Newly released bodycam video from the Laundrie family’s first encounter with police after Gabby Petito’s disappearance in 2021 shows some red flags, according to a body language expert – but she noted that the parents were smart for following the instructions of their lawyer.

“Their natural instinct, just like Casey Anthony and George Anthony, at the very beginning, they’re going to be protective,” Susan Constantine told Fox News Digital.

The bodycam video shows Christopher and Roberta Laundrie declining to speak with North Port police, who at the time were assisting a New York detective with the initial stages of the search for Petito.

GABBY PETITO BODYCAM SHOWS BRIAN LAUNDRIE’S PARENTS REFUSE TO HELP POLICE AFTER MISSING PERSON REPORT

The parents’ responses may invite questions, Constantine said. Some were even suspicious. But without a “cluster of behavior” – which she defines as three red flags across two channels within 7 seconds – she wouldn’t call them out on their interaction with police.

Watch as Susan Constantine breaks down the Laundrie bodycam:

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“There is reason to question,” she said. “But you also have to look at it from a parent’s point of view. What would you do if this happened to you?”

Constantine, who spent part of the week training West Virginia’s Supreme Court justices on how to identify liars, also has a forthcoming book on how to spot “liars, cons, scammers, predators and criminals.” 

She said it’s fair to to question whether the Laundries knew more than they let on – but it was also proper for them to heed the advice of their attorney, who told them not to speak with investigators without him present.

North Port police recorded the encounter on Sept. 11, 2021, the day Petito’s mother, Nichole Schmidt, reported her missing in her New York hometown. The video was just made public through public records requests. Police left after towing Petito’s van from the Laundries’ driveway.

“There is reason to question. But you also have to look at it from a parent’s point of view. What would you do if this happened to you?”

— Susan Constantine, body language analyst

Mourners set up a makeshift memorial for Gabby Petito on the Laundries’ front lawn in North Port, Florida, after her remains were found in Wyoming. She was engaged to their son, Brian Laundrie, who killed himself and left behind a note in which he confessed to causing her death. (Michael Ruiz/Fox News Digital)

Brian Laundrie drove it home from Wyoming, where the FBI says he killed Petito and left her at a campsite in the Bridger-Teton National Forest north of Jackson.

A family of travel bloggers found clues in their own dashcam video of the area, which helped authorities find her remains.

The slaying inspired Petito’s parents to found a nonprofit foundation in her honor, assisting other families of missing persons and advocating against domestic violence.

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Brian Laundrie poses in an Instagram photo. He was the former fiance of Gabby Petito and the only suspect in her death after her remains were uncovered at a campsite the couple shared in the Bridger-Teton National Forest north of Jackson, Wyoming. (Instagram)

They have lobbied for federal legislation, some of which became law with bipartisan support, as well as lethality assessment laws in Florida, Utah and New York designed to give police grounds and authority to separate victims from their abusers.

The foundation donated $100,000 to the National Domestic Violence Hotline last year.

If you or someone you know is suffering from domestic violence, please contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233 (SAFE).

An attorney, who recently won a case involving a Virginia school board firing a teacher refusing to use a student’s preferred pronouns, told Fox News Digital that the settlement has “seismic implications.”

“We’re grateful that, because of this decision, tolerance is now a two‐way street, not a one‐way ratchet for totalitarian ideology,” Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) President and CEO Kristen Waggoner told Fox News Digital on Friday.

The Virginia-based West Point School Board agreed to pay a former high school teacher, Peter Vlaming, $575,000 in damages and attorney’s fees after he refused to call a transgender student by their preferred pronouns.

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“It protects all teachers in Virginia and its rationale should guide other courts addressing similar issues,” Waggoner said.

She also said that the ADF represents many other teachers facing similar situations in other states and how “no teacher should be fired for living according to their beliefs or protecting their students.”

The settlement stems from a lawsuit filed by ADF against the school board in September 2019. Vlaming, who taught French at West Point High School for 7 years, lost his job after the board made the unanimous 5-0 decision to fire him. A devout Christian, Vlaming said he could not comply with the school district’s policy to refer to students with pronouns inconsistent with their biological sex.

According to the ADF, “Vlaming tried to accommodate the student by consistently using the student’s new preferred name and by avoiding the use of pronouns altogether.”

However, school officials were obstinate that Vlaming used the student’s preferred pronouns and also to use them “even when the student wasn’t present,” ADF claimed.

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Several months before Vlaming’s court victory, the Virginia Supreme Court reinstated the case after it was stuck down in a lower court. According to the Virginia Mercury, the King William Circuit Court “did not believe Vlaming had any valid reasons for the law to accept his suit.”

“However, the Supreme Court determined in December that the school board violated Vlaming’s rights,” the outlet reported.

An attorney, who recently won a case involving a Virginia school board firing a teacher for refusing to use a student’s pronouns, told Fox News Digital that the settlement has “seismic implications.” (iStock)

The board did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

“Peter’s Christian faith prevented him from lying to his students about biological reality by using pronouns inconsistent with a student’s sex,” ADF attorney Waggoner told Fox News Digital. “Since his victory in court, we have seen overwhelming gratitude and support on social media from people who, like Peter, teach or work in places that might punish them for living according to their beliefs.”

In addition to the cash settlement, Vlaming scored another win after the case.

The settlement agreement authorized that Vlaming’s record be cleared, and that the West Point School Board’s policies to “respect free speech.”

Peter Vlaming is allowed to go back to teaching and his former colleagues at West Point School can also do their jobs “without fear of retribution for living consistent with their faith and biological reality,” the attorney told Fox News Digital.

The French teacher is allowed to go back to teaching and his former colleagues at West Point School can also do their jobs “without fear of retribution for living consistent with their faith and biological reality,” the attorney added.

“I am so relieved that our fundamental rights of freedom of expression and freedom of religion were upheld,” Vlaming told Fox News Digital. “However, it still bewilders me that a legal battle was necessary to reiterate that thought police and compelled speech are antithetical to the foundations of Virginian and American society; not to mention western civilization. How did we arrive at such a point today in America?”

On Sunday, September 29, I decided to pack up my truck, stop by Walmart in Richmond, Virginia, gather needed supplies, and drive down to western North Carolina. 

At this point, I had not heard from my family in over four days, and the images coming out of our hometown were devastating.  

Helene dropped nearly three feet of rain on mountain communities with wind gusts more than 80 miles per hour in some places. A historic storm, Helene broke records dating back nearly 110 years. 

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The last thing on my mind when driving eight hours home on a different route than usual because I-40 was shut down was the November 5 election. But as time has passed, I’ve become worried that the voices of southern Appalachia will not be heard. 

My family was fortunate not to be harmed, and in many ways, this is the inspiration behind this piece. While I cannot be home to help with extended clean-up efforts and do not have to worry about my family’s safety, I think it is vital to raise awareness of the electoral impacts in these communities so they can focus on rebuilding their lives. 

For the families who lost everything, this is the last thing they should have to worry about. Friends I went to school with are still missing. Families I grew up with watched their homes swept hundreds of yards downriver. For these families, they are worried about their next meal and whether or not they will see their loved ones. 

In the days since the storm ravaged our communities, our neighbors have come together in big ways, representing the authentic culture of Appalachia. 

Our communities are banding together in a way that has never been seen before. The last thing on many people’s minds, however, is how this will impact their ability to vote in November. 

While families are coping with loss and communities come together to help each other out, state leaders need to start making plans to ensure those impacted by these devastating storms have the ability to make their voices heard at the ballot box. 

I have seen the social media posts, and I have spoken to many of our close friends and neighbors who are legitimately concerned about the politics at play here. Despite the news stories and photo-ops, they have not seen FEMA. They have not seen the governor. All they have seen are their neighbors and outside private groups of volunteers coming in to help them. 

As Americans, we don’t want to believe this is true, but these are the experiences of southern Appalachia. 

Critical swing states like Georgia and North Carolina have had towns wiped off the map, and many of them are in rural, conservative areas that would traditionally come home for Republicans. 

After the flood, on Sunday, September 29, 2024, the water in downtown Marshall, North Carolina, has mostly receded. Multiple buildings on Main Street were washed away during the flood, including the town’s historic train depot. (Logan Clark)

Western North Carolina and southern Georgia are two of the most densely populated regions for Republican voters in each respective state. The absence of these voices could sway how each state votes and ultimately be the deciding factor in who gets elected in November. 

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Just this week, the United States Postal Service announced major disruptions in both Georgia and the Carolinas. A concern for the almost 200,000 North Carolinians and absentee requests continuing in Georgia over the next few weeks, there is concern that ballots will not be returned or even delivered to voters.  

With wifi outages plaguing the region and no update on when cell service will return, the ability to communicate changes to voting procedures will become increasingly difficult the closer we get to the election. 

Larger counties like Buncombe and Watauga might have the ability to accommodate these changes. But what about smaller counties like Madison and Yancey in North Carolina? 

These issues are trivial in the larger reality compared to the reality being faced by so many in Helene’s path. However, ensuring that victims of Helene’s wrath can vote is a duty that every single lawmaker and government official should fulfill. 

The North Carolina State Board of Elections has begun the process of ensuring everyone has access to vote — I implore Governor Roy Cooper and elected leaders in Georgia and North Carolina to take proactive steps so the votes of those impacted by Helene are safe, secure and accounted for. 

Southern Appalachia will rebuild — it is in our DNA — but we need to ensure we have the resources necessary to come back stronger. That includes the essentials like water, dry food, baby formula, diapers, and, importantly, the ability to make our voices heard.