GABBY Petito's mom shared a heartbreaking note on Friday about being "eye-to-eye with evil" in the midst of a legal battle with the Laundries.
The mother of the murdered young woman posted the passage on Twitter, saying: "I'm sending you all love as you have done for me."
"I don't know who wrote this, but wow, isn't this the #truth," Nichole Schmidt shared with her 68,000 followers.
The passage reads: "Although the struggle with grief is part of every death, murder is darker than death, and so is the road to surviving and healing in the aftermath.
The note went on to say: "The aftermath of murder takes us straight through hell where we stand eye-to-eye with the evil that hides behind human faces, and what we do in the face of that evil defines what lies behind our own face.
"The aftermath of the murder is nothing less than a full-blown emotional and spiritual struggle."
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Fans immediately responded to Schmidt in the midst of her legal battle with Brian Laundrie's family.
"Sending you and your family so much love and prayers through this continued nightmare," one person said on Twitter.
Another person said: "Unfortunately I know this to be true from personal experience. Love and hugs to your and your family."
Many people have also left haunting tributes on Gabby's memorial near where her body was found in Spread Creek, Wyoming.
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LEGAL BATTLE
This comes as Petito's parents earned a massive victory in their legal battle against Brian Laundrie's family after a judge decided to move forward with the case.
The court's ruling was made based on Laundrie family attorney Steven Bertolino's statement during the search for Gabby, which Judge Hunter W Carroll called "objectively outrageous."
Bertolino said during the search for the missing vlogger: "On behalf of the Laundrie family, it is our hope that the search for Miss Petito is successful and that Miss Petito is reunited with her family."
The Laundries' silence and Bertolino's comment – while allegedly knowing Gabby was dead – provided false hope and invoked emotional distress, Petito's lawyer Patrick Reilly argued in court.
"Because the Laundries' statement by their attorney in the context of the unique faces of this case is objectively outrageous, the Court concludes that Plaintiffs [Petitos] have stated causes of actions for intentional infliction of emotional distress against the Laundries," the judge wrote.
"If the facts of this case truly were about silence with no affirmative act by the Laundries, the Court would have resolved this case in the Laundries’ favor on the concept of legal duty.
"But they did not stay silent," the judge continued.
Gabby's parents, Nichole Schmidt and Joe Petito released a joint statement through their lawyer, saying they were "appreciative of the thorough and well-reasoned" decision by Judge Carroll.
"This gives them an opportunity to proceed with their claim for the emotional distress caused by the conduct of the Laundries," the family attorney said.
"Joe and Nichole look forward to discovering the information the Laundries knew about Gabby's death and her whereabouts, and in particular getting a copy of any correspondence, emails, and texts exchanged during the difficult period when Gabby's whereabouts were unknown."
Joe tweeted the hashtag "The truth will be revealed," as well as the hashtag "Justice for Gabby."
Gabby's parents, who divorced and remarried, held their spouses' hands as they walked to the courtroom together on June 22.
Nichole clutched her necklace with a locket that holds Gabby's ashes, and they all wore "Justice for Gabby" bracelets meant to represent Gabby's life, not her death, her parents said.
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After the hearing, Nichole held out a small prayer card that their lawyer said was made by a well-wisher from Australia who drew an image of Gabby as an angel.
No one from the Laundrie family appeared in court.
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