Gabby Petito Remembered By Parents On New Year's Eve

LONG ISLAND, NY — The parents of slain Long Islander Gabby Petito remembered her on Friday in a heartfelt tribute, releasing luminaries into the sky to mark the first New Year's without her.

In a video posted to Twitter by Petito's father, Joseph Petito, on Friday, two men can be seen as two luminaries — appearing to have angel wings — can be seen floating in the night sky above them. Someone in the background can be heard saying, "For you, Gabby," while Joseph Petito can be heard saying,"Happy New Year, Gabby."

In his Twitter post, he adds, "Keep touching the world," attaching the hashtags #HAPPYNEWYEAR2022 #gabbypetito.

Happy New year Gabby. Keep touching the world. #HAPPYNEWYEAR2022 #gabbypetito pic.twitter.com/qS175eVPBu
— joseph petito (@josephpetito) January" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/josephpeti... 1, 2022

Her stepmother, Tara Petito, shared the same video, adding, "Happy New Year in heaven to my beautiful daughter. Fly high angel."

The 23-year-old Long Islander disappeared in August on a cross-country trip with her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, who returned to his parents' home in Florida in her van, but without her. After a massive interstate search, involving multiple law enforcement agencies, Petito was found strangled to death near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming on Sept. 19 — eight days after she was reported missing by her mother.

She was confirmed dead on Sept. 21.

Laundrie, who had refused to speak with police after Petito was reported missing, drove to a Florida preserve where investigators believe he shot himself in the head. His remains were found about one month later.

Joseph Petito's post was similar to that of a previous post of his just after her remains were found. At the time, he shared a photo of her in front of a set of multi-colored angel wings on one of her visits to Colarado. He captioned the photo, "She touched the world."

The post of his daughter quickly spread on social media.

The post was seen all over the world, with some calling her the world's daughter because her case gained attention international attention in the days following her disapearance.

Related Stories:

• Laundries To Give Gabby Petito's Belongings To Family: Attorney
• Gabby Petito Utah Probe Info To Be Released Soon: Report
• Gabby Petito's Family's Poignant Messages Of Hope On Christmas
• NBC's Peacock TV Streams Documentary On Gabby Petito Case Friday
• Gabby Petito, Brian Laundrie On 2021 Top Search Term List: Google
• Parents File To Access Brian Laundrie's Estate: Court
• Laundrie Likely Died 2 Days After Petito Reported Missing: Report
• Gabby Petito Foundation Plans Scholarships On Long Island
• Gabby Petito's Family Won't Speak On Laundrie Death Yet: Attorney
• Brian Laundrie's Remains Identified Using Dental Records: FBI
• Be Inspired': Gabby Petito's Dad At Long Island Memorial Service
• 'Not Just Gabby Petito' Case Deserves Media Attention: Dad
• Suffolk Detective Who Opened Gabby Petito's Case An 'Angel': Mom
• 'Be Inspired': Gabby Petito's Dad At Long Island Memorial Service
• Gabby Petito Remembered As Free Spirit 'Who Loved Living Life'
• Human Remains Confirmed As Gabby Petito; Death Ruled A Homicide

After Petito's death, her family formed The Gabby Petito Foundation in her honor with the mission of helping other families find their missing loved ones.

In the months after its formation, the family has continued to work to help find missing persons by using their social media status to highlight cases. More recently, Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt highlighted the case of Long Island missing mom of five, Melissa Molinari.

The foundation has also made several donations to organizations like The AWARE Foundation, which helped get the word out about her disappearance, reaching millions of followers, and Grand Teton Nationl Park Search and Rescue, which worked to recover Petito's remains.