Police release audio of 911 call about Petito, Laundrie incident near Moab

SALT LAKE CITY — We’re getting a better idea of what happened between Gabrielle Petito and Brian Laundrie in Utah, just days before she presumably died in Wyoming.

After our request was originally denied, KSL got the audio recording of a 911 call about an incident that occurred between the couple near Moab.

It comes after police body cam footage surfaced last week, in the middle of the nationwide search for Petito.

“I was distracting him from driving. I’m sorry,” Petito said to officers.

The Aug. 12 incident depicts a tearful Petito in southern Utah.

“I don’t know,” she said. “We’ve just been fighting all morning and he wouldn’t let me in the car before.”

Police were tipped off by a 911 caller of a possible domestic violence situation between Petito and her boyfriend, 23-year-old Brian Laundrie.

After speaking with the couple, Moab police shifted the fault to Petito.

“It sounds to me like she is the primary aggressor,” said a Moab police officer.

But, KSL obtained the audio recording of the actual 911 call Monday.

It sheds new light on the incident and what may have happened before police were called.

A man called 911 after seeing Brian Laundrie allegedly hit Gabby Petito.

Police asked Gabby and Brian what happened but I never hear police ask Brian if he hit Gabby. They ask Gabby, and she says he grabbed her face. Brian told police he pushed her away, but that's it. pic.twitter.com/1gjogTDbLH

— Morgan Wolfe (@MorganWolfeKSL) September 20, 2021

“What were they doing?” said the 911 operator.

“We drove by him. A gentleman was slapping the girl,” said the witness.

“He was slapping her?” asked the 911 operator.

“Yes, and then we stopped. They ran up and down the sidewalk. He proceeded to hit her, hopped in the car and they drove off,” replied the witness.

Officers eventually decided on separating the couple for the night, in order to avoid charging Petito.

“The witness says, ‘I never saw him hit her. I saw him shove her, but I couldn’t tell if it was an aggression against her or a defense against her,'” said the officer.

All questions that remain to be answered as detectives work to piece together the scene of Sunday’s tragic discovery, and what exactly happened between the couple from the time they left Moab to their arrival in Wyoming.

Human remains discovered ‘consistent’ with description of Gabby Petito

Petito’s family plans on staying in Wyoming until they can take her body home with them.

Meanwhile, the FBI is still processing the scene where the human remains “consistent with the description” of Petito were found.

An autopsy has been scheduled for Tuesday.