The family of Gabby Petito will say in a “60 Minutes” interview set to air Sunday that they believe Brian Laundrie’s parents know where he is.
Newsweek reported that Petito’s parents will use the interview to criticize Laundrie’s parents for their alleged lack of cooperation with the hunt for their son. Petito’s mother, Nichole Schmidt, said in the interview that Laundrie’s parents “know most of the information, I don’t know why they’re doing this to us. I feel like we need to just know, at this point.”
Newsweek reported that this statement “is thought to refer to claims the Laundrie family has provided insufficient information about the fugitive, feeding accusations Brian Laundrie may have received assistance with his disappearance.”
Petito’s father, Joe, added that “If they do know something and they’re withholding that and they don’t want to let us know, it’s cruel.”
Schmidt also said that Laundrie’s parents’ “actions don’t show that their son is missing. It shows that they’re just comfortable and they probably know where he is.”
Schmidt further called Laundrie “a coward.”
“This was evil. She was taken at somebody else’s hand,” she said.
As The Daily Wire previously reported, Laundrie’s father, Chris, was asked to help authorities search for Brian in the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park in Florida, where the fugitive is believed to be hiding.
Laundrie is wanted for allegedly accessing Petito’s bank accounts and stealing under $1,000. He is also a person of interest in the death of his fiancée, Petito, with whom he was criss-crossing the country in a modified camper van. Petito had been documenting their visits to various national parks when she disappeared. Laundrie returned home to Florida with Petito’s van on September 1, and her family reported her missing on September 11.
Late last month, Petito’s remains were found in Grand Teton national park. Her death was ruled a homicide at the time, and it was later revealed that she had been strangled to death.
“The Laundrie family attorney revealed on Thursday that authorities believe Brian Laundrie, an experienced backpacker and camper, is still in the park and claimed that the family, which has tried to stay out of the public eye, had not yet joined the search because the park was not open to private individuals,” The Daily Wire reported.
Laundrie’s sister said Wednesday that her brother was not an “expert” survivalist, but media outlets and authorities insist he’s an experienced camper to survive on his own in the park for an extended period of time.
Earlier this month, The Daily Wire reported that after Petito and Laundrie’s infamous encounter with police following a fight, Laundrie flew home to Florida before returning to Petito in Utah. He apparently flew home to clean out a storage unit so he could stop paying for it to continue paying for his cross-country trip with Petito. The timing of this flight is odd, given how close it occurred to Petito’s death. Laundrie left Utah on August 17 and returned on August 23. Authorities believe Petito was murdered shortly after.