A couple witnessed an 'aggressive' argument between Brian Laundrie and staff at a Wyoming restaurant days before Gabby Petito went missing
The couple went out to lunch at a restaurant in Jackson, Wyoming, on Aug. 27, when they said they saw Laundrie "aggressively" arguing with a waitress.
Moab Police Department/Insider
- A couple said they witnessed an "aggressive" argument between Gabby Petito's fiancée Brian Laundrie and staff at a Wyoming restaurant in late August.
- The argument took place weeks before Petito went missing. Her death was ruled a homicide earlier this week.
- Laundrie was named a "person of interest" in Petito's disappearance, and authorities are currently working on locating him.
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A couple said they witnessed Brian Laundrie engaging in an "aggressive" argument with waitstaff at a Wyoming restaurant days before Gabby Petito went missing, Fox News reported Wednesday.
Nina Celie Angelo and her boyfriend Matthew England went to lunch at the Tex-Mex restaurant, Merry Piglets, in Jackson, Wyoming, on August 27, when they said they saw a man who appeared to be Laundrie arguing with a waitress.
Angelo said she couldn't overhear the conversation but described Laundrie's body language as "aggressive" and that he left the restaurant and returned several times. At one point, Angelo said a woman who appeared to be Petito entered the restaurant and apologized for Laundrie's behavior, according to the Fox News report.
A few hours later, Angelo said she and her boyfriend passed the couple's white van - a 2012 Ford Transit - at a campsite north of town.
Angelo and England didn't think much of the incident upon first witnessing it, but they later realized who they were after body camera footage released last week depicted a distraught Petito following a fight with Laundrie.
"He goes, 'Nina, that was the couple fighting at the restaurant,'" Angelo told Fox News. "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.'"
"I have chills right now," she continued. "It's crazy because it wasn't just like we passed them on the street. It was a full blown incident."
England told Fox News that he reported the incident at Merry Piglets to authorities and said Petito appeared "visibly upset" with Laundrie following his argument with the waitstaff.
"I spent the last three or four days really kind of racking my brain," he told Fox News Wednesday. "And I woke up this morning and went to Facebook, and there was that video with the police on it right away. That was the couple."
The restaurant posted on their Instagram, confirming that Petito and Laundrie had dined at their restaurant but did not provide specifics regarding the incident.
"We have already notified the FBI and they are aware," the restaurant said in the caption of the post. "We are letting them do their jobs and we are respecting Gabby's family and have nothing further to comment."
Earlier this year, Petito and Laundrie set out on a cross-country road trip, which was expected to conclude in Oregon in October. Her mother reported her missing on September 11, after Laundrie returned to Florida alone.
On September 19, a body that authorities believed was "consistent with the description" of Petito was later found in the national park near the Spread Creek camping site. On Tuesday, the FBI and the Petito family's lawyer confirmed that the remains belonged to Petito.