Canoe man is under arrest; RIDDLE: Amnesia victim 'pictured on holiday with wife last year'.

Byline: By Gary Marks

A MAN who turned up five years after he was feared drowned was being questioned by police today as it emerged that a photo was apparently taken of him and his wife last year.

Cleveland Police said a 57-year-old man had been arrested in relation to their investigation into the disappearance of John Darwin.

His wife Anne yesterday told reporters she had believed her husband was dead and had claimed, in "good faith", on his life insurance. But today it was reported a photo of the Darwins was apparently taken in Panama last year when they stayed in an apartment, rented through the firm Move to Panama.

A couple named John and Anne are pictured on the company's website with the firm's boss Mario Vilar but Mr Vilar said they had not used the surname Darwin. "We have a client with those first names but different last names," he said today.

"The couple we have as a client have a different last name so, for us, they are different people."

Inspector Andy Vickers, of Cleveland Police, said a man has been arrested by Hampshire Police at the request of Cleveland Police "in relation to their ongoing investigation surrounding the disappearance of John Darwin, from Hartlepool, in March 2002".

He was led away from the home of his son Anthony, 29, who lives in Basingstoke. Mr Darwin's wife moved to Panama City six weeks ago after selling the couple's home in Seaton Carew but said she hopes to fly back to Britain to see her husband, who walked into a London police station on Saturday.

Cleveland detectives also want to speak to Mrs Darwin.

Cleveland Police yesterday appealed for anyone who lived near or worked with Mr Darwin in the missing years to contact them. Mr Darwin disappeared after paddling out to sea in his canoe in Seaton Carew, near Hartlepool.

No body was recovered but, the following year, an inquest was held into his "death".

Mrs Darwin, 55, said she heard her husband was still alive in a phone call on Saturday night. When he came on the line, he told her he could not remember anything since a holiday to Norway in 2000. "There must have been an accident when he went out on the canoe. He must have hit his head or something," she told reporters.

She said the insurance payouts which she claimed "in good faith" after Mr Darwin was declared dead by a coroner in 2003, may now have to be repaid.

"If that happens it won't be easy, but I'll deal with it. It's one of the things I'm struggling to come to terms with," she said.

CAPTION(S):

RIDDLE... John and Anne Darwin.