Star of HBO docuseries ‘Telemarketers’ reported missing in Northeastern Pennsylvania
Patrick J. Pespas spent years working in telemarketing.
The lovable antihero who appeared in the recent HBO docuseries Telemarketers has been reported missing out of Easton, Northampton County.
Patrick J. Pespas, 54, of Phillipsburg, in North Jersey, became the star of the three-part docuseries that ran this summer, using his knowledge of questionable telemarketing industry tactics to try expose the longtime practice. Pespas, who lived in both Plainfield and South Plainfield during much of the series’ timeline, was last seen in Easton around 8 p.m. on Friday, according to police, and could be driving his white, 2002 Ford Mustang.
Easton police, in a statement, said they were concerned for his safety.
A little-used Instagram account in his name is now helping spread the word about Pespas’ disappearance. According to Adam Bhala Lough, who codirected and produced Telemarketers, Pespas may have been seen at a bar called Knuckleheads in Pittsburgh, nearly 300 miles west, over the weekend.
An Easton police officer declined to comment on that possible sighting on Monday.
Telemarketers, which debuted in August, introduces viewers to a slew of quirky characters, including codirector Sam Lipman-Stern. Most of them worked for a New Jersey telemarketing company that solicited money from strangers who believed they were helping the families of fallen police officers.
“What we do is we call up people and chisel them out of money,” Pespas says in one of the episodes.
Despite using heroin at work in early footage, Pespas was one of the company’s better employees. He later got sober and joined forces with Lipman-Stern to investigative some of the industry’s tactics. Pespas chased down interviews while holding barbecue platters; the series culminated with his sit-down with U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.).
“It was a big-time scam,” Pespas says of the industry.
Pespas, according to Bhala Lough’s X updates, is taking methadone, a widely used and effective treatment for opioid addiction.
The docuseries stretches over 20 years, in which Lipman-Stern stays in and out of touch with Pespas. One episode ended with a cliff-hanger that left viewers wondering if Pespas, a heavy metal guitarist, was still alive. Throughout the series, he is portrayed as a devoted caretaker to his wife, Sue.