Gabby Petito’s mother once directed a searing message at the parents of the man who killed her daughter: They deserved to be forgotten.
Roberta and Christopher Laundrie endured years of public anger amid allegations that they helped shield their son, Brian, and remained silent while authorities searched for Petito.
Although the once-notorious couple has largely disappeared from public view, neighbors in their Florida community say the resentment has not faded.
Our News Outlet has learned that the Laundries have become social outcasts in their otherwise quiet neighborhood. Residents say they exclude the couple from gatherings, avoid them on the street and, in some cases, intentionally let their dogs relieve themselves on the Laundries’ lawn.
“I let the dog s*** speak for itself,” one neighbor told Our News Outlet outside the Laundrie home.
Holding her dog’s leash, the woman said she normally cleans up after her pet—but makes an exception at the Laundries’ property.
“It’s my little way of remembering Gabby,” she said. “That’s what they deserve.”
In North Port, residents have largely shunned the couple in the community surrounding their modest, single-story home, which became the focal point of the 2021 search for Petito.
When Our News Outlet visited the quiet, middle-class neighborhood, the Laundries appeared to be inside their house.
Brian Laundrie’s parents, pictured, have become outcasts in their Florida neighborhood, Our News Outlet has learned
The Laundries have never publicly explained why they went camping with Brian while authorities searched for Petito
Lights were shining inside and several vehicles sat in the driveway, yet nobody came to the door.
The streets around the home were mostly still, as neighbors exchanged smiles and continued with their daily routines.
Residents said, however, that those everyday courtesies are seldom offered to the Laundries. According to neighbors, the only visitors are occasional reporters or protesters.
Neighbors said they deliberately keep their distance, avoiding eye contact and declining to wave when they pass.
Residents also alleged that the property is regularly vandalized, with eggs, shaving cream and trash often dumped across the lawn.
“Oh, I’ve seen a lot of stuff thrown on their lawn,” Donna Hawley, who lives nearby, told Our News Outlet. “I know it’s petty and immature, but I’ve seen dirty diapers and McDonald’s bags just tossed on their lawn.
“I don’t even know if they realize it’s intentional or not. They must know. No one else has that problem.”
There is little sign that the Laundries want to address the hostility directed at them in their own neighborhood. For Christopher and Roberta, though, silence has long been their chosen response.
Their decision not to speak during the frantic search for Petito helped transform the grieving parents of the suspected killer into targets of intense national outrage.
Brian Laundrie, then 23, returned to his parents’ Florida home on September 1, 2021, after a cross-country trip with his 22-year-old fiancée, Gabby Petito.
He was driving her van and had used her credit card. But Petito was nowhere to be found.
Roberta Laundrie pictured outside their home in North Port, Florida
Christopher and Roberta Laundrie faced fierce scrutiny for refusing to speak during the search for their son’s fiancee, Gabby Petito
Christopher Laundrie pictured mowing his lawn. A neighbor told Our News Outlet that she purposefully leads her dog to relieve himself on his grass
As Petito’s increasingly desperate family tried to figure out where their daughter was, Laundrie and his parents remained silent.
Five years later, questions remain about what Christopher and Roberta knew – and when they knew it.
Depositions would later reveal that Brian made frantic calls to his parents after Petito’s death, telling them that she was ‘gone’ and that he needed a lawyer. Christopher Laundrie contacted longtime family attorney Steven Bertolino.
The Laundries have maintained that they did not know Brian had killed Petito and did not understand his use of the word ‘gone’ to mean she was dead. They said they were merely following the advice of Bertolino when they refused to give any insight into Petito’s fate.
Neither Bertolino nor the Laundries have responded to Our News Outlet’s request for comment.
When Petito’s mother, Nichole Schmidt, desperately tried to contact Roberta Laundrie while searching for her daughter, Laundrie refused to respond, Schmidt previously told Our News Outlet.
Days after Brian returned home without Petito, the Laundries went camping with their son and other relatives to Fort De Soto Park near St. Petersburg.
To a public watching Petito’s family desperately search for her, the optics were devastating: Brian was camping with his parents while his fiancee was missing.
Nichole Schmidt holds up a photo of her daughter Gabby Petito during a 2021 press conference
Body cam footage later emerged of the aftermath of a domestic incident in Moab, Utah, where police determined that the couple had gotten into a physical altercation (Petito pictured)
‘That’s where they lost me,’ said Chuck Malina, who lives near the family home. ‘I get trying to protect your son, really I do. I’d do anything for my kids. But not at the expense of someone else’s kid. That’s just sociopathic.
‘If I see them, I usually just look away,’ Malina continued. ‘I think they’re a**holes for what they did. I don’t need to be their friend.
‘Let’s just say they’re not coming to any block parties anytime soon.’
Neither Christopher nor Roberta have faced charges in connection with Petito’s death or the investigation. The Laundries have never explained why they went camping with Brian during the search for Petito.
Petito was officially reported missing on September 11, 2021. Days later, Brian Laundrie disappeared.
While Laundrie was missing, Petito’s remains were discovered in Wyoming on September 19. A medical examiner determined she had been strangled.
Body cam footage later emerged of the aftermath of a domestic incident in Moab, Utah, where police determined that the couple had gotten into a physical altercation. Laundrie became the prime suspect in Petito’s murder.
But he never faced justice. His remains were found the following month in a wilderness area near North Port. He had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Investigators recovered a notebook near his body in which he admitted responsibility for Petito’s death.
Also among Laundrie’s belongings was an extraordinary handwritten note from his mother in an envelope bearing the instruction: ‘Burn after reading.’
Laundrie (seen in police body cam footage) was the prime suspect in Petito’s murder, but he never faced justice
Inside, Roberta wrote about the lengths she would go to for her son, including bringing a shovel and garbage bags if he needed help disposing of a body and helping him escape from prison.
But Laundrie’s death didn’t end the scrutiny of his parents.
Petito’s parents sued Christopher and Roberta, accusing them of knowing their son had killed Petito while her family was still desperately searching for her and withholding that information.
The Laundries have denied the allegations.
Roberta insisted the letter was written before Laundrie and Petito left on their trip and had nothing to do with the killing. She later described it as a ‘jokey, stupid letter’ filled with humor that looked appalling when read through the lens of what subsequently happened.
The case was settled in February 2024 before it could go to trial for an undisclosed amount of money. The case is sealed, so it is unclear whether any wrongdoing was admitted.
Petito with Brian’s mother Roberta Laundrie, who said she would provide her son with a shovel if he needed to dispose of a body
Speaking at CrimeCon in 2024, Petito’s mother said she had forgiven Brian but had not forgiven his mother.
‘You do not deserve forgiveness,’ Schmidt said, addressing Roberta. ‘You deserve to be forgotten.’
She accused Roberta of lacking empathy and remorse and called her the ‘mastermind’ whose actions had compounded the devastation suffered by both families.
Christopher and Roberta have largely retreated from public view since then.
And while America may be forgetting Christopher and Roberta Laundrie, their neighbors have a daily reminder.
‘I think about Gabby every time I walk past the house,’ says Hawley. ‘I get angry all over again.
‘This is a nice neighborhood, full of good people. They just don’t fit in.’
