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Moab police released bodycam footage from Aug. 12 last week showing officers interacting with Petito, 22, and Laundrie, 23. Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Ziv Ezra Cohen suggested there is more to the Moab City, Utah, Police Department’s bodycam footage of Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie than meets the eye and that Laundrie’s family may be in a state of denial. The engaged couple traveling cross-country in a Ford van that they converted into a camper after a witness called 911 around 2 weeks before she disappeared to report a possible domestic violence incident. The caller was heard telling a dispatcher that the gentleman was slapping the girl and hitting her. A clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University and staff member of New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Cohen said, “We really don’t know how extensive the fight was”.

Cohen added, “What we know is that when they were pulled over by the police, she was very upset, and they were both minimizing their argument. I think that’s clear. She appears to try to blame it on her OCD, and he talks about his muddy shoes. She also says she’s under a lot of stress”. In the bodycam footage, Petito, who was reported missing on Sept. 11, appears distressed and apologetic while Laundrie appears calm after what they describe as a stressful morning. Laundrie tells police in the video that the scratches on his cheek came from Petito. Police separated the pair while questioning them. Cohen also said that such an imbalance of the emotional state between the pair as seen in officers’ bodycam footage does raise a red flag because Petito doesn’t just look like someone who’s having a panic attack or who’s anxious.

EXCLUSIVE: 911 caller in Gabby Petito 'incident' says fiancé seen hitting, 'slapping' her weeks before disappearance https://t.co/kowToSO2oS pic.twitter.com/noREfGPxuG

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He said, “She looks scared. She looks very overwhelmed. She was emoting so much that it was very clear that there had been an incident and there had been a problem of some kind that she was struggling with”. In part of the video, Petito blames her “OCD” as the reason they started fighting before police responded to the 911 call. Cohen also said, “People with OCD are not violent. OCD is not a risk factor for violence. If there was an altercation between them, certainly OCD would not be fodder for something that would lead her to hurt him. It could cause an argument. If she does have OCD, he might get upset with her, or she might get upset with him, but people with OCD are not violent”. He added, “They’re going on a van trip cross-country. They’re in the desert. Those are some settings in which young people tend to use substances that can make them have an altered mental state. They can feel overwhelmed”.