On September 11, Youtuber Gabby Petito was reported missing after she went radio silent while traveling with her boyfriend Brian Laundrie through the western United States. Earlier that month, Brian had returned home in Gabby’s van without her which sent her family and the nation into a frenzy looking for her. On September 21, her remains were identified as those found in Grand Teton national park. It was later determined that her death was by strangulation. During the search, Brian stayed at the apartment he shared with Gabby in Florida and wouldn’t speak to law enforcement. Brian later took off on foot. A month later Brian’s body was found in a park in Florida with a self inflicted gunshot wound. This entire tragedy had the country in its grips for weeks while law enforcement, journalists, and observers tried to piece together what happened. On December 17th, a documentary called The Murder of Gabby Petito: Truth, Lies, and Social Media is coming out on the Peacock Network. The trailer was released yesterday. Below are a few more details from E! Online:
The Murder of Gabby Petito: Truth, Lies and Social Media, which will available to stream on Peacock starting Friday, Dec. 17, will give insight into Petito’s story, the unanswered questions about her case and the devastating conclusion. In their first documentary interview, Gabby’s parents and stepparents reflect on the life of their daughter, which include sharing childhood memories and details that have never been seen before.
“It was like every parents’ nightmare,” Gabby’s stepfather, Jim Schimdt, recalls in the trailer. “Just like, in a flash of second. She’s gone, she’s missing.”
“It’s still unbelievable,” Petito’s mom, Nichole Schmidt, says in the trailer. “I don’t understand it.”
In addition to firsthand accounts from Petito’s family, the upcoming documentary also gives viewers a glimpse at the social media investigations that made a huge impact on the case. The film includes interviews with journalists who covered the story from the beginning and social media users who spent hours combing over the case.
I was really conflicted about Gabby’s story. Part of me was angry that Gabby’s story got picked up by the national news because she was a blonde white woman unlike the hundreds of Black and Indigenous women who go missing every year without any news coverage. And the other side of me felt sad for her family (because she is a human being) and feared her fate. I am sure that Gabby’s parents are still recovering from her loss so the timing of this documentary seems too soon. I feel that Peacock should have given her family some time to mourn her death. Watching them break down in the trailer was a lot for me. I know that the documentary seeks to shine a light on what happened to Gabby and how social media and journalists helped police find her body. I am also sure that Gabby’s story will serve as a cautionary tale to other young women who find themselves in abusive relationships. Brian died by suicide, but I feel that Brian’s parents should have been charged with aiding and abetting Brian. They never were because law enforcement couldn’t prove that they helped him. At the moment, Brian’s parents are trying to become the beneficiaries of Brian’s estate and have left Florida (that’s white privilege for you). Gabby’s parents were not able to close this horrific chapter and they never received justice for Gabby’s murder. I hope that Gabby’s parents find peace by telling her story. I am not sure if I will watch this documentary because I honestly feel it is too soon. However, I hope that this documentary will shine some light on Gabby’s world and her last moments.
Too soon.
Quick note her body was found in WY outside of Jackson. They had been in Utah previously and that’s where the cops stopped them.
Came here to say that. She was found in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
It is too soon.
This is fixed thanks!
Yeah there was also a documentary of the Travis Scott Astro world tragedy that got cancelled for being so inappropriately too soon.
What? That’s nuts. This one is bad enough.
This feels way too soon.
this is way too soon. although it’s encouraging that her family is participating, rather than it being made against their wishes.
and the truth is that it will be unsatisfying. the real questions: what happened, why did he murder her, did his parents know, etc will not be answered.
Her parents should sue Brian’s. There might not be enough evidence to charge them with a crime or get a conviction (beyond a reasonable doubt), but they certainly can drain them of every last cent they have alleging they aided and abetted his escape and helped cover up the murder and/or obstruct justice (by a preponderance of the evidence) in some kind of wrongful death suit hybrid.
Yeah they should – from what i know of the case his parents know more than they are letting on and the fact that they have fled Florida is very telling.
I 100% believe he told his parents what happened, decided his life was done and was not going to spend it in a jail cell, that they all agreed and said their goodbyes to one another, and let him get a head start. I think they knew all along he was planning to go off and take himself out with no chance of the cops catching him first. His parents absolutely belong in jail.
I think there is a lot of tea to come out about the parents and how they enabled his abusive/violent behaviour as you just know there is a trail of lifelong behavioural issues with the son. I would also look at the parents relationship and where the choking came from, did he see his father do that to his mother as a child?!?!
The behaviour of the parents has to be investigated.
I would think they could, at least, sue his estate that his family is trying to inherit.
Gabby’s disappearance and death were huge to me, not because she was white and cute, It was because her abuse and travel was recorded.
It struck a nerve with many of us who’ve been in or around abusive relationships. It was her tears while she blamed herself for his abuse. It was the Moab Police fist bumping Brian goodbye after he tried to abandon her and she was almost charged with abuse. It was the gross talk about how he was a victim at the beginning.
The police interactions were enraging.
I think that’s why it did get picked up so much in the news, there were videos they could show and analyzed and a suspect to point at. I don’t understand how the police pegged him as the victim when he was trying to leave her in HER van and trying to take her phone. When he arrived in Florida without her but driving HER vehicle, how did the police not do more?
They labeled him the victim because they were focused solely on who hit who first. They ignored the fact that he had been trying to abandon her in the heat without water, her phone or money. Like, he was trying to kill her and she hit him to get her keys back. It was self defense.
Infuriating that the police were so poorly trained that they could not connect why Brian would have had scratches on his face. People don’t attack other people like cats, his face was scratched because he was strangling her. Strangulation murder by an intimate partner rarely occurs without partial strangulation first. The damage to Gabby’s neck would not likely be visible to the naked eye, you would have to photograph it black and white, IR or UV.
Imagine if someone had taken a UV photo of Gabby instead of trying to untangle the lies of an abuser.
It’s absolutely too soon for this. And I agree- his parents need to be charged with something. My guess is they left Florida because North Port is very small and it’s too uncomfortable to be infamous in a small town. They absolutely knew more than they were saying. Maybe they didn’t know he’d unalive himself, but they were trying to give him a head start for something (my guess is get out of the country).
It’s too soon and feels very exploitative.
Quick note: *died by suicide* vs committed.
Correction: Brian was staying at his parents house when he left in their Mustang. FBI surveillance thought it was the mom leaving in a baseball cap. He wasn’t staying at the apartment and didn’t leave on foot.
Actually, the police knew that he left. They thought his mom was him returning when she came back with the Mustang in a baseball cap. He left on 9/13 and was likely dead the same day given the location of his body. So, he was dead during most of the search.
I feel like there is not enough anger at the local police. They screwed up royally on so many levels.
They really did and they congratulated themselves publicly about it all during a press conference. It was so gross.
Moab police should be dissolved and remade from the ground up.
The bro culture is so disturbing. The female cop was the best and even she told Gabby it was a ‘toxic relationship’. That implies equal responsibility. She needed to say he’s hitting and holding you around the neck and face, this is a precursor to murder in many DV cases.
That these officers have been trained and almost arrested her makes my blood boil. ACAB.
The body cam was frustrating to watch. From the cops laughing about how “crazy” their own wives were to them completey brushing her off. One of the cops even acknowledged whe had injuries yet they were never documented. This is the reason why people in DV situations don’t come forward
This. Did her case get so much media attention because she was a missing blonde white woman? Absolutely. It also helped that there were so many videos and pictures to show over and over. But to me the most egregious thing was how respectful of Brian and his parents the police were. They kept saying that Brian wouldn’t talk to them, as if they had no power to do anything when he was the last person to see her and had possession of her vehicle. Apparently, Brian’s white male privilege trumped everything else.
I agree, this does feel too soon. However, maybe her parents are trying to raise awareness of their new foundation: https://gabbypetitofoundation.org/? It’s to help missing people and those in abusive relationships. On Twitter, I saw the foundation try to raise awareness of other missing people…
I don’t think it’s too soon because for Gabby’s parents, none of this goes away. I am sure they are living this nightmare every minute of the day. They are a part of the documentary and I don’t think we get to have the priviledge of saying “oh too soon.”
Yes, young pretty white girls from the ‘right families’ get the most attention when they go missing. It was maddening when I read how many others disappear and nothing is done. I believe that is why Gabby’s parents are starting this foundation. They recognize how lucky they were to receive all the instant support and help, and want to help others in their situation who are struggling on their own. It is amazing that her body was even found.