As his past was slowly being revealed, John was also dismissed from the ISA (due to refusing long-term assignments), and he opened a private investigation firm with Steve Johnson called Black Patch. In late 2016 and early 2017, as Drake Hogestyn was recovering from injuries he sustained in an on-set accident, John's absence was explained at first with a visit to his native Louisiana, then by a long-term "assignment" or "mission", suggesting that John was either working for a high-level client of Black Patch, or had been reinstated in the ISA. Hogestyn's return to the show in mid-2017 was explained as the latter being true, as John returned from a deep-cover ISA assignment only to join his wife Marlena on a rescue mission to save several younger Salemites, including his son Paul, from a deserted island. John's adventures in 2017 included helping Paul solve the mystery of Deimos Kiriakis's murder, and yet another classic soap opera mistaken-identity caper