It's been revealed that the late Olivia Newton-John was haunted by the disappearance of a lover "lost at sea". The actress, who passed away yesterday at the age of 73 after a 30-year battle with breast cancer, is believed to have never "found peace" following the unsolved mystery.
The Grease actress, best known for her role as Sandy in hit movie, had been involved in numerous relationships throughout her life, but none more perplexing than Patrick McDermott. The pair had been in a nine-year relationship with Olivia getting involved with the cameraman after her 1995 divorce from her first husband Matt Lattanzi.
The late star’s on-off lover Patrick, 48, went on an overnight fishing trip on June 30, 2005. He was joined by 22 other people but vanished before the boat returned to shore without anyone on board noticing he was gone.
But it wasn’t until he failed to show at a family event on July 6 that anyone realised he was missing, and he was finally reported as such to police on July 11. In the two decades since his disappearance, Patrick has been rumoured to be hiding out in Mexico in a bid to run away from crushing debts.
Crew members found his car keys, passport and wallet on board his fishing boat. His car was found parked at the San Pedro marina in Lost Angeles.
Heartbroken Olivia was on a promotional tour in Australia when her lover vanished. And despite repeated police manhunts, private detective investigations and media attention, no conclusive evidence was found that Patrick was hiding out in Mexico – despite constant sighting reports.
“I don't think I will ever really be at peace with it,” Newton-John once admitted in a 2016 interview. "I think there will always be a question mark.”
Patrick had previously been married, albeit briefly, and fathered a son. He had been court ordered to pay $8000 in back-dated child support to his ex wife Yvette Nipar over their son, Chance, and had filed for bankruptcy with debts totalling more than $30,000 before his disappearance.
The cameraman’s spiralling debts fuelled speculation he had faked his own death and fled to Mexico. But a US Coast Guard investigation found "no evidence of criminal action, suicide, accident, or hoax in McDermott's disappearance."
And a subsequent three-year investigation into what happened on board Patrick’s ‘Freedom’ fishing boat found that there were no head counts performed on the trip, so Olivia’s lover’s disappearance went apparently unnoticed.
All the investigations concluded that Patrick had most likely been lost at sea and drowned. The inconclusive findings could have been the end of Olivia’s anguish, but witnesses continued to report sightings of him in Mexico – claiming to have seen him living on a yacht off the coasts of Sayulita and Acapulco.
Sting operations were set up by TV networks who sent undercover film crews and private detectives to ensnare him. One investigator, John Nazarian, said in 2016: "It's rumoured he was with a German national. I spoke to people there.
“The girl he was traveling with was described as having a German accent. To come up with the conclusion that he fell off the boat, and allegedly no one saw him fall off the boat, is the most preposterous thing I've ever heard in my life."
Despite the manhunts, McDermott remained elusive. It has been claimed McDermott - who is of Korean descent- reportedly withdrew life savings from two bank accounts and secured a passport under his birth name Patrick Kim.
There was a separate investigation being conducted by Philip Klein - who penned a book about the case - which ended in 2009 when the private investigator received a letter faxed on Patrick’s behalf.
It reportedly said: "Pat has asked that I portray to you his innocence. Pat has committed no crime. Pat simply wishes to be left alone.
"Let him live his life in peace and harmony. He is safe and has started anew again in a new place both physically and mentally. Stop this search immediately."
Klein - who was looking into it on behalf of US TV show Dateline - added: "His attorney called from Mexico City and said that Patrick didn't want to be bothered. He hadn't faked anything. He just wanted to get away from the drama."
In 2017, Australian gossip magazine, New Idea, published what they believed was proof that Patrick was alive after they received a photograph by US media agency Coleman-Rayner showing a man who matched Patrick’s description relaxing in the Mexican sunshine with a female companion.
The man in the photo was believed to be approximately 60-years-old - which is the age that Patrick would be - while a private investigator named Charlie Parker explained to the mag why he thought the man in the photo is Patrick.
"The widow's peak is exact. The eyes are very similar and the ears extend down on the head the same distance. I believe it is him,” the P.I. told the Australian magazine.
He also concluded he believed the man in the photograph was a "90 per cent match” to be Patrick McDermott.
But a Canadian couple later came forward and identified themselves at the people in the photograph, debunking claims the pictures were of Patrick. Olivia moved on and put the tragic disappearance behind her. She met her husband John Easterling and married him in Peru in 2008 in an Inca ritual.
Patrick’s disappearance continued to haunt Olivia into the last years of her life but she had surrendered to the fact that her former lover was most likely dead.
In a 2016 interview with 60 Minutes, Olivia said: “He was lost at sea, and nobody really knows what happened. It's human to wonder. Because whenever you go through difficult times, there's always those concerns.
“Those are the things in life you have to accept and let go. Of course questions always come up and that's human. But you know, I live on.”
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