Gabby Petito's mother has referred to a statement made by the Laundrie family lawyer regarding her daughter's death as "garbage."
The grieving mother, Nicole Schmidt, learned yesterday, along with the rest of the world, that her 22-year-old daughter died as a result of strangulation.
It was also revealed by Teton County Coroner Dr. Brent Blue at a press conference that her remains had been left in the wilderness for up to four weeks.
"We hereby find the cause and manner of death to be, the cause, death by strangulation, and manner is homicide," Dr. Blue stated, per The New York Times. "By Wyoming state statute, no other information will be released about the autopsy."
Following the announcement of the autopsy findings, the Laundrie family lawyer, Steve Bertolino, issued a statement reminding the public and law enforcement that Brian Laundrie, who has been missing for a month, has not been charged in connection with his fiancée's death.
Per ABC 7, Bertolino said:
"Gabby Petito’s death at such a young age is a tragedy. While Brian Laundrie is currently charged with the unauthorized use of a debit card belonging to Gabby, Brian is only considered a person of interest in relation to Gabby Petito’s demise.
"At this time Brian is still missing and when he is located we will address the pending fraud charge against him."
According to the outlet, Schmidt did not take kindly to the statement, saying: "His words are garbage. Keep talking."
The remains of 22-year-old Petito - a blogger who had recently quit her job to embark on a cross-country road trip with her fiancé Laundrie - were found in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming on September 19.
Two days later, officials who had been awaiting full forensic identification of the body, confirmed that the remains belonged to Petito.
It is believed that Laundrie, a person of interest in the case, has been missing since around September 14. His parents informed law enforcement that their son had told them he was going for a hike.
They said he left with a backpack with the intention of heading to the T. Mabry Carlton Jr. Memorial Reserve near Venice - but never returned.
