Gabby Petito's mom says 'crazy' theories led to fake tips in daughter's murder case

Gabby Petito's mom says 'crazy' theories led to fake tips in daughter's murder case

Gabby Petito's mom has asked 'armchair detectives' to stop sharing harmful conspiracy theories -Credit:Supplied (Supplied)EXCLUSIVE: Nichole Schmidt, Gabby Petito's mother, has opened up about how conspiracy theories caused people to send in fake tips to the police as she looked for her daughter

Gabby Petito's mother has revealed "crazy" theories led to fake tips being submitted in her daughter's missing persons case.

Gabby Petito, 22, was reported missing by her family on September 11, 2021, after days of attempting to get law enforcement to take on her case. Gabby's parents, Nichole Schmidt, Jim Schmidt, Joe Petito, and Tara Petito, had worked to have her reported officially missing but were pushed from pillar to post because of confusion over jurisdiction.

Gabby went missing in Wyoming, but her parents, Nichole and Jim, were living in New York at the time she went missing, although their daughter technically lived in Florida.

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It took nearly two weeks for the report to be officially filed, with the van life vlogger being found dead on September 19, 2021. She had been fatally strangled by her abusive partner, Brian Laundrie, who died by suicide days later. Following Gabby's death, Brian admitted to killing her in a note, written before he died by suicide. The FBI also confirmed that he is the sole person involved in her death.

In an exclusive interview with The Mirror US, Nichole and Jim revealed that conspiracy theorists caused people to send the police several fake tips about Gabby's case.

Gabby Petito was killed five years ago

Gabby's case blew up on social media, which helped raise awareness, but it also led "armchair detectives," as Nichole calls them, to speculate about what happened.

"When people start creating a different storyline or adding in conspiracies during an active case, an ongoing investigation, it causes a lot of issues for law enforcement because now they're getting crazy phone calls, tips that are not even something that they would follow up on because it's all fake," Nichole explained.

Calling this speculation a "disservice to the victim," the Gabby Petito Foundation co-founder continued, "Everybody needs to take a step back and remember that there is a real victim.

"There's a real family behind this. And we have to be respectful and have that empathy towards them because it's not going to help the case at all."

Social media sleuths started sharing conspiracy theories about Gabby -Credit:Supplied

Nichole also pointed out that she's not telling content creators to stop telling Gabby's story; it's just the way that it can be done which is hurtful.

"I'm okay with her story being shared; it's actually a good thing," Nichole told us. "It helps people. But when it's the other side, it's that dark side of conspiracy theories and stuff, I'm like, 'This needs to stop.' You know, now you're exploiting. And it's really sad."

Some of the theories surrounding the case included one that said Brian Laundrie faked his death, and another that stated both Gabby and her killer were crisis actors, with the pair being used by the government to pull attention away from political news. These theories are both completely fabricated and proven false.

To contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline, call 1-800-799-7233, text "START" to 88788, or visit their website.

Anyone affected by abuse and in need of support can contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline (1-800-799-7233). Advocates are available 24/7 and can also be reached via live chat on thehotline.org or by texting "START" to 88788 or "LOVEIS" to 22522.

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Source: Crime