Here’s what Gabby Petito’s parents did with her and Brian Laundrie's van after their deaths
What happened to the van that the late Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie used for road trips and adventures in their vlogs?
In a recent interview with NewsNation, Petito's father Joe shared what they did with the vehicle after her tragic killing.
"We crushed the van," he told the media outlet. "We didn’t want the van to be out there and someone owning the van and then saying, 'Here’s the van that Gabby was…' So, we had it crushed."
He and Tara, Pepito's stepmom, however, decided to keep a few items from it such as a gasoline cap as well as a Great Smoky Mountains sticker, which are now on display at their house.
Nichole Schmidt, Petito's mother, was asked whether she has forgiven Laundrie for what he did to Petito. To which, she said yes.
"I have forgiven Brian, and I know that’s what Gabby would have wanted, and I’m moving forward so that I can help people," she said. "I don’t think everyone has to forgive. They can when they’re ready, or they might never be ready. But for me personally, I needed to forgive to let that anger go."
This came as a new Netflix miniseries, American Murder: Gabby Petito, sparked renewed interest and revealed new details about Petito's case.
Petito was reported missing in September 2021 and was found dead a month later.
After returning to Florida, Laundrie went missing and in October 2021, his remains were found. He was 23.
Authorities determined that Laundrie killed Petito, with an autopsy report listing her cause of death as a homicide caused by manual strangulation and blunt-force trauma to her head and neck.
A notebook beside Laundrie's remains described Petito's alleged final moments, claiming she was injured during a hike and was “begging for an end to her pain." He then said, "I ended her life."
Petito's stepfather Jim Schmidt, however, dismissed Laundrie's words.
"Not one of the versions of Brian's account was accurate by the findings of Gabby's autopsy," he said. "The sole cause of her death was strangulation and nothing remotely or even close to what he said."
