Major update after Gabby Petito’s parents win massive victory in legal battle against Brian Laundrie’s family

GABBY Petito's parents earned a massive victory in their legal battle against Brian Laundrie's family after a judge decided to move forward with the case.

The court's ruling was made based on Laundrie family attorney Steven Bertolino's statement during the search for Gabby, which Judge Hunter W Carroll called "objectively outrageous".

Bertolino said at the time, "On behalf of the Laundrie family, it is our hope that the search for Miss Petito is successful and that Miss Petito is reunited with her family."

The Laundrie's silence and Bertolino's comment - while allegedly knowing Gabby was dead - provided false hope and invoked emotional distress, Petito's lawyer, Patrick Reilly, argued in court.

"Because the Laundries' statement by their attorney in the context of the unique faces of this case is objectively outrageous, the Court concludes that Plaintiffs [Petitos] have stated causes of actions for intentional infliction of emotional distress against the Laundries," Judge Hunter wrote.

"If the facts of this case truly were about silence with no affirmative act by the Laundries, the Court would have resolved this case in the Laundries’ favor on the concept of legal duty.

"But they did not stay silent," the judge continued.

Gabby's parents, Nichole Schmidt and Joe Petito released a joint statement through their lawyer saying they're "appreciative of the thorough and well-reasoned" decision of Judge Carroll.

"This gives them an opportunity to proceed with their claim for the emotional distress caused by the conduct of the Laundries," the family said.

"Joe and Nichole look forward to discovering the information the Laundries knew about Gabby's death and her whereabouts, and in particular getting a copy of any correspondence, emails and texts exchanged during the difficult period when Gabby's whereabouts were unknown."

Joe tweeted the hashtag "The truth will be revealed," as well as the hashtag "Justice for Gabby".

Gabby's parents, who divorced and remarried, held their spouses' hands as they walked to the courtroom together on June 22.

Nichole clutched her necklace locket that holds Gabby's ashes, and they all wore "Justice for Gabby" bracelets meant to represent Gabby's life, not her death, her parents said.

After the hearing, Nichole held out a small prayer card that their lawyer said was made by a well-wisher from Australia who drew an image of Gabby as an angel.

No one from the Laundrie family appeared in court.

BRIAN LAUNDRIE'S NOTEBOOK REVEALED

The ruling comes days after Brian's mysterious journal containing his supposed confession was made public by the Laundrie family attorney, Bertolino.

's notebook was recovered by the  from the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park on October 20, 2021, along with his skeletal remains.

In the notebook, he admitted to "ending" Gabby's life, calling it a "merciful murder".

Brian claimed Gabby was dealing with some sort of injury and would "wake in pain".

He wrote that he "ended her life, mercifully" because that was "what she wanted."

"She would wake in pain, start her whole painful cycle again, while furious that I was the one waking her," the 23-year-old wrote.

"She wouldn't let me try to cross the creek, thought like me that the fire would go out in her sleep, and she'd freeze.