Gabby Petito's Mom To Speak Out In Long Island Domestic Violence Forum

RONKONKOMA, NY — Gabby Petito's mother, Nichole Schmidt, will deliver the keynote speech at the inaugural Every1KnowsSome1 Virtual Conference by the Long Island-based advocacy group, the Crime Victims Center on Thursday.

The all-day conference will start at 9 a.m. with an introduction by the center's director, Laura Ahearn, an attorney and longtime advocate for Parents for Megan's Law. Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone will speak about the initiatives county officials have taken to combat domestic violence, followed by Schmidt.

Ahearn said that the center plans to hold a conference every year moving forward, and described it as a time for advocates and service providers, as well as survivors of domestic abuse and people in the community to unite and remember victims of domestic violence.

"We've had so many women murdered at the hands of domestic violence abusers," she said. "It's also a time to raise awareness about what domestic violence actually is and how to recognize it, and what we can all do collectively to try to prevent it."

Schmidt is expected to concern her experience with the criminal justice system when her daughter disappeared last year on a cross-country road trip with her fiancé, Brian Laundrie.

Petito, a 23-year-old native of Blue Point, was reported missing by Schmidt on Sept. 11, 2021 in Suffolk County, sparking a massive inter-state search that included multiple levels of law enforcement, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which eventually took over the case as lead agency.

"Where is Gabby?" became a question on many minds.

Schmidt had reached out to the police after she lost contact with Petito.

Laundrie, whom Petito had been having documented domestic problems with, returned to his parents' Florida home where the two had lived for the previous two years, in her van, but without her.

Petito was found Sept. 19 strangled to death near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

The partial remains of Laundrie, who had refused to speak with investigators, instead driving himself to a nearby swamp where he shot himself in the head, were found one month later, along with a notebook containing his admission that he had slain Petito — describing it as an act of mercy because she was in so much pain after a fall.

Schmidt previously told Patch that she initially had problems filing a missing persons report.

She later described the female Suffolk police detective who took her report and started the investigation as "an angel."

Ahearn that she is looking forward to hearing Schmidt share her experiences during her family's ordeal.

Schmidt's speech will be followed by workshops that each address particular issues that domestic violence survivors often have to endure, with the first concerning frivolous lawsuits that are brought against victims by their abusers to silence them. The workshop will touch on state legislation that now mandates abusers pay legal fees incurred by victims when their challenges are found to be invalid.

"If a domestic violence or sexual assault victim is reporting a crime, sometimes the abuser might threaten to bring a defamation lawsuit or some type of frivolous lawsuit to try to silence a victim," said Ahearn, a social worker who got her law degree as another tool to help her in her advocacy.

The law also now helps getting those lawsuits dismissed, she said.

"It's a really important program for service providers and survivors and community members to be made aware of," she said. "It's another took for victims to protect themselves for others."

The next work shop will touch on cyber-stalking and all of the technological tools abusers use "to further victimize individuals," Ahearn said.

There will also be workshops on revenge porn, spotting the danger signs of domestic abuse, and a self-assessment workshop that will help victims assess themselves for the level of danger that they are in.

To register for the free event, click here.

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