Gabby Petito's Family Asks Brian Laundrie Parents to Turn Over Months of Texts, Emails

Attorneys for the family of Gabby Petito have asked for additional information for their lawsuit against Brian Laundrie's parents.

Citing court documents filed Wednesday, WWSB reported that Patrick Reilly, the lawyer for Gabby's parents, requested access to all text messages between the elder Laundries and their son Brian between July 2, 2021 and September 30, 2021.

His request also includes emails or other correspondence between the three Laundries in the same date range, the US Sun reported. The Laundries have 30 days to reply.

In March last year, Gabby's parents, Joe Petito and Nichole Schmidt, filed a civil lawsuit against Brian's parents, Chris and Roberta Laundrie, for causing emotional distress in relation to their daughter's death.

Gabby's parents alleged that Brian's parents knew their son killed their daughter, but they tried to help him flee. When Gabby was missing, Gabby's parents also claimed that Brian's parents refused to return calls or texts to them, who were desperately looking for their daughter.

Brian Laundrie's parents reportedly answered back in court filings, arguing that they had no duty to Gabby Petito's family. The next hearing is scheduled on May 24.

Brian Laundries's Mom Breaks Silence on 'Burn After Reading' Letter

In a previous request for additional evidence, Patrick Reilly requested for Brian Laundries' camp to produce the letter from Brian's mom, who allegedly "offered to bring a shovel to help bury the body" and helped him "get out of prison," among other things.

Reilly noted that the letter's envelope contained the words "burn after reading," and it was among the things recovered inside Brian's backpack after his remains were discovered.

In a letter she sent to Sarasota County Circuit Court last March, Roberta Laundrie said the "quirky" letter was to help repair the relationship between her and her son and was written months before Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie embarked on their cross-country road trip in 2021.

"Although I do not know the exact date I wrote the letter, I do know that I wrote it and gave it to Brian before Brian and Gabby left Florida for New York, which was on June 2, 2021," Roberta wrote in the letter acquired by WFLA.

Roberta also told the court that she and her son shared a love for books like "The Runaway Bunny" and "Little Bear," even claiming that there was one entitled "Burn After Writing," which was the reason she wrote it on the envelope containing her letter to her son.

She added that it was also the subject of a joke between her, her son, and Gabby. Roberta maintained that the letter's purpose was to reach out to her son to repair their "strained" relationship.

"Brian and I always had a very open and communicative relationship, and in the months prior to the trip, our relationship had become strained. Brian and I shared a love of stories and some of the language in the letter was using similar phrases to describe the depth of a mother's love," she noted.

While her letter contains words and phrases that some might think are about the couple, Roberta maintained that there was "no connection" between what she wrote and what happened to her son and Gabby.

"While I used words that seem to have a connection with Brian's actions and his taking of Gabby's life, I never would have fathomed the events that unfolded months later between Brian and Gabby would reflect the words in my letter," Roberta noted.

She said the words in the letter could never be a comment on that tragic event as they were written many months before.

"My words to Brian were meant to convey my love and support for my son through a light-hearted and quirky reminder that my love for him was not diminished and could not be shaken by the miles of separation we would soon be faced with," she noted

The letter she sent to the court was in support of the motion they filed against the "burn after reading" letter becoming public.

Roberta's lawyers filed a motion for a protective order to block the attempts by Gabby's parents to make the letter she wrote to her son admissible as evidence in the civil trial.

Brian Laundrie's Mom Claims Police Did Not Find Her Letter to Son in His Bag

During a remote hearing in February, Patrick Reilly noted that he saw the letter of Brian Laundrie's mom at an FBI regional office," CNN reported. Gabby Petito's camp said the FBI released it to Laundrie's family lawyer, Steven Bertolino, on June 24, 2022.

However, in her letter to the court, Roberta said it was "not true" because the FBI had the letter in their possession and questioned her and her husband about it before October 20, 2021, when "my husband and I found Brian's remains in the reserve."

P. Matthew Luka, a defense lawyer representing Laundrie's parents, previously said the "burn after reading" letter was irrelevant to the civil lawsuit and they should not have to produce it. Luka admitted that the letter exists and is now in possession of another Laundrie's family lawyer.

However, the defense lawyer argued that the letter was irrelevant because it "pre-dates" Brian and Gabby's trip, so it "really doesn't have any relation necessarily to the unfortunate events that unfolded thereafter."

"I know that some of the wording that was used in the letter is unfortunate and might suggest that it has some connection, but it doesn't," Luka added.

In January 2022, the FBI said that Brian confessed to killing Gabby in a message left in his notebook. The FBI noted that its investigation has concluded that Brian Laundrie was the only person responsible for Gabby Petito's "tragic death."

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Written by: Bert Hoover

WATCH: Report: Attorneys in Gabby Petito Case Battle Over Letter - From CBS New York