NEW Gabby Petito Abuse Witness Said Brian Laundrie Was 'Acting Like A Lunatic' - But Cops Let Him Go Anyway!

[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]

So much about the Gabby Petito case is infuriating. Obviously Brian Laundrie and his BS about the murder being a mercy killing. How his parents shielded him — keeping Gabby’s family in the dark. But maybe the most insane aspect is the fact the cops had him, they had the opportunity to prevent this tragedy right there in their hands… and let it slip away.

If you’re new to the case from the Netflix docuseries, this has been a gauntlet learning just what happened that day. Cops stopped Gabby and Brian’s van on August 12 in Moab, Utah about two weeks before he killed her. What we knew is that a witness called 911 to report a domestic dispute on the side of the road, telling them he saw a man strike a woman. Simple, right?

Despite being armed with that knowledge, however, Moab Police Department officers immediately sided with him. They told Gabby she could go to jail for hitting Brian. Ultimately they separated them for a night and let them go with a warning. There’s video of the whole thing, and it’s a travesty.

An independent investigation found the cops made “several unintentional mistakes” during the stop, particularly the officer in charge of the stop, Eric Pratt. The guy who got a promotion after the whole thing. It was already a total law enforcement debacle. But this latest info makes the whole incident even more unbelievable!

It turns out as part of their murder investigation, the FBI interviewed ANOTHER witness who said they saw Brian hit Gabby! And his statement has just been made public! This is huge!

The man, who was not identified in the report, said he was on a road trip with his family on August 12, 2021 and also saw an incident with the couple. Hell, it was probably the same one, considering it was the same day.

He described seeing a couple arguing outside a white Ford Transit van. He said he saw the young man “slap” the woman. It was intense enough that he and his family made a U-turn and drove back out of “concern” for the girl. They parked across the road and kept an eye on everything in case it got worse. What he described was a man being abusive and acting “like a lunatic.”

While they watched, per the report, they saw the man “opening and slamming doors and pacing around the van”:

“He seemed to be pleading with the female and at one point may have tried to hug the female, but was pushed back by her.”

We guess that’s the battery the cops threatened to arrest Gabby for? Ridiculous. The FBI report says the man observed the couple for about “10-15 minutes”:

“The male ultimately pushed the female’s legs into the passenger side of the van, closed her door, and entered the driver’s side. The male subsequently put his head between his hands and both passengers appeared to be crying.”

Sounds like the toxic relationship we’ve come to realize was happening when the Van Life YouTube cameras were off.

This was all at around 4:30-4:45 local time, just minute before cops stopped the couple. So it must have been the same incident. This witness was NOT the one who called the cops though. He says he “considered intervening and/or calling 911” — but he’d already called 911 earlier that day on an unrelated matter of a truck driver being reckless. We guess he feared emergency services labeling him as hysterical or something. We don’t know. But he didn’t call.

He ended up contacting the FBI on his own weeks later after learning about Gabby Petito’s case on TV. He was immediately “confident” this was the same couple they’d seen, on that same day. You can view the full report HERE.

Gabby’s mom, Nichole Schmidt, told Fox News Digital, who were the first to report this new witness statement:

“[I] wish we could get ahold of this person. I would love to ask questions.”

We hope they’re able to arrange that. Maybe the man will see all these stories and reach out, maybe give her some information. It likely won’t give her comfort… but it could help with the wrongful death suit.

What do YOU think of this new information?

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, help is available. Consider calling the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233, or text START to 88788, or go to https://www.thehotline.org/.

[Image via Fox 13 Tampa Bay/YouTube.]