Nichole Schmidt biography: 10 things about missing persons advocate from Blue Point, New York

Who is Nichole Schmidt?

Nichole M. Durivou Schmidt is an American woman from Blue Point, Suffolk County, Long Island, New York, United States. She and Joe Petito are the parents of Gabrielle “Gabby” Petito, who was engaged to Brian Laundrie.

In 2019, Gabby moved to Laundrie’s family house in North Port, Florida where they lived with his parents Christopher John “Chris” Laundrie and Roberta Maria Vinci Laundrie. According to Schmidt, Chris and Roberta treated Gabby like their own daughter.

Brian murdered Gabby before taking his own life. Here are 10 more things about her mother:

1. She is an advocate for missing persons.
2. She is an artist with a bachelor’s degree in graphic design.
3. She enjoys going to the beach and traveling.
4. She is married to James “Jim” Schmidt.
5. She is the president of the Gabby Petito Foundation while Joe is the vice president, Tara is the secretary and Jim and Richard Stafford are board members.
6. Before marrying Jim, she was in a relationship with Joe, who later married Tara Petito.
7. She used to work as an emergency medical technician (EMT).
8. As a formed teaching assistant, she has worked with kids with disabilities in public school.
9. Aside from Blue Point, she has lived in other parts of New York including Bellport and Patchogue.
10. She has lived in different parts of Florida, USA including Riverview and Seffner.

TIMELINE

1999

• On March 19, 1999, she gave birth to Gabby in Blue Point, New York.

2020

• In July 2020, her daughter Gabby was engaged to Brian.

2021

• On June 17, 2021, Gabby and Brian visited her in Blue Point and attended Gabby’s brother’s graduation.
• On July 2, 2021, her daughter Gabby started a cross-country trip with Brian. They travelled across the U.S. in a white 2012 Ford Transit van. 
• On August 25, 2021, she spoke to Gabby on a FaceTime call. She had not heard from Gabby since then.
• On August 27, 2021, she received a text message from Gabby’s cellphone, which read, “Can you help Stan, I just keep getting his voicemeails and missed calls.” Stan is Gabby’s grandfather. She found it weird because Gabby never called him Stan.
• On August 30, 2021, she received another text message from Gabby’s cellphone, which read, “No service in Yosemite.”
• On September 10, 2021, she reached out to Brian and Roberta and asked them about Gabby but they both did not respond to her text messages. Roberta allegedly blocked her on Facebook and blocked her phone number.
• On September 11, 2021, she reported Gabby missing to the Suffolk County Police Department.
• On September 19, 2021, his daughter Gabby was found deceased at the Spread Creek Dispersed Camping Area in the Bridger-Teton National Forest on the east boundary of Grand Teton National Park in Teton County, Wyoming, USA.
• On September 21, 2021, a coroner made an initial determination that her daughter Gabby died by homicide.
• On September 22, 2021, her husband Jim visited the campground where Gabby’s remains were found and made a small memorial at the site.

2022

• On January 7, 2022, she and Joe donated $15,000 through the Gabby Petito Foundation to help build a SafeSpace domestic violence shelter in Indian River County.
• On March 10, 2022, she and Joe filed a civil lawsuit seeking damages of at least $100,000 against Chris and Roberta.
• On November 3, 2022, she, Joe, Tara and Jim announced a wrongful death lawsuit he and Nichole filed against the Moab Police Department during a press conference at the Utah Law and Justice Center in Salt Lake City.
• On November 17, 2022, Judge Hunter W. Carroll awarded her and Joe $3 million in a lawsuit against Brian’s estate, which was estimated to be about $20,000.

2023

• From September 23-24, 2023, she, Joe, Tara and Jim served as speakers at Crimecon 2023: Orlando in Orlando where they donated $15,000 to the Black and Missing Foundation.

2024

• On February 21, 2024, she, Joe, Chris and Roberta reached a settlement in a lawsuit. The terms are confidential.
• On May 30, 2024, she, Joe, Tara and Jim were speakers at Crimecon 2024 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
• On September 13, 2024, she represented the Gabby Petito Foundation in the 30th anniversary of the passage of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in the Great Hall of the Robert F. Kennedy Building in Washington, D.C., USA.
• On November 20, 2024, Utah’s 7th District Court Judge Don Torgerson dismissed the wrongful death lawsuit she and Joe filed against the Moab Police Department.

2025

• In September 2025, she will turn 47.