Gabby Petito's parents file $50 million wrongful death lawsuit against Utah police department
NEW YORK -- The parents of Gabby Petito have filed a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit against the Moab, Utah, Police Department.
They say officers failed to protect the 22-year-old during a domestic call involving her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, during their road trip last summer.
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The lawsuit says officers misidentified Petito as the primary aggressor in the interaction and did not apply Utah's domestic abuse laws correctly.
Petito's body was found several weeks later in Grand Teton National Forest. The cause of death was determined to be strangulation.
Laundrie later admitted to killing Petito in a note before taking his own life.
"There are laws put in place to protect victims, and those laws were not followed, and we don't want this to happen to anybody else, and it keeps happening," Petito's mother, Nichole Schmidt, said.
The city of Moab denies responsibility for her murder and plans to fight the lawsuit.