Laundrie is missing and has been named a person of interest in his girlfriend Gabby Petito’s death. Petito was declared missing on September 11, 10 days after not returning from a cross-country tour of national parks with Laundrie.
Ex-fugitive Seth Ferranti made the comments in an interview with NewsNation Now on Monday. Ferranti was sentenced to 25 years in 1993 for selling LSD across states, but prior to that, he faked his own death and was on the run from the police for two years. He was at one point on the U.S. Marshals’ top 15 most wanted list.
“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 know what’s going on,” Ferranti told NewsNation Now, adding that it took him about five or six months before he 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 added.
The Laundries have not been legally implicated in Petito’s death, but questions have been raised about the fact they allegedly didn’t reply to the Petito family’s calls for help after their daughter was declared missing. In an interview that aired on the Today show on October 6, Petito’s parents said when they stopped hearing from their daughter Gabby, their first calls and texts were to Laundrie’s parents. They said the Laundries never replied.
The Laundries’ family lawyer declined to comment when contacted by Newsweek.
Ferranti added that when he was on the run, his mother sent him chocolate brownies by mail and spoke to him on a payphone, and that marshals only 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, 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.”
Petito was last seen alive in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, on a cross-country road trip with Laundrie on August 25. She was found dead in Grand Teton National Park on September 19, and officials have ruled that her death was a homicide. On October 12, a Wyoming coroner confirmed Petito had died of strangulation.
Laundrie returned to his parents’ house in North Fort, Florida, without Petito on September 1. He was declared missing on September 17.
On September 20, Brian Laundrie’s parents were questioned at their home by the FBI, with the home later searched. Laundrie’s parents issued a statement through their lawyer several days after the remains were found, saying the “news about Gabby Petito is heartbreaking,” that they were praying “for Gabby and her family.”
Laundrie’s parents initially said they last saw their son on September 14, telling authorities at the time they believed he was heading to the 25,000-acre Carlton Reserve nearby to hike or camp. They later changed that date to September 13.
Laundrie’s father Chris Laundrie joined the search for his son on October 7, according to the family lawyer.
