(NewsNation Now) — A man who spent two years on the run after faking his own death believes Brian Laundrie is “looking over his shoulder” right now, but as more time passes, he could let his guard down.
“When I was a fugitive, the first couple months were the hardest, you know, those first couple of weeks into two, three months, that’s when you don’t really what’s going on,” Seth Ferrenti said on Banfield.
Ferrenti decided to go on the run in the early 1990s rather than face the consequences of going to prison for 20-plus years and having to rat on his friends for drug dealing. He was on the U.S. Marshals’ top 15 most wanted list.
Ferrenti said it took him about five or six months to let his guard down.
“If you last that long, you kind of realize, like, you know, maybe law enforcement is not going to find me if I don’t slip up,” Ferranti said.
The former fugitive says his mom shipped him brownies to a mailbox and spoke with him via payphone. He says marshals visited her once a month.
“My mom would tell them straight up, she would say, ‘I don’t know where my son is but if I did know where my son is, I wouldn’t tell you,'” Ferranti said. “Parents love their kids, like even Brian Laundrie. His parents love him, so I believe they’re gonna help him and they’re gonna do whatever they can to help him stay free.”
Brian Laundrie’s parents say they last saw him Sept. 13 when they said he took the car to a 24,000-acre Florida reserve. He was reported missing Sept. 17.
The FBI issued an arrest warrant for Laundrie. He is wanted for “use of unauthorized access device” related to his activities following Gabby Petito’s death.
Laundrie has not been charged in her death, but authorities say he is a person of interest in the case.
Ferrenti was eventually caught. He’s now the writer/producer of a documentary called “White Boy” streaming on Netflix. It is about a drug dealer.
Watch “Banfield” weeknights at 10/9c on NewsNation.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.