Gabby Petito’s Family Believe She’s Sending Them Signs From Beyond the Grave: We See 'Butterflies and Rainbows' (Exclusive)

Gabby Petito, 22, was murdered on a cross-country trip with her fiancé Brian Laundrie in 2021

Gabby Petito’s family members see signs of her everywhere.

In an interview with PEOPLE, Gabby’s parents, Nichole Schmidt, 45, and Joe Petito, 45, along with their spouses — Tara Petito, 43, and Jim Schmidt, 42 — share memories of their daughter and how they believe she is still with them and sends them signs.

“She sends us butterflies and rainbows,” Tara says. “We'll see her initials.  She'll send me signs, and I start texting them. As I'm texting them to Nichole, Nichole is getting the same signs.”

“It'll be at the same time,” Nichole adds.

“Tara woke up the other day at 3:19, Gabby's birthday,” says Joe.

“She’s always with us,” says Tara.

Related: Gabby Petito’s '4 Parents' Share How Her Tragic Death Fulfilled Her Lifelong Dream of Bringing Them 'All Together' (Exclusive)

Gabby, 22, disappeared on a cross-country journey with her fiancé Brian Laundrie in the summer of 2021. Her body was later discovered near a campground in Wyoming. Laundrie, who died by suicide, was found in a nature preserve near his family’s home in North Port, Fla., on Oct. 20, along with a backpack containing what the FBI sad was a notebook “claiming responsibility” for Gabby’s strangulation death.

For more on Gabby Petito's legacy, subscribe now to PEOPLE, or pick up this week's issue, on newsstands Friday.

Since then, Gabby’s parents have found purpose and healing by using the enormous amount of publicity generated by their daughter’s case to try to prevent similar tragedies from happening to other families.  (Gabby's parents spoke on a panel at CrimeCon 2024 Nashville.)

After her murder, the foursome — who now live two hours from one another in Florida— came together to create the Gabby Petito Foundation.

The nonprofit is focused on raising awareness about domestic violence while also creating tougher laws and policies governing how police respond to reports of intimate partner abuse and missing persons.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

“We have to prevent this from happening to other people,” says Nichole. “It keeps us strong. Gabby works through us. We can't not do it. We have to move forward and change the world together.”

Related: Gabby Petito’s Parents Want to Change the Way Domestic Violence Is Treated in the U.S.: 'Laws Are Changing' (Exclusive)

Adds Joe, a warehouse store chain manager who specializes in policy and legislation for the foundation, "When you help one person, you ... help change the course of their life in a positive way, and you want to do that again."

"We get emails and messages on social media on how many people have left their bad relationships because of Gabby's story,” he adds.

Gabby's parents have also championed the National Domestic Violence Hotline — to which they donated $100,000 in 2022 to help build the group’s capacity — along with the Black and Missing Foundation and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.