In a motion filed Wednesday, the parents of Brian Laundrie asked a Florida court to dismiss a civil lawsuit brought by parents
In their lawsuit, Petito's parents alleged the Laundries knew that their son killed Petito and were working to help him flee the country. Their lawsuit alleges Laundrie told his parents about killing Petito around August 28 and that the Laundries refused to respond to Petito's family or law enforcement when they inquired whether the 22-year-old woman was alive.
"Christopher Laundrie and Roberta Laundrie knew of the mental suffering and anguish of Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt, and knew that they could alleviate, at least in part, such mental suffering and anguish by disclosing what they knew about the well-being and the location of the remains of Gabrielle Petito, yet they repeatedly refused to do so," the lawsuit says.
The motion to dismiss filed this week says the Laundries had "fundamental constitutional rights to silence," adding that the family had a "general constitutional right not to speak on any topic and a more specific constitutional right not to speak in the face of a criminal investigation."
In a statement sent to CNN, Laundrie family attorney Steven Bertolino called the Petitos' lawsuit "baseless and frivolous."
"The Laundries have exercised their constitutional right to refrain from speaking and have relied on counsel to speak for them. This is not only common practice in our civilized community but it embodies the exercise of fundamental rights under the United States and Florida Constitutions," Bertolino said, adding he was confident the suit will be dismissed.
CNN has reached out to an attorney for Petito's family for comment.
Petito, whose disappearance last summer, was first reported missing by her family in September after she had embarked on a cross-country trip with Laundrie, who was her fiance.
Laundrie returned to the couple's Florida home, where his parents also lived, by himself in early September, left again roughly two weeks later and disappeared. Days into the search for Laundrie in a Florida reserve, authorities in Teton County, Wyoming, discovered Petito's remains. A coroner later ruled she died by strangulation.
In late October, Laundrie's remains were found in the area of the Florida reserve. A medical examiner ruled he died by suicide. Nearby, authorities found a notebook in which they said Laundrie claimed responsibility for Petito's death.
U.S. forecasters are warning of destructive waves, devastating winds and flash floods through the week as Hurricane Milton makes its way from the Yucatan Peninsula toward Florida.
Florida's Gulf Coast braced Tuesday for the impact of Hurricane Milton's winds and expected massive storm surge, which could bring destruction to areas already reeling from Helene's devastation 12 days ago and still recovering from Ian's wrath two years ago.
Kamala Harris called Donald Trump 'incredibly irresponsible' for spreading falsehoods about the federal response to Hurricane Helene's destruction, offering especially sharp words as a new storm bears down on Florida with just weeks until Election Day.
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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Monday there are 'a lot of bad genes' in the United States, while discussing murders allegedly committed by immigrants living illegally in the United States.
Hezbollah's acting leader said Tuesday that even more Israelis will be displaced as the militant group extends its rocket fire deeper into Israel, in a defiant televised statement marking the anniversary of fighting that escalated into war last month.
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A newly released document shows federal cabinet ministers were warned in May 2022 that hostile states were targeting Canada's strategic interests, the integrity of Canadian institutions and democratic processes, and the ability of the public to exercise Charter-protected rights and freedoms.
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Georgia's highest court reinstated a ban on nearly all abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy on Monday while it considers the U.S. state's appeal of last week's ruling by a lower court judge blocking the law.
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Five vehicles collided in Orillia Monday night during rush hour.
The cause of a fire that caused significant damage to a home in Oro-Medonte over the weekend is under investigation.
Police are driving attention to an unsolved homicide that happened in broad daylight over a year ago in Tay Township in hopes someone holds the key that can move the case forward.
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Lethbridge police say a man who escaped from a psychiatric ward at the Chinook Regional Hospital has been found.
While the summer may be over, construction season in Lethbridge is not.
The Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM) is the latest organization to call on the Doug Ford government to re-open dialogue with an airline service that transports lower-income Canadians to crucial medical care far from home.
For decades, Mississauga First Nation has known that human remains from their land were at the Canadian Museum of History.
Greater Sudbury in partnership with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, is hosting the organization's annual mining conference.
As millions in federal funding flow into a Labrador group whose claims of Inuit identity have been rejected by Indigenous organizations across Canada, a national Inuit leader worries the Liberal government is putting the rights of Indigenous Peoples at risk.
He may not have logged the fastest time or even gone the full distance, but residents of a Newfoundland town agree the goat who unexpectedly joined the local weekend half marathon was the event's undisputed champion.
A mother in a community where the cost of living is one of the highest in the country says grocery prices are 'inhumane' and retailers are putting profits ahead of people’s basic human right to food.
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