NORTH PORT, Fla. (WFLA) — Gabby Petito‘s father, Joe is pleading for help. He wants to know where his daughter is.
“I’m asking for help from the parents of Brian and the family and friends of the Laundrie as well,” Petito said.
No one has seen or heard from the 22-year-old in weeks. Yellowstone National Park joined in the search efforts Thursday, posting pictures of Petito on their social media pages. FBI Denver is now joining the investigation as well.
Several people in the North Port community have stopped by Laundrie’s home with signs. They want Laundrie to tell North Port police where Petito is.
“We feel like we should be doing something, we’re not in Utah or Wyoming, but I feel like North Port needs to come together as a community and support Gabby,” Dena Sternquist said. “For whatever reasons this guy wants to lock himself in the house and not help find her, it’s heartbreaking, it’s sad, it’s disrespectful, it’s horrible,” Jason Sternquist said.
North Port police say they found Gabby’s van at her home Saturday. She and her fiancé Brian Laundrie used the van for a cross-country road trip.
Laundrie got back on Sept. 1 and Petito wasn’t with him. Her mom, Nichole Schmidt reported her daughter missing 10 days later.
“Two people went on a trip, one person returned, and that person that returned isn’t providing us information,” North Port Police Chief Todd Garrison said.
As the search for Gabby grows, her father says there’s only one goal.
“Whatever you can do to make sure my daughter comes home, I’m asking for that help,” Petito said. “There is nothing else that matters to me now.”
The North Port Police Chief says he knows where Laundrie is now but didn’t say if it was at his home, or somewhere else.
He said there is no evidence right now that a crime happened. This is still a missing person case.
