You need to know
Three years after Olivia Newton John’s death, she still questions about her ex-boyfriend, Patrick McDermott, who was thought to have died after disappearing on a fishing trip off the coast of California in 2005.
Newton John passed away on August 8, 2022, at the age of 73 after several matches with breast cancer.
But a few years ago, the singer realized she was the focus of media attention when her former boyfriend, who disappeared in 2005 and was presumed to have owned at sea, was suspected of forging his own disappearance.
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Former photographer McDermott was on an overnight fishing trip off Los Angeles on June 30, 2005. He has not been reported to have been missing until more than a week later. On July 11, 2005, when his ex-wife filed a report according to NBC News.
According to a previous CBS news report, Newton John and McDermott have been on and off for nine years of Disappearance, with the actress and singer declined to publicly comment on his whereabouts (according to CBS, Newton John was in Spari Treat, Australia).
A 2008 US Coast Guard investigation suggested that “McDermott was lost at sea.”
But since then, media coverage, particularly in the Australian press, has suggested that it is not the case.
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In fact, some investigators hired by the media speculate that McDermott fakes his death and is still alive somewhere in Mexico.
Speaking to NBC News in a 2005 interview, Louise Pennell, a foreign correspondent for Seven Network Australia, claimed that McDermott had financial problems before his loss of failure.
“What we know is there were some financial issues. Fishing boat Patrick McDermott told the crew that freedom had some comfort issues with his ex-wife, the actress,” Pennell argued. “As far as I know, he complained about his financial problems with her.”
According to CBS News, court documents at the time show that McDermott filed for bankruptcy in July 2000.
“It seems no one knows whether he’s having financial difficulties and whether it’s murder or acquiring him,” Pennell said.
However, as mystery clouded his loss, Newton John married businessman John Easterling in 2008 and fell in love.
In an interview with people in October 2016, Grease Star said she fell in love while on a trip to Amazon.
“I dated a bit, but I fell in love with him and then BAM!” She said McDermott would be in Easterling a few years after he mysteriously went missing. The singer also said Easterling helped her move out of the “traumatic” trials of reports that McDermott forged his death and claimed he lives in Mexico.
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However, questions about McDermott flourished, and Women’s Day Australia published a 2016 report, claiming that McDermott lived with his German girlfriend in Serita, Mexico.
Investigator Philip Klein told the outlet that McDermott had escaped his debt and it no longer seemed like his son could win cash on his $100,000 life insurance policy.
Newton John said, “One of the hardest things that actually happened to McDermott is not knowing. I have a very lucky and beautiful husband.
A 2009 US Coast Guard press release noted that some speculation was rested, and that the agency “has not been actively investigating the incident.”
“The Coast Guard Investigation Service closed its case on September 15, 2006, and failed to find evidence of a criminal case, suicide, accident or hoax on McDermott’s loss of fon,” the Coast Guard said at its release. “We looked into the operation of the fishing boat itself and followed by another marine safety survey that was closed on October 30, 2008. If life is lost in a marine environment, a marine safety survey is the norm.”
The release continued. “Both investigations suggest that McDermott was lost in the ocean. Anyone with new and reliable tips on the McDermott case can call the CGIS tip line at 310-521-4296 to leave a message with detailed callback information.”
