In late August, Paul Staehle seemingly vanished from the face of the planet.

He didn’t just alarm 90 Day Fiance fans. His ex-wife, Karine Martins, and his mother, Mary, both feared for his life.

To the relief — and confusion — of fans, Paul turned up this week. He was totally off the radar for nearly a week.

Now, he’s claiming that he wasn’t really “missing.” He was merely out of contact. In the middle of nowhere. After sending terrifying messages to his mom. Oh, Paul.

In the wake of Paul’s very weird start to September, he spoke to TMZ this week.

As we know, Paul has been living in Manaus, Brazil while working in the country. Being an American with experience living there, he has a unique perspective and some companies can benefit from that.

In a move that we can only describe as “classic Paul,” he recently tried to “clear his head” with an ill-advised boat ride.

According to Paul, he and some others were en route to a floating house in the Amazon.

Along the way, the boat ran into some mechanical problems.

Paul’s traveling companion apparently left him alone. Which … sounds deeply unnerving. It sounds like the premise to a horror movie.

Paul Staehle alone with his thoughts can, it seems, be a dangerous thing.

Growing nervous, he began reaching out to various people for help. Thus the alarming messages that he sent to people, including his mother.

Eventually, though, his friend returned and fixed the boat. They resumed their journey … as if he hadn’t just sent out messages that he was stuck out in the Amazon.

Meanwhile, Paul being Paul, he didn’t have a phone charger or backup power supply, as one would normally take into the wilderness.

(There are solar powered chargers for phones. Not always practical for everyday use, but they exist)

The floating house didn’t have a charger for him, either. So Paul was unable to communicate with anyone during this time.

During this time, both Paul’s mother, Mary, and his ex, Karine, felt an understandable sense of alarm.

Look at it this way: if I messaged my mom that I was alone in the wilderness, texted “I f–ked up” to her, then went radio silent … she’d also be in a panic. Mary’s concern was understandable.

So was Karine’s. Though her in memoriam style tribute post to Paul and the ensuing post about life insurance seemed … premature.

Now, Paul is denying that this was a publicity stunt.

In fact, he seems to regret that any part of this story got out. He somehow feels shocked that his mother panicked after he vanished.

He didn’t expect his mom to worry when he became stranded and then didn’t respond to texts? As many 90 Day Fiance fans have observed over the years, Paul’s thought processes are … mysterious.

Paul Staehle Never Expected All the Fuss When He Went Missing in Brazil was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.