Lee Andrews reportedly boasted about being an international arms dealer who worked with dangerous people in the weeks leading up to his mysterious disappearance, according to sources.
The self-proclaimed businessman, 42, who married Katie Price in January after a whirlwind 10-day romance, has been missing since last week. The 47-year-old glamour model last spoke to her husband as he attempted to board a 10pm flight from Dubai to Britain on Wednesday last week.
The couple had been scheduled to appear on Good Morning Britain for their first joint interview, but Andrews failed to make it to the UK. Since then, Price has been pleading with fans to help locate her husband, whom she believes was kidnapped and last seen tied up in the back of a van.
Claims of Arms Dealing
Insiders have now claimed that in the weeks before his disappearance, Andrews frequently boasted about being an arms dealer. A source told The Sun: "Lee said he had many jobs, one being an international arms dealer. He seemed really proud of it. He boasted repeatedly to anyone who cared to listen that he worked with dangerous people. He bragged about it and then he gets kidnapped. It's almost as if he's been writing a storyline."
The Daily Mail has contacted Katie's representative for comment.
Last Communication
Price has released her final WhatsApp exchanges with Andrews in an effort to track him down. The messages, sent between 12.36am and 1.01am early last Thursday morning Dubai time, show Andrews telling her: "Been arrested. I'll be in touch. I'm ok xx."
Price replied within five minutes asking: "Where? Why? I'm worried" and expressed her love. Andrews then revealed he did not know where he was being taken as they had his "other phone." He shared his live location and told her to contact the embassy, stating he was being taken to a "black site."
He also gave his father's number as an emergency contact. The live location ended with the message: "Keep that on babe. Love you." Andrews then appeared to backtrack, saying: "It's a black site, I love you, I sort it. I'm in the van… just being detained wtf."
Family Concerns
A friend told The Sun: "Katie has been completely spiralling, as you can imagine. This is NOT a publicity stunt – as if she needs any more PR – and no matter what Lee has or hasn't done, she still loves him. These WhatsApps prove that she is as blindsided as the rest of us as to Lee's movements. She is not in on it, whatever 'it' is."
Meanwhile, Andrews' mother Trisha, 61, a psychic medium, gave her first interview since his disappearance. She expressed concern for his wellbeing but questioned the kidnapping theory, saying: "I don't know, he could have been. I've not seen the video. I don't know the laws out there but I wouldn't have thought they'd use cables. Wouldn't they put handcuffs on?"
Trisha added that she initially thought Price was "exploiting" the situation on social media but after speaking with her, she could see how worried she is. A friend of Trisha's said "no one knows where Lee has gone" and she just wants him to be safe.
Alternative Reports
However, other reports have suggested that Andrews has not been kidnapped but is instead squatting in a run-down villa in Dubai, communicating with a few trusted contacts via a burner phone and "frantically planning a route out of this ginormous hole he appears to have buried himself in."
