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Gabby Petito's Dad Expects No Closure From Brian Laundrie's Notebook, Would Rather Focus On Helping Others
Joe Petito, father of murder victim Gabby Petito, says he wants to focus on putting a spotlight on domestic violence.
"The Murder of Gabby Petito: Truth, Lies and Social Media" will air on Oxygen on Monday, January 24 at 9/8c. It's also available to stream on Peacock now.
The father of Gabrielle “Gabby” Petito is not holding out any hope that any answers will come from a notebook that belonged to her dead boyfriend, who was a person of interest in her disappearance.
The 22-year-old travel blogger’s grieving father Joe Petito told TMZ that he expects absolutely no closure from item, which was found near Brian Laundrie’s partial remains were found last week at Carlton Reserve in North Port, Florida — where Laundrie had ventured before vanishing on Sept. 13. His remains and the notebook were both located in an area that up until recently was underwater, FBI Tampa announced at a press conference last week.
Whether the notebook is salvageable is unclear.
Laundrie family attorney Steven Bertolino told Oxygen.com on Monday that neither he nor Laundrie’s parents have any insight into what was in that notebook and he doesn't know if any possible writings in the book, if there even are any, had been preserved. North Port police said the water-logged notebook might be able to be saved, however.
Even if anything inside the book is, Joe made it clear that it wouldn’t really matter to him. He told TMZ that no piece of scribbling could bring back his daughter or assist with the grief that he and his family are suffering.
Laundrie, 23, was named a person of interest in the disappearance of Gabby before it was discovered that both of them were dead. The couple was in the midst of a cross-country trip when she went missing in late August. Laundrie returned to his parents’ home in North Port, Florida without Gabby at the beginning of September. Weeks later, on Sept. 19, Gabby's remains were found in Wyoming and an autopsy revealed that she had been strangled to death, likely weeks before she was found.
Joe made it clear that he wants to focus his efforts on helping others, and not Laundrie’s possible writings.
He told TMZ that he would like to shine a light on other missing persons cases as well as domestic violence issues. He called the fact that 1 in every 3 women in the United States has experienced domestic violence “insane” and vowed to devote himself to this issue.
Weeks before Gabby vanished, she and Laundrie were pulled over in Utah after a witness spotted them getting into a violent confrontation.
He said he’d like to see more conversations center around victims being reassured that they are not to blame for the abuse as well as more resources made available to them.
"The Murder of Gabby Petito: Truth, Lies and Social Media" will air on Oxygen on Monday, January 24 at 9/8c. It's also available to stream on Peacock now.
