Gabby Petito case: One year on from a domestic violence incident that could have prevented a murder

If you or someone you know is the victim of domestic abuse, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233.

Moab police responded to a domestic violence call involving the late van life travel blogger Gabby Petito and her suspected killer ex Brian Laundrie one year ago Thursday.

The ill-fated encounter, recorded on harrowing police bodycam video, preceded Petito’s brutal strangling at Laundrie’s hands just two weeks later.

Despite a Utah statute that requires someone to be arrested or cited during a domestic response, no such action was taken.

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The couple left on a cross-country road trip in June 2021, taking Petito’s converted Ford Transit van on a tour of national and state parks, chronicled on Petito’s Instagram and YouTube accounts.

Her disappearance under suspicious circumstances garnered international attention and spotlighted missing persons and domestic violence cases.

In the year that followed her death, her parents founded and built up a national nonprofit that continues to raise awareness.

The Gabby Petito Foundation

In response to their daughter’s tragic story, Petito’s parents and stepparents founded the Gabby Petito Foundation to raise awareness of missing persons and domestic violence.

The organization became a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit on Oct. 22, 2021, and last week announced a $100,000 donation to the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

“Domestic violence can be stopped, and organizations like the Hotline are at the forefront of ensuring that survivors get the support they need to seek a safer future,” Nichole Schmidt, Petito’s mother, said in the announcement. “We support organizations doing this life-saving work and encourage everyone to join us by making a gift to The Hotline’s emergency campaign. Thousands of people in need are depending on us.” 

Answering questions from Fox News Digital and other outlets at a news briefing Monday regarding the family’s intent to sue Moab police for their handling of the Aug. 12 call, Petito’s parents said they hope her case will encourage other people trapped in abusive relationships to seek help and get out as soon as possible.

“Reach out if you can,” Nichole Schmidt, said during the briefing, wiping tears from her eyes. “Reach out to someone.”

The foundation declined to comment for this story, deferring to the parents’ Monday remarks.

“All we can hope is that Gabby’s legacy will be a positive one,” Jim Schmidt, Petito’s stepfather, said. “That people will see her, and they recognize her and possibly compare maybe what they’re going through in their life and make a positive change.”

To that end, the National Domestic Violence Hotline says the number of calls it has received since Petito’s story seized global headlines last summer has doubled to almost 80,000 a month.

“People care; we care; there are people that care,” Joseph Petito, Gabby’s father, added. “And we think everyone out there should know that there are people who will do whatever we can to help.”

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The Moab Incident

After Petito’s mother, Nichole Schmidt, reported her missing on Sept. 11, 2021, Fox News Digital was the first media outlet to uncover the Moab domestic violence call – in which a witness told police he saw Laundrie hitting and slapping Petito and attempting to drive off without her. 

Petito climbed in through the window, according to the witness, and Laundrie slammed the car into a curb when police pulled the couple over outside town on the entrance ramp to Arches National Park a few minutes later.

The crossroads city’s police department drew scrutiny after a pair of bodycam videos were released in response to public records requests. Petito appeared in hysterics – upset the entire time, crying, motioning at her face and neck, where she suggested Laundrie had grabbed and scratched her. Lawyers for her parents earlier this week said a previously unreleased photo will show blood smeared over her face – something not clearly visible in the bodycam footage.

Laundrie was calm and collected and struck up a conversational tone with officers – despite lying to them about having a cellphone.

Laundrie told the officers that he didn’t have a phone and was afraid Petito was the one who would drive off on him and leave him without a way to communicate. 

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“I was holding onto the keys because I didn’t want to go anywhere, and my big fear is, I don’t have my phone. I don’t really – I don’t have a phone. So if she goes off without me…I’m on my own,” he said in the bodycam video.

About 40 minutes later, they asked him for his phone number. He took a phone out of his pocket. But the officers never pressed him on this inconsistency.

Police made no arrests or citations despite a Utah statute requiring one to be issued in domestic violence incidents. After interviewing both Petito and Laundrie, as well as another witness, officers ruled out domestic violence and deemed the incident a “mental health break.”

An outside investigation into Moab police’s handling of the Aug. 12 stop found “unintentional mistakes” – and issued recommendations on how the department should move forward.

Moab has not provided Fox News Digital with any documents, comment or confirmation that any of these recommendations had been followed. A city spokesperson declined to comment Monday citing a policy on pending litigation.

Price, Utah, Police Capt. Brandon Ratcliffe, who conducted the outside review, did not respond to requests for an interview.

“I am confident and comfortable in stating the mistakes that were made were not made intentionally,” he wrote in the report.

Pratt, who also did not respond to an interview request and is named in a pending notice of claim filed by Petito’s parents, is quoted in Ratcliffe’s report as skeptical of Laundrie’s innocence.

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“Brian didn’t get away with anything for being cute, and Brian showed more red flags than a Chinese Communist rally going on that he was a s—– boyfriend,” Pratt told Ratcliffe. But, he claimed, “I couldn’t charge him. The fingernail thing, the way it was described by [the redacted witness] and Gabby, even if I didn’t clarify it with him, that’s not something I can arrest him for.”

Police ultimately ordered the couple to split up for the night. They left Petito with the converted camper van and drove Laundrie to a motel on Main Street, where the manager told Fox News Digital he could not confirm that the 23-year-old actually spent the night.

“We believe that these officers were negligent, and their negligence contributed to Gabby’s death,” said Bryan Stewart, a Salt Lake City-based attorney representing the Petito and Schmidt families. “They did not understand the law and did not apply the law properly in Gabby’s situation.”

Brian’s Break and Gabby’s Final Days

The couple’s Aug. 12 fight, in part, grew out of an argument they’d had at a Moab coffee shop as Petito worked on her travel videos, according to conversations captured on police bodycam.

On Aug. 17, 2021, Laundrie flew home to Florida alone. During this break, Petito posted a video to her Van Life YouTube channel, painting a peachy portrait of the first half of the couple’s journey. Her REI water bottle, hung prominently in the back of the van in this video, would later turn up near Laundrie’s remains.

Laundrie returned to Utah where he and Petito resumed their road trip on Aug. 23.

Petito made her final Instagram post on Aug. 25. That’s also the last day she spoke with her family, according to her mother, Nichole Schmidt.

On or around Aug. 28, according to a lawsuit filed by Petito’s parents against Laundrie’s, the aspiring travel blogger was killed in Bridger-Teton National Forest north of Jackson, Wyoming. An FBI-led search effort found her remains there on Sept. 19. Laundrie confessed to the killing in a notebook entry found near his remains the following October, as Fox News Digital was first to report.

After Petito’s death, Laundrie drove cross-country from Wyoming to his parent’s house in North Port, Florida. He arrived on Sept. 1 and refused to speak with police or answer questions from the public. The Laundrie family went camping from Sept. 6 to 8, as Petito’s parents were still desperate for answers. Within days, Laundrie snuck off into the nearby Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park and shot himself in the head, according to the FBI.

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Fox News Digital was in the park with Laundrie’s parents and investigators five weeks later – when they found his partial remains and a dry bag that contained a handwritten confession, in which he wrote, “I ended her life.”

“I thought it was merciful, that it is what she wanted, but I see now all the mistakes I made,” he continued. “I panicked. I was in shock.”

Laundrie was the only person of interest and suspect in Petito’s death. She was beaten and strangled, according to the Teton County coroner Dr. Brent Blue.

The Lawsuit Against Moab Police

In addition to a pair of lawsuits filed against Laundrie’s parents, Petito’s family has also filed a $50 million notice of claim against the Moab Police Department, Officers Eric Pratt and Daniel Robbins, as well as former Assistant Chief Braydon Palmer and former Chief Bret Edge. They are alleging negligence and poor training on behalf of the city are to blame for their daughter’s death.

But such claims are hard to prove, according to legal experts.

Mike Padden, a St. Paul-based civil rights attorney who has battled Minneapolis police in a wrongful death case, said the Moab police will likely claim immunity.

“With a case like that, it’s difficult, I think it’s gonna be a really tough case for the plaintiff,” he told Fox News Digital. “The lawyers representing law enforcement have probably taken the position that their clients are entitled to immunity – and I think that will be a really strong argument.”

He predicted a motion to dismiss could come quickly.

He also said the court might find Ratcliffe’s independent investigation inadmissible.

“That’s evidence that would invade the province of the jury,” he said. “That would typically not be admissible because it’s an entity that’s looking at the facts and reaching a conclusion – and that’s for the jury to decide.”

Or, he said, the report could help the defense.

“They may have made the wrong decision, but that’s the whole point here – that’s why they have immunity,” he said. “It’s a difficult decision, and even if they ultimately didn’t make the right decision, they should not be treated unfairly for not making the right decision.”

Neama Rahmani, a Los Angeles-based trial attorney and former federal prosecutor who has been following the Petito story since it began, agreed.

“The Petito lawsuit against the Moab Police Department will likely be dismissed,” he said. “Law enforcement is generally immune from civil liability for a failure to act, unless there is a specific legal duty like a duty to provide medical aide.”

He said the Petito’s have a better case against Laundrie’s parents, if they can prove they helped their son escape after the slaying.

“Though the Moab officers probably should have arrested Laundrie, or both Laundrie and Petito, that failure is not actionable under civil law,” he said. 

Padden said he thinks the Petito-Schmidt family could fare better with a federal lawsuit against Moab than in Utah state court.

Attorneys for the Petito-Schmidt family said they would argue that immunity in this case is unconstitutional and would allow the department to escape responsibility for its own actions.

Steve Bertolino, an attorney for Laundrie’s parents, said their son had not told them about the Moab incident, and they only learned of it when Fox News Digital exposed the Moab 911 call last September.

He has voiced support for Moab police.

“I don’t know that they did everything wrong,” he told Fox News Digital. “Everybody assumes it was a judgment call. People don’t deserve to get arrested because they got in a fight with someone that they love.”

If you or someone you know is the victim of domestic abuse, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233.