Brian Laundrie’s Parents Skip Hearing On Alleged Coverup Of Gabby Petito’s Murder

A civil lawsuit against the family of Brian Laundrie began Wednesday, filed by the family of Gabby Petito who claim they covered up her murder and were aware of the location of her body while authorities searched for her.

Brian Laundrie’s parents, Christopher and Roberta Laundrie, were not present in court as a judge heard arguments regarding the case. They have filed a request for the lawsuit to be dismissed through an attorney but were not legally required to attend Wednesday’s hearing.

Part of the filing read that the Laundries, “exhibited extreme and outrageous conduct which constitutes behavior, under the circumstances, which goes beyond all possible bounds of decency and is regarded as shocking, atrocious, and utterly intolerable in a civilized community.”

Petito’s parents, Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt, are seeking $30,000 in damages, and Schmidt has also filed a separate wrongful death suit that has requested a trial by jury.

Petito, a YouTube star, and Laundrie had been on a cross-country road trip for several weeks when Laundrie suddenly returned to his parents’ house in Florida without Petito. Laundrie’s parents did not notify the Petito family that Gabby wasn’t with him, and they allegedly retained an attorney the day after he came back home.

Petito and Schmidt have also accused the Laundries of taking Brian on vacation instead of assisting in Gabby’s search and blocking them from their phones and social media to cut off questioning.

When Petito’s body was found in Wyoming, a coroner ruled her cause of death to be homicide by strangulation. Laundrie died by suicide weeks later after leaving home, and the FBI recently released a notebook written before his death where he apparently confessed to murdering Petito.

Florida Judge Hunter W. Carroll will be making a decision on the Laundries’ motion to dismiss the lawsuit in the coming days.