Olivia Newton-John's Ex-Boyfriend Found Alive

Do you remember the sensational news stories five years ago about cancer survivor Olivia Newton-John's vanishing ex-boyfriend?

Having only called off their 9-year relationship days before, 48-year-old Patrick McDermott mysteriously disappeared during a midnight fishing trip off the coast of California. His body, presumed to have fallen overboard, was never found. Left behind were a "heartbroken" and befuddled Olivia, plus a teenage son from a previous relationship.

It was a truly bizarre narrative that the media could not let go. Did he really die? Or was his death staged? Was he emotionally unstable after the end of his 9-year relationship with Olivia Newton-John? Or was it something else: Her cancer? His debt?

Well, guess what? Private investigators hired by a U.S. current affairs program are saying they have "concluded beyond a reasonable doubt" that Mr. McDermott is alive.

"...Alive and well, and living on a sailing boat off Mexico's Pacific coast," no less, said investigator Philip Klein in The Vancouver Sun.

Per The Sun, Klein and his team of hired PIs were traded documents and voice recordings of McDermott in exchange for an agreement to leave him alone:

"Mr. McDermott's wishes, according to his counsel, is not to be 'hounded' any longer by investigators or the media," said Klein... alleg[ing] that McDermott faked his death to escape mounting debts and to enable his teenage son to benefit from a $100,000 US life insurance policy. [The Vancouver Sun]

There you have it.

A few questions, dear readers:

Now that this mystery has been solved do you think it gives Olivia any comfort? Would you try and contact him if you were her? Or would you still be mad that your long-time partner decided to break up with you, fake his own death and live in exile in order to provide for his son? Especially if he could have borrowed the money from rich little you?

In the end, do you think that Patrick McDermott's actions were nobly self-sacrificing or selfish and proud?