“90 Day Fiancé” star Paul Staehle insists he was never missing while traveling in Brazil and blames poor cellphone reception.
Staehle told TMZ Thursday he has been living alone in the city of Manaus, where he “went out on a boat with a fan of the reality show in an effort to clear his head.”
The TLC personality, 40, said he and the unidentified viewer were “heading to a floating house in the Amazon, but along the way, the boat had some mechanical problems.”
His “companion temporarily left him alone,” according to the outlet’s report.
Naturally, Staehle became nervous and reached out to his mother, Edna Staehle, for help.
However, someone was able to help repair the boat, and he resumed his journey.
Meanwhile, his mom made a public plea for help, which “shocked” Paul, who “didn’t want the story to get out.”
Last week, Edna revealed she was worried something terrible had happened to her son.
She told TMZ that the reality star had sent alarming messages to members of their family on Aug. 31 and still had not been heard from the following day.
Paul gave Edna contact information for several people who he thought could assist him, but she never heard back from any of the individuals.
Izabele Medeiros, who was one of the people Paul asked his mom to contact, then shared a statement to Instagram.
“hello everyone I can’t give much information because we don’t have anything concrete to tell we are looking to find out where Paul is,” she began, noting that they had to “wait a certain amount of time” before contacting police.
“this is not a joke,” she went on. “I was lost until messages arrived telling me everything.”
Blogger John Yates shared screenshots of the messages Paul sent his mother — with permission from her — which showed him purportedly writing that he had “f–ked up.”
He also told her he needed a boat and that he would lose his GPS system when his phone died.
Yates later tweeted that he spoke with Paul’s wife, Karine Martins, who said police were going to get involved.
Martins, who wed Paul in 2017, shared a cryptic social media caption alongside an emotional Reel of photos featuring her husband and their children.
“Not all of our memories were bad. Our children loved you very much. We will never forgot you or the good memories we all shared,” she wrote.
“Paul went missing last night in Brazil. Prayers he is found safe,” Martins, 27, added.
The fiasco comes one year after Paul and his then-3-year-old son, Pierre, were named missing persons by Kentucky police.
The TV star turned up shortly afterward and gave Pierre to his parents, who had custody of the boy after Paul and Martins’ abusive relationship came to light.
