Gabby Petito 911 Call Released, Panicked Eyewitness Says Brian Laundrie Was 'Slapping' Her Weeks Before Her Disappearance
Sept. 20 2021, Published 2:02 p.m. ET
An eyewitness called 911, claiming he saw Brian Laundrie reportedly put his hands on Gabby Petito weeks before her disappearance.
In the panicked 911 call released by Fox News, a male is heard describing seeing Laundrie allegedly "slapping" Petito outside of the shop that now-deceased Kylen Schulte, Moonflower co-op, worked at on August 12.
"I'd like to report a domestic dispute," the caller tells the operator in the newly-released audio. Describing a white van with Florida license plates, the witness described the scary encounter he saw between a male and female.
"We drove by and the gentleman was slapping the girl," he says. When the operator reiterates, "He was slapping her?" the caller continues, "Yes, and then we stopped. They ran up and down the sidewalk. He proceeded to hit her." He then says the couple drove off.
This is the first time the public has heard the 911 call. It's also the first time anyone has heard the slapping allegations against Laundrie.
Body-cam footage showed Petito hysterically crying after police caught up with their van following the incident.
The 22-year-old New Jersey native was seen telling officers she suffers from OCD and anxiety. She also revealed she had been fighting with Laundrie all morning.
Petito was the one who admitted to officers that she slapped him. There were visible scratches on her fiancé's body. The police report stated that Laundrie grabbed Petito's face after she hit him but made no mention that he, too, allegedly slapped her.
As RadarOnline.com reported, the cops concluded the incident was a mental-health crisis and not a crime. They ordered the couple to cool down for the night separately. Laundrie got a hotel room while Petito claimed possession of the van.
Petito was reported missing on September 11, 10 days after he returned home without her. They were on a cross-country trip to Wyoming. He immediately lawyered up and would not cooperate with the police, despite her family's pleas.
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The FBI confirmed a body was found matching Petito's description in Wyoming's Bridger-Teton National Forest.
On Monday morning, Laundrie's parents were detained when the FBI swarmed their home in North Port, Florida, calling it an "active crime scene."
