Gabby Petito’s parents add Laundrie family lawyer to civil suit

Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News
·2 min read

Gabby Petito’s parents have added the Laundrie family lawyer to an ongoing civil lawsuit against the parents of Brian Laundrie, Christopher and Roberta Laundrie.

Petito, a travel blogger and aspiring social media influencer, disappeared shortly after departing her native Long Island, New York, for a cross-country vacation on July 2, 2021, with fiancé Laundrie. Her parents, Joseph Petito and Nicole Schmidt, grew worried when Laundrie later returned to his parents’ Florida home Sept. 1 without his bride-to-be. They reported her missing a few days later.

Law enforcement officers spanning multiple agencies searched alongside volunteers for more than two weeks before they found Petito’s body at a campground near Grand Teton National Park in northwestern Wyoming. Medical examiners ruled the cause of death was homicide by strangulation.

Petito’s family later contended both of Laundrie’s parents had been aware of their daughter’s death and that their son had killed her. Upon his return from the cross-country trip, Laundrie and his parents quickly left again to go camping at Fort De Soto Park. The parents returned from the trip alone, and their son was discovered dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park on Oct. 20.

Authorities said Laundrie confessed in a journal entry to killing Petito.

In a lawsuit filed back in March, Petito’s parents accused Christopher and Roberta Laundrie of failing to come forward with information pertaining to their daughter’s disappearance and death. They further alleged the couple were covering for Laundrie and had planned to help him flee the country.

In a motion filed Tuesday, Petito’s parents added the Laundrie family lawyer, Steven Bertolino, to the suit. They alleged he too knew Petito was dead, but instead issued press releases and statements expressing hope for her safe return.

“When they did choose to speak, it was through statements issued by Steven Bertolino, including a statement on September 14, 2021, that it was the ‘hope’ of the Laundrie family ‘that the search for Miss Petito is successful and that Miss Petito is reunited with her family,’” Gabby’s parents said in a statement to CrimeOnline on Tuesday.

“Thus, after much consideration, the parents of Gabby Petito filed a Motion for Leave of Court this afternoon asking the court for permission to file a Second Amended Complaint to add Steven Bertolino as a defendant in the action.”