Gabby Petito's Mother Files Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Brian Laundrie's Estate

Gabby Petito’s mother has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Brian Laundrie’s estate, seeking damages of at least $30,000.

Nichole Schmidt filed the suit, which was obtained by CNN, Friday in Sarasota County against the curator of her daughter’s now-deceased fiancé’s estate, stating that Laundrie killed Petito during their cross-country trek to visit the nation’s national parks last year.

She argued in the latest court filing that the death has caused significant anguish for her and Petito’s father, Joseph Petito.

"As a direct and proximate consequence of Brian Laundrie's tortious conduct, Nichole Schmidt and Joseph Petito incurred funeral and burial expenses, and they have suffered a loss of care and comfort, and have suffered a loss of probable future companionship, society and comfort," the suit said.

Schmidt asked for a trial by jury and is seeking “damages which exceed $30,000.”

In a statement to Oxygen.com, the Laundrie’s family attorney Steven P. Bertolino said the wrongful death lawsuit was “fully expected.”

“This lawsuit will mostly likely not be defended and the Petitos will have gained nothing more than a piece of paper that tells them what everyone already knows—which is that Brian was responsible for Gabby’s death as indicated by the FBI,” he said.

Petito and Laundrie had struck out on the cross-country journey in July. Petito, 22, had planned to become a van life blogger, documenting their trip on social media as they traveled in a converted camper van.

But less than two months later, the 22-year-old disappeared. Her last communication with her family was on August 27.

Her remains were discovered the next month in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. The coroner later determined that she had been strangled to death.

Laundrie returned to Florida without his fiancé on September 1 and went on vacation with his family before disappearing himself about two weeks later. His body was discovered in October in the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park in Florida. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

The FBI has said a notebook, where Laundrie admitted responsibility for Petito’s slaying, was found near his remains.

Her family has also filed a lawsuit against Laundrie’s parents, Chris and Roberta Laundrie.

In the amended complaint associated with the suit obtained by Oxygen.com, Schmidt and Joseph Petito argued that Laundrie’s parents knew he killed their daughter and stayed silent for weeks, opting instead to take a family camping trip at Fort DeSoto Park rather than report what they knew to Petito’s family or law enforcement.

It also alleges that after the Laundries knew their daughter was dead, the family released a public statement on Sept. 14, saying “it is our hope” that the search for Petito would be “successful” and she would be “reunited with her family.”

“For the Laundries to express their ‘hope’ that Gabrielle Petito was located and reunited with her family, at a time when they knew she had been murdered by their son is beyond outrageous,” the lawsuit states.

Petito’s parents have argued that the lack of cooperation from Laundrie’s parents during the search to find their daughter “goes beyond all possible bounds of decency and is regarded as shocking, atrocious, and utterly intolerable in a civilized community.”

However, in a statement to Oxygen.com after the initial lawsuit was filed against Chris and Roberta Laundrie in March, Bertolino said there are no facts to back up the allegation that the Laundries knew Petito had been murdered and that they had simply been executing their constitutional right to remain silent; filed a motion to “dismiss the baseless and frivolous lawsuit,” to which the amended complaint was a response.