Gabby Petito's mom says Brian Laundrie, his family IGNORED her frantic texts
Gabby Petito’s disheartened mother has now accused her daughter’s boyfriend and his family of ignoring her messages after she desperately wanted to contact her. Nicole Schmidt told DailyMail.com that even before she reported her daughter missing, she contacted Brian Laundrie and his mother Roberta through text messages in an effort to reach her daughter, but did not receive a response.
Schmidt said: “I texted Brian's mom that I was trying to get in touch with Gabby. I also texted Brian. I got no replies. I knew something was wrong. I felt something was off and I needed to get her reported missing immediately.” It has been said that the 22-year-old’s last known location was at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming in late August. She last spoke to her mother on August 25. Her family reported her missing on September 11 at the Suffolk County police department after they failed to find her whereabouts.
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Schmidt also said that only Brian’s sister Cassie is the sole member of the Laundrie family who spoke to the investigators. “It's a very mysterious situation. We don't understand why he's doing this. Everybody's assuming the worst and thinking he's guilty of this. But I don't want to believe that. I want to believe she's just in need of help out there and that everybody needs to keep searching,” she explained.
The heartbroken mother also told DailyMail.com that her daughter’s relationship with Brian and his family was good. She claimed that Roberta used to treat Petito like her own child. Schmidt said, “She loved her like a daughter. As far as I knew they were all very caring and treated her like one of the family. His mom was so excited about the engagement.” She added that though Petito and Brian got engaged first, they broke it off because they thought it was too early for them. “I think they kind of put that on hold just because they felt it was a little fast. They were excited at first, but then they were like, let's just wait, we're very young. So they were really just boyfriend and girlfriend,” Schmidt described.
However, now that the situation has become intense and she has not been provided with any help from Brian and his family, she cast doubt on the strength of their relationship and noted, “Maybe the relationship wasn't what I thought.” Schmidt said, “If they cared about her, they would want to find her. Why aren't you out helping find her? I don't want to seem accusatory. It's confusing, my mind is turning right now.”
Besides, when Schmidt was asked to comment on Brian hiring an attorney and not talking directly to the authorities, she replied: “You know I wish I knew that answer, why. I know that's the reason this story is so sought after is because it's odd. The police have said it's very odd. We don't know what's going on, and where is my daughter. I just want to find her.”
About Petito, Schmidt said: “She was starting with a van life channel. This was the beginning. That was her very first video posted. That was the start of her whole YouTube journey. She just fell in love with that lifestyle and wanted to take journeys. She was a free spirit. And I supported her on all of that, even every once and a while when she needed help moneywise and stuff, because it was a really expensive trip. I helped her out a little bit here and there. So did her father.”
She also added that Petito was always in constant contact with her. “We would FaceTime, call, text, frequently. She kept me updated on this whole trip... The first couple of days [she went missing], I believe she was in a place with no service. It was day 8 and 9 that I really became concerned and figured she couldn't be off the grid for that long,” Schmidt mentioned before adding: “I don't know if I believe she's in danger for a particular reason, I just believe she's in danger because she's not in touch with us and she could be alone somewhere, she could be stranded somewhere in the wilderness. And she needs help. And I know we're not out there, but I hope everyone's looking for her. I hope that the hikers and the rangers and the campers and everybody has her face and they're looking for her actively.”