Canoeist Resurfaces 5 Years On

[Peter Parka]

Canoeist resurfaces five years on
A canoeist who went missing, presumed drowned, more than five years ago, has walked into a London police station. The shattered remains of John Darwin's red canoe were found washed up on a beach in Seaton Carew, near Hartlepool, in March 2002.
An extensive search was launched but no trace was ever found of Mr Darwin, who was then aged 51.
"It is not known at this time where he has spent the last five-and-a-half years," said a police spokesman.
Cleveland Police said that Mr Darwin, a married father-of-two, walked into the West End Central Police Station in London at 17.30 GMT last night.
The spokesman added: "Mr Darwin is fit and well and relatives have been informed of his whereabouts."
'Limbo'
Mr Darwin's disappearance sparked agony for his family.
John Darwin, 51, was seen entering the sea in the Seaton Carew area with his kayak at 0800 GMT on Thursday 21 March 2002.
At the time Mr Darwin was working as a prison officer, and the alarm was not raised until 21.30 when it was reported he had failed to arrive for a night shift.
Police and coastguard officers searched the coastline from Hartlepool down to Staithes, North Yorkshire, deploying five RNLI lifeboats, two coastguard rescue teams and a police fixed-wing aircraft with heat-seeking equipment - to no avail.
His wife Anne, a doctor's receptionist, said six months after her husband vanished: "People die, have a funeral, they have a headstone, there is something to mark the fact they existed on this earth.
"But without a body, I don't know how we can mark John's life.
"All I want is to bury his body. It would enable me to move on. It's difficult to grieve without bringing things to a close, but as it is I'm in limbo and there's nothing I can do."

Story from BBC NEWS:


Holy shit!

 

[redsMULLT1]

Wow thats pretty nuts. I wonder what he did for all those years.

 

[TheOriginalJames]

Must have been knocked out, regained conciousness and had a 5 year bout with amnesia.

 

[Tim]

The first thing I would look at is his wife...
No doubt she's a total bitch and he took a much needed vacation :24:

 

[Crusty Lugholes]

Something's awry here, real amnesia is incredibly rare and doesn't work that way. You don't just drop out of your life for 5 years and suddenly wake up fully aware of who you were. That only works in looney tunes cartoons and movies.
I wonder if he didn't meet up with another woman and now that's dissolved he wants to go back to his old life.... hmm. Just speculating.

 

[Peter Parka]

The guy's been arrested on suspicion of fraud now, thought it all sounded a bit fishy!:humm:

 

[UncleBacon]

crazy I want to know what happened

 

[Peter Parka]

It gets more and more fishy!

Canoeist photo genuine, says wife


The wife of a canoeist missing for five years has admitted to newspapers a photo of her and her husband taken last year in Panama is genuine. John Darwin's wife, Anne, reportedly described her life as a nightmare and said: "None of this seems real."
Mr Darwin, 57, was presumed dead after going missing off Hartlepool in 2002, but reappeared in London on Saturday.
He was arrested by Cleveland Police on suspicion of fraud after he met up with his sons and is due to be questioned.

The Daily Mirror newspaper published a photo which apparently showed the Darwins pictured in an apartment in Panama last year.




His wife Anne, 55, told the paper: "Yes, that's him. My sons will never forgive me.
"They knew nothing. They thought John was dead. Now they are going to hate me."
Asked if she had believed her husband had died when he disappeared in 2002, she said: "Yes, I did. And that was the nightmare I lived through."
Mr Darwin has now been taken to a police station on Teesside for questioning.
Cleveland Police said the photo of the pair would be examined as part of their investigation into the case.
Mr Darwin's canoe was found in pieces the day after his disappearance, leading to the assumption he had drowned.
But he walked into a police station in London on Saturday and told officers: "I think I am a missing person."


He claimed he could remember nothing since 2000.
Mrs Darwin sold the family home in Seaton Carew, near Hartlepool and moved to Panama six weeks ago.
The BBC's correspondent in Panama, Andy Gallagher, said the apartment she bought was currently empty and she was believed to be staying in a nearby hotel.
He said reporters from Panama news stations were camped outside the small flat, as the revelations about the Darwins had sparked worldwide interest and a frantic search for Mrs Darwin.
Mr Darwin was reunited with his two sons and arrested by police at the home of one of them in Hampshire late on Tuesday, before being driven to the North East.




He covered his head with a newspaper as he arrived at the police station, flanked by two officers just before 2330 GMT on Wednesday night.
He was due to undergo a medical examination before being questioned later.
Police revealed earlier in the day that new information had caused them to reopen the case in September.
The detective leading the case also said police may question Mrs Darwin.
Det Supt Tony Hutchinson revealed the case had been reopened earlier in the year at a news conference on Wednesday.
He said: "There was some information which was reported to us three months ago to suggest that perhaps there was something suspicious with regards to his disappearance, and as a result of that information we then began to conduct some inquiries on a financial basis.
"Certainly three months ago we did not know that John Darwin was alive, and we did not know that until he walked into the police station on Saturday morning."


Story from BBC NEWS:

 

[Peter Parka]

It continues to get more intriguing! Personally I think it's disgusting what the couple have put their family through!:mad

Canoeist's wife 'to be arrested'


The wife of "missing" canoeist John Darwin will be arrested on her return to the UK, police have said. Mr Darwin, 57, who reappeared last weekend after he was believed to have drowned at sea near Hartlepool in 2002, is being held on suspicion of fraud.
Reports have suggested his wife, Anne, 55, who moved to Panama last month, is already on her way back to Britain.
She is quoted in newspapers as begging her two sons to forgive her, saying: "What kind of a mother am I?".

Mrs Darwin has maintained she acted in good faith when cashing her husband's life insurance.
Extra time
Mr Darwin walked into a London police station on 1 December after going missing off Seaton Carew, near Hartlepool, in March 2002 in what had been believed to be a canoeing tragedy.
He was later held by Cleveland Police on suspicion of fraud and taken to Kirkleatham Police Station in Teesside. On Thursday night, detectives were granted an extra 12 hours to question him.


Officers have said that if Mrs Darwin flies back to the UK later, she will also be arrested on suspicion of the same crime.
She is quoted in both the Daily Mirror and the Daily Mail on Friday saying she has been living her life "as a lie, constantly looking over my shoulder".
"I was never totally relaxed: always on edge and knowing the truth could come out at any time," she is reported to have told journalists.
The papers also report her apologising to her sons, Anthony and Mark.
"What kind of a mother am I?" she said.
'Furious'
The brothers, who both recently left their jobs, have said they want nothing more to do with their mother or father.
They insist they did not know their father was alive and say they are furious at being made the victims of what they describe as a "big scam".





BBC News

 

[Ria]

Ohhh, I thought I recognised the story, but the name puzzled me that you posted Peter.

Their surname is Darling and yes, it's all fake, was on news this morning too.

Their two sons are disgusted with their parents, but one of the son's allegedly, had a lot of money put into his account by the mother (I think it was, not sure, as can't remember), so although he is acting disgusted with the brother, is he also to be named and shamed?

More fool them and although he gives such a remarkable explanation, I do not feel it is a plausable one as much as his time he will have had to think up that excuse for what he has done and forced his wife to do, should the day come that he knew he would have to come clean.

Well, I don't think he will get too much of a punishment somehow - fraud is extremely serious we are told. Will be interesting to see just how 'extremely serious' the courts actually decide.........

 

[Ria]

Re my post above.

Apologies peter, I got the name wrong, even thought the item you copied in on your post, was wrong too - my hearing must be going, cos after I posted the above, I saw the papers and saw the name. I had heard it as 'Darling' rather than darwin. Mind you, that was trying to listen to GMTV whilst trying to get my son sorted for school.

Sorry love.

 

[debbie t]

anyone who lives in secret room behind the bedroom wall is a bit of a nutter,and then to walk into the police station 5 years later?but this is england and we do produce some of the best nutters

 

[Dana]

crazy

 

[Ria]

Well, I wouldn't say that he was a 'nutter' exactly, as he did it to gain money from it.

I am just disgusted that ppl go to those lengths.

I will never live for money, this is just one of the many reasons that money makes ppl so sadistic and untrustworthy and they deserve everything they get.

I have no sympathy for his wife either - at that point of being asked to go along with a plan like that, I would have told him where to get off. She was in it all as much as he was and is trying to make it less severe for herself. Pathetic! :mad