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(CNN) – New details have emerged of a reported marital dispute between Gabby Petito and her fiance during a trip to Utah in August, as additional body camera footage from a responding officer shows.
The footage, obtained by CNN, provides yet another glimpse into the issues between Petito and her fiance Brian Laundrie as they travel across the country over the summer. A witness to the August 12 altercation described the couple before the police arrived as “some sort of quarrel over the phone” and hitting each other “much like two children fighting.”
Authorities continue to investigate the death of Petito, whose remains were discovered in Wyoming in September. The search for Laundrie, who her family said left her home more than two weeks ago and has not been seen since, remains a key focus for investigators as the timeline of events since returning to Florida since the west became clearer.
Laundrie was not explicitly linked to Petito’s death. Yet a federal arrest warrant accuses him of illegally using another person’s debit card and PIN on August 30 and September 1.
The incident in Moab, Utah, happened about two weeks before Petito’s last communication with his family. Laundrie returned home to her parents in Florida without her on September 1 and her family reported her missing 10 days later.
Interaction with police began with a call from a witness who told the dispatcher he wanted to report a marital dispute involving a couple who left in a white van, according to 911 audio provided by the sheriff’s office of Grand County.
“We walked past and the gentleman was slapping the girl,” the caller said. “Then we stopped. They walked up and down the sidewalk. He started hitting her, jumped in the car and they drove away. “
Police located the van and stopped the couple after the vehicle exceeded the speed limit, abruptly left its lane and struck a sidewalk, according to a police report from Moab Officer Eric Pratt. The officer walked over to the passenger side of the vehicle, where a crying Petito told him, “We just got into a fight this morning. Personal issues, ”according to body camera images.
Video shows more of the conversation between Petito and the police
The newly obtained footage provides more details on the interactions between the Moab, Petito and Laundrie police officers after the stop.
Pratt’s body camera video is over 52 minutes long and shows Pratt telling Petito that two people claimed to have seen Laundrie hit her. Petito replied that even though Laundrie had hit her, she had hit him first.
“Did you slap him first?” And right on her face? Pratt can be heard asking Petito. “Well, he kept telling me to shut up,” Petito replies.
“Did he hit you, though?” I mean, it doesn’t matter if you say you hit him, and then I understand if he hit you, but we want to know the truth if he actually hit you, because you know … Says Pratt.
“I guess, I guess, yeah, but I hit him first,” Petito replies. The officer then asks her where he hit her, encouraging her to be honest.
“Well, he liked grabbing my face, I guess. … He didn’t like it, hit me in the face. He didn’t, like, hit me in the face or anything, ”Petito told him.
“Did he slap you or what?” Asks Pratt.
“Well he grabbed me with his fingernail, and I guess that’s what it looks like… definitely I got cut here. [points to cheek] because I can feel it. When I touch it, it burns, ”says Petito.
At one point, Petito asks the agents who responded not to separate her from Laundrie, saying “like we’re a team, please.” This is going to give me so much anxiety. Can we just have, for example, a driving ticket? “
“The best thing I can do is call my supervisor and see if I missed anything here,” the agent told him.
Petito, sobbing, offers to pay any ticket instead of incurring a fee. Pratt tells him to try to calm down, offering to call his supervisor to “see if the supervisor can tell me something that I miss so that it doesn’t happen.”
Laundrie had minor scratches visible on his face and right arm, but “did not fear for his safety” and “showed no signs that he could be a victim of” beaten boyfriend syndrome “,” according to the report. Moab Police Station. “He was assessed as presenting a low risk of danger or harm due to his proximity to his fiance.”
The video also provides additional audio of testimony to the argument, provided on a cell phone to the police. “What I noticed was that it seemed like they were sort of arguing over the phone. I mean he was trying to grab his phone, and I’m not sure exactly why, ”the witness told the officer.
“And then it looks like he sort of headed to one side of the van and wouldn’t let her in, then the man got in the driver’s seat and she was trying to get in the van. , and he said something about “Why are you so mean?” something like that. I remember she kind of hit him a few times. And it wasn’t, like slugs in the face, but just like two children fighting, ”said the witness.
No charges were filed and, at the suggestion of officers, the couple separated for the night, with Laundrie staying in a hotel and Petito taking the van.
The city of Moab said in a statement last week that it had opened an investigation into the interaction between the couple and the police.
“We understand that individuals can view the same situation in very different ways, and we recognize how Ms. Petito’s death more than two weeks later in Wyoming could lead to speculation, in hindsight, about the actions taken during the Moab incident. The purpose of the City’s official investigation is to gather the underlying facts and evidence necessary to conduct a thorough and informed assessment of such actions, ”according to the City.
“At this time, the City of Moab is not aware of any violation of police department policy during this incident. However, the City will conduct a formal investigation and, depending on the results, take any next action that may be appropriate. “
Campsite reservation changed before return from laundry, according to records
As more is learned about the couple’s interactions in August, more information has emerged regarding Laundrie’s family in September.
Before his disappearance – before Petito went missing – Laundrie went camping with his family at a campsite tens of kilometers from their home, officials said.
Documents recently obtained by CNN from Pinellas County show Brian Laundrie’s mother made a camping reservation at Fort De Soto Park for the first weekend in September, only to change it at a later date and add another person .
The original dates reserved for the park were September 1-3, for two people, according to the documents. This reservation was made on August 24, then canceled on August 31. The documents do not indicate why the camping reservation starting September 1 was canceled.
Pinellas County records show that a new reservation was made by Roberta Laundrie on September 3, two days after her son returned home. This reservation was due to start on September 6 for three people at Fort De Soto Park, located about 120 km from the family home.
Steven Bertolino, lawyer for the Laundrie family, confirmed to CNN that the family went camping at the time, adding that the family left the park together.
Asked about the change of booking date by the laundries at the campsite, Bertolino said he had “no details of the Desoto Park bookings other than the family did not continue [September] 1-3 but continued 6-7 instead.
Additionally, on September 4, Laundrie bought a cell phone from an AT&T store in North Port, Bertolino told CNN. The lawyer said the phone was not an “emergency phone” and required an account to be opened, adding that Laundrie left the phone at home “the day he went for a call. hiked the reserve on September 14, 2021 and the FBI now has that phone It is not known what happened to Laundrie’s previous phone.
On September 14, three days after Petito’s family reported his disappearance, Laundrie’s parents said they last saw him leave their home with a backpack and that he said that he was on his way to a nearby nature reserve, police said.
The parents told police on September 17, three days after his alleged departure, police said.
Petito’s remains are found two days later in Wyoming’s Bridger-Teton National Forest. A coroner then made an initial ruling that his death was a homicide.
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