A 911 caller reported Gabby Petito, boyfriend to Utah cops. Listen to the full audio
UPDATE: The FBI said Tuesday the remains found in Bridger-Teton National Forest were identified as Gabby Petito. The Teton County Coroner determined the manner of death was a homicide, the FBI said.
Remains found in Wyoming identified as Gabby Petito, death ruled a homicide, FBI says
A 911 caller told Utah police he saw a couple in a white van in a “domestic dispute” when the man started “slapping the girl.”
The couple referenced in the Aug. 12 call was later identified as Gabby Petito — whose remains authorities believe they found on Sunday — and her boyfriend Brian Laundrie, whom she went on a road trip with and never returned.
The caller said he saw a couple in a Ford Transit van with a Florida license plate in Moab, Utah, running down the sidewalk.
“We drove by and the gentleman was slapping the girl,” the caller, whose name was removed from the call, said. “They ran up and down the sidewalk, he proceeded to hit her, hopped in the car, and they drove off.”
The Moab City Police Department responded to the call the same day. Police pulled Petito and Laundrie over in Arches National Park, police bodycam video shows.
Police video shows Petito visibly upset while talking to the officer who pulled the couple over after Laundrie hit a curb. No charges were filed after police talked to the couple.
Search crews found human remains officials said they believe to be Petito on Sunday, according to the FBI. The remains were found in the Bridger-Teton National Forest near where searchers were looking for the missing traveler.
Officials are expected to release the results of an autopsy Tuesday, according to Fox News.
“Full forensic identification has not been completed and we do not know the cause of death,” the FBI said in a news release.
Petito was reported missing Sept. 11 after her family said they hadn’t heard from her since the end of August, police said. She was believed to be in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming when she disappeared.
Petito, from Blue Point, New York, lived with her boyfriend, Laundrie, and his parents in North Port, Florida. She was on a cross-country trip to national parks with him when she was last seen, officials said.
Laundrie returned to Florida on Sept. 1 — 10 days before Petito’s family reported her missing, North Port authorities said. His family reported he never returned from a hike last week, according to McClatchy News.
Police have been searching for Laundrie in a 25,000-acre swamp, McClatchy News reported. The search continued Tuesday as North Port police said they are searching the Carlton Reserve.
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