Monday marks the one-year anniversary of the horrible day vlogger Gabby Petito‘s body was found in Grand Teton National Park.
Of course, the whole world has been following the sad story of the 22-year-old woman following her untimely death at the hands of fiancé Brian Laundrie. And now, to mark the sad anniversary, Gabby’s mourning parents are remembering their beloved daughter in several social media posts and interactions with their followers.
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On Sunday night, Gabby’s mother Nichole Schmidt and her father, Joe Petito, hosted an event on Twitter Spaces. During the audio chat, her still-heartbroken parents reflected on how difficult the past year has been, and recalled the awful first moments after authorities confirmed their daughter was dead.
Speaking candidly about Gabby’s alleged experience with domestic violence at Laundrie’s hand, Nichole said:
“Nobody had any idea what she was going through.”
So awful.
Of course, Nichole and Joe have been active in the months since Gabby’s death in raising awareness and money for domestic violence-related causes.
They have also filed a $50 million lawsuit against the police department in Moab, Utah, after blaming officers there for not seeing the alleged signs of domestic violence during a run-in they had with Gabby and Brian not long before her murder. So, as part of Sunday night’s Twitter Spaces meeting, Joe was explicit in encouraging other law enforcement agencies to be very mindful of improving their domestic violence prevention tactics.
Joe said:
“Use that video as a learning tool. So we can get better. There’s a perfect example right there. We can do better, and we should. Let people know that they’re not alone, and that might help get them through it. That’s the important thing.”
Nichole and Joe both took a more optimistic tactic at points during the Spaces chat, too.
At one point, Nichole asked listeners to be on the lookout for rainbows, calling them Gabby’s “light” wherever they appear:
“If you see a rainbow, take a picture. Think of Gabby and her light. It’s a little nudge to remind people, you know, to always stay kind because life is short and you never know.”
Such a sad situation.
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Early Monday morning, both Nichole and Joe marked the one-year anniversary of the confirmation of Gabby’s death, as well.
On Twitter, Joe shared an old photo of Gabby in a New York Jets jersey, reflecting on the family’s past connection to the football team:
Thank you all for the love and support you have shown our families. Please take a moment and share a #missingpersons story to help bring them home safe. #EveryoneDeservesTheSameAttention I shared this picture because we are @nyjets fans and they won. #togetherwecan #GABBYPETITO pic.twitter.com/1A0vacG1do
— joseph petito (@josephpetito) September 19, 2022
Nichole also commemorated the sad anniversary.
She wrote that her family “received the worst phone call of our lives” one year before, and shared a separate pic of Gabby during more recent times:
????One year ago, we received the worst phone call of our lives.
To honor #gabbypetito you can continue to share #missingpersons ..brave stories of #DomesticViolence to #breakthesilence
& always #BeKind ????????????#TogetherWeCan #wewontstop #lookforrainbows #lifeisshort #letitbe ???? pic.twitter.com/IsxPDTaOdT— Nichole Schmidt (@Nikischmidt927) September 19, 2022
We can’t even imagine what this family has been through in the last year.
Sending our love and condolences during this difficult time.
[Image via Gabby Petito/Instagram/60 Minutes Australia/YouTube]
