Last photo of Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie together emerges as he is confirmed dead

A photographer captured the pair exploring in Utah

Photos have emerged of the deceased couple Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie, which may be the last candid pictures of them ever taken.

A photographer who didn’t know the couple snapped Laundrie and Petito together in Utah in the summer.

“They stood out because they had the ‘van life’ look to them, and I remember feeling envious because they seemed like enthusiasts,” the photographer told Fox News.

(Derek Shook/Backgrid)

He and his wife encountered the pair in Utah on August 10, which is when the snaps were taken. The photographer recalled that Petito and Laundrie were down a steep slope, so he "asked how they got down," and they gave him "a few pointers" to make it down himself.

“I noticed they were getting into their little white van,” he continued. “They ended up pulling out moments later, and we exchanged a friendly nod as they passed. Truly tragic to know how this all has played out.”

Days later, on August 12, Petito posted a photo on Instagram with Laundrie at Arches National Park in Grand County. She captioned it: “On a calm Monday morning, [Laundrie] and I decided to take the highly trafficked hike to the Delicate Arch.” Laundrie’s last Instagram post, tagged in Moab, Utah, was published a day later on August 13.

In stark contrast to the peaceful images posted on social media, it later emerged that police in Moab, Utah, had pulled the couple over after they had had a violent dispute on August 12.

Witnesses told authorities that Laundrie hit Petito, and in an interview captured in police body camera footage, Petito said she had hit Laundrie first, and that he grabbed her face.

Weeks later, Petito was ruled to have been killed by strangulation, after her body was found in a Wyoming national park. A weeks-long hunt for Laundrie began, and his remains were found in Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park in Florida on October 20.