Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Topics: Netflix, Gabby Petito, Crime, True Crime
Britt Jones
Brian Laundrie's sister no longer speaks to her parents after Gabby Petito's death and has revealed the reason why.
American Murder: Gabby Petito dropped on Netflix's platform on 17 February and it explores the horrific true-crime case of American vlogger, Gabby Petito.
In 2021, Petito and her fiancé Brian Laundrie were travelling the US with only their van, a budding travel blog and YouTube channel.
But on 12 August 2021, a reported domestic violence incident took place between the two in Utah, leading the police to order the couple to separate for one night, after a witness claimed to have seen an unknown male slap and hit a woman before driving away in a white Ford Transit.
However, once police pulled over the couple, they determined that Petito was the instigator at her insistence and no further action was taken, other than to place Laundrie in a domestic violence shelter for the night.
Advert
The pair later met up that night, and quickly moved to their next destination together, which all culminated in Petito’s disappearance just two weeks later.
In September, her body was found at the Spread Creek camping area in Wyoming, and a month later, Laundrie's body was also found after he died by suicide, with his backpack containing a notebook 'confession' of his fianceé's murder.
Laundrie's older sister Cassie Luycx has since broken her silence following the release of the documentary, revealing that she no longer speaks to her parents, Christopher and Roberta Laundrie.
"No one from any family contacted me until detective Barry called me," she wrote on an Instagram account believed to belong to her. "Det. Barry gravely miscommunicated what I told her in the phone."
Advert
Luycx has always maintained that she didn’t know anything about Petito’s whereabouts or the details of her disappearance, stating to NewsNation reporters outside her home in the aftermath of Gabby's death: "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," she went on. When asked by reporters if she thinks her parents know something, she said, ‘I don’t know’.
In her social media post, she added in the caption: "If you’re new here. And just starting to attack me today. I’ve been non contact with my parents for almost two years. Have fun.”
After Petito's disappearance, it is reported that Christopher and Roberta were hesitant to speak to authorities, and it was discovered that their son had made a 'flurry of phone calls' to them on 29 August.
Advert
An undated letter written to Laundrie from his mother, marked 'burn after reading', contained the words: "If you’re in jail, I will bake a cake with a file in it. If you need to dispose of a body, I will show up with a shovel and garbage bags."
However, Roberta claimed the letter was written prior to Petito's death and was unrelated, instead due to a 'difficult' and 'strained' relationship between the two.
In 2022, they were sued by the Petito family, who accused them of attempting to 'cover up' their daughter's murder - which the Laundries denied.
In 2024, the case was settled privately between the families. The Laundries also haven't been charged with any crime.
The Laundrie's attorney also issued a statement upon the documentary's release to The US Sun, claiming it had 'many inaccuracies, incorrect juxtapositions of timelines, and misstatements and omissions of fact'.