As you probably heard, the Gabby Petito murder case was finally closed on Friday as the FBI revealed the 22-year-old’s fiancé Brian Laundrie admitted to being responsible for her death in a salvaged page from his notebook.
For Gabby’s parents, it marked the end of a nearly five-month nightmare. First there was almost a month of searching for their daughter. Then just as she was found, Brian disappeared — so there was another month searching for the only person with answers. Unfortunately, he was found dead by suicide, and it seemed like no one would ever know for sure what really happened.
Related: Brian Laundrie Cleared Of Newlywed Couple’s Murder
But the FBI didn’t give up. And in a salvaged page from his notebook, which had been soaking in Florida swamp water near his remains for who-knows-how-long, they found their answer. After the Bureau released their findings, the Petito family released a statement through their lawyer expressing gratitude to the law enforcement agencies that helped bring the case to a close.
However, they haven’t released any individual statements. Considering the fact they’ve been so vocal on social media about helping other missing persons and victims of domestic violence, particularly Gabby’s father Joseph Petito, their silence speaks to the sheer power of the second wave of grief that must be hitting them at this unimaginably difficult time.
Well on Saturday, Gabby’s mother, Nichole Schmidt, did post something very telling: a page from a poetry book containing a quote from Qasim Chauhan, which says:
“what’s your gift, he asked.
i transform pain into power, she said.”
That powerful quote was accompanied by a beautiful painting of an eye looking at a mountain range. Nichole wrote simply, “This.” She tagged Joseph, his second wife Tara Petito, and her husband Jim Schmidt, as well as adding the hashtags #justiceforgabby and #turntragedyintochange.
This. @TaraPetito @josephpetito @Jim_Schmidt416
#justiceforgabby #gabbypetito #turntragedyintochange pic.twitter.com/ubZztH3Adh— Nichole Schmidt (@Nikischmidt927) January 22, 2022
Clearly, turning pain into power, tragedy into change, is what the Petito family has been all about since losing their daughter. As we mentioned, they’ve become advocates for other victims, consistently making an effort to bring lesser known cases into the spotlight afforded by the public’s interest in Gabby’s case.
They even created the Gabby Petito Foundation to “address the needs of organizations that support locating missing persons and to provide aid to organizations that assist victims of domestic violence situations, through education, awareness, and prevention strategies.”
We are so heartbroken for these parents right now. We wish there could have been a better outcome to this case. However, considering how unbelievably tragic this has been, we are simply in awe of their strength. They really do have the gift of turning their pain into power. Amazing.
[Image via Gabby Petito/Instagram/60 Minutes Australia/YouTube.]
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