Family of Gabby Petito reveal matching tattoos in her honour

Designs were the same as those Petito had on her own arms

Helen Elfer
Tuesday 28 September 2021 20:40 BST
Comments
Gabby Petito's family gets tattoos inspired by her artwork
Leer en Español

The parents and step-parents of Gabby Petito have revealed that they all got matching tattoos in honour of their daughter this week.

Petito’s mother and father, Joseph Petitio and Nicole Schmidt, and their spouses Tara Petito and Jim Schmidt, showed off matching designs on their forearms at a press conference on Tuesday.

Mr Schmidt said: “These were tattoos that Gabby designed herself, she was an artist.”

The designs included a flower inside a triangle and a wave that Gabby had drawn and the words “Believe” and “Let it be” in cursive.

“Let it be” was a reference to the Beatles song of the same name that Petito is said to have loved, and Mr Schmidt incorporated its lyrics into his eulogy for Petito on Sunday.

“And when the broken hearted people living in the world agree; there will be an answer, let it be,” he said. “It’s OK to mourn for Gabby. It’s OK to feel sorrow and pain, but we want to celebrate her and how she lived her life. We want you to hold onto all those wonderful memories we shared with her because that would be the answer; let it be.”

Joseph Petito also had a branch of leaves winding around his finger, which matched a tattoo that Petito had too.

Ms Schmidt explained the reason behind the tattoos, saying: “I wanted to have her with me all the time,” while Mr Petito told reporters: “We need positive stuff to come from the tragedy that happened. We all had them done last night, we all did it together. We always co-parented Gabby together and that's not going to stop now, we’re in this together.”

Petito went missing in August while travelling with her fiancé Brian Laundrie, and her body was later found near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in