Gabby Petito: What happened on Aug 12? Moab police responded to 'incident' with Brian Laundrie
As the missing case of Gabby Petito is getting complicated, a new detail has come forward. Now, Moab police have said that they responded to an “incident” involving the 22-year-old and her boyfriend Brian Laundrie on August 12, around two weeks before she was last heard. But authorities did not give much detail related to that incident.
Moab Chief of Police Bret Edge told Fox News on Tuesday, September 14: “Our officers did respond to an incident involving Brian Laundrie and Gabrielle Petito on 12 August 2021. However, neither Brian or Gabrielle were the reporting party. Officers conducted an investigation and determined that insufficient evidence existed to justify criminal charges.”
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Gabby last spoke to her mother Nicole Schmidt on August 25 while her last known location was at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming in late August. She was reportedly on a cross-country trip with her boyfriend. However, when the family did not hear from her for several days, they reported her missing on September 11 in Suffolk County, New York.
The latest information came as Gabby’s family called out Laundrie and his family for their non-cooperation in the case. Instead of directly talking to the authorities, Laundrie hired an attorney, Steve Bertolino, who issued a statement on his behalf. It read: “This is an extremely difficult time for both the Petito family and the Laundrie family. I understand that a search has been organized for Miss Petito in or near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. On behalf of the Laundrie family, it is our hope that the search for Miss Petito is successful and that Miss Petito is reunited with her family. On the advice of counsel, the Laundrie family is remaining in the background at this juncture and will have no further comment.”
But Gabby’s family slammed the statement and said, “The Schmidt and Petito family are going through the worst moments of their lives. Their beautiful 22-year-old daughter is missing and the one person that can help find Gabby refuses to help,” before adding, “Brian is refusing to tell Gabby's family where he last saw her. Brian is also refusing to explain why he left Gabby all alone and drove her van to Florida.”
The devastated family members of the young woman also urged Laundrie for help. They said, “the Schmidt and Petito family beg the Laundrie family to not 'remain in the background' but to help find who Brian referred to as the love of his life. How does Brian stay in the background when he is the one person that knows where Gabby is located? The Schmidt and Petito family implore Brian to come forward and at least tell us if we are looking in the right area.”
Meanwhile, police have confirmed that they have taken the van in which the couple were traveling into their custody. North Port police spokesman Josh Taylor said: “We have the vehicle, we took it away very late Saturday night into Sunday. We take it, we process it for evidence — fingerprints, any evidentiary value that we think is possible. We are continuing to try to piece the things together. The situation is obviously very fluid.”