Utah police said they responded to a physical altercation last month between a New York woman and her fiancé while on a road trip: an alleged incident that occurred less than a month before her family reported her missing. .
A responding officer wrote that 22-year-old Gabrielle “Gabby” Petito slapped Brian Laundrie after an argument, according to a report from the Moab City Police Department released Wednesday. But both she and Laundrie told the officer that they did not want to file any charges and that they love each other.
The incident occurred on the afternoon of August 12, according to the report. Petito’s family says he lost contact with her in late August and reported her missing on Saturday. Laundrie is now a person interested in investigating his disappearance, police confirmed Wednesday.
Representatives from Petito and Laundrie’s families did not immediately respond to a request from NBC News to comment on the Utah police report.
The officer who responded to the Aug. 12 incident spoke with Petito, Laundrie and a witness, whose name was partially drafted in the report, according to the report.
“The three individuals gave me a similar and consistent story, which was the basic idea that the driver of the van, a man, had some sort of argument with the woman, Gabbie, as I recall,” the report says.
“The male tried to create distance by telling Gabbie to walk and calm down. He didn’t want to separate from the male and started slapping him. He grabbed her face and pushed her back as he pressed on. he and the van “.
The incident appeared to be more of a mental and emotional “break” than a domestic incident, police said.
“No one reported that the male hit the female, both the male and the female reported that they were in love and engaged and that they were married and did not desperately want to see anyone charged with a crime,” according to the report. no significant injuries were reported and both agreed that Gabbie is suffering from severe anxiety. “
The couple agreed to separate at night and no charges were filed, according to the report.
The Moab City police officer wrote that when he arrived at the scene, near the Moonflower Cooperative, he was looking for a white Ford Transit van, which was later stopped by another officer near the entrance of the Arches National Park. While at the scene, the Moab official said there were also two park agents, according to the report.
The revelation that Utah police found Petito, of Blue Point, Long Island, before she disappeared, comes as authorities continue to search for her and distribute her whereabouts. Petito was known to be in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming in late August when he stopped communicating with his family, police said.
The couple had been documenting their trips in the 2012 white Ford Transit van to YouTube under the nicknames Nomadic Statik and Van Life. That van, with Florida license plates, and Laundrie eventually returned to the city of North Port, south of Tampa, but without the woman, police said.
According to police, Laundrie “has not made himself available to be interviewed by investigators” and “has not provided any useful information.” North Port police have named him a person of interest. The FBI is assisting in the investigation.