Gabby Petito documentary: 5 shocking new details from Brian Laundrie relationship from bombshell move to doomed romance
A NEWLY-released documentary sheds new light on Gabby Petito and her ultimately tragic relationship with Brian Laundrie.
The hour-long documentary, The Murder of Gabby Petito: Truth, Lies and Social Media, aired on Peacock on Friday, months after the 22-year-old vlogger went missing, capturing the nation's attention.
Gabby's parents and step-parents reflect on her life in the documentary, and open up about the months leading up to the doomed road trip that would lead to their daughter's murder.
Below, we have compiled some of the most shocking revelations, from the beginning of Gabby and Brian's relationship to a whirlwind engagement and a mother's warning.
FRIENDS FIRST
Gabby's mom Nichole Schmidt and stepdad told in the documentary that Gabby and Brian met in high school in Blue Point, New York, and were just friends at first.
"They were in the same group of friends in school, [had] common interests, they liked to do things together, [they were] both artistic," said Jim.
Nichole added: "They started dating after the first road trip, when they took the car to California."
"They were kind of friends when they left. They came back dating. She was so happy."
NO RED FLAGS
When asked about Brian, Nichole and Jim Schmidt said he would often visit their home and seemed like a nice, polite young man.
"Brian would come to my home and he was very polite, very kind," said Nichole.
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"I didn’t see anything in him that would worry me at all. No red flags."
Jim said Brian was "respectful" and even made the effort to speak to Gabby's younger siblings and color with them.
SUDDEN MOVE TO FLORIDA
In 2020, when Brian's parents Roberta and Chris Laundrie decided to move to North Port, Florida, Gabby asked Brian if she could come along, according to her mom.
"When she and Brian started dating and he was like 'I'm moving to Florida,' she was like, 'can I come with you?'" said Nichole in the documentary. "So she had no problem doing that. She had no fear to move to another state."
When the couple moved to Florida, they reportedly lived with Brian's parents, who treated Gabby "like a daughter," according to a journalist quoted in the documentary.`
WHIRLWIND ENGAGEMENT
In July of 2020, after 15 months of dating, Gabby and Brian became engaged.
"Brian asked me to marry him and I said yes! You make life feel unreal and every day is such a dream with you," Gabby wrote on Instagram at the time.
Gabby's stepdad Jim said he was excited about the young couple.
"You know as a dad, you're like, okay, you know, that's great, you know, you can settle down a little bit. You're happy for her, you know, that she's found who she wanted to be with," Jim shared.
However, Joe and Gabby's stepmom Tara refused to speak about their daughter's engagement on camera, simply saying: "We're not going to talk about that."
MOM'S WARNING
In the documentary, Gabby's mom Nichole Schmidt revealed that she warned Gabby about getting married to Brian Laundrie, 23, too young.
"They were engaged, so it was exciting, but I was like 'well, just make sure this is ... you know you're young, and make sure its what you want.'
"But I couldn't tell her, you know, you can't get married now because I got married very young," Nichole said.
The couple eventually decided to postpone the wedding.
Gabby's body was found on September 19 in Grand Teton National Park, and her cause of death was later revealed to be strangulation.
Brian was named a person of interest, and an arrest warrant was issued by the FBI accusing accused the 23-year-old of stealing an unspecified individual's Capital One debit card and running up a $1,000 balance.
As the search for Gabby's body continued, Brian went missing after telling his parents said he was going camping at the Carlton Reserve.
On October 21, the announced remains found at the T. Mabry Carlton Jr. Memorial Reserve and Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park belonged to Laundrie.
Coroners determined Laundrie died from a gunshot wound to the head, ruling his death a suicide.
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