Manitoba man says tabloids falsely ID'd him as Olivia Newton-John's missing ex-boyfriend
Wes Stobbe was shocked to find photos of himself and his wife in tabloids around the world
It was an exclusive photo bombshell in an Australian tabloid — Olivia Newton-John's boyfriend, who disappeared more than a decade ago after heading out on a fishing boat, was spotted alive with a mystery woman in Mexico.
But when Wes Stobbe from Brandon, Man., looked at the picture, he saw his own face staring back.
"I'm not really sure how it ended up there," Stobbe said on CBC Manitoba's Radio Noon on Tuesday.
"But apparently somebody took a photo of my wife Bridget and I when we were in Sayulita."
Newton-John was dating Patrick McDermott when he was last seen on June 30, 2005, on a boat near San Pedro, Calif. At the time, the American cameraman had been dating the Grease singer-actor on and off for nine years.
Although an investigation concluded that McDermott most likely drowned, theories about his disappearance have been surfacing ever since, with some saying he faked his death and was living in Mexico.
In November, the Australian tabloid New Idea published a story claiming world exclusive picture proof that McDermott was alive in Sayulita, Mexico, on the Pacific coast.
The story and pictures spread to the National Enquirer, Daily Mirror, the Independent and other publications around the world.
Eventually, someone sent them to Stobbe, who had no idea who took the photos or how he ended up confused with the famous former boyfriend.
Many quoted investigator Charlie Parker saying it was highly likely the man in the picture was McDermott because the widow's peak was exact and the eyes were similar.
Stobbe doesn't see the resemblance, particularly since McDermott was of Korean heritage and Stobbe is not.
"Apparently if you make the photo fuzzy enough and grainy enough, it might be passable, but I don't think I look like him," Stobbe said.
When Stobbe's grandchildren saw the photo they knew instantly that it was grandpa, not the mysteriously missing boyfriend of Newton-John. They also got a good chuckle over the stories claiming McDermott was photographed with his German lover — actually Stobbe's wife.
"It's just hilarious. There is no end of jokes about it. We all got a good laugh about it," Stobbe said.
"I have a face that seems to be recognized falsely more than once. It happens to me so often for some strange reason," he said.
Stobbe's wife, Bridget Shaw, said it was a great distraction for the family, who were in Winnipeg anxiously waiting as her father had surgery when they learned about the photos.
"It was good fun kind of distraction," she said.
"Then over the holidays family could just not believe we were in the tabloids."
It was a strange 15 minutes of fame for the Manitoba couple but they are taking it all in stride. Stobbe and Shaw said they just hope Newton-John wasn't fooled by the false claims.
The family is heading back to Sayulita on the weekend, and this time Stobbe is considering sending a clear message to members of the paparazzi who might be lurking near the beach hoping to catch sight of McDermott.
"[I might] get myself a T-shirt printed that says, 'Not Patrick,'" Stobbe said.
With files from CBC's Radio Noon