Suit Claims Laundries Knew Remains Location During Vacation: Report

BLUE POINT, NY — The family of Gabby Petito have filed an amended lawsuit alleging Brian Laundrie's parents knew the location of her undiscovered remains when they left for vacation, according to a report in Newsday.

Florida attorney Patrick Reilly writes: “They went on vacation knowing that Brian Laundrie had murdered Gabrielle Petito, it is believed that they knew where her body was located, and further knew that Gabrielle Petito’s parents were attempting to locate her,” the outlet reports.

Petito, a 22-year-old native Blue Pointer, disappeared in August while on a cross-country trip with Laundrie, her fiancé, who returned to his parents' home in Florida in her van on Sept. 1, but without her. After a frantic 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. His remains were found in a Florida swamp, as well as a note in which he admitted his responsibility for her death.

The Petito/Schmidt lawsuit alleges the Laundries knew their son murdered Petito and the pair had plans to help him go on the run outside of the United States, WFLA.com reported.

Her family filed a lawsuit against the Laundrie family in March.

Steven Bertolino told Newsday the allegations "may now conform to proper pleadings but they do not give rise to liability under the law. Thus we are still confident the court will dismiss the action.”

He has previously called Petito's family's lawsuit frivolous.

A motion to dismiss was filed last month, and in the 20-page document, Bertolino asked the court drop the lawsuit with prejudice under the argument that there aren't any facts to support the claims that emotional distress was intentionally inflicted on Petito's family, Fox News reported.

He further asked a judge to prevent the family's lawyers from filing an amended lawsuit in the event his dismissal request is granted, according to Fox.

Bertolino said the Laundries "exercised their constitutional rights and essentially made no statements to plaintiffs or law enforcement," adding, "While the [Petito-Schmidt families] allege some facts, those facts could never establish a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress because the Laundries' 'actions' were legally permissible, constitutionally protected, not outrageous, and do not give rise to any cause of action," the outlet reported.

Bertolino goes on to write that the lawsuit's "failure to state a cause of action in the complaint provides ample basis to conclude that the plaintiffs would not be able to add the missing — but required — information if provided with another opportunity to bolster their allegations."

Bertolino could not be immediately reached for comment.

After the initial lawsuit was filed, Bertolino called it "baseless and frivolous" and said the Laundries cannot be held liable for exercising their legal right to remain silent," Fox reported.

"The Laundries have exercised their constitutional right to refrain from speaking and have relied on counsel to speak for them," he told the outlet. "This is not only common practice in our civilized society, but it embodies the exercise of fundamental rights under the United States and Florida Constitutions."

Bertolino went on to say the Laundries' legal counsel, which includes himself and the Tampa-based law firm of Trombley and Hanes, are "confident that the constitutional rights of all citizens of this country will be protected by the dismissal of this lawsuit," Fox reported.

In Petito's family's lawsuit, they claim there was also evidence of blunt force injuries to her head and neck, WFLA.com reported. Not long after his arrival in Florida, Laundrie, who had refused to speak with police after Petito was reported missing, drove to a nearby nature preserve where investigators believe he shot himself in the head, and his partial remains were found about one month later.

In January, the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced Laundrie admitted to slaying Petito in a notebook found near his remains.

The Petito/Schmidt family lawsuit claims Laundrie texted back and forth between his phone and Petito's after her death "in an effort to hide the fact that she was deceased," and mentions a text he is believed to have sent to Schmidt on Aug. 27 that refers to Petito's grandfather by his first name, Stan, WFLA.com reports.

Schmidt has stated in previous interviews that Petito never would have called him by his first name and at the time, it concerned her.

The lawsuit also mentions a text believed to be sent by Laundrie to Schmidt as he pretended to be Petito, claiming there was no service in Yosemite "in an effort to deceive her," according to the outlet.

Petito's family has previously said there was no communication between them and the Laundries, and in their lawsuit, they highlight how the family would not answer questions from them or law enforcement about Petito's disappearance and how they went camping at Fort DeSoto Park "while Gabrielle Petito's family was suffering," WFLA.com reported.

The lawsuit also claims that Roberta Laundrie blocked Schmidt's phone number and blocked her from messaging on Facebook around the time her daughter was reported missing, according to the outlet.

Another key part of the lawsuit is that Petito's parents believe the Laundries were planning to help their son leave the U.S., WFLA.com reported.

"While Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt were desperately searching for information concerning their daughter, Christopher Laundrie and Roberta Laundrie were keeping the whereabouts of Brian Laundrie secret, and it is believed they were making arrangements for him to leave the country," the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit accuses the Laundries of "malice or great indifference to the rights of" Petito's family, WFLA.com reported.

"Christopher and Roberta Laundrie exhibited extreme and outrageous conduct which constitutes behavior," that "goes beyond all possible bounds of decency and is regarded as shocking, atrocious, and utterly intolerable in a civilized community," according to the lawsuit obtained by the outlet.

The lawsuit seeks at least $100,000, and states that Petito and Schmidt suffered pain and mental anguish as a result of the "willfulness and maliciousness" of the Laundries, WFLA.com reported.

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