By Phil Helsel—
NBC News
The parents of Gabby Petito, the young woman from New York murdered by her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, during a road trip in 2021, reported this Wednesday that they had reached an agreement with the parents of the young man (who took his own life in Florida after disappear after the crime, and left a written confession) about the lawsuit that had been filed against them due to the anguish caused by the death of their daughter (whose body was found in a forest in Wyoming in October 2021 after months of searching).
The agreement was reached "after a long day of mediation," they said Wednesday night in a statement issued by their lawyer in which no details about the terms were explained.
“All parties reluctantly agreed to [the agreement] to avoid further legal expenses and a prolonged personal conflict,” Petito's parents, Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt, stated in the note.
Gabrielle Petito and Brian Laundrie.@gabspetito via Instagram
"Our hope is to close this chapter of our lives to allow us to move forward and continue honoring the legacy of our beautiful daughter," they added in their statement.
Gabby Petito, 22, from Blue Point, New York, was murdered during a cross-country trip in her truck with Laundrie, which was documented on the internet.
Petito disappeared in August of that year, and suspicion fell on Laundrie, 23, after he returned to Florida without her in the van.
Petito's body was found on September 19 of that year in Wyoming's Bridger-Teton National Forest;
Laundrie, who was a person of interest in the case, disappeared and was found dead on October 20 in a swampy area of Florida, along with a note claiming responsibility for the murder, according to the FBI.
[Mother of suspect in Gabby Petito's death offered her son a shovel and garbage bags]
Petito's parents sued Laundrie's parents and their attorney, Steven Bertolino, for intentional emotional harm, alleging that they knew the young woman was dead but lied in their public messages of hope that she would be found alive.
Bertolino did not respond to a request from NBC News, Noticias Telemundo's sister network, for comment on the settlement, but told Tampa station WFLA, an NBC News affiliate, that the civil suit had been resolved.
"Christopher and Roberta Laundrie and I participated in mediation with the Petito family," Bertolino explained in a statement to the station, "the terms of the resolution are confidential and we look forward to putting this matter behind us."
A wrongful death lawsuit was previously settled in 2022 and a judge awarded the Petito family $3 million.