Moab Police Department/Insider
- Gabby Petito's family have been told not to talk about her relationship with Brian Laundrie.
- It is unclear why police have asked them to do this, the family said.
- The couple's relationship became a focus after police were called out to a fight between them.
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Police have asked Gabby Petito's family not to discuss her relationship with boyfriend Brian Laundrie, according to multiple reports.
A search is under way for Petito, who set out on a cross-country road trip with Laundrie in June. Laundrie returned on September 1, but without Petito. She was reported missing on September 11, and since then Laundrie has refused to assist police in the search for her.
He has since been named is a person of interest in the missing-person case.
Earlier in the investigation, Petito's family had spoken fairly freely about the couple's relationship, with Petito's father Joe remarking on Wednesday that he hadn't seen any "red flags" over his daughter's boyfriend.
An attorney for the family sent CBS News a statement saying: "Gabby's family was instructed by law enforcement to not discuss the details of Gabby and Brian's relationship."
It's not clear exactly when the request was made.
The couple's social-media profiles showed the pair's affection for each other, and included images of them kissing.
One of their friends, Nicole Kalanich, told Insider's Rebecca Cohen and Haven Orecchio-Egresitz that "they were couple goals for me."
Concern around their relationship grew after police were called to a fight between the pair on August 12, which resulted in them being separated overnight.
Bodycam footage of the police stop was released Thursday, showing a distraught Petito after the police intervened. Officers ultimately decided it was a mental health incident rather than domestic assault.
The request is a mystery to the family, Petito's godmother told NewsNation Thursday. "We don't know why," Flora Rocco said.
Petito and Laundrie broke off their engagement a few weeks before traveling together, but still intended to one day get married, her family has said.