NEW YORK: The family of slain traveler Gabby Petito on Tuesday implored the public and news media to put the same energy into helping find other missing people as they did Petito, a 22-year-old woman who vanished on a cross-country trip with her boyfriend.
Petitos parents and stepparents spoke to reporters at a news conference in New York showing off fresh tattoos based on her designs and mantra Let it be as authorities in Florida continued searching for her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, who is a person of interest in her disappearance and remains unaccounted for.
A lawyer for Petitos family, Richard Stafford, renewed calls for Laundrie to turn himself in and criticized his parents for what he said was a lack of cooperation in the search that turned up Petitos remains. The Laundries released a statement Monday saying they werent helping him flee.
The Laundries did not help us find Gabby, they sure are not going to help us find Brian, Stafford said. For Brian, were asking you to turn yourself in to the FBI or the nearest law enforcement agency.
Petitos body was discovered Sept. 18 in a remote area in northwestern Wyoming. A memorial service was held Sunday on Long Island, where Laundrie and Petito grew up before moving to Florida in recent years. Her family announced it was starting a foundation to support people searching for missing loved ones.
Petitos case has led to renewed calls for people to pay greater attention to cases involving missing Indigenous women and other people of color, with some commentators describing the intense coverage of her disappearance as missing white woman syndrome.
Joseph Petito thanked the news media and social media for spotlighting his daughters disappearance, but he said all missing persons deserved the same attention.
I want to ask everyone to help all the people that are missing and need help. Its on all of you, everyone thats in this room to do that, he said, pointing to reporters and cameras in front of him. And if you dont do that for other people that are missing, thats a shame, because its not just Gabby that deserves it.
The search for Laundrie is also generating a frenzy, with TV personalities like Duane Chapman known as Dog the Bounty Hunter and longtime Americas Most Wanted host John Walsh working to track him down.
Stafford said Petitos family welcomed everybodys help in finding Laundrie and encouraged people with information on his whereabouts to contact the FBI or local police.
Petito was reported missing Sept. 11 by her parents after she didnt respond to calls and texts for several days while she and Laundrie visited parks in the West.
Her death has been ruled a homicide, meaning she was killed by another person, but authorities in Wyoming havent disclosed how she died pending further autopsy results. Petitos stepfather, Jim Schmidt, said Wyoming authorities still had possession of her remains.
Petito and Laundrie posted online about their trip in a white Ford Transit van converted into a camper. They got into a physical altercation Aug. 12 in Moab, Utah, that led to a police stop, which ended with police deciding to separate the quarreling couple for the night. No charges were filed, and no serious injuries were reported.
Investigators have been searching for Laundrie in Florida, and searched his parents home in North Port, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) south of Sarasota.
Last week, federal officials in Wyoming charged Laundrie with unauthorized use of a debit card, alleging he used a Capital One Bank card and someones personal identification number to make unauthorized withdrawals or charges worth more than $1,000 during the period in which Petito went missing. They did not say who the card belonged to.
Joseph Petito said the Gabby Petito Foundation is in the formative stages and will seek to fill in any gaps that exist in the work of finding missing people. He said they would work with organizations that helped them, like the AWARE Foundation and We Help The Missing.
We need positive stuff to come from the tragedy that happened, Joseph Petito said. We cant let her name be taken in vain.
___
Follow Michael Sisak on Twitter at twitter.com/mikesisak
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor
Read all the Latest News , Breaking News and IPL 2022 Live Updates here.
Comments
0 comment