The investigator hopelessly devoted to finding Olivia’s ex

We visited the gun totin’ private eye at his heavily fortified compound in Nederlend, Texas, a speck on the map, about an hour-and-a-half outside Houston.

In the top draw of his desk, is a handgun. Within arm’s reach, an arsenal of weapons: shot guns, a sniper rifle, and a riot gun, which he brags can fire off a volley of bullets at a time.

Klein is a professional investigator, who finds people for a living. Often children, where one divorced parent snatches a child from the other, and missing people—like McDermott—who don’t want to be found.

And he’s not frightened to use that force.

“We find them, more often than not,” Klein explains. “I love to do this, this is what I love to do.

“If I could give one family hope that there is people out there who are dedicated to finding loved ones, then it is well worth it.”

McDermott, who dated Newton John for eight years, vanished without a trace during a charter trip in San Pedro, off the California coast, in June 2005, at age 48. The US Coast Guard determined he most likely drowned.

Klein and his team of investigators have been on the trail of McDermott since they were hired by NBC’s Dateline programme to solve the mystery.

Now he reveals the most significant breakthrough in the case yet: a representative acting on behalf of McDermott has reached out to him, four years his disappearance, begging them to leave him alone.

“Today I write this letter on behalf of Pat McDermott. It is to that end that I ask you to stop this search for him immediately,” reads a fax, which originated from a small city near the coastline town of Acapulco.

“[Patrick] simply has gone to a new life without the hassles of California or the spotlight to which he lived for years. Pat has no ill will to anyone. Pat simply wishes to be left alone.

“Let him live his life in peace and harmony. He is safe and has started anew again in a new place both mentally and physically.”

They also received a proof of life photograph, which according to Klein, shows McDermott has dyed his hair darker, in a bid to change his appearance.

Klein says he believes the representative is “100 percent credible”.

Despite these new revelations in the case, there remains more questions than answers: an unexplained disappearance, why he left a son and a famous and millionaire ex-girlfriend behind, what — if any — involvement did his bitter ex-wife have, why was there an attempt to cash in his life insurance pay-out and now, with confirmation he is alive and well, why he wants nothing to do with his past life.

In investigating the case, we were able to establish that appearances weren’t always what they seemed.

Patrick’s desire to turn his back on his Hollywood life with Olivia has shed new light on the state of the former couple’s romance. In the 24 to 72 hours before his disappearance (and not three weeks as has been previously reported), Patrick visited Olivia, now 60, at her Malibu mansion and abruptly ended their nine-year relationship.

While investigators believe money was a motive, it is also clear from our probe that McDermott wanted to escape the Hollywood lifestyle he shared with Newton-John for almost nine years.

At the time of his disappearance, his relationship with Newton-John was volatile, his financial situation dire and he was struggling to find steady work. In the correspondence, McDermott’s representative goes into some detail — albeit scant — to explain why he walked.

So begins another search for McDermott — and answers.

The quiet hamlet of Sayulita, Mexico, is where private eyes believe McDermott, now living under his birth name Patrick Kim, has found “peace and harmony”. They believe he is working as deckhand, sailing between paradise ports, along the coastline of Mexico to as far south as Brazil.

Life in this beachside paradise is a world away from the life he fled. As one local tells us: “It’s a good place to be missing.“

Why, we asked?

“This place is paradise. If you plan to get lost, why wouldn’t you get lost in paradise?”

And what we found here adds even more intrigue to a mystery as deep as the ocean.

- See Dylan Howard’s online report for Woman’s Day from Sayulita, Mexico.