Witness statement says Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie argued 'aggressively' on August 12 before Utah police stop

• A witness statement says Brian Laundrie and Gabby Petito 'aggressively' argued on August 12.
• The new document gives further insight into events just before they were stopped by police.
• Petito's body was found Sunday. Police are searching for Laundrie, who has disappeared.

A witness statement has shed further light on Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie's August 12 fight in Utah, saying the pair argued "aggressively."

Moab City PD sent Insider a redacted version of the statement from "Chris," who said they saw the couple engaged in the argument that prompted a police callout to their ill-fated road trip.

Petito was found dead in Wyoming on Sunday, and a massive manhunt for Laundrie was as of Wednesday still underway. He avoided talking to authorities since his girlfriend was declared missing on September 11.

The "van life" couple embarked on the roadtrip in June, posting idyllic-looking images to their social media along the way.

But on August 12, the pair got into an argument outside Moonflower Community Cooperative store in Moab, Utah.

The incident has been much scrutinized for clues about the pair's relationship.

The statement from Chris says that the pair were in "some sort of dispute," potentially over Petito's phone.

"They were talking aggressively @ each other & something seemed off," Chris wrote, saying they believed that Laundrie took Petito's phone from her.

A version of Chris's observations had been made public earlier in the search for Petito, but the release of the redacted statement adds significantly more detail.

From Chris' perspective, it seemed possible that Laundrie was trying to leave without her and take her phone.

"It appeared that he didn't want her in the van," Chris continued, saying Petito followed Laundrie to where he got into the driver's seat.

"At one point she was punching him in the arm and/or face & trying to get into the van," Chris said. She eventually climbed over his lap to the passenger seat, they said.

"Why do you have to be so mean?" Chris reported Petito as saying, noting they couldn't tell how serious the argument was, and raising the possibility that they were play fighting.

But "something definitely didn't seem right," Chris said.

How the statement stacks up against other witnesses

Chris' witness statement builds on the picture brought about by a 911 call and police documentation from the incident.

In audio of the 911 call relating to the same fight, a witness told dispatchers that Laundrie had been "slapping" Petito. It is unclear if the caller is Chris or another witness.

The police report on the callout describes Petito slapping Laundrie - as well as Laundrie grabbing her face.

In police bodycam footage of the callout, officers noted apparent scratches on Laundrie's body, which Laundrie seemed to shrug off.

The police report and witness statement described a similar anxiety from the two over separating. Petito "didn't want to be separated from the male," the report said.

During the police stop, both of the young pair were cooperative - but while Laundrie seemed calm and collected, Petito seemed distraught, taking on much of the blame herself.

She said they had bee fighting all morning, and that Laundrie "wouldn't let me in the car before."

The police eventually deemed the incident a mental-health crisis and separated the pair, putting Laundrie in a hotel for the night and allowing Petito to sleep in the van.