Canoeist turns up five years later

A canoeist who UK authorities believed was dead has turned up alive -- five-and-a-half years and around 360 km (225 miles) from where he was last seen.

In March 2002 a red canoe belonging to John Darwin, then 51, was found wrecked on the seafront near his home of Seaton Carew, Hartlepool in northern England.

Despite an extensive search involving police, coastguards and the Royal Navy, no trace was found of the missing prison officer.

He was presumed dead by everyone, including his wife and two sons --- until he walked into a police station in London on Saturday evening and told officers that he was a missing person.

His father Ronald Darwin, 91, in comments reported by the UK's Press Association, said that he always believed his son would turn up.

"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?' I'll tell him a lot more too, but I'm extremely happy now."

Darwin said that he believed his son to have suffered amnesia, caused when he was hit by a car at the age of four or five.

John Darwin, who is staying with relatives in southeastern England, has been reunited with his grown-up sons, Anthony and Mark, the agency reported, although his wife Anne is believed to have since sold the family home and emigrated.

In an interview given in late 2002, she is reported to have said: "When John went missing, I stayed up all night. It was a nightmare and it's still going on. I feel very much in limbo.

"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."

Cleveland Police, which conducted the search, now plan to interview Darwin. Detective Chief Inspector Paul Beddow said: "We are pleased Mr Darwin has been located and any interviews with him are a matter of procedure.

"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 five-and-a-half years." E-mail to a friend