The parents of Gabby Petito have revealed what they did with the van that she had for her road trip with fiancé Brian Laundrie before her fatal disappearance in 2021.
As for why they crashed the van, Joe Petito, Gabby’s father, said in a NewsNation interview on Monday, Feb. 17, that they did not want the van “out there,” someone owning “it, and, ‘Here’s the van that Gabby was…’ you know.” They crushed the van.
Gabby’s stepmother, Tara Petito, said they retained some items from the van, such as the gas tank cap and a Great Smoky Mountains sticker, as reminders of her life and travels.
Journey That Ended in Tragedy
Gabby Petito, 22, and Brian Laundrie went on a four-month road trip during the summer of 2021, chronicling their adventures on social media using the #VanLife trend. But the trip turned into a nightmare when Gabby was reported missing in September. Her body was discovered on Sept. 19 near a Wyoming campground, and a medical examiner declared her death a homicide by strangulation.
Laundrie, who was named a “person of interest” in the investigation, went on to take his own life. Officials reported that he had left behind a notebook in which he took credit for Gabby’s killing.
Celebrating Legacy of Gabby Petito Through Advocacy
Since her passing, Gabby’s parents—Joe and Tara Petito, and her mother, Nichole Schmidt, and stepfather, Jim Schmidt—have concentrated on carrying on her legacy in the Gabby Petito Foundation. The charity raises awareness of domestic violence, campaigns for more stringent laws on intimate partner abuse, and aids families of missing individuals.
The foundation partners with groups such as the Black and Missing Foundation and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women & Relatives. It also offers support to the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
“There’s never going to be closure,” Nichole Schmidt said to PEOPLE. “We’re never going to feel like we have justice. There’s just nothing we can do to make us feel better, but what we can do is keep going on with her legacy.”
Schmidt stressed that remembering Gabby through their advocacy efforts provides them with meaning. “We can give ourselves this motivation to keep going and not be sad all the time,” she said. “I know Gabby would not have wanted that.”