Pennsylvania police have put out an alert for Pat Pespas, one of the stars of the hit HBO documentary Telemarketers, who has been missing since Friday.
“Pat is missing, and Sue, his family and friends are very worried about him,” Adam Bala Lough, one of the creators of the three-part series, tweeted on X.
Pespas, 54, is a recovering drug addict who spent two decades working as a telemarketer, which is how he met Sam Lipman-Stern, the series’ co-creator.
Together, and with the help of Lough, they began investigating the New Jersey telemarketing firm where they worked soliciting donations for cancer charities and police organizations.
The series, produced by the Safdie brothers, got a 96 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and Pespas has been celebrated as a kind of folk hero.
The Daily Beast’s Nick Schager gave the show a positive review, writing, “In Pat, Telemarketers celebrates a charismatic crusader who reinvented himself through civic duty. He may not be the hero that America expected, but as evidenced by his committed attempts to bring the telemarketing juggernaut to its knees, he’s just the type we need.”
Both Lough and Lipman-Stern have been providing updates on Pespas’ possible whereabouts on social media.
On Sept. 30, they said he was last seen in Easton, Pennsylvania. Then on Sunday, Lough tweeted about a “potential lead.”
“Someone claims to have spotted Pat in a bar in Pittsburgh last night called Knuckleheads near Ross Township. If anyone can confirm that please let me know,” he wrote, later saying the sighting was confirmed.
Police said Pespas may be driving a white 2002 Ford Mustang with New Jersey plates N74KUB. “Police are concerned for his well-being,” they wrote.
