Gabby Petito's parents have released a photo of her bruised face reportedly taken before police stopped her and Brian Laundrie after bystanders reported witnessing a domestic dispute between the couple.
The selfie shows Petito, 22, looking distressed and crying, with red marks which appear to be bruising or blood around one of her eyes.
The picture was allegedly taken by Petito on her cell phone in the back of the van she and Laundrie had been traveling in, in Moab on August 12, 2021, shortly before she was killed in late August.
The image's data reportedly shows the photo was taken at or around the time the 911 call was made about an alleged domestic dispute between the couple by onlookers.
The family's attorney Brian C. Stewart told People: "I believe she knew she was in trouble and that this crossed the line and she took that picture in the back of the van."
Attorney for Petito's parents, Nichole Schmidt and Joe Petito. added: "According to available data, the image was taken a 4:37 PM, at or before the approximate time of the initial 911 call."
A lawsuit filed by the parents also claims that Petito had shown the injury to one of the police officers that responded to the call, but alleges "he ignored her and did nothing more to investigate or document the injury."
They argue that their daughter would be alive today had police in Moab, Utah, not mishandled their interaction with Laundrie in the days before he killed Petito.
Stewart told the outlet: "It is totally heartbreaking to see her hurt and scared and in need and to have her concerns ignored the way that it was.
"We believe that if they followed up and investigated those injuries and asked the questions they should have they would have understood the danger she was in and she would have better understood the danger she was in. We believe she would be alive today if they handled it properly."
Lisa Church, communications manager for the City of Moab, told People that the city will not comment on ongoing or pending litigation.
The couple had been traveling across the country in their van before Petito was reported missing on September 11, 2021, which was 10 days after Laundrie had quietly returned to his family home in Florida with the van and without his girlfriend.
Petito was killed by Laundrie in late August 2021 and her remains were found on September 19 at the Spread Creek Dispersed Camping area in Wyoming, close to where the couple's white Ford Transit van had also been seen.
It was determined that she had been killed "three to four weeks" before her body was found, with her cause of death being blunt force trauma to the head and neck as well as manual strangulation.
A warrant was issued for Laundrie's arrest, and a manhunt ensued before his skeletal remains and belongings were found in the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park on October 20, in an area that had recently been underwater due to flooding.
An autopsy later determined that he had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, and a notebook among his belongings contained a confession stating he had killed Petito, claiming he had done it to be "merciful" after she had fallen and injured herself.
He had also admitted to using her phone to send messages to her family to make out that she was alive after he had killed her.
Prior to the murder, Petito and Laundrie had been stopped by police, and bodycam footage showed them being spoken to by the side of the road.
During the encounter, Laundrie, 23, appeared unfazed while Petito sobbed as she defended his actions and told police she had hit him in the face during their altercation.
Paperwork filed after the incident saw police categorize the call as a "mental health crisis" rather than domestic violence.
An independent review of the officers' actions, commissioned by the city of Moab, found that they had committed "unintentional mistakes that stemmed from the fact that officers failed to cite Ms. Petito for domestic violence."
The statement added: "The City of Moab sends our sincere condolences to the Petito family. Our hearts go out to them as they continue to deal with the tragic loss of their daughter."
Featured image credit: REUTERS / Alamy
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