The National Park Service revealed how U.S. Rangers were on the scene during a creepy traffic stop outside Arches National Park in the weeks before the murders of Gabby Pettit and Brian Landry in August 2021. The body camera footage was released.
The videos, provided to Fox News Digital as part of a public records request, provide a glimpse into the female ranger's efforts to calm Pettit and encourage her to distance herself from Landry's abusive behavior.
Although some of the audio is difficult to hear, witnesses said Petito appeared to be taking out his frustrations on Landry, who reportedly punched her in public and then walked into the city center. He allegedly tried to drive away without her outside the Moonflower Co-op grocery store in . town. However, throughout the encounter, she downplayed Landry's actions.
NPS said it will release the records at some point.
Gabby Petito's body camera shows Brian Landry's parents refusing to cooperate with police after filing a missing person report
A female U.S. park ranger approaches Gabby Petito during a traffic stop in Utah, and her then-fiance and murder suspect Brian Landry is caught in unreleased body camera footage. (National Park Service)
Petito claims it was his fault that he hit the curb and that he hit it first.
“He's much stronger than me,” she added, denying she could have hurt him.
But new light was shed on the case after Petito spoke openly with a female National Park Service park ranger who was on the scene at the same time as Moab police.
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Gabby Pettit has blood on her face during a traffic stop in Moab, Utah, on August 12, 2021. (Parker & McConkey)
“The NPS video will definitely be part of the relevant evidence in this case,” said Brian Stewart, an attorney with Parker & McConkie who is representing Petito's parents in the Utah lawsuit. “While the video provides an additional perspective that may be helpful, it does not appear to contain substantively different information.”
Moab police officers began the crackdown at the entrance to Arches National Park on the city's outskirts. Park rangers arrived to assist but played a secondary role in the interaction.
Watch the U.S. park ranger's body camera video:
Gabby Petito's mother and stepmother sent Roberta Landry a not-so-subtle message
Previously released video shows Petite becoming hysterical as officers confront her and Landry following a report of a domestic violence incident on Main Street in Moab, where Landry allegedly punched her. are. However, she downplayed the incident to the police, who began treating her as the “perpetrator.”
A park ranger's body camera captured Petito's previously unseen statements.
Northport police found Petito's van in Landry's driveway in Florida and had it towed away to examine evidence. (Hokko PD)
“Look, I'm going to tell you…I don't look at you as a suspect, but as some sort of victim. You're dealing with difficulties emotionally and mentally at this age. In that sense, the job probably leaves you out of it as you get older,” the male police officer told Pettit.
Ranger said in a previous interview that he urged Petito to distance himself from his “toxic” relationship with Landry.
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Ranger Melissa Hulls stepped aside to speak with Petito privately, believing she would feel more comfortable talking one-on-one with a female officer, Salt Lake City sources said. Deseret news.
A female U.S. park ranger approaches Gabby Petito during a traffic stop in Utah, and her then-fiance and murder suspect Brian Landry is caught in unreleased body camera footage. (National Park Service)
“I can still hear her voice,” she said days after Petito's body was found in Wyoming and weeks after the suspension. “She wasn't just a face on a milk carton. She was real to me.”
Moab Police Department responded to a 911 caller who said they witnessed a man “slapping” a woman before entering Arches National Park on August 12, 2021 at approximately 4:45 p.m. (Montana time). They stopped Landry and Petito in their car on the road leading into Arches National Park. We got in the van and headed north of town.
Landry was behind the wheel and traveling 45 mph in a 15 mph zone before crashing into a curb.
While Moab's police officers treated Petite like an aggressor, the rangers took a different approach.
Brian Landry is seen in body camera footage released by the Moab, Utah Police Department. (Moab Police Department)
“Take a deep breath,” she said, handing me a bottle of water.
“I think you guys need to work on your communication,” she added later. “Have you told him how his sarcastic comments affect you?”
Utah law requires police to issue a citation or make an arrest for domestic violence, but Moab police have no choice but to classify the encounter as domestic violence or as a mental health issue. We debated whether to classify it. Officers ultimately declined to press charges, but booked Landry a motel room in the city through a nonprofit organization for domestic violence survivors.
Motel management could not confirm whether he actually stayed overnight.
Gabby Petito was reported missing in September 2021, about two weeks after her ex-fiancé Brian Landry was believed to have murdered her and abandoned her body at a Wyoming campground. Ta. (@petitojoseph/Instagram)
Petito was last seen alive in Jackson, Wyoming, on August 27, leaving a laundry shop.
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The FBI said he killed her, left her body at a campground in the nearby Bridger-Teton National Forest, and then drove her van to her parents' home in Florida. He went camping with his family, refused to cooperate with police, then snuck out, left a handwritten confession and took his own life.
Petito's parents sued Landry's family, and the two sides reached a settlement earlier this year. They are also suing the Moab Police Department in a case that has not yet begun.
