Olivia Newton-John Had A Picture-Perfect Romance, Then Her Lover Mysteriously Vanished
Olivia Newton-John’s career had been largely free of scandal until one fateful day in 2005. The Grease star had only just split up with cameraman Patrick McDermott after a nine-year relationship when he suddenly disappeared during a fishing trip. And rumors about what happened to him have continued to circulate ever since.
Overnight Fishing Trip
The mystery began when McDermott joined several other passengers on an overnight fishing trip on July 30, 2005. When the charter returned to the Los Angeles port of San Pedro the following morning, however, the cameraman was nowhere to be found. Despite that, his personal belongings were still on board. And, The Daily Beast reported, he’d also settled his bill in full.
Contradicting Reports
The plot thickened when contradicting reports about McDermott’s last sighting emerged from the three crew members and 22 passengers who did return to San Pedro. However, it actually took more than a week for the cameraman to be reported missing. The alarm was only raised when he didn’t show up for an important family meeting.
Officially Missing
McDermott had failed to make a planned visit with his teenage son Chance. As a result, his ex-wife Yvette began making calls about his whereabouts. She soon discovered that no one had seen him since the fishing trip. And when the cameraman’s car was found still parked at the San Pedro marina, he was officially deemed missing.
Going Public
In October 2006 Newton-John talked about her former boyfriend’s disappearance for the first time in front of the cameras. She told Good Morning America, “I love him very much, and this is very hard to go through. He has a young son so we still hold out hope that he will come back.”
