For former pop queen and actress Olivia Newton-John, the past summer and autumn days have been spent worrying about her boyfriend of nine years. Cameraman Patrick Kim McDermott, an Australian of Korean descent, has been missing since June 30, the day he was supposed to return from an overnight fishing trip off the Southern California coast.

“I love him very much, and this is very hard to go through,” Newton-John said Oct. 10 on “Good Morning America.”

The Coast Guard is currently investigating this mystery as a missing-person case, but the possibility that his disappearance may have been staged has not been ruled out. McDermott, 48, had filed for bankruptcy in 2000 and had been in a legal dispute with ex-wife Yvette Nipar, who demanded that he pay overdue child support for their 13-year-old son, according to the Associated Press.

Newton-John, who is 57 and known worldwide for No. 1 hits like the 1981 single “Physical” and starring roles like Sandy Olsson in the movie musical “Grease,” still has hopes of McDermott’s return. “It’s very much a mystery and speculation has been rife, and I choose not to buy into the speculation,” she said.