Laundrie told parents Gabby was ‘gone,’ sought lawyer 13 days pre-missing report.
Brian Laundrie reportedly contacted his parents almost two weeks before the disappearance of Gabby Petito was officially reported, informing them that his fiancée was “gone” and expressing the need for legal representation, as per recent court documents. The couple, Petito, 22, and Laundrie, were on a cross-country journey during the summer of 2021 when Petito went missing, attracting global attention.
While Laundrie became a person of interest in the case, he vanished and was discovered dead in Florida a month after Petito’s body was found in a Wyoming national forest. Authorities disclosed that he left behind a note admitting responsibility for her death.
The amended complaint filed on November 30 in the Petito family’s lawsuit against Christopher and Roberta Laundrie and attorney Steven Bertolino asserts that Brian Laundrie urgently contacted his parents on August 29, 2021, declaring that Gabby was “gone” and he required legal representation. Notably, this occurred 13 days before Petito’s mother reported her missing on September 11, 2021.
The complaint alleges that on August 29, 2021, Christopher and Roberta Laundrie informed Steven Bertolino that Gabrielle Petito was no longer present, and Brian Laundrie needed legal representation. They reportedly sent Bertolino a retainer on September 2, 2021.
On September 2, 2021, Bertolino purportedly entered into a fee agreement with the criminal defense law firm Fleener Peterson LLC in Laramie, Wyoming, to represent Laundrie. He is also alleged to have contacted other attorneys in Wyoming, including the public defender’s office in the county where Petito’s body was ultimately discovered.
These revelations emerged during depositions of the Laundries in October, according to Pat Reilly, an attorney for the Petito family. In response, Bertolino issued a statement saying, “We have no comment on the filed allegations. We will be filing our answers in the next few days.”
The complaint further claims that on August 30, 2021, Laundrie purportedly sent a text message from Petito’s phone to her mother, falsely asserting there was no service in Yosemite Park, in an apparent attempt to mislead Nichole Schmidt into believing that Gabby Petito was still alive.