BRITAIN:A canoeist who went missing, presumed drowned, off the coast of northeast England five years ago has turned up alive and well at a London police station, officers said yesterday.
John Darwin was reported missing in March 2002 after he failed to appear at work, and the shattered remains of his red canoe were later found washed up on a beach near Hartlepool, Cleveland.
Despite extensive searches for the former prison officer, involving aircraft, lifeboats and a Royal Navy ship, no trace was found of him.
On Saturday, Mr Darwin, who is in his 50s and married with two children, turned up at West End Central Police station in London. Mystery still surrounds his disappearance.
"We are pleased Mr Darwin has been located and any interviews with him are a matter of procedure," said Det Chief Insp Paul Beddow of Cleveland police.
"This has been a long-running inquiry by Cleveland police and officers from the inquiry team hope to speak to Mr Darwin later today to establish his whereabouts during the last 5½ years." Local newspaper the Hartlepool Mail said Darwin's wife Anne had declared herself a widow six months after his disappearance. The paper said the couple had been married for 28 years at the time and Mr Darwin had worked as a science teacher. His father Ronald said he was overjoyed at the news.
"I never ever gave up hope I would see him again. I didn't think he was dead, I just got used to him not being around," he was quoted by media as saying.
"When he comes through the door, I will just give him a nice hug and kiss. I will be over the moon." It is not known whether Mr Darwin had life insurance.
Malcolm Tarling, spokes man for the Association of British Insurers, said: "What normally happens, if you are claiming on life insurance, you need to produce a death certificate.
"Where a person is missing, presumed dead, there normally has to be a lapse before the coroner is willing to pronounce the person dead. That is usually seven years.
"While being unable to comment on this particular instance, I can say that you have to show that you have made steps to prove a person is dead.
"The normal course of events when a person just disappears is that there has to be a period of time, unless you can prove that a person got on a plane, that then crashed in the Atlantic, for example. At the end of the day that's a legal matter rather than an insurance one."