(NewsNation) — Turning tragedy into purpose — that’s the mission of Joe Petito, whose daughter Gabby was found dead in September of 2021.
Gabby Petito’s death
Gabby Petito’s disappearance sparked a national search and news coverage across the world, in television, newspapers and especially social media. The search ended 8 days after her parents reported her missing when her body was found at a Wyoming campsite. The FBI later announced that her fiance, Brian Laundrie, was found dead and left a confession admitting he killed her.
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“We found her inside of, what, eight, nine days, and brought her home, you know, and across the country,” Joe Petito told NewsNation’s Marni Hughes. “How do you say ‘thank you’ for something so overwhelming? I mean, billions of people [paid attention to her case]; it sounds funny saying it. But now we’ve got to get those stories for other people. Everyone deserves the same attention.”
Petito spoke during a special episode of Missing, highlighting three years of bringing the stories of missing people to the audience. It’s an effort inspired by the search for Gabby Petito. 150 cases have been profiled on the show, and Joe Petito has made it his mission to help other families find missing loved ones.
“Since Gabby’s story, we’ve seen an influx of missing person cases not only hit the national news, but also on our social media pages,” he told Hughes. “And that’s been amazing to see. I mean, you have a missing show inspired by Gabby. How do you say ‘thank you’ for that? To be honest, and I know you’re doing it to help others and all, but it just, it is humbling to see that Gabby was able to touch that many people and inspire that many people, and we’re just trying to help as many people as we can because so many helped us.”
Joe Petito and the Gabby Petito foundation
One way he is doing that is with the Gabby Petito Foundation, with a mission of supporting the search for missing people and stopping domestic violence.
“Domestic violence is an issue that’s as old as time, to be honest with you,” he said. “We know so much more now than we did before. So really, it’s about helping the youth understand certain signs, places to go, information. People don’t even know where to begin. And that’s always troubling. So we always give out the National Domestic Violence Hotline.”
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The foundation also highlights the “Hope Can’t Wait” campaign of the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
Another partnership is with the Black and Missing Foundation.
“Most of the missing stories that you see on the national stage have my complexion, you know, and that’s just the way it is. I don’t know why, but you know what? I’m not going to sit here and post blame,” Petio said.” I don’t care where the blame lines, but we know there’s an issue. So now moving forward, let’s fix that.”
To the families who are trying to find loved ones, he says the most important thing is to keep working to get their stories to the public, in any way possible. “First of all, don’t give up, you know, reach out to us. Reach out to friends, family, if you’re more comfortable. But you have to keep pushing. You have to keep this story out there. You know, keep putting those flyers up. Keep calling the networks, keep trying to get as many stories out there. The more people that see it, the more that it’s going to be shared. And that’s it helps. It really does make a difference,” he said.
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Petito and the foundation are working with national, state and local organizations. He says they are currently focused on a lethality assessment at statewide levels. In 2023, the foundation was instrumental in helping lawmakers pass the Gabby Petito Act in Florida.
“The more we can get it out there, the more trainings that we can do, the more education we can give, he said. “That’s the goal, to no longer need foundations like the Gabby Petito Foundation, that’s the goal. Put me out of business, please. That’s for us to close my doors. It’s fine. That means we did our job.”
To watch the entire one-hour special episode of Missing, click here NEED LINK.
Missing airs Thursdays in the NewsNation app and at newsnationnow.com. Click here to learn more and get involved.