Missing 'van-life' girl Gabby Petito was reportedly seen hitting boyfriend Brian Laundrie in the arm during a tense argument in Utah, two weeks before she mysteriously disappeared, according to police.
An incident report released by the Moab Police Department Wednesday shed new light on the 'possible domestic violence' incident involving the couple on August 12, revealing issues had been 'building' between them over the last couple days.
According to the document, officers were called near the Moonflower Community Co-op around 4:30pm after a witness, identified only as Christopher, reported seeing the pair 'arguing over a phone.'
When Brian got into their van, the bystander saw 'what appeared to him as Gabrielle hitting Brian in the arm and then climbing through the driver's window as if Brian had locked her out and she was trying to find a way in,' responding officer Daniel Scott Robbins wrote.
Robbins later located the pair, who had already left the area by then, driving in their Ford Transit van towards Arches National Park and pulled them over.
As he approached the vehicle he noticed Petito 'crying uncontrollably' in the passenger seat and asked to speak to her outside the van.
The report, which was redacted to conceal sensitive information, suggested Petito and Laundrie became embroiled in an altercation fueled by their mental health issues.
'Because of her [redacted] and [redacted], combined with little arguments [Gabby] and Brian had been having that day, she was struggling with her mental health, which led to the incident that was reported to law enforcement,' it states.
A newly released police report has revealed new details of the 'possible domestic violence' incident involving Gabby Petito and her boyfriend Brian Laundrie, two weeks before she vanished
According to the document, cops were called near local business, Moonflower Co-op in Moab, Utah on August 12, after a witness reported seeing the couple 'arguing over a phone' outside their van
On Tuesday, Moab Chief of Police Bret Edge confirmed that cops had responded to an incident involving the pair two weeks ago, but did not disclose additional details at the time.
'Officers conducted an investigation and determined that insufficient evidence existed to justify criminal charges,' he told Fox News.
Addressing reports of the incident on Wednesday, Gabby's mother, Nichole Schmidt told DailyMail.com: 'It's irrelevant. Two people traveling together with each other 24 hours a day, it's not going to be perfect, it was an argument, and that's all I'm going to say about it.'
Laundrie, who went to Florida in the van he shared with Petito, has since hired a lawyer and refused to tell Petito's family where she was last seen.
Petito was reported missing by her mother on September 11, two weeks after she had last spoken on to her on the phone, and ten days after Laundrie returned home without her.
The 22-year-old had been traveling with Laundrie in their van and was last seen on Grand Teton National Park.
Schmidt sent her daughter's boyfriend and his family desperate texts looking for her but was ignored.
The above map illustrates the places Petito and Laundrie visited since the start of the trip leaving New York on July 2 to when she last spoke to her family on August 25 from Grand Teton National Park
Police have revealed they responded to an 'incident' involving 22-year-old 'van-life woman' Gabby Petito and her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, two weeks before she was last seen
'I can't say much, but she's no longer with the van,' Schmidt said of her daughter. 'I don't want to say anything more than that but for people looking for her, I want them to look for her now, not look for that van anymore'
Schmidt told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview that on September 10 she reached out to Brian and his mother Roberta Laundrie trying to reach her daughter after she had not heard from Gabby since August 25.
'I texted Brian's mom that I was trying to get in touch with Gabby. I also texted Brian. I got no replies,' Schmidt said.
'I knew something was wrong,' she said. 'I felt something was off and I needed to get her reported missing immediately.'
She went to report Gabby missing later that day but police initially blew her off. The next day, she was allowed to file a report with the Suffolk County police department.
Brian's family have since refused to let authorities interview their son when the van that the couple had traveled in before she disappeared was seized from their property late on Saturday night.
Nicole Schmidt, of Long Island, New York, gave a teary-eyed interview to reporters in Bohemia on Monday afternoon about her daughter Gabby Petitio, who has been missing since August 24. Schmidt tells DailyMail.com that on September 10 she texted Brian and his mother Roberta trying to get in touch with Gabby, but neither replied
Schmidt said Brian's sister Cassie is the only member of Brian's family who has spoken to
