Following the release of Netflix’s American Murder: Gabby Petito docu-series, her parents reveal where her van went after the cross-country road trip. While speaking to NewsNation, Gabby’s father, Joe Petito, stated that the family didn’t want to be out there and that someone else could have owned it.
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“We crushed the van,” Gabby Petito’s father explained. “We didn’t want the van to be out there and someone owning the van and then saying, ‘Here’s the van that Gabby was…’ So, we had it crushed.”
He and Tara Petito, Petito’s stepmother, said she kept some items from the vehicle. This included a gasoline cap from the van’s exterior and a sticker commemorating a stop at the Great Smoky Mountains. The items are now displayed at their home in a curio case.
Petito’s mother, Nichole Schmidt, also spoke out about how she has
Gabby Petito, then 22, was an aspiring blogger who went on a cross-country road trip with her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, in July 2021. The couple bought and designed the Ford Transit Connect together. They decided to transform the vehicle into a camper and downsized their personal items.
Gabby Petito Was Murdered on the Road Trip
Things between the couple took a turn less than a month into the trip. At one point, they were pulled over by Moab City Police Department (MCPD) officers who noticed that Laundrie was driving erratically near the entrance to Arches National Park. A witness had called in, stating that they saw Laundrie slap Petito before getting into the van.
After being questioned by the officers, the duo separated for the night. But they resumed their trip the following day without any other issues.
Gabby Petito went missing days later, and Brian Laundrie drove back to his parent’s home in North Port, Florida. He went missing right before Petito’s body was discovered in Wyoming’s Bridger–Teton National Forest. An autopsy confirmed that she was killed by blunt-force injuries to her head and neck and manual strangulation.
A month into the search for Laundrie, his remains were discovered near Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. In a notebook left near his remains, Laundrie admitted he killed Petito.
While also speaking to NewsNation, Gabby Petito’s mother, Nichole Schmidt, said she forgave Brian Laundrie for killing her daughter.
“I have forgiven Brian, and I know that’s what Gabby would have wanted, and I’m moving forward so that I can help people,” Schmidt explained. “I don’t think everyone has to forgive. They can when they’re ready, or they might never be ready. But for me personally, I needed to forgive to let that anger go.”