Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie's 'Toxic' Relationship Explored

The disappearance and death of 22-year-old Gabby Petito gripped the nation following news of her going missing on a cross-country trip with her fiancé, Brian Laundrie.

What her social media followers may have perceived as a picture-perfect relationship online was masking issues below the surface, Petito’s friend Alyssa Chen told People.

Chen said the couple’s on-again, off-again relationship seemed to be harmonious when they were doing well yet could also get tumultuous when the pair was at odds.

“They had times they were toxic and times where everything seemed a lot more healthy,” she alleged about the pair, who started dating in high school. “They had very low lows and very high highs. But they really seemed to love each other.”

News broke that it was Petito’s body found in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park on September 21, and officials have since determined the manner of her death was a homicide. Her cause of death was later ruled strangulation.

Meanwhile, Brian’s remains were found one month later at the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park in Tampa, Florida. His cause of death was determined to be suicide from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

“Chris and Roberta Laundrie have been informed that the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head and the manner of death was suicide,” his lawyer Steve Bertolino told In Touch at the time, referring to his parents. “Chris and Roberta are still mourning the loss of their son and are hopeful that these findings bring closure to both families.”

Petito was first reported missing on September 11, more than a week after Laundrie returned home in their 2012 Ford Transit van on September 1.

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FBI investigators searched the Laundrie home in North Port, Florida, as part of a “court-authorized search warrant” related to the case on September 20.

One day before, on September 19, Petito’s brother, TJ Schmidt, shared a photo of his sister standing in front of an angel-wings mural, writing, “I don’t even know what to say. I’m at a total loss. My heart is shattered #justiceforgabby.”

Scroll through the gallery below for details on Gabby and Brian’s relationship.

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Hot and Cold

“One minute, they’d be all over each other, the next minute, he’d be like, ‘We’re fighting,'” Laundrie’s friend Ben Matula told People. “They always had some drama.”

“There was always something below the surface where things weren’t 100 percent wonderful,” he explained to the publication. “The guy who he’s being made out to be isn’t the guy I knew … But then I have to look at what’s going on and realize that he did some stuff that seems like it was shady — seems like maybe he wasn’t on the up and up. And because he did that stuff, a girl might be dead and he might be in trouble.”

Rollercoaster Romance

Chen said the couple had moments where they seemed like a great match for each other.

“When things were good, you’d be like, ‘Why can’t I have a relationship like that?’ When they were bad, you’d be like, ‘Oh my God, just break up and spare yourself from the drama and everyone else from having to hear about it,'” she explained.

Tense Moments

Petito’s friend Rose Davis claimed that Laundrie was jealous and controlling, telling Daily Mail that he once “took her ID just so she wouldn’t be able to come out with me.”

“Gabby had to stay at my house a bunch of times because she just needed a breather and didn’t want to go home to him,” Davis alleged. “When I saw that Brian was back from the trip, that was the first thing that popped into my mind — that Brian had one of his episodes, and I was just hoping he didn’t have a snapping moment.”

Potential Red Flags

National Park Service ranger Melissa Hulls, who spoke with Petito after getting a radio call informing her about a potential domestic assault between the two, said she warned Petito that her and Laundrie’s relationship had the makings of a “toxic” one in an interview with Deseret News.

“[Petito] had a lot of anxiety about being away from him, I honestly thought if anything was going to change it would be after they got home to Florida,” Hulls continued. “This wasn’t a good day for anybody. We thought we were making the right decision when we left them.”

Months Leading Up

Davis later discussed some incidents that made her suspicious of Laundrie in another interview with People published on September 24.

“Honestly, it seemed like a jealousy problem, which I understood because, you look at Brian and then you look at Gabby and you’re like, ‘Gabby, you could have anyone in this entire world,'” Petito’s friend explained, admitting she previously told her mom that he was “weird” and that something “was off” about him.

Davis called Laundrie a “sociopath,” alleging that he liked to monitor Petito’s whereabouts and wasn’t happy when she got a job working 50 hours a week at a Taco Bell before their cross-country trek.

“He could keep an eye on her at Publix,” Davis said of their last job together, accusing Laundrie of being controlling. “He didn’t want her to work, and she did. And he was mad about it. And he always tried to get what he wanted, and he did, because he wanted the van life and he rushed to that so that she wasn’t going to be able to work anymore.”

An attorney of the Laundrie family did not immediately respond to In Touch’s request for comment regarding Davis’ interview.