Gabby Petito's Father Pleads With Social Media '#JustBeANicerPerson'

Gabby Petito’s father is encouraging social media users to be nicer people.

This year marked the second holiday season Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt didn’t have their daughter with them to celebrate.

In case you didn’t know, Gabby was murdered by her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, in August 2021.

On Christmas day, Petito shared a photo of Gabby and her younger brothers.

“#MerryChristmas from our family to yours. #TogetherWeCan#JustBeANicerPerson,” he captioned the post.

His followers were quick to shower his post with supportive words.

“As hard as this holiday is for ur family's I pray that God gives ur hearts some kind of peace. Happy holidays and love from me here in Alabama,” one person wrote.

“Merry Christmas to you and your family Mr Petito and Merry Christmas to Gabby,” another heartfelt message read.

Many were grateful for his continued work to help find missing persons.

“Wishing you and your family a blessed Christmas and New Year. Thanking you and your family for all you do and have done to help find the missing and DV victims. Gabby our Angel is oh so proud of you all.With sincere gratitude and greatful heart,” a fan wrote.

“Merry Christmas Joe! Thank you for all the work you and your family have done to keep others safe in Gabby’s memory. Thinking of you all today and grateful for you,” another tweeted.

Gabby’s biological mother and father recently got new legislation to to President Joe Biden’s desk.

The “Help Find the Missing Act,” which is backed by Petito and Schmidt, was approved by the Senate earlier this month and The House of Representatives last week.

Per reports, the legislation calls for information on missing people to be entered into the FBI's internal database called the National Crime Information Center (NCIC).

The NCIC database would then transfer this information over to the Department of Justice’s database called NamUs, aka, the National Missing Person’s and Unidentified Persons System.

The information would be shared publicly so everyone can see who is missing provide potential help.

Per New York State law, law enforcement is currently required to put the details to missing people into NamUs, but it’s only one of 13 states required to share this information.

New Jersey and Connecticut do not have any requirements pertaining to this.

Gabby’s father told investigative reporter Kristin Thorne, “Everyone deserves to be found and here's a way to have that happen.”

He continued, "There has to be something done on the way we handle missing people. This is just a step in the right direction."

Gabby’s parents and step-parents found out about the legislation in February and began working tirelessly to get it passed.

"We've been contacting senators and their teams to make sure everyone is onboard," Joseph said.

The legislation would also provide $2 million in funding to NamUs.

"It's not just the left that goes missing or the right that goes missing," he said "It's everyone."

In addition to passing legislation to help find missing persons, Gabby’s parents are making sure that the Laundrie family lawyer, Steven Bertolino, pays the price for allegedly helping the Laundries cover up Gabby’s death.

On Tuesday, December 6th, Gabby’s parents added Bertolino to their civil lawsuit against the Laundries.

Petito and Schmidt allege that it was "insensitive, cold-hearted and outrageous" for Bertolino to express the Laundrie family's "hope" that authorities would find Gabby's remains in 2021.

Earlier this year, Gabby’s parents filed the lawsuit against Chris and Roberta claiming they knew their son murdered Gabby and had knowledge about the location of her remains.

In a statement released earlier this month, Petito and Schmidt said, “When they did choose to speak, it was through statements issued by Steven Bertolino, including a statement on September 14, 2021 that it was the 'hope' of the Laundrie family ‘that the search for Miss Petito is successful and that Miss Petito is reunited with her family.’"

It continued, "It is believed that at the time the September 14, 2021, statement was issued, the Laundries and Steven Bertolino knew that Gabby Petito was deceased, and that under those circumstances, the statement was insensitive, cold-hearted and outrageous."