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http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...I&refer=europe
British Police Arrest Man Who Was Presumed Dead Five Years Ago

By Camilla Hall

Dec. 5 (Bloomberg) -- A man who was presumed dead after his kayak and paddle
washed ashore without him more than five years ago was arrested by police in
England on suspicion of fraud.

John Darwin, 57, was detained early today as part of an investigation into
finances, Cleveland Detective Superintendent Tony Hutchinson said in a
televised news conference without giving details of the inquiry. Darwin was
arrested in the county of Hampshire, at the request of police in Cleveland
region. He will be taken to Cleveland, where he is from, Hutchinson said.
The arrest was made at his son's home, the Guardian reported.

The former prison officer, looking healthy and tanned, entered a London
police station four days ago, saying he couldn't remember anything since
June 2000 and that police may have been looking for him, Hutchinson said.
Darwin's wife, Anne, recently sold the family home and moved to the Central
American country of Panama, the officer said.

``There will be people out there who will know exactly where he has been,
where he has been living and what he has been doing. We want to hear from
them,'' said Hutchinson, whose force has set up a telephone line and e-mail
address in an appeal for help from the public. ``It may well be he has been
living abroad. He may well have been known by another name.''

A picture purported to show Darwin with his wife in Panama last year was
printed in U.K. newspapers today. Hutchinson said the photograph ``might be
genuine,'' though he couldn't confirm its validity.

Darwin, who often took his kayak out on the North Sea, was reported missing
by his wife in March 2002. His kayak wasn't at their home in Seaton Carew,
near Hartlepool, and it was feared he had been in an accident at sea,
Hutchinson said. Darwin was declared dead a year later.

`Sea Was Calm'

``On the day of his disappearance the sea was calm,'' Hutchinson said. ``A
major air and sea search was launched, which lasted a number of days. No
trace of a body was discovered.'' Fraud ``would clearly be an obvious line
of inquiry,'' he said.

Darwin's wife is aware of his reappearance, Hutchinson said, though they
haven't yet spoken to her. Police issued a statement on Anne Darwin's behalf
in September 2002, when she expressed sadness over the lack of a grave at
which to mourn her husband, he said.

Hutchinson said investigators in the case have no immediate plans to visit
anyone outside the U.K.

To contact the reporters on this story: Camilla Hall in London at
.




http://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news...-on.3551748.jp

Canoeist: Sea 'like glass' on fateful day
Hartlepool inshore lifeboat and volunteer crew members pictured pictured at
the Ferry Road lifeboat station after taking part in the search at sea for
the John Darwin
A MEMBER of the emergency team which looked for John Darwin says the sea was
"like glass" on the day the prison officer went missing.

Tug Wilson, 60, was on duty for voluntary organisation Coas****ch when the
alarm was raised on March 22, 2002. He says the prison officer's
disappearance was "a mystery" to his team.

Coas****ch operates from a watch station at the mouth of Hartlepool Dock,
and Mr Wilson recalls: "The alert went out that there was a man missing and
his canoe had been found smashed on the rocks.

"The coastguard and the RNLI were out, and so our emergency team of six men
went out to the watch station. From there is a vantage point of the beaches
and the mouth of the dock.

"Mr Darwin had been seen to push off from the beach outside his house at
Seaton Carew at dusk and head south towards the mouth of the River Tees.

"The sea was smooth as a millpond, like glass.

"He was in a little kayak, not a sea canoe, just a little paddle boat with a
waterproof cover.

"If he got into trouble there's no way he'd have been able to get back on
board without help.

"Once you're four or five hundred metres out you hit the tidal streams and
can be quickly carried away.

"In six hours you can be carried seven miles, depending on the tide."

A member of the

lifeboat crew has also recalled the drama, and spoken of his surprise at Mr
Darwin's return.

Station mechanic Garry Waugh, of Hartlepool's RNLI crew, said: "I was very
surprised when I heard the news but it's a good result."

"It was a cold night," said Garry, from the Hart Lane area of town.

"It was about 8 degrees when we launched at 1.25am. Obviously our two boats
were out, Redcar were out, Teesmouth were out and Staithes even got called
out.

"We sailed from the waters edge out over. I think we searched around 200
square miles."

The RNLI crew were also helped by the RAF Sea King helicopter, the police
aircraft and the coastguard.

"It was a big operation," said Garry, who has been in the RNLI for 17 years.

"It was quite hard during the hours of darkness because it slows the search
down. But as it goes on and on and on, your hope starts to fade a little
bit."


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