A New, Strange Encounter Is Added to Gabby Petito Timeline

Witness saw Petito, Brian Laundrie in restaurant
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 23, 2021 2:16 AM CDT
Updated Sep 23, 2021 6:47 AM CDT
Witness Saw Gabby Petito, Fiance Upset in Restaurant
This photo combo provided by FBI Denver via @FBIDenver, shows missing person Gabrielle "Gabby" Petito. Petito, 22, vanished while on a cross-country trip in a converted camper van with her boyfriend. Authorities say a body discovered Sunday, Sept. 19, 2021, in Wyoming, is believed to be Petito.   (FBI Denver via AP)

In one of the last reported sightings of Gabby Petito before she was killed, a couple say they saw the 22-year-old and her fiance, Brian Laundrie, upset at a Wyoming restaurant on Aug. 27. As Petito cried, a visibly angry Laundrie exited and re-entered the restaurant multiple times; he also acted angrily toward some of the staff, and the couple's server seemed shaken by the encounter, the couple say. They got the impression he was arguing with the server over something related to the bill, and they say Petito at one point apologized for the way he was behaving. They tell CNN they did not see any physical violence between Petito and Laundrie. The Jackson Hole restaurant, the Merry Piglets, confirms Petito and Laundrie were there and says it has contacted the FBI, Fox News reports. Police believe Petito died sometime between Aug. 27 and 30, People reports.

Also Wednesday, neighbors of the Laundrie family in North Port, Fla., tell Fox News that about a week after Laundrie returned home without Petito, he and his parents appeared to go away camping for a long weekend. And on Tuesday, a new witness report related to the Aug. 12 encounter Petito and Laundrie had with police was revealed. Per the New York Post, this witness also saw Petito and Laundrie fighting in front of a store in Moab, Utah, before another onlooker called 911 and police ultimately stopped the couple. He said it looked like Laundrie was trying to take Petito's phone and drive away without her, and that Petito said, "Why do you have to be so mean?" and climbed over him to get in the van. "At one point she was punching him in the arm and/or face & trying to get into the van," the witness says. An updated timeline:

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(Is "missing white woman syndrome" at play?)

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