It wasn’t just a documentary about Gabby Petito and the life she lived before she was murdered, it was a documentary that would forever be engraved in the minds of viewers as they recount the abuse she encountered. After Netflix released American Murder: Gabby Petito, conversations sparked about the need to hold officials responsible for what happens to victims before it is too late.
In the first episode, police officers pulled Petito and her fiance Brian Laundrie over in Moab, Utah after a domestic dispute was called in by a witness saying a “man was slapping a woman.”
Once they were being spoken to, Petito was seen in distress as she recounted the previous argument she had with Laundrie. Officials noted fighting marks on both individuals and that Petito was more upset than Laundrie about the whole situation.
It was frustrating to see that despite how upset she was, the officials still made Petito out as the aggressor based on what she and Laundrie said, despite it being obvious that she would blame herself because she was the victim.
The officers worsened the situation by confusingly separating the couple; Petito spent the night alone in the van while they took Laundrie, the actual aggressor, to a domestic violence shelter. Not only was he better taken care of, but Petito, a 22-year-old woman, was left alone in an unknown area to defend herself while she was sobbing because she was being abused.
Officials were also mostly questioning Laundrie about what happened instead of Petito when the initial complaint was about Launderie slapping Petito, not the other way around.
It truly opened my eyes because you see a person who is truly struggling, but officers will go the other way to help the person who has the apparent problem. The officials also said in the video that these types of situations usually end up with the woman getting killed, a subtle foreshadowing for what would soon follow.
An officer, who was a woman, said to Petitio that “silly arguments shouldn’t involve hitting each other,” which was a heart-wrenching, but true, statement. It shed light on abusive relationships by telling a blunt, unwanted statement to someone who needed to hear it.
At the end of the documentary, when Petito’s parents reflect on the whole situation, Petitio’s stepfather, Jim Schmidt, says, “She was left there like trash by someone who was supposed to love her.” Petito’s life was precious and was only just getting started. She wanted to explore the world and find out who she was supposed to be.
Unfortunately, this situation is only a minor fraction of the thousands of DV cases that we see.
Petito’s case showed that not everything we see online from influencers is the truth and that even abuse can take someone’s life no matter how young or innocent they are.
The documentary at the end said that “nearly half of American women will be in an abusive relationship.” With what continues to happen all around this country, women and DV victims will never see the end of this senseless problem.
This documentary highlighted the problems within officers responding to domestic disputes and why there needs to be continuing discussions about getting out of abusive relationships. It will continue to stay with me and make me live for Gabby and all the other victims and missing women who never got to.
To Gabby, thank you for showing us what it meant to live life to the fullest with the biggest smile and the biggest heart.
