Gabby Petito Foundation, Nassau County officials raise domestic violence awareness
NASSAU COUNTY, New York (WABC) -- On what would have been her 26th birthday, officials in Nassau County honored Gabby Petito and are helping to raise awareness about domestic violence.
The Long Island native gained national headlines in 2021 when she disappeared during a road trip with her fiancé Brian Laundrie and was eventually found dead. Laundrie confessed to the crime in a letter before taking his own life.
Now Petito's legacy lives on strongly through her foundation.
A startling number, one in three women, are victims of domestic violence.
"We have to change this, we have to change it through awareness, through education, through new laws," said Mary Wickman, Gabby Petito's grandmother. "We need to stop asking, 'Why didn't she leave?' We need to start saying, 'Why didn't he stop?' My Gabby was everything to us."
Nassau County leaders were on hand Wednesday to announce that Miller's Ale House in Levittown will donate 20% of sales on Thursday to the Foundation.
It comes at a time when the domestic violence safe center in Nassau has ironically shut down
"We are very confident that we can handle any issues right now, with the void of the safe center, basically going out of business," said Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman.
Nassau County is currently looking for new partners to run the safe center and make it better. Blakeman stressed that the county already has the toughest laws on the books to fight domestic violence.
"Here in Nassau County, it's a mandatory arrest if there's a misdemeanor, so we take it very, very seriously," Blakeman said.
In a recent interview with ABC News, Gabby's parents and their spouses sat down to talk about those difficult days surrounding her murder and how they wish the warning signs were taken more seriously.
But now her story is helping others as a grandmother's loving memories live on.
The Nassau County Domestic and Sexual Assault Hotline is 516-542-0404, where advocates can help victims.
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