What Happened to Paul Staehle When He Went Missing in Brazil? ’90 Day Fiance’ Star Has Been Found

Many 90 Day Fiancé fans were left feeling concerned about Paul Staehle after his wife, Karine Staehle, revealed on August 31 that he had gone missing in Brazil. While it’s unclear exactly what happened to the Before the 90 Days star at this time, a cryptic post from Karine has her followers wondering if Paul has died. 

Is ‘90 Day Fiance’ Star Paul Staehle Missing?

Karine took to her Instagram Stories on August 31 to reveal that Paul “went missing last night in Brazil.” She added, “Prayers he is found safe.” The TLC star has not shared if her husband was found at the time of publication. 

What Happened to Paul From ‘90 Day Fiance’?

On September 1, Karine reposted on her Stories a series of Facebook Messenger messages allegedly between Paul and his mother, Mary, which were sent to reality TV blogger John Yates and shared on his Instagram account. Paul shared his location and wrote that he “got lost” while traveling alone and “f–ked up bad.” He also asked his mother to contact his friends for help.

“I need a boat to get back,” he wrote. 

Mary alleged that she tried to contact Paul’s friends and received no response, as it was past midnight. The last message from Paul appeared to be sent around 1:38 a.m., where he urged his mother to keep trying to contact his friends. Mary then continued to try to reach Paul throughout the morning and afternoon with no response. Two audio calls with no answer, one at 7:18 a.m. and the other at 1:55 p.m., were included in the message exchange. 

The post also included alleged text messages between Mary and two people listed under the names Jaciane Rv and Indaia Cruz. Jaciane wrote that they “could not find [Paul] in the locator” and did not understand why he needed help. Meanwhile, Mary sent several texts to Indaia begging for them to help Paul. 

Karine Shared a Cryptic Post That Hinted at Paul’s Death

In addition to reposting the messages, Karine took to her Instagram feed on September 1 to share a tribute video to Paul, including several photos and clips of her husband with their young sons, Pierre and Ethan. The video was set to Kyle Hume’s “If I Would Have Known.”

“If I would have known/ That you wouldn’t be here anymore/ I would have made the moments last a little longer/ ‘Cause now I’m alone/ And you’re just a memory in my mind/ I would have given anything to say goodbye/ If I would have known/ If I would have known, oh,” the lyrics to the song read.

In the caption of the post, Karine wrote with a broken heart emoji, “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.” Many fans have speculated that Paul died, but Karine has not confirmed any such news as of publication. 

Paul’s Mother Spoke Out After Her Son Went Missing

Paul’s mother, Mary, told In Touch exclusively on September 1 that she is worried about her son amid his disappearance. “I do not know anything as of right now. Still no responses from Paul since very late Wednesday night,” she said on Friday, two days after she heard from her son.

“He was lost and pinged me his location to try and get a friend to help,” Mary told In Touch. “He told me he messed up, was alone, which was really stupid, and his phone was about to die. I sent the three names he gave me urgent messages but it was very late so no replies until next morning. I pray he is OK. And just has no way to communicate. I have to believe that.”

Has Paul Staehle Been Found?

On September 3, Mary revealed in a YouTube Live interview with John that Paul was “OK and alive.” However, she added that he was “still not in a good situation.” 

“He’s still not back out of the woods yet, but I know he’s alive,” Paul’s mom added. 

She continued on to explain that Paul had taken a canoe-type boat at night to a “bad place.”

“I think it’s stupid, I don’t know why he would go somewhere at night by himself alone, and [they] said it might’ve been that place everyone was talking about that was so dangerous,” Mary added. “And he freaked out and that’s where he said, ‘He screwed up.’ And then he found a way to get back over to this village, so he’s in some remote village, over there somewhere.”

After noting that Paul had been sleeping in a hammock and “getting eaten by bugs,” Mary said she hoped his friend with a boat would come to rescue him. “He’s hoping to get back tomorrow, that’s what he told me,” she added. 

On September 4, Paul’s friend Iza, who goes by tlzz_deusa on Instagram, took to her Stories with a photo of Paul smiling as he looked out a car window. “Resolvendo problema de um adulto,” Iza captioned the photo, which translates from Portuguese to English, “Solving an adult problem.”

Meanwhile, Karine took to her own Instagram Stories to direct her followers to Iza’s account for updates on Paul, noting that she “has nothing to do with” his disappearance and return. “Just want to let ya’ll know that Paul showed up,” she wrote, later adding, “Iza posted that Paul is fine so ask him what happened before judging him.”

What Has Paul Said About His Disappearance?

Paul returned to Instagram on September 3 to scrub most of his account. He also reposted a video clip from January 2022 that featured his sons. 

“Treasure every day and every moment with your family and the ones you love,” his caption read. “Especially your children who are the future and your parents who you never know when your last moment together will be. Always part on good terms because if that moment is the last goodbye make it a positive one.”

Paul also took to his Instagram Stories to confirm that he is “not romantically involved” with Iza. 

“She is engaged to marry her fiancé. I see and talk to her and her family every day and her and her family help me out a lot. I am very close to her mother and her mother’s sister,” the dad of two wrote. 

On September 7, Paul finally explained what happened, denying that he was ever “missing” in Brazil. In an interview with TMZ, he said he has been living by himself in Manaus, Brazil, and went out on a “canoe-type boat” with a 90 Day Fiancé fan, but they “had a hiccup” along the way.

“I tried to get some help. They were able to rectify the situation. We got the boat going. … We actually went to a floating house, and I actually ended up staying at a floating house for a few days. I didn’t have my charger or anything so I didn’t charge my phone. … I had to go around the floating houses to try to get signal so I could call,” he said. 

When asked about the text messages he sent to his mom, Paul said he didn’t have enough battery nor a good enough signal to fully explain his situation to her. The 90 Day Fiancé alum also addressed rumors that he pulled a publicity stunt. 

“No, if that was the case I would have gone on an Instagram Live or I would have posted things. I never wanted any of this stuff to go public. … I had no idea my mom would go and start talking to people online,” he said.

When asked why he didn’t address the situation on his own social media, Paul said, “Just with everything going on, in all honesty, I didn’t wanna add gasoline to all these different fires. And it seems like no matter what you say, a lot of these people online will twist and twirl things around, just add gasoline.”