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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — An upcoming Netflix documentary will shed new light on the story of Gabby Petito and her death at the hands of her fiancé, Brian Laundrie.
In July 2021, Gabby and Brian went on a road trip across America, but only Brian returned home to his parent’s house in North Port.
“I knew something bad happened,” said Nichole Schmidt, Gabby’s mother, in the trailer for the documentary “American Murder: Gabby Petito.”
Authorities said Brian killed Gabby and left her at the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. Her body would be found weeks later in mid-September, days after Brian went missing in the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park.
Brian’s remains were found in the nature preserve in October 2021. Investigators said he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound and left a notebook confession saying he killed his fianceé.
“We were denied the chance to confront our daughter’s killer, to look him in the eye and express the profound pain his actions inflicted upon us,” Schmidt said while speaking in Nashville in June 2024. “The unbearable weight of Gabby’s absence is compounded by the sickening injustice of her murder remaining unpunished.”
Now, Gabby’s loved ones will share their sides of the story in “American Murder: Gabby Petito,” a three-part documentary that is set to premiere on Feb. 17.
“Illustrated with real text messages, video footage, and excerpts from Petito’s personal journals, the series captures the reality of a young woman enmeshed in an abusive relationship behind closed doors — even as she put on a happy, ‘Insta-perfect’ face for social media,” Netflix wrote in a release.
The documentary is set to premiere on Feb. 17, 2024.