Brian Laundrie ‘Celebrity Jeopardy’ Clue ‘Distasteful,’ Family Says

NORTH PORT, FL — Brian Laundrie’s family is demanding an apology from “Celebrity Jeopardy” after their late son, who committed suicide after killing his fiancée, Gabby Petito, last year, was featured in a clue on the game show.

In Sunday night’s episode, the contestants — actors John Michael Higgins, Wil Wheaton and Joel Kim Booster — were given the clue in a category where all the responses started with the letter “A,” according to Fox News.

Host Mayim Bialik read them the clue, which referenced Laundrie's suicide: "In 2021 fugitive Brian Laundrie ended his days in Fla.'s Myakkahatchee Creek area, home to these long & toothy critters."

Booster gave the correct answer, “What are alligators,” People said.

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Steven Bertolino, an attorney representing Laundrie’s parents, told TMZ, "The entire Laundrie family is appalled and concurs with all of the comments on social media on how distasteful this was. I believe an apology is due."

“Celebrity Jeopardy” has also faced some backlash from viewers about the clue.

“I was mortified to be watching ‘Jeopardy’ and lo and behold they asked a casual question about alligators referencing Brian Laundrie! Oh Mayim. Oh Jeopardy! What incredibly poor taste. I’m sure her parents would be thrilled to turn on the (TV) to see this on a game show,” one person tweeted.

Another Twitter user called it “so unnecessarily morbid,” adding that to get the response of “alligator,” the show “could have said anything related to Florida and gotten there.”

The clue was “one of the worst answers ever” on the show, another person tweeted, noting that it “showed a complete lack of class and total disrespect.”

Laundrie and Petito, Long Island, New York, natives, were living with his parents in North Port, Florida, before they embarked on a cross-country road trip to visit national parks in the western United States in early July 2021. They traveled in their van, which they converted into a camper, as Petito, who dreamed of becoming a travel vlogger and influencer, documented their trip for social media.

On Sept. 1, 2021, Laundrie returned without her to his parents’ Florida home in her van after a visit to a Wyoming national park. Her family, after not being able to contact her, reported her missing to the Suffolk County Police Department in New York on Sept. 11 of that year.

By Sept. 15, Laundrie was named a person of interest in the case, according to city of North Port officials. But he and his family refused to cooperate with the investigation into her disappearance.

Days later, it was revealed that Petito’s fiancé was nowhere to be found, either. His parents told North Port police on Sept. 17 that their son had left for a hike at Sarasota County’s Carlton Reserve on Sept. 14 — weeks later telling authorities he actually left their home Sept. 13 — and he hadn’t been seen since.

As the FBI and other law enforcement agencies launched their search for him, Petito’s body was found on Sept. 19, 2021, in a camping area in the Bridger-Teton National Forest, near the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

Laundrie’s skeletal remains, including a portion of his skull, were found Oct. 20, 2021, in the Myakkahatchee Creek area near the Carlton Reserve, along with several of his belongings. The FBI used dental records to match the remains to him.

The District 12 Medical Examiner’s Office also used DNA analysis to confirm the remains belonged to Laundrie and determined that he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

In June, Bertolino shared pages from a notebook found near Laundrie’s remains with the public.

In a written confession, Laundrie said Petito fell while crossing a stream at the Spread Creek Dispersed Camping area and injured herself. She had difficulty staying awake, and he said he worried she might have a concussion.

“I don’t know the extent of Gabby’s injurys (sic)," he wrote in his notebook. "Only that she was in extreme pain. I ended her life, I thought it was merciful, that it is what she wanted, but I see now all the mistakes I made. I panicked; I was in shock.”