3PM UPDATE: Richard Stafford, the Petito’s family attorney, read a letter from the Schmidt and Petito family to Christopher and Roberta Laundrie. It said, in part:
"We are writing this letter to ask you to help find our daughter. We understand you are going through a difficult time and your instinct is strong to protect your son. We ask you to put yourselves in our shoes. We haven't been able to sleep or eat and our lives are falling apart. We believe you know the location of where Brian left Gabby. We beg you to tell us.
"As a parent how could you let us go through this pain and not tell us?"
What You Need To Know
- Gabby Petito of North Port was reported missing on September 11
- Her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, a person of interest, returned to their home in Florida on Sept. 1 without her
- North Port Police Department held news conference Thursday
- Previous story: Where is Gabby Petito? Boyfriend called 'person of interest' in North Port missing woman case
WATCH: Attorney reads letter
NOON UPDATE: The father of Gabrielle Petito spoke briefly at a Thursday morning news conference as the national search for his daughter continues
"What I need from everybody here is help. The goal is still not met, and that goal is to bring Gabby home safe," said the father, Joe Petito.
He pointed to a picture of Gabby and said, "Anything else comes second to this."
North Point Police Chief Todd Garrison spoke to reporters and recapped the case, saying Gabrielle and her boyfriend Brian Lauderdrie went on a cross country trip, sharing their experience on social media before Gabby's communication with her family "abruptly stopped" around the end of August.
ABOVE: Body camera footage shows Gabby Petito argued with boyfriend before vanishing (video released by police in Utah)
"Two people went on a trip and one returned. And the one who returned isn't providing any information," Garrison said.
Lauderdrie is considered a person of interest.
"My focus isn't to bring Brian in right now. It's to fnd Gabby," Garrison said. "Brian is exercising his constitutional rights, and I have to respect that. But the focus is finding Gabby."
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FLORIDA — A national search continues for a missing woman, and North Port police say her boyfriend is now a person of interest.
Gabrielle Petito was reported missing by her family on September 11, ten days after her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, returned home to North Port in the couple’s van without her.
The North Port Police Department is the leading investigating agency with help from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The vehicle Petito was last seen in has been fully processed for evidence, police said.
Brian Laundrie is a person of interest in the case. Over the weekend, detectives with the North Port Police Department arrived at the Laundrie family home in North Port in an attempt to speak with Brian or his parents. Police were given a note that listed a phone number for the family’s attorney.
"As a father, I can imagine the pain and suffering Gabby's family is going through," said North Point Police Chief Todd Garrison. "We are pleading with anyone, including Brian, to share information with us on her whereabouts in the past few weeks. The lack of information from Brian is hindering this investigation. The answers will eventually come out. We will help find Gabby and we will help find anyone who may be involved in her disappearance."
They said there is no information that a crime has taken place at this time.
On August 12, a witness called police after the two got into an argument that turned physical in Moab, Utah. No charges were filed and police urged the couple to spend the night apart.
The FBI has set up a national hotline for tips: 1-800-CALL-FBI.