Wife In on Death Scam: 'Sons Will Never Forgive Me'

LONDON, Dec. 6, 2007 — -- One morning in March 2002, John Darwin, a 57-year-old prison officer, went on a kayak ride and didn't come back for five years.

After he disappeared, police said they launched a massive air and sea search — Darwin was nowhere to be found until last weekend.

He walked into West End Central Police Station and declared that police may be looking for him. Darwin claimed to have no memory of the last five years.

Now it has transpired that sometime during those five years he moved with his wife to Panama, having sold their properties in England for about a million dollars. They left behind two sons grieving the sudden death of their father.

"My sons will never forgive me," Anne Darwin told the British tabloid the Daily Mirror. "They knew nothing. They thought John was dead. Now, they are going to hate me."

British tabloids published a picture that it said showed the couple in Panama. Anne Darwin confessed today that the picture was indeed genuine.

In a statement released by Cleveland, U.K. police, the couple's sons, Anthony and Mark, expressed their "anger and confusion" at the news that their mother had let them believe that their father was dead, while the couple were actually enjoying life in Panama.

"We have gone through a roller coaster of emotions," the sons said in the statement. "How could our mom continue to let us believe our dad had died when he was very much alive?"

Anthony and Mark told reporters they had not spoken to either of their parents since their father's arrest and didn't want any further contact with them.

Anne Darwin is reportedly on her way back to England.

Darwin's story has drawn massive media attention in the United Kingdom and worldwide.

However, at this point, the Darwin disappearance is still very blurry — did he fake his death to cash in money from his insurance company?

Early police reports, and speculation from family members and the media, points at fraud.

"It's easy to turn up to the police and say that you don't remember anything," former Metropolitan Police Officer John O'Connor told ABC News. "Saying that he lost his memory was probably his last to attempt to fool the authorities."