Olivia Newton-John believed her intermittent boyfriend Patrick McDermott either drowned or was killed when he vanished off the Los Angeles coast 21 years ago.
Insights from New Biography
A forthcoming biography, A Little More Love: The Life and Legacy of Olivia Newton-John by Matthew Hild, releasing Thursday, details the cameraman’s 2005 mystery. Hild interviewed Newton-John’s friends and colleagues, uncovering her true convictions about the incident.
“She thought he’d been killed,” said Liona Boyd, Newton-John’s friend and collaborator. “She thought he drowned.”
Boyd dismissed persistent rumors of sightings in Mexico. “She didn’t believe all the rumours about the sightings in Mexico. She said, ‘No, I don’t believe that,'” Boyd recalled.
Relationship Background
Newton-John started dating McDermott soon after divorcing actor Matt Lattanzi in 1995. She described their bond as “on-again, off-again” in her 2018 memoir. At the time of his June 2005 overnight fishing trip disappearance, they were apart.
Speculations and Investigations
Theories swirled around the 48-year-old McDermott, including claims he staged his vanishing to escape financial woes in Mexico. Foreign correspondent Louise Pennell noted in 2005, “Whether he had financial difficulties and staged his disappearance, whether it was a murder or an abduction, no one seems to know.”
Pennell added details from the boat crew: McDermott mentioned alimony issues with his ex-wife, actress Yvette Nipar, from whom he divorced in 1993. They shared a son, Chance.
Investigator John Nazarian claimed in 2016 to have spotted McDermott in Mexico with a woman sporting a German accent. “I spoke to people there,” Nazarian said. “The girl he was travelling with was described as having a German accent.”
Newton-John consulted security expert Gavin de Becker, dispatching private investigators to Mexico, but they found no trace. The US Coast Guard determined McDermott was likely lost at sea after probes concluded in 2008.
Newton-John’s Public Reflections
In 2009, Newton-John shared, “I think there will always be a question mark … I don’t think I will ever really be at peace with it.”
During a 2016 interview, she elaborated: “He was lost at sea, and nobody really knows what happened. It’s human to wonder. But you know, those are the things in life you have to accept and let go.” She added, “Because whenever you go through difficult times, there are always those concerns.”
Newton-John moved forward, marrying businessman John Easterling in 2008. They remained wed until her death in August 2022 at age 73 after a 30-year breast cancer battle.
