New eyewitness accounts from a Wyoming restaurant suggest Gabby Petito was alive and with fiancé Brian Laundrie until at least August 27.
A couple in town for a wedding recalled seeing both Petito and Laundrie at a Jackson Hole, Wyoming, restaurant and witnessing a “full-blown incident,” a Fox News Digital report outlined.
Nina Celie Angelo and boyfriend Matthew England said they saw an “agitated” Laundrie arguing with a waitress at Tex-Mex restaurant Merry Piglets between 1 and 2 p.m. Petito and Laundrie were eventually “kicked out of the restaurant,” Angelo said via social media.
Merry Piglets confirmed on Instagram that the pair were indeed at the spot on August 27. “Yes, we can confirm Gabby and Brian were in Merry Piglets…We have already notified the FBI and they are aware. We are letting them do their jobs and we are respecting Gabby’s family and have nothing further to comment,” the restaurant said.
Fox noted that a travel-blogging couple claim they passed Petito’s white van at a campsite north of the town about four hours after the restaurant incident was witnessed. The pair have GoPro camera footage of the alleged van.
“I have chills right now,” said Angelo. “It’s crazy because it wasn’t just like we passed them on the street — it was a full-blown incident.”
Angelo believes Laundrie was arguing over the bill or money more generally. “She described his body language as ‘aggressive’ and said he left and returned about four times,” the report noted, adding, “Petito came inside and apologized for Laundrie’s behavior” at one point and “looked visibly upset.”
“He goes, ‘Nina, that was the couple fighting at the restaurant,’” Angelo recalled her boyfriend piecing together the encounter. “And it stopped me in my tracks. I felt like the blood left my body. I was like, ‘Oh my God, I completely forgot about that incident.’”
The report added that the witnesses said bodycam footage of a police response “matched the mannerisms and body language of Petito and Laundrie” at the restaurant. “Laundrie was also wearing clothes England said he recognized from the video and ‘looked kind of like he had been living out in a van for a little while.’”
“I would bet $10 million; I’m 1,000% sure that was him and that was her,” England said.
The couple showed Fox a credit card statement confirming their location at the restaurant on August 27; they have alerted authorities.
Someone saw #GabbyPetito and #BrianLaundrie fighting in a restaurant @BrianEntin #Wyoming her IG @Ninacelie pic.twitter.com/j37Gr3q03h
— SharpStat (@sharp_stat) September 22, 2021
While the search for Petito intensified, Laundrie went missing last week. The 23-year-old was named a “person of interest” in the case and his family home was raided by the FBI and reportedly declared a “crime scene.”
Authorities confirmed Tuesday that they’re looking into deer camera footage which seemingly captured images of a man matching the description of Laundrie.
Facebook user Sam Bass posted an image of the man captured by his deer camera, The Daily Wire reported. “I’m not saying this is the guy but whoever was on my trail camera this morning in Baker, Fl strongly fits the description of Brian Laundrie,” he captioned the image. “Authorities have been contacted but people in the North West Florida area be on the lookout.”
The image was captured at 6:17 a.m. on Monday morning in Baker, Florida. Baker is about 500 miles away from the Laundrie home.
The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, which has jurisdiction over the location, confirmed to the New York Post that they are looking into the possible sighting.
The FBI Denver, the National Park Service, and law enforcement announced Sunday during a news conference in Grand Teton National Park that remains found in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park are believed to be consistent with Petito, ABC7 reported. The local outlet added that “Charles Jones, the FBI’s supervisory senior resident agent, said that a full forensic identification hasn’t yet been completed, but investigators did notify Petito’s parents.”
The body was confirmed to be Petito’s on Tuesday, and cause of death was determined to be homicide, pending final autopsy results.