Katie Price has been ‘ghosted’ by her husband Lee Andrews for almost a week after he vanished in Dubai, and she fears he may have been kidnapped after a final FaceTime call showed him with his wrists tied and a hood over his head.
Lee Andrews’ vanishing act has been branded a ‘frantic escape’ scheme from his turbulent marriage to Katie Price as the ‘conman’ remains missing in Dubai.
The TV personality has been left in the dark for nearly a week, after her spouse pledged her cash.
Katie now dreads she may ‘never hear’ from her elusive husband as reports indicate that the 43 year old is ‘holed up in a somewhat dilapidated villa’ and relying on a burner phone to contact those he trusts.
Lee is allegedly sought by Interpol after Herts police stepped up an investigation concerning allegations from one of his former partners, with The Sun reporting that he is ‘desperately plotting a way out of this enormous mess he appears to have dug himself into’.
It is also alleged that Lee is in debt to Katie, even presenting her with cheques he’d supposedly paid into her account, though the money has failed to materialise.
Lee had apparently last spoken to his wife on Wednesday evening before his phone’s location vanished and his relatives lost touch at 10.03pm.
On Saturday evening, Katie revealed on her YouTube channel that, despite a statement issued earlier in the week claiming Lee was ‘taking a break’ from social media, he was actually ‘missing’.
The TV personality has been liaising with authorities in Dubai, who informed her that they had no clue about his location. The former glamour model has been left fearing her husband has been abducted, revealing that her last FaceTime call with him showed him with his wrists bound, a hood over his head, and sitting in an ‘old, dirty van’ with mesh windows, terrified that ‘they [were] coming back for [him]’.
Katie, 47, has refuted any involvement in the plot for publicity.
Lee’s family have now taken steps, lodging an official missing persons report with the British Embassy in Dubai, where Lee claimed to have outright bought a £36million mansion with Katie.
This has since been revealed as a rental.
Price tied the knot with Lee after knowing him for just a few days in January.
He is her fourth husband and also her ninth fiancé, having proposed just two days after their initial meeting.
Following the couple’s engagement, it came to light that he had proposed to another woman in exactly the same manner just months earlier.
Family members and fans have expressed their worries from the outset of the relationship.
Katie’s sister Sophie has been a vocal critic, stating she can’t even utter his name because of how much he ‘winds [her] up’.
Katie’s children, Princess, 18, and Junior, 20, have said they want their mum to ‘be happy’, but found out about her engagement via text and have yet to meet Lee.
It has also come to light that Lee, who has resided in Dubai for 21 years, has fabricated details on his CV and bragged about his entrepreneurial achievements with little proof to substantiate his claims.
He has alleged that he rakes in between $2-5m (£1.5-3.7m) annually from the US stock market, among other ventures.
His CV boasted of being a member of the board of advisors for the Labour Party and director of philanthropy at The King’s Trust, formerly known as The Prince’s Trust.
Both organisations refuted any association with Lee, who blamed the deception on an assistant.
However, he has also been accused of duping ex-girlfriends, earning him labels such as ‘liar’ and ‘swindler’.
American businesswoman Crystal Janke accused Lee of swindling her after she invested £123,000 in his sustainable vehicle company.
He reportedly failed to repay her, nor did she receive the £1million she was promised.
He is also said to have pleaded with another woman for money, just days before proposing to Katie, a claim he vehemently denies.
Another former partner, Alana Percival, alleges he pulled a similar disappearing act at the airport on her a year ago after telling her he had a ‘life-limiting heart condition’.
Percival had a nine-month relationship with Lee, during which he professed he ‘loved [her] more than life itself’ in WhatsApp messages she has since posted online.
However, since then she has been advising Katie to ‘run for the hills’ before he attempts to con her too.
Adding to this, he also served a three-month prison sentence last year for fraud.
It’s believed he was arrested after his former personal trainer girlfriend, Dina Taji, whom he dated for two years, discovered he had forged her signature to secure a £200k mortgage in her name.
She reportedly found out when the mortgage company got in touch with her.
Lee is said to have served time in Dubai’s Al-Awir central prison, which resulted in him being slapped with a travel ban upon release, explaining why he hasn’t been returning to the UK with Katie on her recent trips.
Despite initially denying the existence of this ban, Katie recently confirmed it, telling her podcast audience: “You can get a travel ban for absolutely anything.”
During her latest trip back to the UK, Katie appeared solo on Good Morning Britain, where she refuted claims that Lee had been detained at the airport, blaming visa issues for his absence.
However, details of his alleged ‘kidnapping’ surfaced shortly afterwards.