A man who called 911 to report a dispute between Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie claims he saw a man hitting a woman, according to audio of the call.
If you’ve been following the story, police previously suggested Gabby’s disappearance may not have been related to domestic violence.
via People:
“We drove by and the gentleman was slapping the girl,” the caller tells the dispatcher.
“He was slapping her?” the dispatcher replies.
“Yes, and then we stopped. They ran up and down the sidewalk. He proceeded to hit her, hopped in the car and they drove off,” the caller adds.
After the 911 call, the couple was pulled over by police in Moab, Utah, on Aug. 12, and their encounter with officers was captured on body camera footage that has been publicly released. In the footage, Petito, 22, admits to striking Laundrie, 23, and does not accuse Laundrie of being violent toward her.
A responding officer wrote in the police report, which was obtained by PEOPLE, “After evaluating the totality of the circumstances, I do not believe the situation escalated to the level of a domestic assault as much that of a mental health crisis.”
However, another officer wrote in the report, “It wasn’t clear, but I believe it was reported the male had been observed to have assaulted the female.”
After the couple spoke with police, Petito went back to the customized van in which the couple was traveling and Laundrie stayed the night in a hotel, the police report states.
Petito last made contact with her family on Aug. 24 and was reported missing on Sept. 11. On Sunday, authorities announced they had discovered a body in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming they believe is Petito’s.
Police in North Port, Fla., where the Laundrie family lives and where the couple had lived before they set out on a cross-country trip in their van, have said they believe Petito was in the national park when she last contacted her family.
While the body has not been formally identified, FBI agent Charles Jones said at a Sunday press conference that the bureau “would like to extend sincere and heartfelt condolences to Gabby’s family.”
Last Wednesday, Laundrie was named a person of interest in the case, and on Friday, authorities announced Laundrie is currently missing.
After Petito last contacted her parents, authorities discovered that Laundrie had quietly returned to his parents’ home in Florida without his fiancé. on Sept. 1, and 10 days passed before she was reported missing. Authorities have not been able to talk to Laundrie about Petito’s disappearance.
Police said last week he is not considered a suspect in the case.
On Monday, the FBI announced they were serving a search warrant at the Laundrie family home.
On Saturday, in a series of viral videos posted to TikTok, a woman claimed that she and her boyfriend picked up Laundrie while he hitchhiked in Wyoming in August, after Petito was last heard from.
In the TikTok videos, the woman, who identifies herself as Miranda Baker, said she picked up a hitchhiking Laundrie on Aug. 29 at Colter Bay in Grand Teton National Park.
Baker claimed that Laundrie approached the couple in need of a ride to Jackson, Wyo., where she said they happened to be heading. Baker said Laundrie got in their Jeep, and after the couple exchanged small talk with their hitchhiker, Laundrie mentioned he had been camping “for multiple days without his fiancée,” who he said was “working on their social media page back at their van.”
We’re willing to bet he did it.
