E.E.R: Former Georgia pastor who faked his own suicide details his 18 months on the run

The 47-year-old Georgia pastor turned financial adviser who faked his own death after embezzling millions from his clients has spoken out to detail his 18 months on the run.

Aubrey Lee Price went missing in June 2012 after sending suicide notes to his friends and family and boarding a ferry from Key West to Fort Meyers, Florida.

Though his body was never found, the married father-of-four was officially pronounced dead six months later, believed to have jumped off the ferry and died in the ocean.

But Price stayed on the boat and started a new life before he was arrested on December 31, 2013, after cops pulled him over in Brunswick, Georgia because the tint on his car was too dark.

In an interview with Esquire, Price has revealed that he initially planned to commit suicide when he boarded the ferry, and that he had no plan for his new life after deciding to stay on the boat.

Before and after: Aubrey Lee Price faked his own death in June 2012 after embezzling millions from his clients. In an interview with Esquire, Price details his 18 months on the run. Pictured on the left before his disappearance, and in a mugshot after his December 2013 arrest

'I don’t know why I didn’t kill myself,' Price said. 'Once it got dark on that boat and no one was there, I threw everything over except the backpack with my driver’s license and wedding ring.

'I threw all my credit cards away. I had, like, eighteen dollars left to my name after paying for postage at the Key West post office and paying the taxicab driver.'

After landing back in Florida, he traveled to South America where he worked for a former business associate in Venezuela.

While Price says he only interacted with his friend's legal business before, when he returned to South America he started helping the man with his illegal cocaine smuggling business.

In the interview, Price describes the moment his friend revealed his drug business by showing him his warehouse 'stuffed full of coke'.

He ended up working in the drug smuggling business for a while, before eventually moving back to the U.S.

Abandoned: Price left behind four children and wife Rebekah (pictured) when he faked his suicide. He is currently serving a 30 year prison sentence

Price talked about missing his children but used emotional language to describe being separated from his dog.

'I longed to be with my dog again, a golden retriever named Holly Jolly. I probably won’t see my dog ever again. And she was my best friend,' he said.

Back in the U.S., Price downloaded software to make fake IDs and says he had about six false identities including both foreign and local aliases. During that time, he says he went by several names including Diesel, Gator, Javier, and Jason.

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He spent some of his time missing cage-fighting in New York, which is also how he developed a love for marijuana which he says he took to relieve body pain. Over 200 marijuana plants were later discovered at the home he was renting in Georgia.

He managed to stay off the street by rooming with prostitutes in motels, but maintains he was chaste the whole time.

Green: Price says he started using marijuana after becoming a cage-fighter. Over 200 plants were discovered in the home he rented in Georgia, after his arrest

Price says one of the most disappointing aspects of faking his death, was learning his FBI reward was just $20,000.

'I was disappointed in the reward for me—it was only $20,000! I was on the FBI’s top ten list! Come on, put some money out there! I wanted to be number one,' he said.

But Price says it was tough keeping the charade up, and he didn't like his life on the run.

He was driving his car the day he got cut, and happened to have a bit of an emotional crisis behind the wheel.

'I was beating my steering wheel, angry at God. I felt like I wasn’t making any progress towards restitution.

'I’m riding up I-95. And I remember saying, Lord, where are you? I said that, like, ten times. And then I looked up and there were blue lights behind me. I said, Thanks, Lord. That’s where you are.

'So I pulled over eighteen months after I disappeared. And that was it.'

Following his arrest, Price plead guilty to fraud charges and is now serving a 30 year prison sentence. He has also been ordered to pay $51million in restitution to the clients he defrauded.