A brand new podcast delving into the thriller surrounding the disappearance of Olivia Newton-John’s ex-boyfriend has debunked the concept he faked his personal loss of life.
Patrick McDermott, a cameraman who dated the late actress and singer on-and-off for 9 years from 1995, was 48-years-old when he vanished in June 2005 after he took an in a single day fishing journey off the coast of Los Angeles with 22 different individuals.
Seventeen years on and with no hint of Patrick, many have explored the speculation that he faked his personal loss of life as a result of monetary woes (he was reported to have been $30,000 in debt and filed for chapter) and stress of maintaining with the ‘Hollywood way of life’.
However after investigating the circumstances surrounding his disappearance, the presenters of Pseudocide: The Disappearance of Patrick McDermott, instructed FEMAIL they imagine Patrick actually did die on the fishing journey and varied ‘sightings’ of the cameraman don’t get up.
Patrick McDermott, the on-off boyfriend of Olivia Newton-John for 9 years, disappeared throughout a fishing journey off the coast of LA when he was 48 years outdated
The podcast investigates reported sightings of McDermott in Mexico over time, which presenters Poppy Damon and Alice Fiennes imagine had been hoaxes and pink herrings. After finishing up their investigation, the hosts instructed FEMAIL they’re satisfied Patrick actually is misplaced at sea.
After they started researching the collection, they admitted they had been skeptical about rumours Patrick had faked his loss of life however ‘needed to maintain an open thoughts’.
They stated: ‘So many individuals thought they’d seen Patrick in Mexico that initially we thought there may effectively be some substance to the rumours.’
Patrick McDermott was born in South Korea and left orphaned by the Korean Conflict within the Nineteen Fifties. As a toddler, he was adopted by an American household and raised within the US.
When Patrick went on the fishing journey on the Freedom boat on 30 June 2005, Olivia was on a promotional tour in Australia.
The couple (pictured in 2001) met in 1995 and had been collectively on-and-off till his disappearance
The subsequent day when different passengers disembarked the boat, crew members discovered no signal of Patrick, however his automobile keys, pockets and passport had been nonetheless on board.
Nevertheless, as a result of the crew had not executed a headcount of passengers, it was one other week earlier than anybody realised Patrick had not returned from the journey when he did not attend a household occasion on July 6. His automobile remained parked close to to the San Pedro marina.
Thriller has surrounded the mysterious disappearance of the cameraman ever since investigators discovered no hint of him. Nor may they discover proof of a criminal offense, an accident, suicide or a hoax on the boat. Patrick was presumed misplaced at sea.
Officers imagine he merely fell overboard and drowned, however conspiracy theorists insist he might have had one other boat lined as much as meet him offshore. Over time, a number of sightings of Patrick have been reported in Mexico.
As the brand new podcast collection unfolds, the presenters interview Wes Stobbe, a Canadian man from the province of Manitoba, whose image was printed on the entrance web page of the Nationwide Enquirer in November 2017 with the headline: ’12 12 months Thriller Solved!’
He tells the podcast hosts of his shock at seeing his picture, which was offered as a photograph of Patrick McDermott, from his vacation dwelling in Sayulita, Mesico.
He says: ‘I stated: “Nicely, I do not appear to be him however I suppose some individuals suppose I do”.’
Wes, a pub landlord, provides: ‘I simply needed to snicker. I simply burst out into laughter.’
He tells the hosts his mates had been additionally extremely amused to see the picture on the entrance web page, and that one among his closely tattooed mates additionally received a brand new inking of the incident.
Nevertheless, except for the hilarity of the case of mistaken identification, Wes reveals to the hosts that he felt responsible in regards to the incident.
‘I sort of felt sorry perhaps for among the household… that is likely to be vlinging to some faint hope that he is likely to be discovered alive,’ he says, recalling how he tried to contact Olivia Newton-John to substantiate he was positively not her lacking ex-partner.
As thriller shrouded Patrick’s disappearance, non-public investigators arrange a web site referred to as FindPatrickMcDermott.com which tracked the places of its guests. After a flurry of net visitors got here in from the city of Sayulita, the main target of the case centred on the Mexican city.
Over time, Sayulita has remained the main target of conspiracy theorists who imagine Patrick McDermott is alive and effectively – and in 2016, Spanish media quoted locals from the city who stated Patrick was there and needed ‘to be left alone’.
Different locals had been quoted as saying they usually noticed Patrick working on the seaside, and that he was a ‘traditional hippie’ who had straggly hair and frequented the native bars and cafes.
After studying the experiences, the presenters communicate to municipal supervisor in Sayulita, Oswaldo, who was one of many locals quoted as having seen Patrick round city.
Nevertheless, when he’s contacted by the journalists, he says: ‘Patrick who?’
He then reveals he has not truly seen or talked to Patrick himself, and offers a distinct account in comparison with the one reported in El País in 2016.
It quickly turns into clear that many Sayulita locals have spoken about sightings of Patrick, however it’s unclear if any of them have truly seen him in individual.
The hosts contacted 10 individuals who had beforehand been quoted saying they’d seen Patrick round Sayulita – however not one among them may affirm that they really had seen him for themselves.
Talking to FEMAIL, the hosts stated it was ‘odd’ to be taught nobody in Sayulita had truly seen Patrick for themselves.
They stated: ‘We had been by no means in a position to resolve this discrepancy. Why had been they quoted with extra certainty earlier than? Did their recollections change over time or was one thing darker at play?’
Olivia Newton-John died on the age of 73 in August this 12 months following a battle with breast most cancers.
In 2016, she revealed she did not pay heed to the rumours her lacking ex-partner was nonetheless alive, and had probably died on the fishing journey.
She instructed 60 Minutes: ‘It is human to surprise. As a result of everytime you undergo tough occasions, there’s at all times these issues.
‘These are the issues in life it’s important to settle for and let go. In fact questions at all times come up and that is human.
‘However , I stay on.’
Talking in regards to the case of Patrick’s disappearance which has captivated individuals everywhere in the world for practically twenty years, the hosts stated: ‘Unsolved mysteries are at all times fascinating – you possibly can venture every kind of weird and fantastical theories into the clean area.
‘We even learn one false concept that steered Patrick was paid to exit with Olivia Newton John, and so they had been by no means actually collectively!’
They added the media curiosity within the case may effectively have stored conspiracy theories alive quite than deciding on the US Coast Guard’s conclusion on the time – that Patrick was useless.
They stated: ‘Within the faked-death model of the story, Patrick is a fraud mastermind. The actual reply to the thriller – that he died at sea – is relatively easy, and extremely tragic.’
Season 1 and a pair of of Pseudocide can be found on Spotify. Season 1 covers 9 completely different circumstances and season 2 is the story of Patrick McDermott’s disappearance.
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