Missing5Years Canoeist's wife 'delighted' he's alive

Ah, the plot thickens - if there is one. Wife now has quickly left the
country. To avoid having to give back life insurance perhaps? Pic at link.
jc
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Canoeist's wife 'delighted' he's alive
December 5, 2007 - 6:19AM

Mysterious ... John Darwin.
Photo: AP

Latest related coverage
A British man who disappeared over five years ago but then turned up at the
weekend cannot remember anything, his sons said today, as mystery grew over
the affair.

John Darwin, 57, was thought to have died in a canoeing accident in the
North Sea before he walked in to a London police station to declare he was a
missing person who could not remember where he had been.

His grown-up sons, Anthony and Mark, said in a statement issued by police
that his reappearance was a "huge shock" for the family, but they were happy
he was alive.

"We have spoken with John and he appears to be in good health, however, he
currently has no memory of events since June 2000," they said.

The pair said Darwin's wife, Anne, had been told and was "delighted to hear
it". But they gave no indication of her whereabouts, leaving another mystery
unsolved.

Newspapers said today that she had now disappeared, possibly to Panama in
central America, although some of the couple's former neighbours in Seaton
Carew, north-east England, thought she may be in Australia or the Caribbean.

She is thought to have left about six weeks ago, leaving furniture and
Spanish language books in the house she recently sold, and without a
forwarding address.

John Darwin, a former teacher and prison officer, was declared dead after
the remains of his canoe were washed up on the beach at Seaton Carew in
March 2002.

His father, Ronald, 91, told newspapers a childhood accident in which his
son was knocked over by a car and suffered a head injury could account for
his amnesia.

His sons said: "We appreciate there is huge media interest in this story
however due to John's memory loss there is little more we can add."

The case has revived memories of others in which people have disappeared or
apparently committed suicide, only to emerge years later.

Examples include that of Richard Bingham, the 7th Earl of Lucan, who
vanished in 1974 when his children's nanny was found murdered at his
estranged wife's house in London, and former minister John Stonehouse.

Over the years there have been a number of claimed sightings of Lucan, who
was a notorious gambler with huge debts.

In 1974 Stonehouse left his clothes on a beach in Miami and fled to
Australia with his secretary to start a new life, leaving his wife, another
mistress, a daughter and mounting debts.

He was tracked down, coincidentally by police hunting Lord Lucan, and jailed
in 1976 for theft and false pretences. After leaving jail he worked for
charities and died in 1988.

AFP

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/canoeists-wife-delighted-hes-alive/2007/12/05/1196530711936.html


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