More background from The Times:
The 'dead' canoeist John Darwin, his wife and the Panama connection
Andrew Norfolk, Rajeev Syal and Murad Ahmed
The wife of a man who disappeared in an apparent canoeing tragedy five years ago had moved to Panama and opened a new bank account only weeks before he walked into a police station to declare that he was still alive, it emerged last night.
Anne Darwin, 55, is understood to have emigrated to Panama City soon after the sale of two properties that she once jointly owned with her husband, John Darwin, who had formally been declared dead by a coroner.
Yesterday Mr Darwin, 57, a former teacher and prison officer, was preparing to be interviewed by detectives who want to know how he has survived in anonymity before he strolled into West End Central police station in Savile Row, Central London, last weekend. Police officers said he had no memory of what had happened.
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But it is his wife’s sudden departure from their seven-bedroom home that has puzzled neighbours in the coastal community of Seaton Carew, near Hartlepool.
Bill Rodriguez, a former neighbour, said that when he last saw Mrs Darwin in August, she told him that she had just returned from a six-week holiday in Panama. “She said she loved it out there and was going to move out full-time,” he said.
A former neighbour said that Mrs Darwin’s departure six to eight weeks ago, had been extremely sudden.
“She left the house full of furniture. She left everything. It took them 15 skips to get the rubbish out,” she said.
The Times understands that Mrs Darwin has “hundreds of thousands of pounds” in a Panamanian bank account, and had sent some of her furniture to the Central American state.
The bizarre story began on March 21 five years ago when Mr Darwin took his red canoe out to sea.
The couple had moved to a seafront house two years earlier with their dogs. Their sons, Mark and Anthony, had moved away and the couple told neighbours that they hoped to retire there.
The North Sea was said to be unusually calm that spring day. Mr Darwin was reported missing when he did not return home. Hours later his damaged boat was washed up on the sandy beach. A member of the emergency services who launched a fruitless 14-hour seach for Mr Darwin after his disappearance said last night that sea conditions had been as “smooth as a millpond”. Tom Waller, 60, a member of Hartlepool Coastwatch, said that rescuers had been puzzled that the prison officer could have got into trouble in such conditions.
An extensive search operation was mounted along the coastline from Hartlepool to Staithes, North Yorkshire. No sign of Mr Darwin was ever found.
Six months after his disappearance, Mrs Darwin, a doctor’s receptionist, told a local newspaper that she could not move on without seeing her husband’s body. She said: “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.”
An inquest was eventually held in April 2003, 13 months after his disappearance, and the Hartlepool Coroner recorded an open verdict.
The couple paid £170,000 in December 2000 for two adjoining properties on Seaton Carew seafront. Robert Meggs, the former owner, said the Darwins planned to live in one house while earning a £2,000 monthly rental income from the second, which was divided into 15 bedsits.
“They had been living near Durham but they used to come to Seaton regularly to walk their two rottweilers on the beach,” he said. “Mr Darwin also told me that he was a keen canoeist. When they saw these adjoining homes for sale they thought it was their dream house.”
Mr Meggs said that the couple owned a black Range Rover with a personalised number plate. Mrs Darwin had been “very striking” and appeared to be the dominant partner in the relationship, he said. Her husband had told him that he had a heart condition.
On the day that they moved in, Mr Meggs said he had been puzzled when Mrs Darwin confided in him: “If this doesn’t work out, we’ll lose everything.”
Documents from the Land Registry show that Mrs Darwin transferred both of their properties to her son, Mark, in June 2006.
She continued to live in one of the houses, but one was sold in October 2007 for £295,000 while the other fetched £160,000 in March.
Yesterday afternoon two police officers called at one of the couple’s properties to take away mail. The male and female uniformed officers spoke to John Duffield, 36, for about ten minutes. When he and his partner moved in, furniture had been left including wardrobes and settees. There were few personal items, he said, though “we did find Teach Yourself Spanish books in her study”, he said.
Mr Darwin studied at the St Francis Xavier College in Liverpool. He wrote on the Friends Reunited website in January 2002, just weeks before his disappearance: “After leaving St Francis went to De La Salle College, Manchester, where I did biology and chemistry. Taught in Derwentside for 18 years before leaving teaching to join Barclays Bank. At present work for Prison Service and have portfolio of properties.
“Married to a convent girl Anne Stephenson, we have two grown-up sons and two dogs. Recently moved to Seaton Carew where I hope to retire soon.”
This weekend, Mr Darwin reappeared at the Central London police station, looking tanned, refreshed and healthy. Inspector Helen Eustace, of Cleveland Police, said yesterday: “The guy can’t remember anything about what’s happened or why he’s come forward. He has no memory at all. He has obviously been somewhere for the last five years and a lot of questions need answering.”
He is believed to be staying with relatives in the South of England.
This weekend some of his relatives expressed relief that he had reappeared. His brother, David, speaking from his home in Barnet, North London, said: “All the family is so relieved that John is alive.”
Mr Darwin’s 90-year-old father, Ronald, of Blackhall Colliery, Co Durham, told a newspaper: “I always said to the police that there might be more to this than it appeared at first. When his canoe was found but he wasn’t, it didn’t seem right.”
Mr Darwin said that when his son was 4 or 5 he was knocked down by a car and suffered a head injury, which could have caused amnesia later in his life.
“Now he’s got his memory back,” Mr Darwin said. “When I speak to him, I will ask him where he has been these last few years and I’ll ask, ‘Why didn’t you make arrangements to see me before now?’.”
One relative was less supportive. Mr Darwin’s aunt, Margaret Burns, said that her nephew had only once made contact with his father in the past 36 years, and that was on the day of his mother’s funeral 16 years ago. She said that at the funeral he had boasted of owning 17 properties and predicted that he would be a millionaire by the age of 50.
Officers from Cleveland Police will meet Mr Darwin before Friday.
Detective Chief Inspector Paul Beddow said: “This has been a long-running inquiry by Cleveland Police and officers from the inquiry team hope to speak to Mr Darwin to establish his whereabouts.”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/u ... 994946.ece