Gabby Petito’s Mom Claims There Was Something ‘Wrong’ With Brian Laundrie’s Family When Police Searched His ‘Empty’ Room After Her Murder

Gabby Petito‘s mom has claimed that Brian Laundrie‘s room was “gutted” and there was something “wrong” with his mother after he vanished as they searched for their missing 22-year-old daughter.

Petito’s mom, Nichole Schmidt, lifted the lid on the eerie circumstances leading up to the discovery of her daughter’s body—including the moment police officers searched the home of Laundrie, Petito’s boyfriend at the time.

Schmidt opened up about the search of Laundrie’s “gutted” room while speaking on “The Squeeze,” the podcast hosted by Taylor Lautner and his wife, Taylor.

She claimed that although the case was at the center of headlines in 2021, she had just discovered new information a few days ago.

“I actually just found out some new information a few days ago,” Petito’s mother claimed.

“There was—I actually don’t know their name, which is better—that was at the house when Brian was missing and—I would say he was hiding, he wasn’t missing, but he was actually dead—but his room was completely gutted and renovated,” she said. “None of his things were there anymore. It was gone.”

Schmidt claimed that police officers had gone to Laundrie’s home the week after Petito went missing so that they could get “a scent from their dogs to look for Brian. All his things were gone.

“The room was completely empty, just gone,” she claimed before noting that the unidentified individual in the home said that there was something “wrong” with Laundrie’s mother, Roberta.

“They said that there’s something wrong with that mother, she’s clearly not mentally well, and I’m like that’s just add it to the list because I didn’t even know about that,” she added.

The Laundrie family purchased their three-bedroom, three-bathroom, 1,448-square-foot home in North Port, FL, in 2015 for $120,000.

Further in the interview, Schmidt admitted that it drives her “insane” thinking about a way to make the Laundrie family “pay for what they did.”

“There is really nothing I can do,” she added.

At CrimeCon2024, Schdmit insisted that she had forgiven Laundrie for murdering her daughter. But she said his parents were not off the hook.

“I speak for myself here when I say ‘Brian, I forgive you. I needed to release myself from the chains of anger and bitterness, and I refuse to let your despicable act define the rest of my life.’

“As for you, Roberta, and I call you out individually because you are evidently the mastermind that shattered your family and mine with your evil ways, I see no empathy in your eyes.

“No remorse in your heart and no willingness to take responsibility for your actions,” she said.

Roberta was accused of helping her son evade police after he became a key suspect in Petito’s 2021 murder.

At the time, his parents refused to help law enforcement or share any information about their son’s whereabouts.

Over the years, Petito’s family have accused the Laundrie family of being aware that their son had murdered their daughter and helped him conceal the evidence.

In depositions, Laundrie’s father, Christopher, and his mother confessed that they were concerned about Petito’s well-being after receiving a frantic call from their son while the couple were traveling to national parks in a van they rented.

After Petito was reported missing, Laundrie drove to his Florida home from Wyoming, which is where he left her remains.

When he returned home, Laundrie went camping with his parents, sister, and her children.

On Sept. 19, 2021, investigators discovered Petito’s body in Grand Teton National Park. They ruled the cause of death as strangulation.

Laundrie, 23, subsequently killed himself and his remains were later found in a Florida nature park along with his backpack and a notebook that contained a written confession about murdering Petito.