He has referred to numerous partners as his husbands despite not being legally married.[21] His first known partner was Brian Rhyne, who died of complications from HIV in 2001.[1] The following year, he started a relationship with JC Hartpence, an event manager who aided Schreibvogel with his traveling animal show. In mid-2003, John Finlay was hired as an employee of the G. W. Zoo, and within a month, had begun a relationship with Schreibvogel. By this point, the relationship between Maldonado-Passage and Hartpence had deteriorated, due to drug and alcohol addiction.