Leaked emails urged police to ‘come clean’ and reveal bodycam footage of Brian Laundrie and Gabby Petito

Leaked emails involving the now-notorious fight between Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie called on police to “come clean” about the full footage.

Brian Laundrie in bodycam footage from Moab Police.

Police have been accused of covering up bodycam footage which saw a sobbing Gabby Petito revealing her injuries to officers after a bust-up with fiance Brian Laundrie.

A leaked email suggested Moab Police Department, in the US state of Utah, were withholding damning footage, taken weeks before Ms Petito was found dead, as the police department came under fire for not doing more to protect the doomed hiker.

On September 16, The Sun reported officer Daniel Robbins' bodycam footage was released showing the moment Ms Petito and Mr Laundrie were pulled over by cops after witnesses reported the couple fighting in the street.

Brian Laundrie talking to officers in bodycam footage from Moab Police.

But further bodycam footage from a second officer, Eric Pratt, wasn't released until two weeks later.

The footage showed further details of how police handled the incident before deciding not to charge the pair.

The bodycam video which police failed to release despite media requests, reveals Ms Petito had injuries to her neck and face and later shows her acute anxiety at being separated from Mr Laundrie.

Throughout the footage, the cops can be heard discussing how they can allow the pair to go on their way, despite claims that there were clear signs Ms Petito may have been in danger and being abused by her partner.

The two officers were also seen laughing and joking with Mr Laundrie before telling him “we feel bad for you”, despite Ms Petito sobbing in the back of a police car.

Ms Petito was extremely distressed when talking to police.

Happy Morgan, a lawyer who served as the Grand County attorney for eight years, criticised the police department's handling of the case in an email.

“The sooner you come clean about Pratt's body camera for the August 12 Petito/Laundrie matter, the better,” Mr Morgan wrote.

“If it was withheld, you need to provide it and apologise.”

Mr Morgan also spoke at a council meeting.

“It became obvious to me watching the news that information had been withheld from the media,” he said.

Moab Police Acting Chief Braydon Palmer claimed that too many media requests had been submitted, causing the "delay" but admitted that the “process should’ve occurred more timely”.

In the haunting bodycam clip, Ms Petito told officers that Mr Laundrie had “grabbed her face” and left a “burning” gash on her cheek and red marks on her arm.

A police officer then asked a follow-up question.

“Did he hit you though? I mean, it's okay if you're saying you hit him. I understand if he hit you, but we want to know the truth if he actually hit you,” he said.

“I, I guess, yeah, but I hit him first. He like grabbed my face, like, like I guess,” Ms Petito replied.

“He didn’t, like, hit me in the face. He didn’t, like, punch me in the face.

“Well, he, like, grabbed me, like, with his nail, and I guess that's why it hurts. I definitely have a cut. Like, I can feel it.”

The couple were told to sleep separately for a night.

Ms Petito said she was left with a cut from Mr Laundrie.

The footage also appeared to show Mr Laundrie handing police two mobile phones – despite telling cops later that he has no phone.

Mr Laundrie said that he was phoneless and feared he would be without the means to communicate as he and Ms Petito were separated for the night.

The police officers can then be heard discussing the incident and whether the fight should be classed as a domestic violence case despite saying that abuse victims “end up getting killed”.

Police officers Robbins and Pratt went on to release Ms Petito and Mr Laundrie and asked Brian to stay in a hotel room while Gabby should spend the night in their van.

Less than two weeks after the encounter at the Moab roadside, Ms Petito was seen alive for the last time in Wyoming, sometime around August 27 in Jackson Hole.

Mr Laundrie then quietly returned home to Florida alone on September 1, failing to alert police or Ms Petito’s family that she was missing.

Ms Petito was eventually reported missing by her mother Nichole Schmidt on September 11.

Mr Laundrie was reported missing on September 17 – days after allegedly telling his parents that he was going for a hike at the Carlton Reserve in Sarasota.

Ms Petito’s remains were eventually recovered from a campsite near Grand Teton National Park on September 19, after an eight-day search.

An investigation has been launched into how officers Pratt and Robbins handled the August 12 incident.

Moab Police has since announced the department’s chief Bret Edge had taken a leave of absence.

It's unclear how long he will be away from his post. It's also not known if Pratt or Robbins have been placed on leave or administrative duty while the probe is carried out.

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission