Gabby Petito's Mom Reveals Heartbreaking Details About Brutal Struggles Family Faced After Her Daughter Was Murdered By Boyfriend Brian Laundrie — And How They Are Still Grieving
Gabby Petito's mom, Nichole Schmidt, opened up about her family's daily struggles since her daughter's murder.
April 21 2025, Published 6:45 p.m. ET
Gabby Petito's mom, Nichole Schmidt, has opened up on the impact her daughter's murder has had on their family, including the struggles they still face nearly four years later, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
During her appearance on The Squeeze podcast with Taylor Lautner and his wife Tay, Schmidt confessed: "Grief is like a roller coaster and it sneaks up on you when you least expect it, when you think you're having a good day – something triggers it."
Nicole Schmidt said grief has been 'like a rollercoaster' since her daughter was murdered in 2021.
Schmidt reported her 22-year-old daughter missing on September 11, 2021, while she was vlogging her cross-country road trip with fiancé Brian Laundrie.
Eight days later, Petito's remains were discovered in a wooded area near Grand Teton National Park on September 19.
Petito left behind her mother and step-father Jim Schmidt, father Joe Petito and step-mother Tara, as well as six siblings.
Schmidt said her daughter 'would be mad at me if I was miserable all the time.'
In the year's since the aspiring vlogger's murder, Schmidt said she's learned to give herself "permission" for having "bad days" when her grief is triggered and she just wants to "lay in bed all day on my computer for the (Gabby Petito Foundation)."
Schmidt said she also embraces moments of joy because her daughter "would be mad at me if I was miserable all the time."
She added: "So I get through it and then I feel a lot of joy because she would be mad at me if I was miserable all the time.
"I know she wants me to go on adventures and live life just like she was doing."
Schmidt revealed therapy has helped Petito's younger siblings.
Petito's mom noted it's "definitely it's hard to kind of slow down sometimes and take those breaks but I think that's It's just a super power" she has a mother.
Schmidt also noted she still has Petito's siblings to care for and "remember that they're still here and we need to spend all the time we can with them to show them that it's not all about their sister" while also helping them work through their own grief.
She noted Petito's brother, who is 21-years-old now but was 18-years-old when his sister was killed, is "quiet about (Petito's murder) he just kind of goes about his day and doesn't really talk much about it," while her 16-year-old daughter "struggled a lot."
Schmidt said she worries Petito's siblings will have trust issues because they 'liked' Laundrie.
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Schmidt added her daughter will "be sad and doesn't know why she's sad so I have her in therapy."
She noted her youngest, who is 12-years-old now, has "probably handled it the best because she was, you know, nine-ish, nine at the time."
The mother-of-four added: "It's funny how the younger one handles it the best. She'll be like, 'I have dreams about Gabby.' And she she talks about her like with no issues at all, like, she loves talking about her and she loves pictures of the two of them together."
While Schmidt's children continue to grieve their sister in different ways, she confessed she worries about whether or not they'll be able to trust others as they grow up.
She explained: "I wonder how are they ever going to trust anyone because they trusted (Laundrie). They liked him really – and we all did. I mean we all were like he's a little... he's a little weird but he was really good with the kids and I'm like they must I don't know what's going through their head with that so that's hard."
Schmidt noted therapy has been helpful for the family, particularly for her middle child, saying: "She enjoys it. She'll talk to me about it afterwards. She'll be like 'Oh the therapist mentioned this and she thinks I should try this.'
"So she she seems to enjoy it because it's just an unbiased person that's not going to you know judge her for anything and you know she feels comfortable talking to her so it worked out."
