08 February 2023 , 13:39
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A selfie taken by Gabby Petito on the day she and her fiancé were stopped by police a month before she went missing shows she had clear facial injuries, her family's lawyers say.
Gabby, 22, and Brian Laundrie, 23, had been travelling across the United States documenting their travels on social media when the young woman was reported missing on September 11 2021.
Laundrie disappeared within days and a warrant for his arrest was issued on September 23, four days after Gabby's strangled body was found. His remains were discovered in October.
Her family have filed a lawsuit against the the Moab City Police Department in Utah district court claiming a 'sloppy investigation' and a 'bungled' traffic stop were partly responsible for her death.
The photo, released on Monday by lawyers representing the family after being found on gabby's phone, was taken in her van on August 12, the same day the couple were pulled over by Moab police.
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Police body camera video provided by The Moab Police Department shows her talking to an officer (Uncredited/AP/REX/Shutterstock)The photo shows injuries around her eye and across her face. She appears to be wearing the same top in both the selfie and the police body worn camera footage of the traffic stop.
In the footage, released by Moab police, officers can be heard talking to Petito and Laundrie. They both admit having a fight but Petito said she struck him first.
She told officers Laundrie “gets frustrated with me a lot.”
With her partner, Brian Laundrie, as they painted the image of a happy couple on instagram (North Port Police Department/ZUMA Press Wire Service/Shutterstock)The family's lawsuit accuses Moab City Police Department and the officers involved of negligence in hiring practices and in how the domestic violence report was handled.
Lawyer Brian Stewart said the newly emerged photo shows the victim “was grabbed over her face in such a way that her airways were likely obstructed.
"Gabby documented the injury and, during the stop, attempted to tell the Moab officers, however, the seriousness and significance this type of assault and injury was completely ignored.”
Moab City Police Department has said it “does not comment on matters related to active litigation”.
Gabby’s mum, Nichole Schmidt, said in a statement last week: “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.”