Police After Missing Canoeist's Wife

LONDON, Dec. 7, 2007 — -- The saga of John Darwin, the missing British canoeist who turned up last week five years after vanishing on a kayak trip, took a bizarre turn today.

His wife, who reportedly admitted that she helped her husband fake his disappearance and said she would return to England to face charges, has turned up in Miami, according to the BBC. She is holed up in a Miami hotel under the protection of journalists to whom she has given her story, the BBC reported.

Anne Darwin, 55, who has been living in Panama, was quoted Thursday as saying she was going to return to England. "I don't want to spend my life as a fugitive," she told British media. If she returns, she will be greeted by outraged family members and a degree of interest from the authorities, to say the least.

A Cleveland, England, police spokesperson told ABC News that authorities could not confirm whether Darwin was in Florida or was returning to England. However, the spokesperson added, "we will be speaking to her when and if she arrives."

Meanwhile, John Darwin, 57, remains in jail at least until Saturday evening for questioning on suspicion of fraud, police say.

An ex-prison officer, Darwin disappeared five years ago, after his wife said he went on a kayak ride in the North Sea off the coast of England.

Police at the time launched a massive air and sea search. A few weeks later his smashed kayak was located, but there was no sign of Darwin, until last weekend.

In 2003, a coroner's inquest declared Darwin dead. His wife reportedly collected life insurance and work benefits.

Earlier this week, the Daily Mirror published a photo that apparently showed Anne Darwin with her "dead" husband in a Panama apartment last year.

Authorities say Darwin walked in unannounced to the West End Central Police Station last weekend and declared that police may be looking for him. Darwin claimed to have no memory of the last five years.

Now authorities reportedly believe that sometime during those five years he moved with his wife to Panama, after his wife sold their properties in England for about $1 million.

John Darwin's father has reportedly struggled with the idea that his son has been dead for the last five years.

The 90-year-old was said to be relieved that his son was alive, but understandably disappointed that his family had lied to him.

"I don't understand what has happened to him," Ronald Darwin told the British tabloid The Daily Mirror. "I sometimes think that he is in a bit too much of a hurry to make money."

Until Thursday, it appeared that Anne Darwin had let their sons believe that their father was dead.

"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."

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 was 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 said Thursday they had not spoken to either of their parents since their father's arrest and didn't want any further contact with them.

However today, the British media reported that both sons had recently left their jobs.

Also, the British tabloid The Daily Mail reported that Mark Darwin moved from his flat Thursday morning, without giving any explanation to his roommates.

"I am a bit freaked out by all that," one of Mark Darwin's flat mates told the Daily Mirror.

"When we spoke to him on the phone earlier this week, he said 'don't tell the police I live there, say I've moved out."

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

"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."

The Darwins, facing serious legal issues, may also endure considerable financial troubles, according to O'Connor, especially if they are found guilty of insurance fraud.

"It's likely that they won't be able to pay, so they will most certainly have to go to court," O'Connor said. "When you are doing something like this, you should be thinking of what you are losing."

"It's a pretty bleak future for them," O'Connor said. "You risk losing your citizenship, national health service — it's not a good deal,"

Insurance a Motive?

Each year, around 210,000 people, a third of them adults, disappear in the United Kingdom, according to the British charity Missing People. Most of them disappear for less than 48 hours.

Disappearing for the insurance money is rare.

Among those who choose to disappear, a majority do so "to escape from family problems or after a relationship breakdown," Geoff Newiss, head of research with Missing People, told ABC News. "But some go missing to avoid being arrested."

Darwin's journey echoes the adventures of the fictional British television character Reggie Perrin who set up his own disappearance. The character was drawn from a popular series of novels called "The Death of Reginald Perrin."

The Perrin character was on the verge of a nervous breakdown and pretended he drowned by leaving his clothes on a beach.

But there are real life people who have faked their death in the United Kingdom. Among them, former Labour MP John Stonehouse who faked his own drowning by leaving some of his clothes on Miami Beach in 1974.

Stonehouse was later found by police in Melbourne, Australia. He had started a new life with his mistress and former secretary.

Stonehouse was imprisoned for fraud. He was released three years later and married his former secretary.

Thomas Osmond, another civil servant, on the day of his trial for sexual offenses in March 1995, left a suicide note, stating that he was going to jump off a river bridge north of Bristol.

Osmond disappeared, but was later found and jailed.

Unanswered Questions

In Darwin's case, many questions remain unanswered; among them, if he was an amnesia victim as he claims, why did he turn himself in?

As of today, the investigation has not provided an answer.

"Most people go missing turn up again very quickly," Malcolm Payne, director of psychological care at St. Christopher's hospice, told ABC News.

"They go away and then they come back," said Payne. "They realize they've got to come back. To them, wherever they are, they are not missing."

"It's the people who [you] left behind who see you as missing," he added.

Additional reporting by ABC's Zoe Magee.