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About two weeks before Gabby Petito disappeared in Wyoming, she got into a physical fight with her fiance, Brian Laundrie, on a street in downtown Moab, Utah, according to a police report obtained by Fox News.
A witness called 911 at around 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 12 about “possible domestic violence” near the Moonflower Community Co-op and said he saw Petito and Laundrie arguing on the phone.
“The driver of the van, a male, had some sort of argument with the woman, Gabbie,” wrote an officer responding to the report, citing conversations he had with Petito, Laundrie and the witness.
“The man tried to create distance by telling Gabbie to go for a walk to calm herself down, she didn’t want to be separated from the man and started slapping him,” the report said. “He grabbed her face and pushed her back as she pressed against him and the van, he tried to lock her outside and succeeded except for her driver’s door, she l ‘opened and sneaked up on him and into the vehicle before it started. “
A responding officer first wrote that he thought “it was reported that the man assaulted the woman”, but later wrote that “no one reported that the man hit the woman” .
An officer finally stopped the van and said that when he approached, Petito was “crying uncontrollably” in the passenger seat.
One of the responding officers said the incident could be “more accurately classified as a mental / emotional ‘health break’ than a domestic assault,” and that “no significant injuries” were reported.
The laundry remained in a hotel that night, while Petito stayed with the van, according to the report.
“The man and woman said they were in love and engaged to get married and were desperate to see anyone charged with a crime,” the report said.
Petito’s mother, Nicole Schmidt, said the incident was simply the result of accumulated stress from traveling together.
“Put yourself in a van with another person 24/7 for months, and you might have an argument, right? She told Fox News on Wednesday. “It’s irrelevant. It’s okay.”
The couple embarked on a road trip to visit national parks in early July, crossing Kansas, Colorado, Utah and eventually Wyoming.
Petito’s last known location was on August 25 in Grand Teton National Park. Schmidt told Fox News that she received a text message from Petito’s phone on August 30, saying there was no service in Yellowstone, but she doesn’t believe that message was sent by her daughter.
Laundrie, meanwhile, returned to North Port on the Gulf Coast of Florida, where their journey began, on September 1, and the van was picked up by police from his family’s home on September 11.
The North Port Police Department named him on Wednesday as a person of interest in the investigation and said he was not cooperating with authorities.
“As a father, I can imagine the pain and suffering Gabby’s family is going through. We beg everyone, including Brian, to share information with us about his whereabouts over the past few weeks. Brian’s information is hampering that investigation, ”North Port Police Chief Todd Garrison said on Wednesday.
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Petito’s family also expressed frustration with Laundrie’s lack of cooperation.
“It’s supposed to be the love of your life, and you definitely left her at the end of August and was home safe on September 1 without her,” Schmidt told Fox News Wednesday. “Why aren’t you telling us anything?”
Fox News’ Michael Ruiz and Stephanie Pagones contributed to this report.
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