The heartbreaking murder of aspiring van life vlogger, Gabby Petito, and subsequent suicide of her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, who left a note confessing that he'd killed her, is being re-examined in Netflix's new docuseries, American Murder: Gabby Petito. The show also questions how much Brian's family knew about the murder, as he returned back to his parents' home after killing Gabby.
Brian's mum and dad, Christopher and Roberta, repeatedly refused to cooperate with the authorities and of being aware of Gabby's murder while the authorities searched for her throughout September 2021.
It's a complex and upsetting case, which officially got underway when Gabby's mother, Nichole Schmidt, reported her daughter missing on 11 September 2021, having not properly spoken to her daughter in almost a fortnight. It later transpired that Brian had also attempted to send texts from Gabby's phone posing as her after he'd strangled and fatally injured her in Wyoming (as per an autopsy report), and sent texts from Gabby's phone to his own after she'd been killed.
While it's difficult to confirm, it's believed that Gabby likely died on 27 August 2021 and that Brian returned to his parents' home in Florida a few days later, driving back in their shared van. Along with his parents, Roberta and Christopher, Brian then went back and forth between their family home and local camping spots, before ultimately going missing himself. Brian's body was recovered on 20 October from a local wooded area in Florida.
Prior to Gabby's body being found on 19 September and during the subsequent search for Brian's remains, the Laundries fell under intense scrutiny by those who believed they were withholding vital information about the case. Protestors and news reporters gathered outside the family home as the search for Gabby got underway.
Later, Gabby's mother, Nichole Schmdit, would go on to publicly call out Brian's mother, Roberta, in particular, branding her as "evil".
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Brian left behind an older sister, Cassie, who has spoken out about Gabby and her brother's disappearance, and who was also questioned by the press and police about the case. She has always denied withholding any important information that could've helped Gabby's body to be found sooner or which might have helped the Petito family in their quest for justice.
In the Netflix docuseries, it is suggested that Cassie exchanged joking texts with her mother Roberta, after her brother Brian was mistaken for Roberta while leaving the family home amid the nationwide search for Gabby. In American Murder: Gabby Petito, Cassie is shown to have messaged her mother saying: "Yeah everyone's laughing at that remark because it's not even close" and "Lol must have been the hat, put their top notch guys on surveillance".
Here's what Cassie has said about the case, about her brother Brian Laundrie and Gabby Petito.
Who is Brian Laundrie's sister, Cassie?
Cassie Laundrie is the older sister of Brian Laundrie, who committed suicide after killing his girlfriend, Gabby Petito, during their to-be documented road trip in the summer of 2021. After Gabby's disappearance, Brian drove their shared van back to Florida (where his parents live), spent time with his family, including his sister Cassie, then went missing himself on 17 September – after Gabby's mother raised the alarm about her daughter going missing on 11 September 2021.
An 8-day search for Gabby's body was then conducted by the authorities, with the whole of the United States being gripped by the case.
During this time, suspicions were raised as to how much Brian's family, notably his parents Christopher and Roberta, knew about his involvement in Gabby's vanishing and later, once her body was found, her murder.
Brian's sister, Cassie, maintains that she always cooperated with the authorities and that when she met with Brian on 1 and 6 September 2021, she was unaware that there were concerns for Gabby's welfare – at this point, she had not yet been flagged as missing.
"The family is devastated," Richard Stafford, the Petito family's lawyer, told gathered press during the search for Gabby. "Every day that this goes on, they get more and more devastated. They're at the point that that desperation has turned to anger. They know that the Laundries know where their daughter is, and they will not tell them. That’s infuriating."
On 4 October 2021, Cassie was approached and filmed outside her home by media outlet, NewsNation, who uploaded a video to YouTube. In the video, Cassie repeatedly and calmly says she is cooperating with the police, that she is not supposed to talk to anyone while there is an ongoing investigation and that the news reporters and protestors swarming her neighbourhood are upsetting her children, who will always see Gabby as their 'aunt Gabby'.
"We are just as upset, frustrated and heartbroken as everybody else. I am losing my parents and my brother and my children's aunt and my future sister-in-law," Cassie told reporters in the doorstepping video, adding that her parents had stopped talking to her and that she and her partner were in the dark, learning updates about the case and search for her brother (whose body was found 20 October 2021) along with the general public.
Cassie stressed that since 11 September 2021, when Gabby was reported missing, she had been unable to get a hold of her brother or parents. However, text messages alleged to have taken place between Roberta and Cassie, during the search for Gabby and recreated in the Netflix docuseries, cast doubt over this.
What did Cassie Laundrie say about Gabby Petito's death?
Following Gabby's disappearance and the day before her body was recovered, Brian's sister, Cassie Laundrie, gave a public interview on 18 September 2021 via ABC's Good Morning America, saying she hoped that Gabby would return safe and sound.
"Obviously me and my family want Gabby to be found safe. She's like a sister and my children love her," Cassie shared, indicating that she had no knowledge of Gabby's murder or her brother's involvement at that time. "All I want is for her to come home safe and for this to be just a big misunderstanding."
During this public appearance, Cassie stressed that she was cooperating with police in every way that she could, but that that she had not seen her brother, Brian, since Gabby had been officially reported missing on 11 September.
"I wish I could talk to him," she said. "I've cooperated every way that I can. I wish I had information or I would give more. I talked to the police the second they called, I called them right back. We were in Orlando on vacation with my kids at Disney [when police called] and we came back to this."
A couple of weeks later, on 1 October 2021, Steven Bertolino – a lawyer representing the Laundries – told a reporter that Cassie had been with her family at a campsite a month prior, but insisted this was before Gabby had been formally reported missing and she knew anything was wrong. The Netflix docuseries suggests that Cassie may have been told by Brian that he and Gabby had fallen out and he'd flown home alone, when in reality he drove their shared van back to Florida after strangling Gabby.
"Cassie saw her brother Brian on 1 September when he stopped by her home and again on 6 September at Fort De Soto Park," the legal rep said.
Cassie later gave a follow-up interview to Good Morning America on 5 October 2021, by which point it was known Gabby had been murdered and Brian had gone missing. During this appearance, Brian's sister encouraged her brother to turn himself in.
"I really wish he had come to me first that day [when he left Wyoming and returned to Florida] with the van, because I don't know we'd be here," Cassie said, implying she'd have urged her brother to tell the authorities everything from day one. "I worry about him. I hope he's ok and then I'm angry and I don't know what to think."
Continuing on, she said, "I would tell my brother to just come forward and get us out of this horrible mess."
Detailing their final meeting, Cassie said, "We just went [to see Brian and my parents on their camping trip] for a couple of hours and ate dinner, had s'mores around the campfire and left. There was nothing peculiar about it, there was no feeling of a grand goodbye. I'm frustrated that in hindsight I didn't pick up on anything."
When Cassie learned of Gabby's disappearance, she said she reported the campfire meet-up to the police immediately. Speaking of her parents' involvement, Cassie said, "I don't know if my parents are involved, I think if they are then they should come clean."
Where is Cassie Laundrie now?
There are two public social media profiles online that look as though they may belong to Cassie, who no longer goes by her maiden name but by the surname Luycx. One Instagram account that seems to belong to her posts regularly about grief and suicide prevention awareness. This account has also posted photos of a man who looks like Brian Laundrie and has used hashtags associated with male victims of domestic violence.
During their road trip, police pulled Gabby and Brian over and both had marks on their bodies, shown on body cam footage worn by police officers.
A Facebook post that was screenshotted and shared by the Instagram profile under Cassie's name says, "I miss and think about my brother every day. Today marks one year I’ve been without him but it's worse than that [and] not for Facebook. I just want to remind my friends here that they are loved always and no matter what you’re going through, life is beautiful even in the pain."
If the accounts really do belong to Cassie, it appears she is still living in Florida with her husband and their children.
What has Cassie Laundrie said about American Murder: Gabby Petito?
Since the Netflix docuseries aired, the account seeming to belong to Cassie has posted a statement reading 'No one from any family contacted me until Detective Barry called me. Detective Barry gravely miscommunicated what I told her in [sic] the phone'.
The account has also been responding to some of the many angry comments being left – one of which asks why she sent joking texts to her mother while the search for Gabby's body was ongoing.
"It shows a sarcastic angry blip of someone not being taken seriously by law enforcement," she said in one reply. "I was locked out of involvement until he [Brian] went missing because I guess they thought I'd know where he was." Cassie also continued to deny having full knowledge of the situation, adding, "I wanted to know as much as I could by being as involved as I could. Unfortunately I am still learning along with everyone else a lot of things."
An earlier post from the account thought to belong to Cassie, dating back to 8 November 2024, writes: "I told law enforcement all about the DV that happened to my brother in the years. I told media. I told lawyers. The narrative stays. At this point it's ridiculous."
Underneath this post, when a commenter questions why Cassie would be sending joking texts to her mother when she knew Gabby was dead, the account replied, "I assumed Brian was dead when I was texting that. The police and FBI didn’t take anything I was telling them about where he would be found dead seriously (as that was where we frequently hiked and where the car was parked) so of course they would confuse my mother for my brother. It was as ridiculous to you as to me."
The account then added, "If he was gone then I felt she was too. These are my family members. I know nothing shows good favor for me but I'm okay taking accountability where it is; people who know me know that."
American Murder: Gabby Petito is on Netflix now
Jennifer Savin is Cosmopolitan UK's multiple award-winning Features Editor, who was crowned Digital Journalist of the Year for her work tackling the issues most important to young women. She regularly covers breaking news, cultural trends, health, the royals and more, using her esteemed connections to access the best experts along the way. She's grilled everyone from high-profile politicians to A-list celebrities, and has sensitively interviewed hundreds of people about their real life stories. In addition to this, Jennifer is widely known for her own undercover investigations and campaign work, which includes successfully petitioning the government for change around topics like abortion rights and image-based sexual abuse. Jennifer is also a published author, documentary consultant (helping to create BBC’s Deepfake Porn: Could You Be Next?) and a patron for Y.E.S. (a youth services charity). Alongside Cosmopolitan, Jennifer has written for The Times, Women’s Health, ELLE and numerous other publications, appeared on podcasts, and spoken on (and hosted) panels for the Women of the World Festival, the University of Manchester and more. In her spare time, Jennifer is a big fan of lipstick, leopard print and over-ordering at dinner. Follow Jennifer on Instagram, X or LinkedIn.
