Brian Laundrie’s Parents Share More Details About Troubling Phone Call With Son

Details of a “panicked” phone call made by Brian Laundrie to his parents shortly after killing his fiancée, Gabby Petito, have emerged following the release of new court documents. 

Christopher and Roberta Laundrie revealed in an October 2023 deposition that their son called them in a “frantic” state to tell them “Gabby’s gone” and requested their help in finding an attorney. 

“I asked him, you know, how is he doing, and he — you know, he was not calm and he got very excited and told me things had — you know, ‘Gabby’s gone’ and he got very frantic,” Christopher Laundrie recalled, according to a transcript of his deposition published Tuesday by WFLA.com, the website for Florida’s News Channel 8. “Everything was frantic and quick.”

Asked to clarify what Brian Laundrie was implying by Petito being “gone,” Christopher Laundrie replied, “Well, I have no idea what he meant.” 

According to the transcript, the call was one of several that Brian Laundrie made to his parents on Aug. 29, 2021, about two days after Petito, 22, is believed to have been murdered. Her remains were found near Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park about three weeks later. 

Petito, an aspiring lifestyle influencer, had been on a cross-country road trip with Brian Laundrie, 23, prior to her death. 

Brian Laundrie was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Florida’s Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park in October 2021. 

In 2022, the Laundrie family released handwritten pages from a notebook that belonged to Brian Laundrie, in which he confessed to killing Petito. 

Petito’s parents, Joe Petito and Nichole Schmidt, have filed a civil lawsuit against the Laundries, alleging that they helped Brian Laundrie conceal his fiancée’s murder. The depositions, which also include statements from Petito’s parents, are part of the lawsuit. A trial is scheduled for May.

“There will be no justice for Gabby Petito,” Joe Petito said to WFLA, adding that the lawsuit is “really to hold people accountable for their actions and their choices.” 

While the Petito family is seeking damages of at least $100,000, Joe Petito noted, “It’s not about the money. I want to make them hurt as much as they hurt us.”