JACKSON HOLE, Wyoming, Sept. 22, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — Witnesses allegedly saw a “relentless” Brian Laundrie “screaming” at wait staff in a Tex-Mex restaurant in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and Gabrielle Petito “crying hysterically.”
The same witnesses, Nina Celie Angelo of New Orleans and boyfriend Matthew England, also allegedly saw Petito apologize for his behavior just days before she disappeared. Angelo and England were in Wyoming to attend a wedding.
Angelo said in an Instagram story that she was sure “beyond a shadow of a doubt,” that she and England saw Laundrie and Petito.
The incident occurred at Merry Piglets restaurant between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. on Aug. 27.
Angelo said the man left the restaurant and then returned around four times.
Petito, 22, was reported missing on Sept. 11. Laundrie, 23, Petito’s traveling companion on their trip through the mountain west, including Utah, returned home on Sept. 1, to the North Port, Florida, residence they shared with his family driving Petito’s van, but without her.
He refused to cooperate with authorities and was reported missing himself on Friday. A manhunt for him is underway.
On Sunday, FBI agents found the remains believed to be those of Petito in an area where the couple had been camping. On Tuesday, the FBI confirmed the human remains were those of the missing woman, and her manner of death was homicide. The cause of death has not yet been released.
Laundrie is considered a person of interest as he was believed to be the last person to see Petito alive.
On Instagram, Angelo posted a story describing what she saw on Aug. 27. She said that initially, she and her boyfriend did not think about the encounter as when they got home to New Orleans they were preoccupied with the after-effects of Hurricane Ida.
She said that England “has an insane photographic memory,” and was sure he had seen the man in the restaurant before. It then registered with him that he recognized Laundrie.
Angelo said England told her: “They were the couple fighting in the restaurant.”
“We were sitting right next to them,” she said. “They got kicked out of the restaurant and were fighting with the hostess.” She added that Petito was “hysterically crying and she walked out, and she was crying as she was standing on the sidewalk and I was watching the whole thing unfold.”
Angelo said she and England were sitting “right next to” the hostess stand.
“And he walked back in the restaurant and he’s fighting with the hostess,” she said. “I don’t know what happened, I don’t know if they got kicked out, but they left abruptly and she was standing on the sidewalk crying, and he walked back in and was screaming at the hostess, and then walked back out, and then walked back in like four more times to talk to the manager and like to tell the hostess off.”
In another video, Angelo added that just witnessing the incident left her feeling like she was “freaking out” and “having an out-of-body experience.”
“It was like a f—ing scene, something that doesn’t happen at a restaurant, the way he was acting, and she was crying, you could tell it was more sadness for her and he was more angry.” Angelo added: “He was relentless, he wouldn’t drop it, whatever it was, he wouldn’t drop it.”
Petito then apologized to the hostess, Angelo said.
Angelo also says she is the mom to a young girl and she shared the story because she thought it might help investigators piece together the events leading up to Petito’s death.
