Four Years Later: Gabby Petito’s Legacy Inspires Change in Domestic Violence Advocacy

On the fourth anniversary of her death, Gabby Petito’s family carries on her legacy through advocacy and the Gabby Petito Foundation.

Gabby Petito via Instagram

It has been four years since the death of Gabrielle “Gabby” Petito, a 22-year-old whose killing and disappearance during a cross-country trip in 2021 drew nationwide attention and sparked conversations about domestic violence and missing persons cases.

In the weeks before her death, police body camera footage from Moab, Utah, showed Gabby and Brian Laundrie pulled over after a reported domestic dispute, where signs of turmoil in their relationship were on display. Laundrie later returned home to Florida in early September 2021 without Gabby, sparking concern from her family and friends.

On September 19, her remains were discovered in Wyoming’s Bridger–Teton National Forest. A coroner determined she died by manual strangulation and blunt force injuries to the head and neck, ruling her death a homicide. One month later, Laundrie’s remains were found in a Florida nature preserve, along with a notebook in which he admitted responsibility for killing her.

In response to her death, Petito’s parents and stepparents founded the Gabby Petito Foundation in 2021. The nonprofit provides resources to victims of domestic violence and supports families of missing persons. The foundation has made financial contributions to organizations including the National Domestic Violence Hotline, Safe Space, and the Aware Foundation.

“Gabby touched so many people … maybe it’ll save one more life,” stepmother Tara Petito said in an interview with Netflix. “We’ve already received so many messages saying, ‘Because of Gabby’s story, I got out of that relationship.’ That’s why we started the foundation as well, to help others and get resources in their hands.”

The foundation has also been involved in legislative reform. Joe Petito, Gabby’s father, highlighted their work on laws addressing domestic violence: “We helped pass S.B. 117, the Domestic Violence Amendments bill that reformed lethality assessments in Utah … which we then brought to Florida. … These bills became known as the Gabby Petito Act (S.B. 1224).”

Petito’s stepfather, Jim Schmidt, a longtime firefighter, has emphasized the importance of training for first responders. “If we can even be a small piece of support network for somebody else in a similar situation and try to just help them get through it, it goes a long way,” Schmidt said at a press conference.

The family continues to travel, attend conferences, and fundraise through the foundation, using Gabby’s story to advocate for stronger domestic violence prevention and to ensure other families receive support during missing person cases.

Four years later, the Petito family says their mission is to keep Gabby’s memory alive by turning their tragedy into action that saves lives.

Vanished SF: Domestic violence remains a large issue in the United States. More than 10 million people experience abuse each year, with nearly 20 people abused every minute.

Lifetime data shows that over 35% of women and nearly 29% of men have experienced intimate partner violence. About one in four women and one in seven men report severe physical violence, and nearly 15% of all violent crime nationwide is linked to intimate partner violence.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, help is available.

Call the U.S. National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 

or text “START” to 88788 for support.