Brian Laundrie was seen "slapping" fiancée Gabby Petito during an incident in Utah weeks before the young woman vanished, said audio of a 911 call obtained by Fox News.
Utah's Moab Police Department responded to a fight between Laundrie and Petito on August 12 — less than a month before Petito was reported missing by her family — while the couple was in the midst of their cross-country road trip by van to national parks out West.
The couple told police that they got into an argument in Moab that resulted in Petito slapping Laundrie, a police report and officer body-camera footage released by the Moab Police Department showed.
But in a 911 call about the same incident obtained by Fox News, a witness can be heard telling dispatchers with the Grand County Sheriff's Office that he saw Laundrie striking Petito.
"I am right on the corner of Main Street by Moonflower and we're driving by and I'd like to report a domestic dispute," the male 911 caller can be heard telling a dispatcher in the audio. The caller also mentioned a white van and a Florida license plate.
The dispatcher then asked the caller, "What were they doing?"
"We drove by and the gentleman was slapping the girl," the caller said.
The dispatcher responded, "He was slapping her?"
The caller replied: "Yes and then we stopped. They ran up and down the sidewalk. He proceeded to hit her, hopped in the car and they drove off."
A police report of the incident said it "wasn't clear" to the police officer, but an initial witness described seeing Laundrie hit Petito.
The officer in the report said he located a witness named Christopher, whose last name was redacted.
This witness "reported seeing a man, later identified Brian Laundrie, and a female, later identified as Gabrielle Petito, arguing over a phone."
"Christopher stated that when Brian got into the van, he saw what appeared to him as Gabrielle hitting Brian in the arm and then climbing through the driver's window as if Brian had locked her out and she was trying to find a way in," the police report said.
In police body-camera footage showing the aftermath of a scuffle between Petito and Laundrie, officers can be seen considering whether to charge Petito with domestic violence. But they opted not to when she told them she didn't intend to hurt Laundrie.
Petito, 22, seemed distraught in the footage. Neither the officers nor Petito nor Laundrie referred to the slapping incident described on the 911 call released on Monday.
The Moab Police Department didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on Monday.
Meanwhile, FBI investigators said on Sunday that a body discovered at a campsite near Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park was believed to be Petito.
Laundrie, 23, who has been named a person of interest in Petito's disappearance, is now also missing.
He had returned home to Florida with the van and without Petito on September 1, retained an attorney, and refused to speak to authorities.
Laundrie's family reported him missing to police last Friday after, they said, he left to go on a hike at the nearby Carlton Reserve earlier last week and never returned home.
Anyone affected by abuse and in need of support can contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline (1-800-799-7233). Advocates are available 24/7 and can also be reached via live chat on thehotline.org or by texting "START" to 88788 or "LOVEIS" to 22522.
