The parents of Gabby Petito’s fiancé Brian Laundrie have become pariahs in their Florida neighborhood following the release of a Netflix documentary about Petito’s 2021 murder. Neighbors say Christopher and Roberta Laundrie are being ostracized by the community, with some even throwing garbage and hurling insults at their home. The more I watched, the angrier I got,” said Miriam Woodby, who lives near the Laundrie family in North Port. “When I pass their house, I get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I hate them, and I’ve never even met them. I wish they’d just leave.”
Another neighbor whose property borders the Laundries’ agreed. “Just horrible people, in my belief,” he said. “It’s unanimous. No one wants anything to do with them.”
Jorge Ruiz revealed that people throw dirty diapers and dog feces into the Laundries’ yard. On at least two occasions, some have stood outside the home and shouted insults at Roberta Laundrie as she walked from her car. “Yeah, my heart breaks for her,” Ruiz said sarcastically. “That’s what you get. That’s what you get when you prolong the pain of innocent people to protect someone you know is guilty. You reap what you sow.”
The new three-part docuseries, which began streaming on Netflix this week, paints the Laundrie parents as cold and distant to Petito when she started dating their son.
Community scorns Laundries after docuseries
It also spotlights allegations that the family obstructed justice after the 22-year-old was reported missing on Sept. 11, 2021. Petito’s body was found on Sept. 19 in Wyoming. Laundrie had strangled her during a cross-country road trip. Days later, prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Laundrie, but his parents refused to cooperate or provide information about his whereabouts.
In October 2021, Laundrie’s body was discovered in a Florida nature reserve, along with a notebook confessing to Petito’s murder. He had died by suicide. “That family destroyed her,” another neighbor said of Petito. “And it all happened across the street from me.”
The Laundrie family attorney did not return a request for comment. However, the tight-knit North Port community’s anger toward Christopher and Roberta Laundrie is palpable. “I wish them nothing but the worst,” one neighbor said. “Seriously. I hope they know how much we all hate them here. I hope they know they don’t have any friends.”
Image Credits: Photo by freestocks on Unsplash
April Isaacs is a news contributor for DevX.com She is long-term, self-proclaimed nerd. She loves all things tech and computers and still has her first Dreamcast system. It is lovingly named Joni, after Joni Mitchell.
