Lateche Norris Found After Gabby Petito’s Family Shares Post About Missing Woman

Lateche Norris has been found less than a week after Gabby Petito’s family shared a post about the Indiana woman’s story on social media.

On Saturday, Norris’ father, Walter Callum, told TMZ his daughter was safe and with her mother Cheryl Walker in California. Norris was reported missing in November after going to visit her boyfriend, Joseph Smith, in San Diego. Details about Norris’ whereabouts have yet to be shared.

Walker shared the news about her daughter on the GoFundMe page that was started to help assist the family with searching for Norris.

“Lateche and Joey have been found safe! I don't have any further update at this moment, but I wanted to let you all know ASAP that we did it! All of us! Gonna take a moment to catch our breath! Thank you!!!!” Walker wrote.

Walker last spoke to Norris on Nov. 5 when her daughter called from a stranger’s phone about an argument she had with her boyfriend. In a Facebook post on Nov. 27, Walker revealed Norris asked if her mother spoke to Smith and requested the number he called from.

“I let her go so she could call him, and I say ‘You call me back! I love you,’” the post stated. “The last words my daughter said were, ‘I will, Momma, I promise I love you more.’”

After going days without hearing from her daughter, Walker reported Norris missing but revealed she had trouble getting the police to take the report seriously.

On Nov. 30, Nichole Schmidt, Petito’s mother, shared a Twitter post about Norris’ story. The following day, Walker updated the donation page by sharing she arrived in San Diego to search for Norris.

Since locating Norris and her boyfriend, Walker took to Facebook to defend Smith against Brian Laundrie comparisons.

“I feel it’s imperative to state that Joey hasn’t hurt her and while we do ask everyone respect our privacy it was necessary to immediately confirm this since he’s being compared to Brian Laundrie,” she wrote.

Petito was reported missing on Sept. 11, after traveling across the country in a van with her fiancé, Laundrie.

However, when he returned home without her and wouldn’t speak about her whereabouts, Petito’s family became concerned. Petito, whose remains were found on Sept. 19, was killed by manual strangulation.

During the investigation, Laundrie was named as a person of interest and also reported missing by his parents. The Discovery of Laundrie’s remains was confirmed on Oct. 20. An official autopsy found he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.