The couple left in July.
YouTuber Gabby Petito’s fiancé has been declared a person of interest after he returned from a cross-country trip without her.
Leaving New York on July 2nd, the couple set out for a four-month cross-country trip visiting and camping in national parks in a van, according to Gabby’s stepfather Jim Schmidt.
Recently being reported as missing by her parents two months after she left, police are now looking towards Brian Laundrie, they said on Wednesday.
Stopping in Utah, her family claims something went wrong after that and on August 12, police in Moab, Utah, responded to a call of a “domestic problem” when Brian and Gabby had “some sort of argument,” telling her to take a walk and calm down, according to police reports.
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The report also states that she didn’t want to be separated from him and began slapping him and he then “grabbed her face and pushed her back as she pressed upon him and the van.”
Trying to lock her out of the van, she managed to climb in the side door, but told police that they didn’t want to see “anyone charged with a crime.”
Asking police to classify the incident as a “mental/emotional health ‘break,’” Brian was sent to stay in a hotel that night while Gabby stayed in the van and no charges were filed.
Brian then returned to Florida on September 1st without Gabby and 10 days later her family reported her missing to the North Port Police Department.
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Since returning, Brian has refused to talk to or cooperate with police or investigators, and a spokesperson for the department Josh Taylor has added that he is now working with the FBI to find Gabby.
“We don’t know what Brian knows,” Taylor told reporters on Wednesday. “That’s the bottom line, and we’re hopeful to talk to him. He needs to talk to us.”
Brian arrived in Florida in the white Ford van the couple had revamped for their trip, and it was licenced in Gabby’s name. The van has since been seized and processed for evidence.
Police are looking to speak to Brian and understand where he last saw Gabby, but he has not been arrested or declared a suspect, only being described as a person of interest as he was the last known person with Gabby.
