Gabby Petito’s stepfather works with Mid-Missouri organizations to fight domestic violence

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Missouri Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence reports an average of more than 200 calls per day to the National Domestic Violence Hotline answered each day across the Show-Me-State in 2025.

In the Central Region alone, MCADSV reports hotline calls went up 15% from 2024. The region includes much of Mid-Missouri's counties like Boone, Camden, Chariton, Cole, Cooper, Gasconade, Howard, Laclede, Maries, Miller, Moniteau, Morgan, Osage, Phelps, and Pulaski.

Nationally, five people die each day on average from domestic violence, according to the hotline.

Jim Schmidt thinks those numbers are on the rise because domestic violence is more prevalent, especially among young people. Schmidt is the stepfather of Gabby Petito, who was killed by her fiancé Brian Laundrie five years ago.

The couple was on a cross-country road trip visiting national parks when Laundrie strangled her to death.

"If a person's been strangled by an intimate partner even one time, they're seven-and-a-half times more likely to be murdered by them," Schmidt said. "Her life was cut short by somebody who was supposed to, or promised to, take care of her for the rest of her life."

In the aftermath of their loss, Schmidt and the Petito family turned their pain into purpose by starting the Gabby Petito Foundation.

"We focus in two areas. One area is missing persons and helping families who have long-term missing loved ones, and then the other piece of it is domestic violence," Schmidt said.

Schmidt believes the increase in hotline calls is due to both an increase in domestic violence and more awareness of domestic violence resources.

"For every increase we see, we also know that there is probably tenfold that number that are not reaching out and haven't sought help yet, and those are the ones we're trying to get to," Schmidt said.

The foundation has narrowed its focus to prevention and education, which eventually connected its team to the staff at True North Columbia, a local domestic violence shelter and resource. Brian Grove, a former Columbia Police detective with the Special Victims' Domestic Violence Enforcement (DOVE) Unit, contacted the Petito Foundation for information related to upcoming training.

Schmidt said the relationship between the two organizations has been a good one.

"Organizations like True North with their response to domestic violence and sexual assault in that area, they bring all those partnering agencies together. They do all work together to have a better outcome for survivors and their safety," Schmidt said. "It's something we try to push across the country for others to follow."

In 2025, CPD reported 1,405 calls for domestic violence. The DOVE Unit worked 165 cases. DOVE consists of two detectives, a civilian investigator, a team of victim advocates with True North, and four assistant prosecutors from the Boone County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

Schmidt tends to field the foundation's education efforts with first responders.

Some of the new educational material the foundation is developing related to law enforcement procedures includes "Strangulation Training." Grove and Schmidt used body camera footage from Gabby's case to present the segment at the Missouri Office of Prosecuting Services conference earlier in the year.

"We often think that the physical violence is the first action that happens in these relationships, but it's not. It's these non-physical forms of abuse, coercive control, and all these signs," Schmidt said. "It's more than what is occurring that day, what has led up to it, what is different about today, and what are we hearing."

The foundation is also bringing its education into Boone County schools. Michele Snodderly, with True North Columbia, said the foundation has presented its "Healthy Relationships Training" in every Boone County school district besides Columbia Public Schools. The training includes some videos provided by the Petito Foundation.

Schmidt believes more focus should be put on healthy teenage relationships.

"We're starting to see more and more instances of teen dating violence in this country," Schmidt said. "Kids have the world at their fingertips, and if we're not having these tough conversations with them and talking to them about healthy relationships and about respect, they're gonna get the information from somewhere, and it's probably not going to be from a place where we want it to come from."

The Missouri Department of Social Services reports 20% to 30% of teens have experienced physical or sexual violence in a dating relationship. Verbal or emotional abuse is often found in higher percentages.

Joylynn Allard, a therapist at Citizens Against Spouse Abuse Missouri, said reports of physical and sexual abuse tend to be the most common. Digital forms of abuse have also become more prevalent as technology has advanced, according to Allard.

"If they have access to their location, or are overly checking in on them or constantly messaging them and taking away their sense of freedom and their power and control over their own life by constantly keeping them glued to the phone to respond to them, then that's an issue," Allard said.

Allard said teens are also more likely to stay in an abusive relationship.

Teens are also more likely to end up in an abusive relationship if their parents, or adult role models, are in one. However, being around an example of abuse does not dictate whether the teen ends up as the aggressor or victim.

"If there's violence in the home or abuse in the home, it's normalized. They don't know that what a healthy relationship looks like, it hasn't been modeled for them," Allard said.

Allard highlighted the importance of educating about healthy relationships in schools, but also encouraged parents to continue the work at home.