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Gabby Petito's parents accuse investigators of negligence
Photo: Rick Bowmer/AP
The case of Gabby Petito, who disappeared in the United States, caused a sensation around the world.
Around 14 months after the young woman's body was found, her parents have now sued the police in the state of Utah for $ 50 million (about 51 million euros).
They accuse investigators of negligence in the case, as the family's attorneys in Salt Lake City said.
"Gabby would be alive today" if the police had followed the rules of the day when dealing with victims of domestic violence, said lawyer James W. McConkie.
He was referring to an incident in mid-August 2021 when the Utah police were called to the vehicle of the 22-year-old and her 23-year-old boyfriend over a case of domestic violence.
»We feel that we have to ensure justice«
The couple were traveling across the United States in the car at the time.
The completely distraught and crying Petito said in a video recorded by the body cam of one of the police officers that she was suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder and that an argument had broken out.
She slapped her boyfriend, who grabbed her face violently.
The couple then agreed to spend the following night separately.
On September 1, the boyfriend returned home to Florida alone, police said. Ten days later, Petito's parents reported their daughter missing.
Her body was discovered in the state of Wyoming on September 19, and then parts of her 23-year-old boyfriend's body in a nature reserve in Florida at the end of October.
According to the coroner, he died as a result of a self-inflicted shot.
The FBI later said the young man had written a notebook claiming responsibility for Petito's death before committing suicide.
The lawsuit states that after the physical altercation, officers mistakenly considered Petito's boyfriend and not the 22-year-old herself to be the victim, thereby failing to adequately protect her.
"We feel we must ensure justice because she could have been protected that day," Petito's mother said.
They want to prevent something like this from happening again.
Moab police have denied the allegations.
Petito's death was a terrible tragedy.
"No one could have foreseen the August 12 tragedy that would unfold weeks later and hundreds of miles away," the city said in a statement, quoted by several US media outlets.
The city will vigorously defend itself against the lawsuit.
The case received a lot of attention in the United States and internationally – not least because the couple had shared numerous pictures and videos from their trip on social networks.
wit/dpa