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On Tuesday, Feb. 7, the law firm of Parker & McConkie released the photo from September 2021, that is included in the family's wrongful death lawsuit against the Moab, Utah Police Department which had stopped Petito and her fiancé and fellow Long Island native Brian Laundrie, age 23, on the day of the abuse.
The Petitos claim the police department should have recognized their daughter was in a life-threatening situation. They are seeking $50 million in damages.
The photo, shown above, was found on Gabby’s cell phone.
During the stop, the police department talked to both Petito and Laundrie during a traffic stop and ended up separating the two for the night.
Gabby, age 22, who grew up in Blue Point in Suffolk County, was reported missing by her mother on Sunday, Sept. 11, 2021, after she learned Brian returned to Florida from a cross-country trip in Gabby's van without her.
Her body was found on Sunday, Sept. 19, in a remote area within the Grand Teton National Park and the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Utah after an intensive search by the FBI and local enforcement agencies.
Laundrie, who later killed himself near his North Port, Florida home, admitted to killing Petito.
The family said it is "heartbroken to see how Moab police officers failed to recognize the danger Gabby was in," the attorneys said in a statement.
"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."
Nichole Schmidt, Petito's mother gave the following statement: “Our daughter, Gabby, died as a result of intimate partner violence that could have and should have been identified by law enforcement using the lethality assessment.
"We believe that if the lethality assessment had been properly used in her situation, together with the recommended support and resources, Gabby would still be alive today.“
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