BRIAN Laundrie was reportedly involved in an explosive argument with a waitress at a Wyoming restaurant on the day that Gabby Petito is believed to have last been seen alive.
Nina Celie Angelo from New Orleans stated that she had been on a visit to the state with her boyfriend, Matthew England, and stopped by Merry Piglets, a Tex-Mex eatery in Jackson Hole, for lunch on August 27.
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Speaking to Fox News, Angelo claims she watched on in shock as an agitated Laundrie began arguing with a waitress. She said Petito was there at the time.
Although she claimed she couldn’t understand what was being said between Laundrie, the woman, she believed that the spat was over money or the bill.
Angelo described Laundrie’s body language as “aggressive” and said that he left and returned to the restaurant around four times, continuing the conflict.
At one stage, Petito came inside and apologized for Laundrie’s behavior, Angelo alleged.
CHILLING ENCOUNTER
“I have chills right now,” Nina Celie Angelo said, recounting the incident.
“It’s crazy because it wasn’t just like we passed them on the street — it was a full-blown incident.”
Angelo also posted a long account of her encounter with Petito and Laundrie to her Instagram on Wednesday.
After she claimed to have seen the couple, Jenn and Kyle Bethune walked past Petito and Laundrie’s van at a campsite north Grand Teton National Park.
They described the van as looking as if it had been “abandoned”.
“We were going to stop and say hi … but the van was completely dark. There was nobody there, so we decided to continue on our way.”
Read our Gabby Petito live blog for the very latest news and updates…
August 27 is also around the time Petito last made contact with her friends or family.
On Sunday, her remains were discovered in Grand Teton, just north Jackson Hole. While the nature of her death was preliminarily ruled a homicide, the cause of death is still unknown.
Laundrie disappeared on September 14th. His parents claimed he went hiking near Venice, Florida and never returned.
Three days after Laundrie disappeared, investigators were not informed.
BODYCAM JOGGED MEMORY
Angelo, a photographer, said she didn’t think much of her August 27 encounter inside the Merry Piglets until weeks later.
She explained that Hurricane Ida, which struck New Orleans just after they returned home, played a part in her and her boyfriend’s lives.
Angela said that her boyfriend was experiencing something strange after she saw bodycam footage released by Utah police of a domestic fight between Gabby and Laundrie on August 12.
“He goes, ‘Nina, that was the couple fighting at the restaurant,’” She said that she remembered.
“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.'”
Merry Piglets manager said that the eatery gets incredibly busy during summer months, and that they can’t remember the incident.
Angelo’s boyfriend Matthew England stated to Fox News that he is certain it was Gabby Laundrie they saw.
‘1000% SURE’
He said the bodycam footage of the pair matched the mannerisms and body language that they witnesses first-hand.
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 spent the last three or four days really kind of racking my brain,” he said. “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.”
He added: “I would bet $10 million, I’m 1,000 percent sure that was him and that was her.”
Reflecting on the alleged encounter, he described Gabby as appearing “visibly upset” with Laundrie as he barked at wait staff inside the restaurant.
He said it didn’t appear as though Laundrie was on drugs, and insisted he “wasn’t screaming.”
However, he was acting aggressively, England claimed, with a number of staff including a waitress, hostess, and a manager – all of whom were women.
Fox received a credit card statement from England that showed a payment of $60.88 to the Merry Piglets on 28 August.
They said that the couple had reported the encounter to FBI.
SEARCH FOR LAUNDRIE CONTINUES
Federal investigators are still searching for 23-year-old Laundrie, who is so far only publicly considered a “person of interest” in Gabby’s death.
He returned home to Florida alone in the couple’s van on September 1, immediately retaining an attorney and refusing to cooperate with the police.
Gabby’s mother claimed that she tried to get answers from Laundrie about her daughter’s whereabouts, but was unsuccessful. Gabby’s mother reported Gabby missing the police on September 11.
Laundrie disappeared from his parents’ home on September 14th. He had told them he was hiking in the 24,000-acre Carlton nature preserve.
Laundrie was not found after a long search of the reserve.
On Wednesday, an underwater recovery team was summoned to Carlton Reserve as part of the search.
The search continues without further details.
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Gabby Petito timeline
Gabby Petito, 22, was last seen on August 24, leaving a hotel in Utah. Here is a timeline of Gabby Petito’s disappearance:
- June 2021 – Gabby Petito and her fiancé Brian Laundrie set off on a cross-country trip across the US.
- July 4 – Gabby posts photos of herself barefoot in Gove County, Kansas.
- July 8 – Gabby posts photos of herself at the Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado.
- July 18 – Gabby and Brian post photos of themselves at Utah’s Zion National Park.
- August 12 – Body camera footage was released in September showing an encounter Brian and Gabby had with police in Utah. According to police, there were no injuries.
- August 19 – Gabby and Brian post a video on their YouTube channel chronicling their trip. This video has more than 200,000 views.
- August 24 – Gabby is last spotted leaving a hotel in Salt Lake City, Utah.
- September 1 – Brian returns home to Florida without Gabby.
- September 11 – Gabby’s parents report her missing to Suffolk County police.
- September 15 – Florida’s North Port police announce Brian is a person of interest in the case. He has not been charged.
- September 16 – Utah police release body camera footage of the police encounter with Brian and Gabby.
- September 17 – Brian’s parents say they have not seen their son in a couple of days.
- September 18 – Police announce they were searching Carlton Reserve in Florida for Brian. Police state that they have not found anything.
- September 19 – Authorities in Wyoming say they found a body in Grand Teton National Park. Although the FBI believes that the body is Gabby’s, a full forensic identification must be done before it can be confirmed.
- September 20 – Police execute a search warrant on Laundrie’s home, seizing his silver Mustang and a hard drive that may contain “evidence relevant to proving that a felony has been committed.”
- September 21 – Officials announce they will be conducting an autopsy on the remains found in Wyoming to confirm whether or not they belong to Gabby. Laundrie was also retraced by police, this time at the Venice end of Carlton Reserve.
- September 21 – The FBI announced the body found in Wyoming was identified as Gabby’s. The cause of Gabby’s death has not been revealed.
- September 21 – The Teton County Coroner’s office said Gabby’s official cause of death was still pending but the initial manner of death is homicide.
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