Gabby Petito describes Utah fight with Brian Laundrie in conversation with female park ranger: bodycam
The National Park Service has publicly shared bodycam video showing U.S. Rangers on scene during the ominous traffic stop outside Arches National Park in August 2021 involving Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie, just weeks before her murder.
The videos were provided to Fox News Digital as part of a public records request and provide a glimpse of a female ranger's efforts calming Petito down and urging her to distance herself from Laundrie's abusive behavior.
In parts, the audio is hard to make out, but Petito appears to vent her frustrations with Laundrie, who witnesses said struck her in public, then tried to drive off without her outside the Moonflower Co-op, a grocery store in the heart of town. Throughout the encounter, however, she downplays Laundrie's behavior.
The NPS said it would release transcripts at some point.
Petito claims to have hit him first, taking the blame for his collision with the curb.
"He's a lot stronger than me," she adds, denying that she could have hurt him.
However, they shed new light on the incident as Petito spoke candidly with a female Park Ranger from the National Park Service, who was on scene at the same time as Moab police officers.
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"The NPS videos will certainly be part of the relevant evidence in the case," said Brian Stewart, an attorney from Parker & McConkie, which is representing Petito's parents in their Utah lawsuit. "While the videos provide an additional perspective that may be helpful, they do not appear to contain substantively different information."
Moab police officers initiated the stop in the entrance way to Arches National Park, just outside the city. Park Rangers arrived to support but played a secondary role in the interaction.
Watch US Park Ranger's bodycam video:
GABBY PETITO'S MOM AND STEPMOM SEND NOT-SO-SUBTLE MESSAGE TO ROBERTA LAUNDRIE
Previously released video shows Petito in hysterics as officers confront her and Laundrie following reports of a domestic violence incident on Main Street in Moab, in which Laundrie allegedly hit her. However, she downplayed the incident to police, who began to treat her as the "aggressor."
The Park Ranger's bodycam shows previously unseen statements from Petito.
"Look im gonna speak to you…I'm looking at you not so much like a suspect, but also kind of a victim, in the sense that you're dealing with the struggles, emotionally and mentally at your age, probably that work themselves out as you get older," a male officer tells Petito.
The ranger, in a prior interview, said she had urged Petito to distance herself from a "toxic" relationship with Laundrie.
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Ranger Melissa Hulls stepped aside to speak with Petito in private, believing she would be more open to speaking one-on-one with a female officer alone, according to Salt Lake City’s Deseret News.
"I can still hear her voice," she said days after Petito's remains were discovered in Wyoming, a few weeks after the stop. "She wasn’t just a face on the milk carton. She was real to me."
Moab police pulled over Laundrie and Petito on the road leading into Arches National Park around 4:45 p.m. MT on Aug. 12, 2021, in response to a 911 caller who said he witnessed a male "slapping" a female before the couple got into the van and headed north out of town.
Laundrie was behind the wheel, driving 45 mph in a 15 mph zone, before slamming into the curb.
While the Moab officers treated Petito like the aggressor, the Ranger took a different approach.
"Take a deep breath," she said, handing her a bottle of water.
"It sounds like you guys might need to work on your communication," she added later. "Have you told him how it affects you when he makes these sarcastic comments?"
Although Utah law requires police to issue a citation or make an arrest in response to domestic violence, Moab police debated whether to classify the encounter as a domestic call or a mental health incident. Ultimately, officers declined to press charges but booked Laundrie a motel room in town through a nonprofit for domestic abuse survivors.
Motel management was unable to confirm whether he'd actually stayed for the night.
Petito was last seen alive in Jackson, Wyoming, leaving a store with Laundrie on Aug. 27.
According to the FBI, he killed her and left her body at a campsite in the nearby Bridger-Teton National Forest, then drove her van to his parents' house in Florida. He went camping with his family and refused to cooperate with police before sneaking out and taking his own life — leaving behind a handwritten confession.
Petito's parents sued Laundrie's family, and the sides settled out of court earlier this year. They are also suing the Moab Police Department in a case that has not yet gone to trial.