Moab police say they responded to incident involving missing woman, boyfriend
Sep 14, 2021, 10:42 PM | Updated: Sep 15, 2021, 12:06 pm
Gabby Petito, 22, was reportedly last seen in Salt Lake City. (Instagram/Joseph Petito)
(Instagram/Joseph Petito)
MOAB, Utah — Moab police confirmed Tuesday night that officers responded to an incident involving a 22-year-old missing woman and her boyfriend prior to her disappearance.
Chief Bret Edge with the Moab City Police Department told KSL in an email that officers responded to an incident involving Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie on Aug. 12.
He said the incident was reported by a third party.
We don’t know the nature of the call but know there weren’t any criminal charges filed. @KSL5TV has made a formal request for a recording of the call. #findgabby #gabriellepetito pic.twitter.com/48cDACg1fE
— Morgan Wolfe (@MorganWolfeKSL) September 15, 2021
Edge did not confirm the nature of the incident, but said officers investigated and found “insufficient evidence” to make criminal charges.
Petito and Laundrie had been traveling through Utah and Wyoming together before Laundrie returned home to Florida with the couple’s van, without Petito.
Petito’s mother, Nichole Schmidt, said she last spoke to Petito on Aug. 24, when the couple was going to the Grand Tetons in Wyoming.
Schmidt said she last got a text from Petito’s number on Aug. 30.
On Sept. 11, her parents filed a missing person report with the Suffolk County Police Department in New York, where Petito is from.
#UPDATE: Officers responded to incident involving #GabbyPetito & Brian Laundrie on Aug.12 in Moab. @moabpolice say there wasn’t enough evidence to file criminal charges. @KSL5TV @kslnewsradio pic.twitter.com/3SZIUxQp14
— Garna Mejia KSL (@GarnaMejiaKSL) September 15, 2021
The FBI is now focusing its search on Jackson, Wyoming.
On Tuesday, Brian Laundrie released a statement through his attorney about Petito’s disappearance.
“This is understandably an extremely difficult time for both the Petito family and the Laundrie family.”
The statement went on to say, “On behalf of the Laundrie family it is our hope that the search for Miss Petito is successful and that Miss Petito is re-united with her family.”
