Speaking to60 Minutes Australia, Petito’s mom,Nicole Schmidt, admitted that, prior to the couple’s nomadic adventure, she had concerns about her 22-year-old daughter’s safety.
But, at the same time, Schmidt said, “I felt safe because she was with Brian, and I felt like she would be okay … I thought that he would take care of her.”
For the first several days of Petito’s missing person case, investigators say they tried unsuccessfully to speak with Laundrie and his parents. They were directed to the family’s attorney, who had instructed his clients not to speak.
Schmidt said she suspects Laundrie’s parents may know what happened to her daughter, saying during the interview, “Silence speaks volumes.”
She added: “I believe they know probably, if not everything, they know most of the information. I would love to face-to-face ask, ‘Why are you doing this?'”
Last week, Teton County Coroner Brent Blue announced that Petitohad been strangled to deaththree to four weeks before the discovery of her remains in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park on Sept. 15.
He is currently considered a fugitive. A warrant for his arrest was issued in late September, accusing Laundrie of unauthorized use of a debit card. He has been named aperson of interest in Petito’s case, but has not been named a suspect in connection with her death. His family’s attorney has said his parents have no idea where he is.
Petito — a Long Island, N.Y. native — and Laundrie had embarked on a cross-country journey in July, traveling from Florida to New York in her white Ford van, then heading west. Petitodocumented their adventureson her YouTube channel and planned to start a blog about their new, so-called “vandwelling” lifestyle.
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The couple’s travels appeared to Petito’s parents to be going well until late August, when Petito’s mother stopped hearing from her while she was staying in Grand Teton National Park.
More than two weeks after their last conversation, Schmidt learned that Laundrie had quietly returned to his parents’ Florida home without Petito.
But Schmidt now wants to see Laundrie face justice.
Jim Schmidt, Petito’s stepfather, chastised Laundrie for “hiding” from authorities, and told60 Minutes Australiathat he and his wife “want vengeance … and justice.”
On Sept. 17, the Laundrie family spoke with the FBI for the first time — but instead of getting answers about Petito’s disappearance, investigators say they were informed thatLaundrie himself had now gone missing, launching a second missing persons case to locate him.
source: people.com
