Gabby Petito’s parents warn about charity scam using her name

‘There are many people out there trying to make money off of this, which is horrible’

Gabby Petito’s mother has warned that internet fraudsters are impersonating a foundation set up in her daughter’s name to try to steal donations.

Nichole Schmidt said those wishing to give to the Gabby Petito Foundation, set up after her death to help victims of domestic violence, should only go through the official website.

“There are many people out there trying to make money off of this, which is horrible,” Ms Schmidt wrote on the foundation’s Facebook page.

“They are claiming to take donations for our foundation, know that that is not us.”

Gabby Petito’s parents, Ms Schmidt and Joseph Petito, with their partners Jim Schmidt and Tara Petito, set up the foundation after her death to help domestic violence victims access resources and share their stories, and reunite missing persons with their families.

Joseph Petito attended the opening of a SafeSpace domestic violence shelter in Vero Beach, Florida, at the weekend, and told WPBF that supporting those efforts helped to keep her memory alive.

“I think Gabby’s going to live on through everyone to be honest with you,” he said.

“So many people are affected by this and so many her story went so far because people felt it, they understood it. They saw their own child.”

The foundation has also donated to a new shelter in Indian River County, Florida, and set up scholarships at two of Ms Petito’s former high schools in Long Island, New York.

Ms Petito’s body was found in the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming on 19 September.

The FBI concluded that her boyfriend Brian Laundrie murdered her by manual strangulation.

Laundrie’s skeletal remains were found in the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park, near his parent’s home in North Port Florida, on 20 October.