Gabby Petito‘s mother has revealed her heartbreaking intuition that her daughter was dead from the moment she went missing.
Travel blogger Gabby, 22, was murdered by her boyfriend Brian Laundrie, 23, in 2021, with whom she was travelling across America in a renovated white van.
Their life together had seemed perfect – they were high school sweethearts seeking to explore the USA on a four-month adventure.
When Gabby went missing, a hunt was launched to find her, captivating the attention of millions across the world.
Now members of Gabby’s family have spoken out about the devastating torment they faced when she went missing in a new ITV documentary, The Disappearance Of Gabby Petito.
Gabby Petito’s relatives speak out in ITV documentary The Disappearance of Gabby Petito (Gabby pictured with boyfriend Brian Laundrie)
Her heartbroken mother Nichole Schmidt said that from the moment Gabby was officially declared missing on September 11, 2021, she knew that her daughter was ‘gone’.
Nichole said, as reported in The Mirror: ‘Gabby was officially a missing person on September 11, 2021.
‘That night a detective showed up at my door and from that moment on, I knew in my heart that my daughter was gone – but I kept strong for everyone else.
‘It was a mother’s instinct. I just knew. Her dad Joe asked what I thought and I said, ‘I don’t know but we need to find her.’
A nationwide hunt for the blogger turned into a social media obsession, with internet sleuths finding clues about what had happened.
It was eventually discovered that Gabby was strangled and was left in a forest by Laundrie, her high school friend-turned-boyfriend, who she had met at school in 2019.
After another hunt, Laundrie would eventually die by suicide from a single gunshot to the head, after admitting to killing Gabby in a notebook – finally bringing her friends and family the closure they needed.
Gabby and Laundrie were making a road trip across America in a renovated van in what was to be a four-month adventure.
In the documentary, Gabby’s mother Nichole Schmidt reveals her intuition that her daughter had gone
Joe Petito, Gabby’s father, said of his daughter: ‘That was my baby, you know. That was my angel’
Gabby was officially reported missing on September 11, 2021 – and a viral social media hunt began
Bodycam footage from August showed Gabby had been found shaking and crying after being pulled over by police near the entrance to Arches National Park
Laundrie himself always seemed ‘nice’ and ‘kind’, Nichole said, and Gabby seemed to completely trust him.
On July 2, 2021, they set off from Blue Point, Long Island, stopping off at national parks along the way.
Their first stop was Monument Rocks in Kansas on July 4. From there, they went to Colorado Springs.
Gabby documented the whole trip on her YouTube channel and social media, hoping she would become a social media star through her videos about #vanlife.
In one video titled ‘Beginning Our Van Life Journey, posted on August 19, she filmed Laundrie doing some yoga by the van, and demonstrated her own cheery disposition.
Describing her daughter, Nichole said: ‘Gabby was a spitfire. She knew what she wanted from early on. I knew she was going to go for it and be successful.’
Meanwhile her father Joe added in the documentary: ‘That was my baby, you know. That was my angel.’
Nichole continued: ‘I think she wanted to become a famous vlogger. She was really focused on enjoying the travel and putting it out there for everyone to see.’
Gabby, 22, had documented her travels on her YouTube channel and social media accounts
She and Brian Laundrie were high school sweethearts, though they were initially just friends
At first, Gabby kept in touch with her parents, who are separated, almost every day.
She had a folder she shared with her mother where she uploaded photographs so she could see what was happening.
They would call and text often – and Gabby would even sent postcards to Laundrie’s family detailing their travels.
When Gabby arrived at Mystic Hot Springs in Utah, Nichole admitted she had ‘never seen’ her daughter as happy as she looked in the photograph.
But soon, things grew odd. Gabby began to post on social media less and less. Where her earlier posts had included lengthy captions about where she was going, soon they were only accompanied by vague quotes.
Her last post, on August 25, 2021, showed her holding a crocheted pumpkin, with the caption ‘Happy Halloween’ – despite the holiday being more than a month away.
This was around the time she FaceTimed her parents for the final time – and little did they know, this would be the last time they ever saw her.
Then came unusual messages. The first one that seemed ‘weird’ read: ‘Can you help Stan, I just keep getting his voicemails and missed calls’. It seemed to be about her grandfather, but was a name she’d never used for him.
Joseph Petito, father of Gabby Petito, speaks at a news conference after Gabby’s death
Gabby was described as ‘artistic’, ‘fun’ and ‘creative’ by members of her family
Nichole received a text message on August 30 that they were in Yosemite and had no service. But Gabby was supposed to be in Wyoming – and from there, all communication stopped.
After her family grew increasingly concerned, Gabby was officially reported as missing on September 11.
Afterwards, several disturbing facts came to light. On September 1, Laundrie had returned to his parents’ house alone with the van – and without Gabby.
On August 12, police had received a 911 call from a witness who had seen the couple – and saw Gabby being ‘slapped’.
It was the first time the public had seen a new side to their relationship and outside the idyllic life they had portrayed on social media.
Public attention ramped up even more when body-cam footage from that day showed Brian and Gabby had been pulled over by the police after the 911 call near the entrance to Arches National Park.
Gabby was clearly shaken and in tears, while Laundrie had scratches over his body.
‘We’ve just been fighting this morning, some personal issues’, Gabby told the cops, adding that she had been stressed.
Laundrie brushed off the ‘scratches’, calling Gabby ‘crazy’. Despite the incriminating 911 call, police declared him a victim of domestic assault and gave him a hotel room for the night – afterwards letting them go on their way.
Gabby’s final Instagram post (pictured) showed her holding crocheted pumpkins and saying ‘Happy Halloween’, despite it being August
Pictured: The white van that Gabby had renovated for use on their trip
It was a frustrating moment – that Gabby had been within reach of protection, but would be left alone and vulnerable once more.
YouTubers posted a video showing Gabby’s van at Wyoming in late August – and on September 19, 2021, her body was finally found.
The search then turned to finding Laurie, whose remains were eventually discovered in Florida’s Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park on October 20.
Gabby’s family has since set up the Gabby Petito Foundation, which provides support to finding missing people and those suffering from domestic violence.
The Disappearance of Gabby Petito is on ITV at 9pm on Thursday and is available to stream now on ITVX.
