Questions remain on the events surrounding Gabby Petito’s death and law enforcement’s response to a call tipping off officers to a possible concern during the cross-country trip she took with her fiancé.

Petito, 22, went missing while on a trip with fiancé Brian Laundrie, 23, and was found strangled to death weeks later.

Michelle Sperzel, the chief executive of nonprofit Harbor House of Central Florida, which provides shelter and support for survivors of domestic violence, said she sees parallels in Petito’s story to her own. Sperzel went on a cross-country road trip in her 20s with her then-boyfriend. She says he was abusive and left her on the side of the road for hours.

She said she sees troubling signs from police body-cam video recorded when Petito and Laundrie were pulled over by Moab Police Department officers in Utah on Aug. 12 after a 911 call about a possible domestic violence incident. Sperzel pointed to Petito’s emotional state and Laundrie's derogatory comments.

“There’s a point in time in the body-cam where he calls her crazy, and that’s also a red flag of, ‘Hey, side with me,’ ” she said.

Mark Wynn, a former law enforcement officer who offers domestic violence prevention training to police agencies nationwide, also said he saw red flags in how responding officers handled the situation. 

“There’s a rich field here that just was not harvested well by these officers,” he said, pointing to issues caused by Petito’s emotional state and how close the two were to each other when police questioned them. 

“One of my criticisms would be: let’s move it inside," Wynn said. "Let’s get this couple inside a police station. Let’s introduce her to an advocate. Let’s slow this down. Let’s get them out of eyesight and earshot of one another.”

Wynn said that training could be part of the issue.

“You do what you’re trained to do,” he said. “You rise to the level of your training. So my question for this agency is: How are you training these officers?”

Ultimately Moab police decided not file any charges and instead separated the couple for the night, with Laundrie checking into a motel and Petito remaining with their converted sleeper van.

Petito and Laundrie started their drive across the U.S. in July from New York’s Long Island, where both grew up. They intended to reach Oregon by Halloween, according to their social media accounts, but Petito vanished after her last known contact with family in late August from Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, authorities said.

Sperzel’s message for people being abused by their partner is the situation can be escaped and there are advocates who can help. Harbor House of Central Florida has a confidential crisis hotline that is available 24 hours a day and seven days a week at 407-886-2856.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.