Missing HBO Star Found 3 Weeks After Disappearing

Pat Pespas, the star of HBO’s Telemarketers documentary series, has returned home safe almost a month after going missing. Adam Bhala Lough, the series’ co-director, who shared the news Thursday, wrote, “Patrick J. Pespas has been found and returned safely to his wife Sue. Thank you to everyone who has shared messages of support, donated and prayed for Pat’s safe return. One day I hope to tell the whole story but for now Pat asks that everyone respects his and Sue’s privacy.”

Sam Lipman-Stern, the co-director of Telemarketers, said in a statement, “Thank you so much to everyone who has shared supportive messages, helped Sue with her medical bills and her GoFundMe, posted flyers around, shared our posts and prayed for Pats safe return… He wants everyone to know that he’s ok.”

Neither Pespas’ disappearance nor where he was found were disclosed. Bhala Lough tweeted on October 2 that Pespas had gone missing, leaving his wife Sue, who is in need of medical attention as depicted in the docuseries, on her own. 

In late September, after Pespas disappeared in Pennsylvania, the director appealed for information about his whereabouts. According to a media release published on Monday morning, it was believed that Pespas might still be operating a white 2002 Ford Mustang and could still be in the New Jersey region. 

Lough tweeted a missing-persons flyer with contact information from Pespas’s family. He wrote, “Pat is missing, and Sue, his family and friends are very worried about him. Please put out the word that Pat is missing and help us find him.” In addition, Lough said he had spoken with a bartender and a patron who confirmed they had seen Pespas at a Pittsburgh bar.

The fundraising efforts started to ensure that Sue had the assistance she needed, while a social media appeal was put out to locate Pespas, who had reportedly been seen in places such as Pittsburgh and New York City within the last few weeks.

According to a recent Rolling Stone profile of the show, Pespas was called a “living telemarketing legend,” capable of “harming any caller into parting with their money because of his friendly manner and ability to captivate. The series didn’t shy away from Pespas’ history of substance abuse. It showed him drifting off at work as well as using hard drugs during the series, but we saw him subsequently get clean. 

The docuseries itself was delayed for nearly a decade after Pespas vanished midway through the investigation. When Pespas resurfaced, Lipman-Stern and Pespas’s reunion drove the project’s conclusion.