If there's a relationship you're in that might not be the best thing, leave it now': Gabby Petito's father gives heartbreaking eulogy at funeral home memorial: FBI return to search Brian Laundrie's Florida home
- Mourners gathered on Sunday at Moloney's Holbrook Funeral Home to pay tribute to Gabby Petito
- 'The entire planet knows this woman's name now,' father Joseph Petito said in a eulogy
- The 22-year-old 'van-life' girl's body was recovered last Sunday nearly a month later after she was last seen
- Her death was declared a homicide last Tuesday and police are still searching for her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, who was the last person seen with her
- Rewards totaling $30,000 are being offered for information leading to his whereabouts
- FBI agents paid another visit to his parents on Sunday and left with a mysterious package
Mourners including Gabby Petito's family, friends and hundreds of other people who'd never met her but were personally moved by her story, packed a funeral home in Long Island to grieve the 22-year-old woman whose life of adventure was tragically cut short.
Meanwhile, police are continuing the massive manhunt for her fiancé Brian Laundrie, who was the last person seen with her, and rewards totaling $30,000 are being offered for information leading to his whereabouts.
And as loved ones reminisced on her life on Long Island, law enforcement continued to search for answers about her death in North Port, Florida, as FBI agents paid Laundrie's parents another visit on Sunday.
'The entire planet knows this woman's name,' said her father Joe Petito, standing before a golden urn at the Moloney Holbrook Funeral Home, in a standing-room only chapel adorned with bouquets of flowers and photo montages of his daughter growing up in Blue Point, L.I., including a picture of Gabby as a little girl with her small hand print on a piece of paper.
Behind the urn was a giant poster showing a more recent photo of her standing at the foot of a cave.
Petito's body was found last week in Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park, and her death has been ruled a homicide. Her fiancé Brian Laundrie, 23, is the prime suspect but remains at large after he returned from their cross country roadtrip without her on Sept. 1.
Her father didn't discuss the circumstances of her death, but offered advice for people in bad relationships.
'If there's a relationship you're in that might not be the best thing for you, leave it,' Joe Petito said. 'Take care of yourself first.'
'Gabby is the most amazing person I've ever met,' he said, choking back tears. 'So if you're going to leave here today, I'm asking you guys to be inspired by the way she lived.
'She genuinely loved people,' he said. He smiled as he spoke about his love for his daughter and her bright blue eyes that would melt him. He joked that she'd sometimes bat her eyes at him to get out of being grounded.
'She did it on purpose, just so I'd take her off it,' he said, and noted it worked.
The crowd included over 200 firefighters, who came out to pay their respects. Petito's stepfather, Jim Schmidt, is a former local fire chief.
He also addressed the mourners. He noted that he'd attended many funerals over the years as a fire official, but said, 'Parents aren't supposed to bury their children. That's not the way it's supposed to work.'
Still, he said he wants this to be a celebration of his stepdaughter's life.
'Gabby loved life, lived for life every single day, every day,' Schmidt said. 'She is an example for all of us.'
He said his stepdaughter had a tattoo on her arm that read, 'Let it Be,' from a Beatles song she loved. He read a verse he found meaningful on this day: 'And when the broken-hearted people living in the world agree, there will be an answer. Let it be.'
'It's okay to mourn for Gabby,' he said. 'It's okay to feel sorrow and grief, but we want to celebrate her life.'
'We will hold onto all those wonderful memories we shared with her,' he said.
He and Joe Petito embraced in a hug, as mourners wept. Schmidt then walked over to his wife, Nichole Schmidt, Gabby's mother who sat in the front row but chose not to speak.
Wearing a black short-sleeve dress, she cried into the arms of mourners who filed past her and leaned over to give her hugs.
The gathering included many former classmates of Gabby's at Bayport Blue Point High School.
'I'm heartbroken, it's just so horrible,' Melanie McGuire, 21, cried.
After a private gathering for family and close friends Sunday morning, the funeral home opened its doors to several hundred other people forming a line that wrapped around the funeral home on the bright sunny day.
Outside of the funeral home, signs posted across the street were inscribed with Petito's name and read, 'Forever in our hearts.' Groups of firefighters lined down the block to pay their respects and a fire truck sat on each side of the building, each with its ladder raised. Across the street from the funeral home, a chain link fence was adorned with posters featuring Petito's image and messages such as, 'She touched the world.'
In lieu of flowers, the family asked for donations be sent to the Future Gabby Petito Foundation, which was recently formed by Joseph Petito and is dedicated to helping families locate their missing children.
Communities across the country have been honoring Petito in the past week. Her hometown of Blue Point on Long Island held a candlelit vigil last night ahead of today's funeral.
Another vigil took place the same night in North Port, Florida, where Petito lived with Laundrie and his parents. Community members gathered at city hall and release butterflies in her honor and to voice support for her family.
Petito, who embarked on a cross-country road trip with her fiance Brian Laundrie, was last seen alive on August 25. Laundrie returned home to Florida on September 1, and she was reported missing by her parents 11 days later.
After an extensive search at Grand Teton National Park's Spread Creek campground, Petito's remains were discovered on September 19. A coroner ruled that she died as a result of a homicide, but her manner of death has not yet been revealed.
Laundrie's parents said he left their home on September 14 - but only reported him missing three days later. FBI and local police are still searching for him in an alligator-infested reserve five miles from his home. On Sunday, FBI agents paid another visit to the home of his parents – before leaving with a mysterious package.
Laundrie's mom Roberta, 55, was seen darting outside to leave an item in the screened porch of their North Port, Florida home at 10am.
An hour later two FBI agents with bulletproof vests, weapons and a clipboard walked up the drive, hovering at the front door before stooping to pick something up.
A female agent then walked back to their black SUV carrying a brown paper bag, which was believed to be used for evidence.
The agents did not appear to knock on the door and did not speak to either Roberta or her husband Christopher, 62.
When asked by a DailyMail.com reporter about the purpose of the visit neither agent responded and the FBI also declined to comment.
The development came as authorities continued Sunday to scour alligator-infested swampland in the Carlton Nature Reserve for Brian, 23.
The huge search has involved bloodhounds and it's typical for cops to ask families for a personal item or a piece of clothing from a missing person to help the animals pick up their scent.
People who knew Gabby have partnered with law enforcement to increase the reward for tips about Lunadrie's whereabouts to $30,000. Jerry Torres, a neighbor of the Petito family, first offered $5,000 for information that could help authorities find Laundrie.
The reward, however, was raised to $10,000 in part from help from Steve Moyer, the former deputy chief of police for Sarasota, Florida, secured another $10,000 to Torres's reward, telling CNN affiliate WZVN on Friday, 'Money gets people to talk.'
Boohoff Law, a personal injury law firm, announced last week that it was adding another $20,000 for information, according to a statement published in the Sun North Port. 'The authorized reward will remain open for two months starting from the receipt of the tip by the investigating law enforcement,' the statement said.
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Mourners gathered on Sunday at Moloney's Holbrook Funeral Home to pay tribute to Gabby Petito, whose body was recovered last Sunday nearly a month later after she was last seen.
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