Gabby Petito's anguished family went on "60 Minutes Australia" and pleaded for her fiancé to turn himself in as dogs in Florida assisted in the massive manhunt for him last week.
"He went home, he’s hiding. He used her credit card," said Petito’s mother, Nichole Schmidt, according to a sneak peak of the interview scheduled to air Sunday.
"Either way you look at, he’s a coward," said her father Joe Petito.
Gabby Petito’s fiancé, Brian Laundrie, was named a "person of interest," by the FBI and is wanted on a federal arrest warrant for bank card fraud. He has evaded police since his family says he vanished on Sept. 13.
"Turn your ... (expletive) self in now," added her stepfather Jim Schmidt.
During the exclusive interview, Petito’s family took aim at Laundrie’s parents, who have remained quiet since their son returned home without Petito and later mysteriously disappeared himself. On Oct. 7, his father, Chris Laundrie, helped police identify where his son liked to hike.
"I believe they know. I don’t know why they’re doing this to us," Schmidt continued during a brief preview of the show.
"Their actions don’t show that their son is missing. It shows that they’re just comfortable and they probably know where he is," said Schmidt, according to 9now.nine.com.au. The show will air on Nine Network in Australia.
Last week, the Pasco County Sheriff's Office used dogs trained to track human remains while searching for Laundrie at the sprawling Carlton reserve in Florida. Steven Bertolino, an attorney for the Laundrie family, previously said Brian Laundrie is not a wilderness survivalist.
Petito and Laundrie — graduates of Bayport-Blue Point High School on Long Island, New York — were on a cross-country road trip this summer that they widely documented on social media.
"Her laughter was so infectious, her smile so infectious," Joe Petito recalled during the interview.
Schmidt, of Blue Point, reported her daughter missing to Suffolk County, New York, police Sept. 11 after she stopped hearing from her in late August.
Petito’s body was found Sept. 19 in a Wyoming national forest. A Wyoming coroner determined she died of manual strangulation several weeks before she was discovered.
"I thought he would take care of her," Schmidt added.
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