The stepfather of missing 'van-life woman' Gabby Petito, has joined search efforts in Wyoming to locate his stepdaughter. James Schmidt, former fire chief for the Blue Point Fire Department, traveled to Wyoming Wednesday to assist authorities in their efforts to locate Petito, 22, who traveled to the state's Grand Teton National Park in late August with her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie. Petito and Laundrie had been traveling in a converted van, and were expected to complete their trip at a friend’s home in Portland around Halloween. Instead, Laundrie returned home alone and has refused to tell the cops where his girlfriend is. Her family are desperate for answers and now James Schmidt has set off to Wyoming to track his stepdaughter down. 'He's not leaving until he brings Gabby home,' Petito's mother, Nicole Schmidt, told The New York Post. 'Now we have eyes, ears, feet on the ground … in both her home states and where she was last seen.' Petito, who grew up in Blue Point, New York, was reported missing by her mother on September 11, and was last seen on August 24 checking out of a hotel with Brian in Salt Lake City, Utah. The following day she made her final call to her family, telling them that she and Brian had arrived at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. James Schmidt, former fire chief for the Blue Point Fire Department, (pictured) raveled to Wyoming Wednesday to assist authorities in their efforts to locate Petito, 22, who traveled to the state's Grand Teton National Park in late August with her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie. Petito, (pictured) who grew up in Blue Point, New York, was reported missing by her mother on September 11, and was last seen on August 24 checking out of a hotel with Brian in Salt Lake City, Utah Petito's mother Nicole Schmidt (left) and stepfather James Schmidt (right) are desperate for answers. Now, James has set off to Wyoming to track his stepdaughter down Nicole 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. 'Detective Tracey Barry of the Suffolk County police department has been our angel taking on this case. She was the only one who listened and cared enough to take this on,' Schmidt said. Petito, who grew up in Blue Point, New York, was reported missing by her mother on September 11, and was last seen on August 24 checking out of a hotel with Brian in Salt Lake City, Utah . 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 said on Wednesday that Brian Laundrie, 23, returned to his parents' North Port, Florida, home without 22-year-old Gabby Peon September 1 in the couple's van they had used to travel the country On Wednesday police officially named Brian a 'person of interest' in their inquiry into her mystery disappearance as he refuses to cooperate in their investigation. According to the incident report, officers were called near the Moonflower Community Co-op in Moab on August 12 around 4:30pm after a witness, identified only as Christopher, reported seeing the pair 'arguing over a phone.' The bystander told police that when Laundrie got into the couple's van, he 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 couple, who had already left the area by then, driving in their Ford Transit van towards Arches National Park and pulled them over. He said he noticed Gabby 'crying uncontrollably' in the passenger seat as he approached the vehicle and asked to speak to her outside. 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 In his report, responding officer Daniel Scott Robbins said he pulled the couple over as they were driving towards Arches National Park and noticed Gabby 'crying uncontrollably' in the passenger seat The report was redacted to conceal sensitive information but suggests Gabby told police she and Laundrie became embroiled in an altercation that was fueled by mental health issues. 'Gabrielle told me that she suffers from [redacted] with [redacted],' Robbins wrote. 'Because of her [redacted] and [redacted], combined with little arguments she 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.' 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. Schmidt said Brian's sister Cassie is the only member of Brian's family who has spoken to authorities. She said she can't understand why neither Brian nor his parents have reached out to her in the aftermath of her daughter's disappearance. 'It's a very mysterious situation. We don't understand why he's doing this. Everybody's assuming the worst and thinking he's guilty of this. But I don't want to believe that. I want to believe she's just in need of help out there and that everybody needs to keep searching.' Schmidt said she received a final text message from Gabby, which suggests she'd made it to Yosemite National Park in northern California – about 800 miles away from Wyoming where she was last seen, DailyMail.com learned exclusively. 'No service in Yosemite,' reads the curious text from Petito's cell phone, sent August 30, DailyMail.com has learned. Gabby's mother refused to disclose the contents of her daughter's texts, but told the DailyMail.com she believes the test was forged. 'That text was NOT from Gabby I know it!,' Schmidt said. She suspects Laundrie, who was traveling with the 22-year-old, may have sent the message from her phone, possibly to mislead her family and investigators as to her whereabouts. This comes as police named Laundrie a 'person of interest' in their investigation into her mystery disappearance. Cops in North Port, Florida, where Petito and Laundrie resided, said: 'Brian Laundrie is a person of interest in this case. As of now, Brian has not made himself available to be interviewed by investigators or has provided any helpful details.' A statement also revealed exactly when Laundrie arrived back in North Port alone from the road trip he was taking with Gabby, 22. It said: 'We know that Brian returned here to North Port on September 1 - 10 days before her (Gabby's) family reported her missing on September 11. ' All rights reserved for this news site (dailymail) and under his responsibility