MOAB, Utah — Content Warning: Viewer discretion of the image is advised. The photo could be disturbing to some readers.
A newly released photo of Gabby Petito is drawing attention to the day she and then-fiancé Brian Laundrie were stopped by Moab police officers in August 2021.
Lawyers representing Joseph and Tara Petito and Nichole and Jim Schmidt, Gabby's parents, shared the photo found on her phone. The photo was taken in the back of her van in Moab, Utah, on Aug. 12, 2021, before Moab police officers stopped the two, according to the law firm of Parker and McConkie.
The photo, a selfie of Gabby, shows bruising and blood around her nose and left eye. Lawyers for the family say it shows an assault happened before officers arrived.
"Gabby pointed out the injury to Officer Pratt, but he ignored her
and did nothing more to investigate or document the injury," Parker McConkie states in the document. It continues, "Gabby documented the injury and, during the stop, attempted to tell the Moab officers, however, the seriousness and significance this type of assault and injury was completely ignored."
The family's lawyer believes Laundrie grabbed over her face in a way that obstructed her airways, the document reads.
Based on the photo of Gabby being used in the case against the Moab Police Department, the law firm states it's believed that on Aug. 12, Gabby was not the "predominant aggressor," she was likely strangled and/or suffocated by Laundrie before police arrived, and the Moab police "failed to recognize the violent grabbing." Lawyers also believe the police officers failed to listen to Gabby.
"The Petito family is heartbroken to see how Moab police officers failed to recognize the danger Gabby was in, they remain committed to making sure legislators and law enforcement will have the necessary training and resources to identify and prevent similar tragedies in the future," the document says.
Petito was reported missing about a month after the Moab stop and her body was later found in the Grand Teton National Park. Petito's family has since filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Moab City Police Department. They have also filed a lawsuit against Brian Laundrie's parents and the parent's lawyer, claiming they knew Brian Laundrie killed Gabby.