Hidden True Crime - Gabby Petito’s Dad Reveals CHILLING Theory About Brian Laundrie’s Fate

Episode Date: April 20, 2025

Today, Joe Petito sits down with Lauren and Dr. John to talk about the death of his daughter, Gabby Petito, how they are keeping Gabby's memory alive, AND what he really thinks happened to Brian Laundrie. Register for the Golf Tournament or sign up to sponsor HERE: https://givebutter.com/GabbyPetitoGolf2025 Gabby Petito Foundation website: https://gabbypetitofoundation.org/ Donate to the foundation: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=W7MEE8LQZK582 For any questions, you can send an email to: [e-mail] If you or your loved one are experiencing DV in a relationship, 24/7 help is available. Call 800.799.SAFE (7233) or text START to 88788 Our fully Gabby Petito Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnLc7I2gyWtRPIXFrhnkFne1KBV9aTPWD&si=Ol5G5WG1Kf6vo7uQ About Hidden True Crime: What started as a simple conversation at their dinner table became a captivating podcast. Join the dynamic duo of Dr. John Matthias, a criminal psychologist, and Lauren Matthias, an investigative journalist, as they delve into the psychological facets of unthinkable crimes every week. Their unique perspectives and in-depth analysis offer a fresh take on true crime storytelling. Thank you for your support through sponsorships, subscribing, listening, and becoming a Patreon member at Patreon.com/HiddenTrueCrime Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Yeah. When your loved daughter was missing, John and I did cover it. We went over the body cam footage. We went over a lot of what was going on and the heartache and grief of your family. And so I just want to first say, I'm sorry. I know you hear that a lot. but thank you for being here because you are bringing memory to Gabby through a foundation. And we want to talk to you first off about how you're doing and then touch upon where you are going from here after the loss of Gabby. And we are. We are so sorry. Well, I thank you for the kind words.

Doing okay. You know, one day at a time, right? there isn't closure on the death of a child, but through the foundation and some of the work that we're all doing, maybe in the end, it helps make sense of it. I guess that's the driving force,

you know, to help as many people as we can and do what we can to, you know, really just trying to emphasize, you know, what Gabby, you know, her voice meant and how many people it can help. Yeah. You and I met up in Phoenix.

Because in Phoenix, what were you doing in Phoenix? You were also helping another family there. I was. I was Daniel Robertson. He's been missing for just about four years. I think June 23rd will be four years. And I've been friends with David now, his father, for years.

And the searches that he was had, the schedule is just sitting in line for me to be able to get out there. And this one was coming up. And I don't care what the schedule says. We'll just move some stuff around. I'm going to be there for David and his family. And that's what we did. You know, it was important to me because Gabby got a lot of attention now just trying to help, you know, move that, you know, to other people and highlight as many stories as we can. Gabby, Gabby did get a lot of attention.

And for that, I'm sure that some people have thought why, you know, she's blonde, she's beautiful. She's the hope that we see, you know, in so much. We all wanted her to be safe. We were fearful. She wasn't going to be found safe. And our fears were met. And what I'm referring to is the world that watched, you know, and supported your family through it. But what I admire to is how you, you guys know that.

You know that she received a lot of attention. And so what you're saying is you're trying to give back to other families who might not have had the attention that Gabby had. Yeah. Everyone deserves the same attention. I don't see why that can't be done. I understand Gabby's was astronomical in terms of the amount, but we can do a lot better in terms of highlighting some other stories, you know, and try and bring as many people home as possible. There's a lot we can do with missing people that we're working on currently. Yeah. You know, the Netflix documentary recently brought this back into all of our conscience again, the grief and the pain. And honestly, for me, I'll just say anger. It's really difficult for me to watch. the body cam footage um i haven't and you hadn't watched it i've never watched it i when i do

interviews as like bits and pieces that you know i'll have to watch because i'm sitting there on you know just waiting but um but no i've read the transcripts i just i can't bring myself i don't know if i'll ever be ready to watch it but i so like gavie's story really blew up like once that that video came out the body camp footage came out you know people want to say it's you know her story her, you know, her skin color. That makes sense. You want to say it was the mystery of the story. That makes sense. You want to say it was the circumstances. That makes sense. Down time and the news cycle. That makes sense. But it was really the video that came out where a lot of people didn't just see Gabby. I think they saw themselves. And that was highlighted when the documentary

came out because we got thousands and thousands of emails. tags, you know, and social media of people's stories, highlight their own situations when it comes to domestic violence and how they were able to get out. And that was, that was awesome to see, you know. And because people don't understand when those videos come out, how important those videos are to others that are going through a domestic violence challenge, you know,

and it gives them inspiration, it gives them hope that there's a better tomorrow, planning safely, finding the best way to get out, speaking to the right people, the right advocates. to see what resources they have and get out. And life is better than you get out of that situation and get into a healthy relationship. Yeah, it made it. I felt the same thing. I saw, I saw friends of mine.

I saw family of mine. I saw many people of mine when I watched that body cam footage. And I think that's why it, you're right, it was this visceral reaction for me. And I know that John has worked with a lot of victims of domestic violence. And what we saw was, I don't know, what would you call it, John? call it heartbreaking, ad-maddening, and it was upsetting. Yeah, it's very hard to watch. We actually watched it before Gabby's body was found.

And I, in the first, Lauren knows this in the first couple of minutes, I'm like, this is domestic violence. We've got to find her and get her away from him. Like, right, like my first instinct was, because I think a lot of people missed the fact that, you know, you can see that Gabby internalized all that abuse. She kept blaming herself, right? She kept saying, I'm sorry, I was so mean to him, right? Like, no, that's not, like, that is, that is what every victim, almost every victim of domestic violence says.

They internalize that really demeaning, negative, abusive attitude that the perpetrator has, that tries to push it on them, right? And I think seeing that right away in that video was so hard to watch because, you know, Gabby was so kind and such a good person. Like you see that and like that her trip. Like it touched that in and of itself, I think. Touched so many people. The what she was doing and just that journey she was on to kind of figure her life out and figure herself out. It was, you know, it was, I think that was another component, Joe. mentioned that that journey is a journey we all take in life to some degree.

She knew what she wanted from a young age, and she was always, you know, headstrong like this and I'm going to achieve this. And to do it at a young age and have the stones to do it at a young age is really inspiring. Because it really is, listen, you only get one shot. Might as well make you memorable and do it now why you can before you can't. So I was jealous of it. She did some cool stuff, you know. Yeah, she did.

That's a really good plan. So you're right in that respect. Yes. Yeah, I think a lot of us saw that journey. You're not at that young age. I'm going to go be creative. I'm going to go do something I want to do. I'm going to go explore.

I'm going to go create. And she was very good. And she was at what she did too. She was very talented. Her videos were really good. As a video editor who's been doing this, she was good. That's the first one. Yeah, and only.

But, yeah, she's, She's something special, you know, and she continues to be. So. Yeah. Yeah. You know, since, since this has happened in the grief that you carry, as you say, you're never going to be able to find closure. No one ever finds closure after losing a child. Tell me where you've put a bit of your energy, what you're up to now. I mean, listen, with the foundation, we try and do as much as we can, you know, nationally, internationally. we have a lot of a lot of things that we're doing we're building a domestic violence program our first responders program legislation for domestic violence legislation for missing people

working with law enforcement around the country to try and and really help on both of those fronts you know and it's a lot but it's it's an undertaking that we understand and we have a plan to you know to follow through and get it done and that's really what what we're doing. That's kind of the reason why we're doing that that event on June 6th, you know, that domestic violence program that we're talking about. When it comes to domestic violence, so yeah, this is the, this is the golf outing that we're doing. And what this is, what we're going to try and what we're building with this is a domestic violence education program. It's going to be comprehensive, inclusive of everyone, and we want it to be

free for everyone around the planet. You know, um, We understand different platforms for education, schools, and stuff like that. We get it. So we're kind of building it out and see how we can make sure everyone has access to it. But really what we want to do is we don't want to give a college educational course where it's six months of tutelage on domestic violence. That's not what people are going to sit down and pay attention to. We want to give you a really, you know, simple, I guess, videos for you to see certain circumstances,

pick out red flags, situations where, you know, hey, listen, you may be in it, you might have loved ones in it, do these videos, three to five minutes, some questions and answers, and really get people to understand how these domestic violence situations come about and what to do when yourself or someone is in them and what resources you have at your disposal to find your ways to get out of that situation safely, because that is the most dangerous time. So, but that's, This is what we're going to build with it. And we already got some videos set and being made. Needed a few more.

Then we're going to work in the platforms that we can get them on. And then we're going to get them out to everyone and make it free. It should be free for everyone. This is a life skill that we're talking about. We see a lot of education programs where they charge. And a lot of them are great. I'm not trying to discount or minimize any of them. I know there's a cost factor that goes into them.

about people's lives and we believe it should be free. You shouldn't be charging to help keep people alive. Absolutely. When it comes to domestic violence survivors, you mentioned that a lot of people have come up to you or written you and said, Gabby, help me. What is it that you've heard the most when it comes to survivors of domestic violence

or those that are in the midst of it that maybe you didn't know before or have realized? The part that sticks will be the most is how happy they are when they get out, how much of a life they can see now that they didn't see before. You know, the part that pains me inside is when I hear someone say they're on their way home and they're afraid of what they're going to walk into when that door opens up, you shouldn't have that feeling when you go home. your home is supposed to be where you're safe, where you're protected,

where you can let your guard down and really just be you. And if you feel that you can't do that, you might not be in the best situation. And reaching out to domestic violence advocate, I always give the National Domestic Violence Hotline. I think that's a great place to begin. 1-800-799 safe is their phone number. You can text, start to 8-8-7-88.

and it doesn't have to be you in a situation. It can be a loved one, you know, or family, a friend, just to figure out how do you begin those conversations to have? It's not easy. And understanding it and being there no matter what as a matter of support for your friend or family, a loved one, that's going to mean all the world. It really is. Yeah.

You mentioned that you haven't watched a body cam footage. I suspect that might surprise a few people. I know, you know, Gabby's mother has, but I understand why you wouldn't. You read the transcript, though, right? Yeah. And a lot of it is in the documentary that you played a part in, so did you just avoid watching that part?

I did. Yeah. Well, I had to watch, again, they can show the whole footage, you know what I mean? Because I think the whole stop was like an hour at 17 minutes or something like that. So they didn't put the whole thing in there. But, you know, I can't.

We stuck through. We all watched it together separately in different houses. We were all on a text stream. You know, we all hit play at the same time. But it was difficult to watch. Again, those are the parts that I kind of saw during interviews and stuff too. But yeah, I don't think I'll ever be able to watch it. And reading the transcript is different.

It's kind of like that law that we did the down here in Florida. the the lethality assessment we did down here in Florida. There are 11 questions or 12 questions in the state of Florida that you'll ask if you're in a domestic violence situation if a cop is called, right? And when the person or the victim will answer those questions and what the officer will do is then give them those questions back so they can read their answers, right? And it's almost that that disassociation, if that makes sense, when you're reading the story. and when they read their answers, you know, internally, they're going to say to themselves,

like, I can't believe I answered these questions this way. Like, they know the truth when they're answering these questions. So it's almost the same way when you, when you're, it's why I can't bring myself to watch it, but I can read it. And that's one of the most impactful parts of that lethality assessment, it's letting the victim read their answers back. And so it's interesting of how that plays out. yeah, I can't, I can't watch it, but I was able to get through the read.

I mean, I sat there with a pen and, you know, going through it and like, okay, this is, this is a problem, here's a problem. You know what I mean? Kind of highlight and stuff. But I can't hearing the voice and seeing her face in that state, I just can't do it. Can't do it. If you feel that she was able to take a test, if Utah police officers had to do that test with her, I think it would have been a different. Yeah. Yeah, I think the outcome would have been different if a lethal alay attestment was done.

And then it should have been done for every domestic violence stop going back to, I think, 2019. So the fact that it wasn't done now, it's mandated in the state of Utah. We helped advocate for it there as well. And now we're getting a lot of good numbers and whatnot. But you see how many more resource. I think the number we were given was an 87% increase. in domestic violence calls that happen to advocates around the state. That's pretty eye-opening when you really think about it.

So it just goes to show you how prevalent the issue is, how much more we need to talk about it, and really push the shame to the abuser where it's supposed to be, and teach our youth not to spot those sides and how not to fall victim to that and how to get out of it before you find yourself knee deep in it. I appreciate you said that so much. So often we say, why are women in this situation?

Men or women, I know they can both be abused, but, you know, more often, you know, why are women in this situation? Why would they stay? And I think oftentimes the question needs to be why. Why is the person abusing the person? That question kills me. Why don't they just leave? Well, it's not that simple.

you know, love makes you do very strange things, you know, and people, you know, will apologize and really sell you on how that'll never happen again. And again, this is where that education awareness comes in and teaching it to the youth how not to be in those situations. It really does. The amount of women, just in the United States alone, that end up that, that it, It's a problem. We need to fix it. We need to fix it quick. John, yeah, you can tell us why women don't leave. You know, you see it every day. You know, there's so many reasons. Fear, economic reasons, right, financial reasons. Just the dependency and the, you know, the abusers create a situation where the victims typically don't have access to anything, to friends, to money, right? There's they create this dependency by isolating them, which, you know, undermines their sense of

self-worth and their belief that they can leave. There's so many things, so many elements. Yeah. You know what's crazy is that all the abusers know the process. Love bomb, coercive control, alienate friends, alienate family, alienate job, get rid of the car. No need for you to handle the finances. I'll do that too. And now you're stuck with no car, no access to anything.

You're not talking to friends and family members. You think they shut you out. And they really don't. They don't shut you out. They'll be there, especially in times of need. So they really do a good job of that alienation. And that's some of the stuff, some of the education that we've got to get out to people. Most people don't realize how much their personal information is being bought and sold every day.

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what does an abuser look like, right? And that was one of the interesting things with Gabby's situation, with Brian. It seemed to me that as their trip progressed, that he was becoming more possessive and more jealous. You know, I mean, he would try to cover that with this facade of being loving and, you know, kind and right, compassionate towards her. but you could see beneath that. You could see that, you know, the van's not clean enough, right? Who were you talking to? Like all these issues around, I think, jealousy and possessiveness

that seemed to really predominate as that trip went on. And that was, you know, when we watched the body cam, you could see elements of that. And that was really disturbing to me. And I think people should be aware of the fact that jealousy and possessiveness are two of the biggest risk factors for future violence and lethality. That if someone is trying to possess you and control you to the core in every facet of your life, please pay attention to that. Please see that as a risk factor. Stalking.

People underestimate how stalking plays a part of it. You know, watching you online, you know, showing up at work, you know, or. following you when you're going somewhere. There are so many things, you know, like you were talking about before, financial, emotional, mental, physical abuse. I mean, there's so many versions of it. But they all start

and ends, you know, almost the same way most of the time. You know, like I said, love bombing and then they'll start coercive control. You know, why is this person? This person's an idiot. Why do you associate with them? You know, you really start to one by one. And it's not

it's not this short of a period. you this it's hard to spot sometimes especially you know when it's such an elongated relationship so yeah there's there's a lot we can do and a lot of education and awareness but you can do it in its simplistic form and really get that message out so people can spot it you don't have to overcomplicate it um people can educate themselves more you know but to give the simplistic ways of this is what's going on this is these are some of the things that you can spot to out if you're in that situation. You are able to do that on a basic level and then build on that. You know, you don't have to build, like I said, a comprehensive college education, you know,

six-year course where you got a doctorate. Let's do it in a simplistic form and then slowly build on that. I mean, you can start with the youth. Proper friendships, you know, bullying, integrate all of that, you know what I mean, and really build on that as a year's progress and really teach you people their worth and how everybody deserves the same type of care and respects, you know, throughout everywhere. It shouldn't be, you know, one person thinks anyone else is better than anyone else. It should never be that. So, Joe, you have it, going back to reading the transcript of the body camp footage, what was the most frustrating thing for you to read when reading what you read when it came to that footage from Moab police? I guess the most,

frustrating thing for me to read is where he predicted the outcome of PrEP predicted the outcome. This is why they don't have leeway when it comes to these type of situations. And then using Google to have to figure out what that statue was and then still getting the statute wrong. Those are some eye-opening, I guess things that I read in the transcripts, how they played out. on TV. I don't, I don't particularly know. Those are some of the things that I read where it just doesn't make sense in my head. Like how did they come to one conclusion but say another?

Yeah. I don't get that. And even if they had arrested Gabby, even though she was not the perpetrator, let's make that very clear. But let's say they decided she was. And even if they had arrested Gabby, even if they had followed protocol and arrested it, then that's still something that could then help. Then you look at- You're separating them. What's the hypothetical next steps, right?

She's going to call her mom or her dad, right? I need an attorney. Tell us what's going on. We're going to get her out of the situation. Right. And yeah, then she would be home. We wouldn't be where we are. So that is my opinion.

And I'm sure many share that opinion from what I heard and read and, you know, across. but yeah, we firmly believe that if a lethality assessment was done or a number of other things that were done, she'd be here today. You know, I don't understand the logic of not classifying it as a domestic violence incident, but using a domestic violence statute to pay for a hotel. Right. I don't understand how you labeled it as one, but then used the statue for another. That doesn't make sense.

And let's be honest, they're not going to stay apart that evening, too, if they don't, I imagine. Right. You know there, to be honest, even if that happened or didn't happen, you know, why did you classify it as one thing? but use the statute to pay for a hotel. If you use that statute, then that statute should come into play, and that's what it should be labeled as. And that's not what happened.

Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. There are a lot of conspiracy theories, of course, this case, your daughter's case, you know, the world was mesmerized. There are a lot of conspiracy theories. that continue that are difficult.

You mean like Brian is Brian still alive type of experience? Correct. Right. He's not Elvis. Okay. I'm sorry. No, he is not alive. DNA has been tested. DNA has been tested. The family didn't identify him.

You were talking from meetings. That's not how police work is done, you know, especially on the forensic level. That's not how it's not. Listen. they classified it as a suicide. Do I know if it's a suicide? No, I have it on my own conspiracy theory.

You know, it's, you know, on how all that played out, to be honest. I know it's a conspiracy theory. I'll never be able to prove it. But, you know, I don't believe he did it himself. I believe it was done to him because I don't think he had the stone to do it himself. You know, it didn't make sense to me why you would take the car. his only mode of transportation he didn't have a wallet he didn't have a phone he didn't have anything that car was left in the likeahatchie creek right you know in the parking lot why would you take the car

if you anticipated him coming back he had no way that it's not like that park was around the corner you know it was a good distance away so would you want your child walking through god knows how far with the situation that was playing out on tv would you want that to happen that I don't know if it just doesn't make sense. Like it doesn't compute in my head, why a parent would do that. I'm sure there's probably logic somewhere that maybe I'm not thinking of, but in my head, no, I think the parents, the mother particularly,

you know, I think she may have noticed that he was still there and probably assisted. Again, conspiracy theory, never be able to prove it. And it's my opinion and my opinion only. Well, nothing that the family, the laundry family, did or does, has ever made sense. So it's, no. No. And it's, yeah, that's is what, you know, I try not to focus too much on them. Because even if anything happens, you know, criminally or anything along those lines,

to be honest with you, it'd be a selfish 30 second, you know, oh. And then I got to go right back to where I was, where my child's gone. and I'm focusing on the foundation. So it really doesn't benefit anyone other than a selfish satisfaction for no more than 30 seconds. It says right after that I'm right back to where I was. So honest, move forward. Let's help the people that helped us. Let's help everyone that we can.

And let's see if we can make a difference. And maybe at the end, I can rationalize it in my head. Yeah. Speaking of the foundation, I'll pull this up. Right here, the first thing that pops up, safety planning or find help. Thank you for visiting. That's wonderful. And then this is great.

We're all the resources. And we're starting to get international resources as well. Because the one thing that Netflix did, and we didn't find out until afterwards, is because they went around, I think, I don't even know how many countries, how many languages and stuff. But they put the resource to the national domestic violence. hotline and if you're in Australia, the United Kingdom, Ireland, or anywhere else, you know, on this globe, they're not going to help you. Well, it's not that they wouldn't, but they don't

have the contacts and the resources in your country where they might be able to direct you. So I'm hoping that that we can get that changed, but there's the more resources that we can get up for other countries around the planet, the more beneficial this website becomes. And that's really what the alliance is about but the golf outing is about to get that education program because there's so many that we can help with just teaching just a little bit you know again red flags proper friendships you know places to go and what resources you have and that's what this is going to build and it's going to be free everywhere that's that's the plan and that's what this event's going to go for we do still need sponsor so if anyone that's watching has a business and they want to get that business shut out

and really help make a difference. Yeah, there's a sponsor list right there. You know, it's, we would love to have you at the events. There's two types of tickets that you can do. There's a golf and dinner ticket or just a dinner ticket, whichever you like. There's, you know, forcing for the golf of dinner. Me and Jim are going to be playing as well. We're a horrible account.

Jim and I, we were on a team last year with Chris Hansen and our attorney, Pat Riley. And we finished dead last in the events. Right. And we got little toilet bowl trophies where it said you suck and it said your game is, you know, when you live it up. Is that just to clarify, Joe, that's you in the picture, right? Oh yeah, that's me. I played barefoot. That's you. I mean, that looks like a good swing to me. You know, pictures worth a thousand words. But I really embraced that Florida lifestyle where I played barefoot and enjoy.

Yeah. I noticed that. Yeah. They probably won't let you on the tour with that. I loved to, well, you know, in Florida, I've also learned that you have to wear shoes as well because the red answer. Oh, you know, is an issue. Okay. So you don't want to do that all the time.

Really pay attention to where you walk, but I like to see Devacri on a golf course. You know, like I want to speak, you know, three holes over. Some guy, you know, you know, cart surfing into a lake, you know. Like, I love that stuff. Let's have some fun. You know, it'll be the hoity until we get. calmness and all the other stuff, but they could be a happy medium that we could all come together and enjoy the round. I don't take the round seriously. To me, to me, it's therapy. So I went to

therapy when all this happened. And, you know, my therapist is like you seem to enjoy golf and really said, listen, you need to go out and play and go enjoy it and get your mind off it. And I made sure that I got that recorded and sent that to my wife, which was fantastic. So, so now I do. I play quite a bit on the weekends and uh and yeah so we're going to do this to help as many people as possible that's that's the plan that's the plan so i'd love if everyone can join it's it's it's it's going to be the last one was a fantastic event um we started it off with a celebratory shot and uh and then we go from there will you will you be playing the event with bare feet i plan to i do plan to you know know, I'm one of the weird ones.

And my daughter was the same way. You know, like, I don't like things on your feet. It's very constrictive. It's, you know, just go. Just go on some pair of flip-flops and call it a day. I take my flip-flops off when I shoot. I put them back on when I'm done. And I get in my cart and I go.

It's a thing. You just enjoy and have a good time. I feel like you're a kindred spirit because I'm sure, Joe, my wife would tell you that I wear flip flops all the time. It's all he wears. I have a permanent flip-flop tan line and I'm proud of it. Not going to lie. Yeah.

So whether whether we're at a black tie or hanging out in the front yard, he's wearing flip-flops. I'm the guy that people get disgusted by. I'm leaving in 30 minutes and I'm headed to the airport at DC to talk about letality assessment and I'm wearing my flip-flops. I don't care. I'm wearing them on the plane. I got my TSA pre-checked.

I'm going through. Leave me be. I'm comfy. Leave me alone. I plan to be at June 6th at the benefit event, the dinner. And I've just zoomed in on the sponsors that you need. And I'm putting them here. We're also going to have a link to the sponsors in the description of this episode,

whether you're watching on YouTube or on our podcast. So if you feel like you can help with sponsors for the, this, it is going to an incredible cause. We're so grateful that the Gabby Petito Foundation has been created. I also want to point out that you are actually really working hard on other behind the scenes. People don't even know what the Petito family is doing. Behind the scenes, they're working with podcasters to say, will you cover this case? Will you cover this case? Will you make sure that Emily Pike gets the attention she deserves? Can you help us? And that was actually, the potatoes are one reason that Emily Pikes keys came to our attention because they are working behind the scenes.

And people don't necessarily know that. You guys are doing so much. And I just want to thank you for giving us the tools and the resources, too, to help other families that are victims of crime. Well, I thank you for the kind words. I do. You know, everyone deserves the same time. I mean, I just got off the phone with the deputy chief of the Bureau of Indian. Indian affairs, Michael Ware, you know, me and him were just bouncing ideas off of each other and

just see what we can do to help. We're going to continue to collaborate and see what we can get to stick. I mean, there's a lot that we can do with the unidentified people that are found that go unclaimed in terms of DNA. There's a lot that we can do when it comes to, say, the ancestry.coms and stuff and sending those DNA, letting their customers say yes or no, whichever they want, to send their information over to NamUs when it comes to familiar matches when it comes to those that are found that have been unidentified, you know? There's a lot that we can do. Like I said, we're working to reform how the United States handles missing persons,

you know, on a positive level, you know, making sure that they have federal resources for every missing person case because that's what we want. That's what's needed. Not every department has the resourable. at their disposal to help every missing person case. And those federal resources, everyone pays federal taxes, right? So why not our federal resources are not available unless there's, you know, a specific crime that's involved?

That doesn't make a lot of sense. We should be able to help everyone because everyone matters. And every story deserves the same attention. And that's some of the stuff that we're really kind of just focused on right now. I knew about investing, but I really didn't know how to go about it. Meet Corey, a Walthfront client. With Walthfront, it could put money in, and it would automatically distribute it into a diversified portfolio. Then it starts to compound.

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memory and for that I thank you we thank you we thank you and you guys are awesome I had a blast in Phoenix it was really nice meeting you and Grayson is Grayson behind the scenes right now she yeah Grace is grace it's babysitting for us right now Grayson she does everything no we had an absolute blast she was absolutely a sweetheart I don't think Susan's allowed to pick the restaurants anymore it was very fancy what I've never been to a restaurant where they asked me what type of linen I prefer. They asked me if I wanted black linen or white linen.

I was like, I'll take black. We'll take black. I've never been asked that question. I'm like, napkin's fine. Yeah. But I'm the guy, like if I ask for a drink, you can give it to me in a can or the bottle. Like, I don't care. I don't need a frosty fast, you know.

They ask what water we want. They asked what water we wanted. I was with you, Joe. I was like, this is way above my. I was like, I'm grateful Susan. was there because they were asking like house water do you want sparkly house which means tap you know but they they served it in a nice you know so we we all opted for the house water i'm looking julia roberts i need direction julia robinson pretty woman she needed directional which fork to use

you work the outside in right like that's that's stuff that i need to know i i didn't have that education well i'm glad to know this because i was wondering if i was preparing for the benefit dinner If the benefit dinner was going to be asking you, which linens, I thought maybe this was a lesson, a training I was getting before I showed up on June 6th. So maybe we're good. Susan, we love you. It was absolutely great dinner. The food was delicious. It was amazing.

Food was delicious. It was incredible. Yeah, no. A lot of questions before we even got to the food. That was interesting. Yes. No, it was a wonderful dinner. And I just enjoyed getting to know you on a personal level, but also.

also just, again, hearing more about what you're doing, which is why I've invited you, you know, here today, what we invite, Joe, is we want people to know more about everything your family and the foundation is doing, that Gabby's memory continues on with so many incredible things and people, again, not knowing what is going on behind the scenes even, that they're not seeing your family do. It's just incredible. And I just admire it so much. Yeah. To be honest, I got to give all the credit to Nikki and Tara, first of all. They talk more than Tara and I do, you know, but they really are on the phone all day every day. They go on a ton of trips together to educate and bring awareness to domestic violence and missing people.

Jim does a ton with first responders. I really do the legislation stuff. Jim is really focused on the education. You know, I'm trying to focus on the collaboration for the international stuff. make sure everyone gets the resources and together, you know, that's, thank God there's four of us. Because if there wasn't four parents, there's no way we can get it done. There's no way we'd be able to do the amount of work that we do, watching the amount of work that Tara and Nikki do, first of all. And the amount of work Jim does, and, you know, Jim doesn't get nearly the credit.

You know what, if I could bring this topic up, please. I'll be off topic because this just popped in my head. So I apologize to your viewers, too. No, go ahead. Step parents. Step parents, to me, you know, are integral part of any type of, you know, relationship. And the fact that legally, they don't have the, I guess, any type of acknowledgement when it comes to the legal, you know, process and whatnot that they're a family member. You know, I hear a lot of, well, you know, we do a lot of interviews, a lot of podcasts, and they'll take.

a whole, you know, hour-long interview, and which were the, all four of us, but you'll only hear from Nikki and I, and maybe a little bit from, you know, a couple sentences from Jim and a couple sentences from Tara, like, they totally ignore the step-parents, you know? And in our situation, every parent, regardless of there's a step in front of it, doesn't matter. They're an equal part of Gabby's life. And I'd love to see step-parents get the acknowledgement that they should. just because they're not a biological parent doesn't mean they didn't love this child any less you know and and having that inclination where if you do feel that way does do they still feel that way about adoptive parents at that point you know they love many less because they're you know

they were adopted no you love that child just the same Nikki I mean I'm sorry Jim and Tara love Gabby the exact same as Nikki and I and to think otherwise or to diminish their voice simply because they're a step parent just isn't a very good. fair and I'd like to make sure that people hear that because maybe in the future when you see other multi-families come together as similar as we have, you make sure that the step-parents have the same type of voice because their message is just as important as well. Well, I just want to say, I mean, I don't know if it is off topic because one thing I think that John and I have talked about and discussed is how Gabby having all four of you has also

helped so many of us sees what a beautiful and healthy blended American family looks like and how there's just simply more love. You know, I think a lot of us admire it so much and it's taught, I think, many of us how to do it right,

you know, and make the best of it. And I grateful for that. Don't use a child as a poem. As long as you put the child first, everything else will fall in the place. It's really simple. Listen, me, Nikki, didn't agree all the time. we had disagreements, you know, and we figured it out, you know.

But at the end of the day, using a child to get back at a parent, no, I'm sorry, that's not okay. That's not okay to anybody's book. At least it shouldn't be. You know, the child comes first. As a parent, a child comes first. Yeah. Thank you. John, is there anything else you wanted to say?

John is always such a good husband and he sits here so patiently. And when he talks, he says stuff that's really profound, but he's just a man of few words who listens. I'm married a professional listener. You're a form of therapist, Sean, right? Yes. So you listen really well, and then you formulate your ideas. I will just regurgitate it all out and see what happens and see what you see.

That's me. That's what I do. I'll throw it. Yeah, exactly. And I'm like, oh, shouldn't have said that too late. It's there. Oops. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah, Lauren, the other day, Lauren told me that if I started my show, if I started my own show, which I'm not going to do. But if I did, it would be something like John listens and sometimes speaks. That would be my, that would be my show. I don't, you know, there's not going to be that show, but that's, that was her. I took that as a compliment, by the way, that she thinks I'm a good listener. So, yeah, I appreciate that. I'm married a professional listener.

Yeah. Well, not all the time, most of the time. Most of the time. Yeah, most of the time. So I feel sorry because my wife, she married the most annoying person she could possibly fall. And yeah, I mean, it's true. My kid, I'm, I don't get a lot of sleep.

You know, I probably go to sleep 1, 2 o'clock in the morning. I wake up, you know, 435, 5.30 in the morning. And I wake up chippers, anything. I'm talking like jazz hands and all. Like, it's fun's off. Let's let's go. Oh, yeah. You know, like I'm ready, you know.

And my wife is not like that. You know, I make sure my wife has her coffee before she even gets out of bed because, you know, that's good for the entire household. Yeah. Yeah, that's, well, yeah, I understand that too, actually. But, John, is there anything else you want to say? I know that you have a flight to catch Joe, but is there anything, John, that you did want to share? Are you feeling good? I just appreciate the insights and information on domestic violence.

And of course, what you're doing is amazing and increasing awareness and advocating for victims. It's phenomenal. Thank you for taking Gabby's memory and really doing something special with it. I appreciate that. I don't think we're doing anything different than what people have done for us, to be honest. But I appreciate the nice things. And I think together is how we're going to get this done. Absolutely. And we want to support you and Nikki and Tara and Jim in any way possible through this journey.

So just let us know. And we're here for you. Is John going to come to? I'm going to try to convince him. He's not a big traveler. He usually sends me in his place. But maybe we can convince him to get there, especially if he knows you'll be barefoot. Maybe he'll know he can show up in his flip flops. I'd be very worried about driving a golf cart into the drink. I don't Jim and I broke one last year

actually Jim yeah yeah that happened so don't don't worry it's fine we'll be all right but just

the whole point is to come out and have a great time like that's really what it is and it's going to be a ton of raffles I think they have over a hundred different baskets they can be raffling off and some really some really cool stuff

so so it's definitely going to be a great time because we want to make sure people enjoy the event as much as possible. And that's what we're about. We're not about long-winded speeches and all this other stuff. It really is. Listen, we want you to come.

We want you to have a great time, eat some great food, play a great round of golf. We'll take it from there, see what happens. See if we can all come together and make this number of domestic violence being one in three women, one in five men to one in four women and one in six men. And then see if we can stretch that to one in five, you know what I mean, women, and one in seven men. And really push that out. to where we're no longer needed.

That's the goal we have. That's a beautiful goal. Well, here it is. It's the Gabby Petita Foundation presents its second annual, Touch the World Golf Outing, June 6, 2025. It's the Willow Creek Golf and Country Club. And we will have a link again to all of this information,

and you are looking for sponsors as well. If anybody is interested in sponsoring this event, Just let us know you can reach out to us or head to the Gabby Petito Foundation. You can email on either of those, the email right there at golf at Gabby Petito Foundation. If you have trouble or you just have questions, by all means, feel free to reach out. We'll get those questions answered and hopefully we'll all have to get together and have a fantastic day. That's the moment. Perfect.

All right. Thank you, Joe. We appreciate it. Bye, everyone. Thanks for joining us. We'll see you. Bye. Bye.

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