TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Nichole Schmidt, the mother of Gabby Petito, said the years after her daughter’s death have shown how much of an impact she has had.
“I didn’t think I was going to get emotional, but it’s been almost four years, and we miss her very much,” Schmidt said.
Petito went missing on Aug. 27, 2021 while on a cross-country trip with her fiancé, Brian Laundrie. Wednesday marks the fourth anniversary of her initial disappearance.
The young woman would not be found until Sept. 19, 2021, when her body was found in the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
Authorities said Laundrie strangled her and left her body there. Laundrie confessed to the crime in a notebook found after he killed himself at the Carlton Reserve in Sarasota.
After Petito’s death, her family created the Gabby Petito Foundation to help other victims of domestic violence escape dangerous situations.
“We get messages every day that, you know, people are doing things in honor of Gabby, and their lives are being saved because [she] inspired them to leave a relationship or go out there and be advocates, and it’s just … we feel like Gabby’s changing the world,” Schmidt said.
One way Petito’s family worked to help victims of domestic violence was by pushing for states to adopt the lethality assessment program, a set of questions police officers can use to help assess if a domestic violence victim needs immediate help.
Florida passed its version of the lethality assessment in 2024.
“Joe [Petito] is heading to New York soon to fight for that there as well, so that, that’s where Gabby grew up,” Schmidt said. “And we’re hoping that they get that pass across the state. We have first responder training program that we are now doing across the country, and you know, there’s just there’s so much going on.”
To get help for domestic violence situations, you can visit the Gabby Petito Foundation’s website. Those who want to help support the foundation can visit this page.