‘Quiet and polite’ Brian Laundrie used to draw pictures and read to Gabby Petito’s younger sibling, her mom reveals
GABBY Petito's parents say they were fooled by "quiet and polite" Brian Laundrie into believing he would "take care of her" during the couple's ill-fated road trip across the US, from which only he returned.
"He just seemed like a nice guy," Gabby's mom, Nichole Schmidt, told Australia's 60 Minutes on Sunday night. "I worried. I told her to be careful, be safe. To be aware of your surroundings. Don’t trust anybody.
His parents reported him missing to police on September 17. Two days later, Gabby's remains were found at a campsite near the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, where she and Brian weeks earlier.
A coroner's report later confirmed she'd been
Laundrie is not yet considered a suspect in her death but he is the sole person of interest. He is also wanted for fraud charges after allegedly using a bank card belonging to Gabby in late August when she's already believed to have been killed.
As the search for him continues, Schmidt said that any fondness she once had for Laundrie has since dissipated.
The grieving mother, who flew to Wyoming over the weekend to collect her daughter's ashes, said she hopes Laundrie is for the remainder of his life.
"He’s a coward. I don’t want to say he’s insane because he went home, he’s hiding, he used her credit card," she said. "That’s not somebody who’s gone crazy. He knew what he was doing.
But only he returned home to Florida in the repurposed van they had been traveling in.
After hiring a lawyer and refusing to talk, he then vanished too — just days before in Bridger–Teton National Forest in Wyoming.
Speaking to an officer after their van was pulled over, Petito is seen crying and saying she struggles with mental health problems. She admitted Laundrie had hit her but only after she struck him first.
Laundrie, meanwhile, is seen smiling and laughing with cops in the clip. He tells the officers he didn't hit Gabby, rather that he had pushed her away in a bid to stop her from attacking him.
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