Gabby Petito’s family awarded $3M in wrongful death lawsuit against Brian Laundrie's parents

A Florida judge awarded Gabby Petito’s family $3 million in their wrongful death lawsuit against the parents of Brian Laundrie, who they believe killed Petito last year.

A settlement was announced Thursday, months after Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt filed a civil suit in Sarasota County, where Christopher and Roberta Laundrie live. The suit alleges that the Laundries hindered the search for Petito and knew she "had been murdered by their son," who later died by suicide.

"The Petito family lost their daughter, and they were also denied the opportunity to confront her killer. No amount of money is sufficient to compensate the Petito family for the loss of their daughter, Gabby, at the hands of Brian Laundrie," said Patrick Reilly, an attorney for Petito's family.

• Add to Google

Petito family alleges Utah police department failed to protect Gabby

03:04

He said that Brian Laundrie did not have $3 million at the time of his death and that the settlement amount is "an arbitrary number." The money will go toward the Gabby Petito Foundation, which was established after she died in August 2021.

A coroner ruled her death a homicide and said she died by "manual strangulation."

A lawyer for the Laundries said in a statement that the family hopes the settlement "brings some closure to this one chapter of this tragedy."

Petito, 22, and Laundrie were on a cross-country trip when she disappeared. The pair, who were engaged, left Blue Point, New York, on July 2, 2021, in a 2012 Ford Transit van. They documented their journey on YouTube and Instagram using the hashtag #VanLife.

Based on the social media posts, as well as statements from her family, they traveled to Kansas, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming before Petito was reported missing.

As authorities investigated the disappearance, reports of altercations began to surface, including an incident in which police in Moab, Utah, responded to a report of a "domestic problem" between the pair.

A police report says a responding officer reported that the couple's van was traveling about 45 mph in a 15 mph zone and that it swerved and hit a curb as the officer turned on the police lights. Another officer wrote in the report that Petito was alleged to have slapped Laundrie after an argument, at which point he tried to lock her out of the van but she forced her way back in.

The couple told officers they were struggling with their mental health, and Laundrie said the trip was taking a toll on them. They were told to separate for the night.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCentrist think tank warns 2028 Democrats against swinging too far left on immigration

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRussia’s secrecy after a mysterious plague lab death raises global alarm

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAfter surviving a botched lethal injection, Christa Pike faces unprecedented legal battle

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHunger in a land of plenty: Major food banks face ‘heartbreaking’ need, NBC News survey finds

FOR SUBSCRIBERSInflation and tariffs push U.S. holiday spending projections to a record $1.7 trillion

FOR SUBSCRIBERSWhat happened inside the room where officials tried to execute Christa Pike by lethal injection

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHow we reported the saga of the CIA officer and his gold-bar stash

FOR SUBSCRIBERSBrad Raffensperger gears up to oversee his final election in Georgia

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDiddy is punished following NBC News report on his VIP life in prison and contraband cellphone use

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘Too young to vote, old enough to be tear gassed’: French protesters’ anger swells

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDOJ gets aggressive in suing states that challenge Trump’s immigration policies

FOR SUBSCRIBERSJustice Department seeks criminal charge for former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘I just want to hold him’: USS Lincoln sailor to meet his 10-month-old son as ship docks

FOR SUBSCRIBERSSenate candidates run on raising Social Security taxes for higher incomes to prevent benefit cuts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRussian operation that used ChatGPT tricked schools, a politician and media, OpenAI says

Slide 1 of 1

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCentrist think tank warns 2028 Democrats against swinging too far left on immigration

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRussia’s secrecy after a mysterious plague lab death raises global alarm

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAfter surviving a botched lethal injection, Christa Pike faces unprecedented legal battle

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHunger in a land of plenty: Major food banks face ‘heartbreaking’ need, NBC News survey finds

FOR SUBSCRIBERSInflation and tariffs push U.S. holiday spending projections to a record $1.7 trillion

FOR SUBSCRIBERSWhat happened inside the room where officials tried to execute Christa Pike by lethal injection

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHow we reported the saga of the CIA officer and his gold-bar stash

FOR SUBSCRIBERSBrad Raffensperger gears up to oversee his final election in Georgia

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDiddy is punished following NBC News report on his VIP life in prison and contraband cellphone use

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘Too young to vote, old enough to be tear gassed’: French protesters’ anger swells

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDOJ gets aggressive in suing states that challenge Trump’s immigration policies

FOR SUBSCRIBERSJustice Department seeks criminal charge for former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘I just want to hold him’: USS Lincoln sailor to meet his 10-month-old son as ship docks

FOR SUBSCRIBERSSenate candidates run on raising Social Security taxes for higher incomes to prevent benefit cuts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRussian operation that used ChatGPT tricked schools, a politician and media, OpenAI says

Slide 1 of 1

Police have said that after the incident, Petito stopped communicating with her family.

What happened next remains a mystery. Laundrie returned to Florida alone with the van, which was recovered by North Port police at the home the couple shared with his parents.

As the investigation continued, Laundrie — who was wanted for questioning in Petito's disappearance — vanished. His body was found in Florida in October 2021, a month after Petito was found dead in Wyoming. Officials have said that Laundrie died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound and that he left a note saying he was responsible for his fiancée's death.

Petito's family also filed a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit against Moab police, alleging their negligence and failure to issue a domestic violence citation led to her death.