Parents of Gabby Petito and Dylan Rounds unite to boost public safety, train officers in east Idaho
By Nate Eaton, EastIdahoNews.com
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IDAHO FALLS (eastidahonews.com) — The families of Dylan Rounds and Gabby Petito are joining forces to help train eastern Idaho law enforcement and boost public safety awareness.
Candice Cooley and Nichole and Jim Schmidt will be hold a discussion on public safety at the College of Eastern Idaho in Idaho Falls on Monday, Dec. 1, from 7-8 p.m. Cooley’s son, 19-year-old Dylan Rounds, disappeared from a remote northern Utah desert in May 2022. His remains were recovered nearly two years later in April 2024.
Nichole and Jim Schmidt’s daughter, Gabby Petito, was killed during a cross-country trip and found in 2021 in the Bridger-Teton National Forest.
“We’re honored that Nichole and Jim and the Gabby Petito Foundation are coming to speak about domestic violence and important things that the community needs to know,” Cooley tells EastIdahoNews.com. “Our foundation, Dylan’s Legacy, focuses on working with victims and helping families who find themselves in similar situations that we found ourselves in.”
Before the public safety forum, law enforcement experts will lead training sessions for local officers on digital forensics, cell phone data analysis, and other technology-based investigative tools.
Law enforcement officers from across the state will be participating in the event, which is sponsored by the Dylan Rounds Foundation.
“We still have room for ten officers and we welcome local police agencies, Fish and Game, school resource officers and other law enforcement personnel,” Cooley says.
The two-day training will be taught by Detective Aaron Benzick from Plano, Texas, and include retired FBI agent Jeff Ross and Matthew Anderson, the Deputy Director for the Intermountain West Regional Computer Forensic Lab.
Law enforcement officers can learn more about and apply for the two-day training here.
The public is invited to attend the public safety forum at CEI. It will be held in rooms 150-152 in Building 6 at 1600 South 25th East.
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