie’s Mother Offered Shovel in Burn After Reading Note
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CBS News. Gabby Petito Parents Settlement Brian Laundrie Parents Civil Trial
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Global News. Gabby Petito Brian Laundrie Family Emotional Distress Lawsuit Settlement
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KATV. Utah Supreme Court to Hear Arguments in Gabby Petito Wrongful Death Lawsuit
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Parker & McConkie. Case Set for Oral Argument Before the Utah Supreme Court
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Fox 13 News. Gabby Petito Florida Bill Domestic Violence Law Enforcement Legislature Governor
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Gabby Petito Foundation. Gabby Petito Inspired Law Goes Into Effect
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Gabby Petito Foundation. Gabby Petito Foundation – In the News
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New York State Senate. S2280A
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Gabby Petito Foundation. About Us
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ABC News. Gabby Petito’s Family Announces $100K Donation to Domestic Violence