Gabby Petito’s dad doesn’t expect closure from Brian Laundrie’s notebook
Gabby Petito’s grieving dad has said he doesn’t expect any closure to come from what may be written in Brian Laundrie’s recovered notebook — and instead hopes to shift the huge interest in his daughter’s case onto helping other missing and abused women.
Florida police have said that the notebook found near Laundrie’s remains in a nature park last Wednesday “may be salvageable” — leaving frenzied speculation by internet sleuths as to what it may reveal.
But Joe Petito, 42, told TMZ that he is not joining the obsession over the possible words of Laundrie, 23, the only person of interest in the murder of Gabby, whose remains were found in a Wyoming park on Sept. 19
The dad said that nothing in the book will bring back his daughter or help with the grief of losing a child, the outlet reported.
He also doubts that anything in the notebook will explain how his daughter’s death during her cross-country camping trip with Laundrie could have been avoided.
Petito told TMZ that the only reason to be interested in what Laundrie wrote would be for his own selfish gratification.
Instead, he hopes that focus on his daughter’s case — which led to several bodies being found during the searches for her and then Laundrie — will help shine a light on still-missing people who can be saved.
He also called for more resources for victims of domestic violence, calling it “insane” that as many as one in three US women have suffered, TMZ said.
His daughter’s case brought sharp focus on Utah cops who had stopped the young couple after Laundrie was spotted slapping Petito, with officials now investigating why the officers let them continue on their travels.
Petito also told the site that Laundrie’s notebook will not offer any relief for his own parents, Chris and Roberta Laundrie, noting that they too lost a child.
Their lawyer, Steve Bertolino, previously told TMZ that he doesn’t “believe” the parents know what was in the book, calling the case “just a tragic situation for both families.”
