Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie's behavior examined in 'haunting' bodycam footage

Gabby Petito, a young woman tragically killed by her boyfriend during their trip across the country, would have been terrified of Brian Laundrie as he protested his innocence to police in unearthed footage .

Petito and her boyfriend, 23-year-old Brian Laundrie, were stopped by police officers in Utah last summer, with bodycam footage of the incident being widely discussed following its release .

Despite signs of distress , Laundrie was not apprehended for domestic violence, and Petito’s body was later found on the edge of Grand Teton national park in Wyoming.

• Chilling details in Gabby Petito's autopsy report after killing by Brian Laundrie

• Gabby Petito begged Brian Laundrie for one thing before he brutally killed her

Body language expert Judi James analyzed the footage and said that Laundrie played the cops perfectly by complying with everything they wanted, and developing a relationship with them.

She said: "As he plays submissive though he also seems to be trying to build some kind of rapport with the cops. When possible he seems to be smiling and laughing and using eye contact to try to make friends with them as he answers their questions.

"When he is asked to sit down on the kerb he immediately adopts the body language of a compliant child. Asked his name his voice performs a rising intonation as though wanting to please and he even mimes writing his name in the air with his finger like a small child.

"When he stands again he puts his hands in a compliant fig-leaf position but as he speaks he looks round and seems to attempt to increase his rapport rituals with the police by laughing and trying to joke with them."

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While police were hunting for Laundrie and before Gabby's body was found , internet users had already pieced together the case.

Brian Laundrie was found dead in Florida's Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park on October 20. He died from a gunshot wound to the head, next to a notebook in which he admitted to the murder .

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