Missing canoeist appears after five years
Updated on 03 December 2007
John Darwin's family along with the emergency services presumed he had drowned when the remains of his red canoe washed up on a beach near Hartlepool in March 2002.
Now, more than five years later, he has walked into a London police station but has yet to explain where he has been. Cleveland Police are due to interview him later.
A spokesman said: "Mr Darwin is fit and well and relatives have been informed of his whereabouts.
"It is not known at this time where he has spent the last five-and-a-half years."
Mr Darwin's disappearance sparked agony for his family.
His wife Anne, a doctor's receptionist, said six months after her husband vanished: "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."
