The London police are faced with an unusual case: its employees have to investigate the events of five years ago, the hero of which was considered missing for several years and showed up only last weekend
The man himself cannot shed light on the circumstances of his mysterious disappearance and no less mysterious return, since he does not remember anything.
Rafting enthusiast John Darwin was last seen in March 2002 on a dangerous descent down a mountain river in Cleveland. The red canoe of the 57-year-old Briton was later found in the sea, and it was badly damaged. The search for the missing rafter was conducted for a long time, but then it was decided to stop them. Everyone agreed that Darwin drowned when his boat capsized while passing the rapids. Even the family of the disappeared - his wife and two children - resigned themselves to the thought of his death.
That’s what everyone thought until last Saturday a man with a striking resemblance to Darwin showed up at London’s central police station and announced that he was missing. The strange visitor admitted that he had serious memory problems, due to which he could not restore the events of recent years. Nevertheless, the man gave his name, date of birth and other personal data.
So far, no explanation for the story that happened to the Briton has been found. He was escorted to a family that was shocked by the unexpected appearance of their head. Only John's aged father stated that he always believed in the return of his son. Ronald Darwin, now 91, believes John's long-standing head injury may have been the cause of the amnesia. In his youth, he was hit by a car, and a new wound received while going down the river could provoke memory loss.
“He will definitely remember everything,” the old man says about his son. - I'll ask him what he has been doing all these five years and why he never let us know about himself. But this is not as important as the fact of his return. " The returning rafter's brother, 54-year-old David, called the story "the best Christmas present ever."
The police also do not intend to leave everything as it is. Investigators have already summoned John Darwin for a second questioning to try to find out the circumstances of his disappearance. They are embarrassed that the one who has returned from oblivion perfectly remembers his name and names, as well as the dates of birth of his family members.
Inspector Helen Eustace, who registered the rafter's appeal to the station, noted that the visitor was checked by police doctors, who found him healthy and found no injuries or symptoms of illness. “Such amazing things do happen, although most of the missing people never come back,” Eustace told reporters. "This is a great joy for all of Darwin's family."
John's wife Ann some time ago, having sold the house, left for Panama to start a new life there. The woman was informed that her husband had been found, but she had not yet flown in to see him, however, expressed her delight at the wonderful return of her husband, with whom she had been married for 33 years.
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Relatives of the rafter do not refuse journalists in interviews, although there is practically nothing to tell them. “We understand that John's story is interesting to the media, and would be happy to tell you all the details, but we do not know them,” admitted Darwin's father.
The neighbors of the Briton who returned after five years of absence were intrigued by his unexpected appearance, but not too much. Those of them who have known John for a long time consider him eccentric and capable of actions that are not characteristic of ordinary people. “He could flare up if someone parked an inch closer to his house than it should be. He is a strange person,”one of the neighbors admitted.
The man who bought the house of the Darwins discovered the things the owner had left: in the bedroom there were almost 20 phone lines, which John apparently used to play on the stock exchange, and in the attic and in the basement were heaps of junk, including dozens of china frogs and many bicycle wheels.
However, as it turned out later, Darwin's five-year absence could have been caused not by strange character traits, but by a banal thirst for profit. An acquaintance of this married couple recently found a photograph on the Internet, dating from 2006, showing John and Anne in Panama City. Immediately after that, Darwin was arrested by the police on suspicion of faking his own death. The fraudulent version is also supported by the fact that John returned from his five-year journey with a good tan, clearly not of British origin. The director of the firm Move to Panama, Mario Vilar, in whose office the incriminating photograph was taken, confirmed that he had indeed dealt with the couple. “I remember taking pictures with them, they were happy and knew that the photo would go to the site,” Vilar said.
The police also have a lot of questions for John Darwin's wife, Anne, who after the “death” of her husband received insurance in the amount of 70 thousand pounds (about $ 140 thousand). Ann herself has already told reporters that she considered her husband dead and was not involved in any fraud.