DENVER (KDVR) — On the final day of CrimeCon Denver, the last speakers of the weekend were the family of Gabby Petito, whose murder in 2021 became the subject of nationwide attention.

Petito’s parents and stepparents joined FOX31’s Vicente Arenas on stage to wrap up the weekend and speak about their daughter and advocate for domestic violence awareness.

It was a large crowd in the Gaylord Rockies convention center ballroom, the kind Gabby’s stepmom, Tara Petito, says initially caused nerves for her, but now is exactly what she likes.

“We want to get up there, we want to make sure people know that there is resources out there,” Petito said.

Gabby’s mom, Nichole Schmidt, agrees. Having been a part of CrimeCon for three years now, she says it’s been good to see how it’s evolved.

“Maybe it started out the first year where it was more about true crime but now it’s more about awareness,” Schmidt said.

Awareness for things like their Gabby Petito Foundation, which provides resources for domestic violence victims. Schmidt says being in the spotlight has helped spread their message but uses events like this to keep themselves grounded.

“We want people to know we’re just regular people and we are accessible and that’s why we come to an event like CrimeCon so we can have conversations with people,” Schmidt said.

Mother and daughter Alyssa and Rebecca came from Nebraska as true crime fans and came away impressed.

“A lot of great opportunities to have the advocacy side of this which was really cool and not something that we would’ve had to opportunity to experience before,” Alyssa said.

They say the Petito’s panel specifically made an impact on them.

“How they can take something so tragic and turn it into this huge international reach for safety for all genders, but for women specifically in domestic violence situations, that was unbelievable to hear,” Rebecca said. “That was so uplifting for me.”

Reactions like theirs are exactly what Schmidt and Petito say they are thankful to hear.

“We get a lot of people saying Gabby saved them and that means a lot to us,” Schmidt said.

If you missed CrimeCon this year in Denver, you don’t have to travel far for next year’s which will be held in Las Vegas.