Long Island’s missing woman’s mother, Gabby Petito, contacted her daughter’s boyfriend and family last week to try to track her down, but said she got no answers to her desperate texts, according to a report.
“I texted Brian’s mother because he was trying to contact Gabby. I also texted Brian. I have no answer, “Nicole Schmidt told the Daily Mail.
“I knew something was wrong. I felt that something was not working and I needed to be notified that she was missing immediately, ”added the heartbroken woman, who said she had contacted Brian Laundrie’s mother, Roberta.
Schmidt, who has had no news of Petito, 22, since Aug. 25, told reporters that police blew her up at first when she reported her missing daughter Friday after trying to get to the laundries.
On Saturday he presented a report of missing persons to Suffolk County Police on Long Island.
Schmidt and Petito’s father, Joe Petito, has called for his return, saying in a statement that the family “is going through the worst times of its life.”
“Brian refuses to tell Gabby’s family where he last saw her,” her statement said. “Brian also refuses to explain why he left Gabby alone and drove his van to Florida. These are critical questions that require immediate answers.”
Brian, who continues to evade police, has broken his silence, saying through his lawyer that he would “stay in the background” while the search, which gained national attention, continues for the missing woman.
“The Schmidt family and Petito beg the Laundrie family not to ‘stay in the background,’ but to help find who Brian referred to as the love of his life,” the parents’ statement added. “How Brian stays in the background when he’s the only person who knows where Gabby is.”
Laundrie and Petito, who lived together in Florida, left the coast-to-coast trip in July and had to finish the trip at a friend’s house in Portland around Halloween.
But Laundrie returned home to Florida with the 2012 Ford Transit van where they were traveling on Friday, without Petito. He has since retained a lawyer and refused to cooperate with police, who were also turned down by Laundrie’s parents.
Schmidt told reporters that Laundrie’s sister, Cassie, is the only member of her family who has spoken to investigators.
“It is a very mysterious situation. We don’t understand why he does it. Everyone takes on the worst and thinks he’s guilty of it, but I don’t want to believe it. I want to believe that he just needs help and that everyone should keep looking, ”the mother told the newspaper.
Schmidt said Roberta Laundrie loved Petito “like a daughter” and was “so excited” by the couple’s engagement.
Petito has described her boyfriend as her fiancé on social media, but Schmidt told the newspaper that her daughter and Laundrie decided to call their engagement because they felt they were too young to tie the knot.
“I think they suspended him just because they felt he was a little fast. At first they were excited, but then they said, “Hopefully, we’re very young.” So they were really just boyfriends and girlfriends, ”Schmidt said.
“Maybe the relationship wasn’t what I thought,” he added.