Local News 8 preview – 20/20’ sits down with the parents of Gabby Petito

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) - Gabby Petito’s parents sit down with “GMA3” co-anchor Eva Pilgrim in an all-new episode of “20/20,” FRIDAY, FEB. 21 8 p.m. MST, on ABC and streaming the next day on Hulu.

Before the broadcast, Eva Pilgrim met with Local News 8's Maggie Tolleson to discuss what their team has learned through their talks with Petito's parents.

In 2021, Gabby Petito and her fiance Brian Laundrie embarked early that summer on a cross-country van trip she was documenting on social media as an aspiring travel influencer. But Laundrie returned to his Florida home on Sept. 1 and later vanished into a nature reserve for weeks. After investigators found his remains, a medical examiner determined he had died by suicide. Authorities said they found writings near his remains in which he claimed responsibility for Petito’s death.

The “20/20” episode features interviews with Gabby’s mother, Nicole Schmidt, and her husband, Jim Schmidt; Gabby’s father, Joe Petito, and his wife, Tara Petito; as well as others involved in the case.