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Park ranger warned Gabby Petito of 'toxic' relationship: ‘I can still hear her voice’

Identified as Melissa Hull, the female ranger said, 'she wasn’t just a face on the milk carton, she was real to me'

Hours after remains found at the Wyoming forest were confirmed to be that of Gabby Petito's, the national park ranger who had responded to the Utah domestic dispute call opened up about how she can still hear the deceased vlogger's voice. Petito's remains were recovered after a joint operation by the FBI, National Park Service, US Forest Service, Teton County Sheriff's Office, and Jackson Police Department. The 22-year-old had been reported missing on September 11, last heard from on August 27 through suspicious text messages to her mom, who has since claimed that the texts although sent from Petito's phone, were not written by her daughter.

Petito, who had gone on a cross-country road trip with fiance Brian Laundrie, never returned home. Laundrie got home on September 1, alone, with the white van that he and Petito had been traveling in. He immediately got himself a lawyer, through whom he declined to help authorities with the investigation into Petito's disappearance. Days later, Laundrie was also reported missing, well ahead of the recovery of Petito's remains. His alleged involvement in her death has been speculated after the video of cops answering a witness' 911 call reported domestic disturbance between the couple, went viral.

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In the bodycam footage released by police, a distraught Petito can be seen fumbling through tears after police pull them over for hitting the curb while driving. Petito told the responding officer that she and Laundrie had been fighting all day and blamed her own frustration on her OCD. Laundrie, who was behind the wheel, meanwhile smiled and told officers how Petito had attempted to hit him mid-argument but neither of them wanted to press charges. In another 911 call of the same incident released later, a witness can be heard telling cops they saw the man slap the woman before they got into their white van. And opening up about her own encounter with the now-deceased Petito, FBIA National Park Service ranger Melissa Hulls told Deseret News: "She wasn’t just a face on the milk carton, she was real to me."

Hull was the one who had spoken candidly with Petito after cops separated her from Laundrie and asked her to explain what had happened. “Sometimes I get really frustrated,” Petito had told authorities at the time, but Hull reflects: "I was probably more candid with her than I should’ve been. I was imploring with her to reevaluate the relationship, asking her if she was happy in the relationship with him, and basically saying this was an opportunity for her to find another path, to make a change in her life.”

Police directed Laundrie and Petito to stay separated for 24 hours, with the latter being asked to remain in their van while her fiance was checked into a nearby motel. This made Petito seemingly anxious, Hull recounts, adding that she looked scared to be separated from Laundrie. “She had a lot of anxiety about being away from him, I honestly thought if anything was going to change it would be after they got home to Florida.”

Just a little over a month after the incident, Petito's body was found at the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming. Speaking about that, Hull said: "I honestly haven’t looked at my body camera footage for that night. It’s hard to think about now because I feel like I could’ve said more to help her. It’s hard not to second-guess myself, and wish I said more, or wish I had found the right words to make her believe that she deserved more.”

Social media has also been rife with scrutiny over the cops not doing more when they answered the domestic dispute call. "What kind of clowns work at your police department? How could they miss such clear case of domestic abuse? Oh and great job ignoring the 911 call. RIP Gabby Petito," tweeted one user. Another chimed in "Police need mandatory domestic violence training that is more extensive than whatever they are getting. How in the world were police not informed of the 911 call in the Gabby Petito/Brian Laundrie domestic dispute? The park ranger noticed signs/red flags????"

One more wrote: "The 911 call to police reported that HE was hitting/slapping HER. She was in obvious distress when pulled over. Watch cam footage, those @moabpolice buddied up with (murderer) Laundrie because he’s a guy. Police were negligent and biased! #petito" Another complained, "The Petito story is sad because the police literally had a chance to intervene. Someone happen to call the police while that man was beating her and then he killed her shortly after. It was obvious that she was a victim and they still left. The police failing white ppl too shit" 

Some are even of the grave opinion that "Moab, Utah police officers ignored the 911 caller's call witnessing the creepy boyfriend's physical assault on Gabby Petito. As such, the officers who arrived at the assault scene should be arrested for aiding and abetting the creepy BF's physical batter a criminal act." Petito's death has now been ruled homicide with Laundrie still missing. Her family claims the former fiance is in hiding with help from his parents, while police have declared his home a crime scene.