DANGER SIGN
Gabby Petito’s family issue chilling warning after sleuths say blogger DID make coded signal for help during cop stop
GABBY Petito’s family has urged people to learn a domestic violence hand gesture - months after online sleuths claimed the vlogger signaled for help during a cop stop.
The Foundation shared a story online about a woman, from Tennessee, who used the gesture to notify a cashier about her alleged kidnapping.
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A post said: “This hand signal works!! We’ve heard a few rescue stories because of it.”
A woman, who had been allegedly kidnapped, was rescued by police on Sunday after using the gesture.
She was visiting her brother on Sunday when her ex-partner Johnathon Smith, 31, turned up in his car.
Lt Mike Doddo told that she got into the vehicle before the pair allegedly became involved in a “physical altercation”.
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She reportedly asked Smith to be let out of the car but he refused.
The pair then stopped at a gas station before signaling to the worker.
The woman put her palm outwards. She tucked her thumb in and closed her four fingers over it, prompting staff to call 911.
Smith appeared to know the meaning behind the signal and left the store with the woman.
Cops followed Smith’s truck before he crashed. He was arrested and charged with aggravated kidnapping and aggravated domestic assault.
Sleuths claimed Petito used exactly the same gesture when she and Brian Laundrie were being quizzed by cops in Moab, in August 2021.
SIGNAL FOR HELP
The pair were pulled over after witnesses claimed to have seen them fighting.
She appeared to have marks and bruises on her face and arms.
Sleuths claimed Gabby used the hand signal when she was being interrogated.
One commentator claimed cops "didn't catch on" to Gabby making the signal.
Another said: "The fact she started crying even more when she did it just hurt.
While a third posted: "Gabby gave this sign to Moab police [and] they did nothing."
Speaking to , Penelope House Executive Director Toni Ann Torrans said she believed Gabby was desperately trying to signal for help.
She pointed out that domestic violence "knows no bounds."
Torrans said: "Law enforcement has a very tough job determining who is the primary aggressor or the victim acting in self-defense.
"It's very hard to look at those recordings and know what's going on. It's kind of frantic.
"So you can probably read into it what you want to read into it as far as what she may or may not have done.
"But the bottom line is, I think people need to understand - once again - is that there's a lot of domestic violence in our communities and often the domestic violence escalates to a situation where there is a homicide."
The Sun asked Moab police for comment but didn’t receive a response.
Officers haven’t confirmed that Gabby was gesturing for help.
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The traffic stop came just days before Gabby and Laundrie were last seen in Wyoming on August 27.
Gabby's body was found on September 19 in Grand Teton National Park.
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