Found! Olivia Newton-John's Missing Beau Really Did Fake Death

After vanishing from a 2005 fishing trip and being presumed dead, "Hopelessly Devoted" singer's ex found alive and well in Mexico

By Josh Grossberg Apr 05, 2010 11:45 PMTags
Olivia Newton-John, Patrick McDermottNewsmakers/Getty Images

He wasn't in Xanadu, that's for sure.

After mysteriously vanishing from a 2005 fishing trip off the California coast and presumed dead, Olivia Newton-John's ex-paramour Patrick McDermott has been discovered alive and well and living in Mexico.

A group of private eyes hired by Dateline NBC and led by Texas-based snoop Philip Klein were able to track down the Korean-American lighting technician after noticing a cluster of IP addresses from the Mexican-Pacific coast near Puerta Vallarta logging onto the website giving updates on McDermott's presumed whereabouts.

The investigators eventually cornered their quarry, who was living in Mexico under his birth name. After obtaining "documentation and voice imprints," from him they subsequently announced an end to the hunt last week.

"Mr. McDermott's wishes, according to his counsel, is not to be 'hounded' any longer by investigators or the media," Klein told reporters at a press conference.

He'll still have to answer to authorities, however. McDermott spent nine years with the "Hopelessly Devoted" singer starting in 1996, during which time he filed for bankruptcy owing more than $30,000 debt. The couple called it quits in 2005. Shortly afterward he disappeared after supposedly falling overboard from a chartered fishing boat.

While the Coast Guard believed he drowned and closed their investigation, speculation persisted that he may have staged his death to cash in on a $150,000 life insurance policy for his son.

Newton-John declined to comment on the matter but previously called the whole situation "heartbreaking."

(Originally published April 5, 2010, at 12:45 p.m. PT)

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Did you know Olivia Newton-John is guest starring on Glee this season? Read all about it here! And don't miss out our Celeb Death Hoax gallery.