Through the annals of history, many disappeared in some unaccounted manner that was covered by a string of mystery, deceit, and intrigue. The idea of faking one’s own death does not entirely dwell among those that are considered as criminals or the desperate seeking escape from the law. Quite often, the move may come across as one seeking just that new start to his or her life out of something totally unbearable, to actually vanish in mid-air. They are few and far between, but the few who managed to pull off their own death hoaxes did so with remarkable cunning and imagination. Following are five individuals who faked their own deaths and how they managed to get away with it.
1. John Darwin: The “Canoe Man” Who Vanished and Reappeared
John Darwin’s case constitutes one of the most widely reported faked deaths in recent memory.
The most interesting case of pseudocide occurred in 2002, where one John Darwin, a former prison officer from the UK, took his canoe on the River Tees, paddled out and left the clothes behind to give the impression that he had drowned from some sort of kayaking accident. His wife Anne called him in missing, and a full-scale search was mounted. Darren had been declared dead. His family has collected the life insurance; there was, of course, a pension associated with his death. It is precisely because of this that Darwin’s story would go on to become truly amazing; namely, because Darwin didn’t stay dead. What really sets this story into a dazzling twist is that Darwin walked into a police station in 2007 claiming to have amnesia and had been residing at an undisclosed location.
It soon came to light that he had been residing in a house literally next door to his old house and that his wife knew full well where he was. They lived a lie in that time, drawing money on insurance claims and pension payouts and even taking out loans under false pretenses. It, of course, was only a question of time before John and Anne Darwin’s web of deceit unraveled following his being quite openly seen in and around where they lived, even on neighborhood cameras. Both were subsequently arrested for, amongst other things, fraud. The remarkable story of Darwin amazes the audience, not just for his guts to stage one’s death but for managing to escape capture for long and deceiving the authorities as much as the immediate family and public eye.
2. Clark Rockefeller:
The King of Identity Fraud Another man, German-born Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter-aka Clark Rockefeller-managed to assume a fake identity and vanish, but his approach was far more premeditated. Rockefeller lived off of a number of women he had convinced over several years that he was one of the very wealthy Rockefellers. In 1993 he married a woman named Sandra Boss using his fabricated story of being the heir to an enormous fortune.
The two moved to the United States and when they divorced in 1999, Rockefeller was able to finagle his way into custody of the couple’s daughter. He even ‘convinced’ Sandra that he was going to be able to gain a trust fund which would make them both extremely wealthy, and he avoided paying any child support following his divorce.
At the height of his deception, Rockefeller even forged documents convincing officials he was the rightful owner of millions, using those very same documents to get loans and financial support. He even went so far as to stage his own death in 1999 by abandoning wife and daughter and disappearing out of sight. For a time, no one knew where he went.
Years into living different pseudonym lives, he got arrested while living his life as “Clark Rockefeller” in California back in 2011. The motive of all that was to further the scams of his life, as he enters the high society circle and even picked up work for a film production company. Eventually, Clark Rockefeller was arrested and convicted multiple times for various crimes including kidnapping and identity theft.
3. The Disappearance of John Stonehouse: The British Politician Who Vanished
John Stonehouse was a member of Parliament and a British politician who, back in 1974, faked his own death; his case has remained among those bizarre and audacious scandals that have ever shaken British political circles. At the time of disappearance, Stonehouse had been facing financial ruin over allegations of embezzlement and piling debts. Stonehouse opted to fake his own death in order to flee the country and start anew.
He swam off the coast of Miami, Florida, having left his clothes and personal belongings on the beach to make it appear as if he had drowned. His wife, Barbara said that he had gone for a swim and disappeared and a search was launched to find him. Authorities thought for months that Stonehouse had drowned and thus was presumed dead.
Whereas, in reality, the associates had helped Stonehouse to escape to Australia.
He had been leading a life with an assumed identity by the name “John Andrew Stone” and remained hidden for three years.
He could manage new documents, get a passport, and even use different names to build a life for himself in Australia.
Anyway, in 1976, Stonehouse’s scheme finally unraveled when he got caught trying to open a bank account in a false name. He was subsequently arrested and extradited back to the UK. Stonehouse’s faked death was a media sensation of its time, and it then came to light that, on the run, he had been living a life of luxury contrary to what he had claimed to be his motive for faking his own death. He was finally convicted of fraud and embezzlement and served time in prison before dying of a heart attack in 1988.
4. Frank Abagnale:
The Legendary Con Artist Who Almost Took the Cake Frank Abagnale has to be one of, if not the, most famous con artists in the history of humanity for his plethora of assumed identities and string of crimes left under the radar for quite some period of time. His criminal life started in his teenage years, and probably the most brave crime he has ever committed up to date was when he faked his own death so as not to be persecuted.
Years later, after a string of high-profile crimes involving check forging and posing as a doctor, lawyer, and airline pilot, Abagnale was being pursued by the FBI on multiple occasions, one of which proved especially sticky to get out of if he wanted ever again to stay a step ahead of law enforcement.
He was finally caught in 1969 in France, awaiting extradition. He managed to convince the French that he was dying and should go to the hospital.
Thus, he went to the hospital, from where he managed to escape again, continuing his criminal activities, this time also with the protection of a new false identity. This last arrest happened in 1971, after being arrested in the United States. It was only a question of serving time in prison before Abagnale could focus his efforts on working as a consultant for the FBI in full capacity to assist in its fraud prevention processes. Although Abagnale never actually “faked his own death,” the ability to disappear and stay on the lam for so long, combined with numerous acts of identity switching and playing around with loopholes in legal frameworks, earned Abagnale a reputation among very few as the world’s greatest fugitive. Let me try this.
5. The Mysterious Case of the “Isdal Woman”
Unsolved and Unfathomable The case of the so-called “Isdal Woman” has grown into one of the most haunting and puzzling unsolved mysteries of the 20th century.
In 1970, a partial body of a woman, partially charred, was found in a valley in Isdalen, Norway.
There were no documents or belongings on her that identified the woman, who apparently had been set on fire.
First declared dead due to her hand, the irregularity surrounding it has led quite a number into believing that-if it were anything else-she could have well simulated an own disappearance incident, or may have been killed purposely. She first traveled using diverse identities, with her tour involved in changing into several hotels spread across Norway while using various nomenclatures of her names. Besides that, she had burned all her personal things before her death; therefore, the theories went abounding that she wanted to get rid of traces. Meanwhile, some theories of the investigators involved her working in espionage, perhaps something connected with intelligence agencies since she has gotten on with several known people who possess shadow professions.
Even with deep investigation, Isdal Woman was never identified, and her real life story remains draped in mystery. Some believe she might have faked the death to be taken away from a life of vice, but others think she was murdered. Because of this very fact, her death still stays wrapped in mystery, which interests all amateur sleuths and also today’s investigators. These are examples of how elaborate the schemes, identities, and tales some people conjure up, then plan an escape. For whatever reason-financial motives, desperation, or a fresh start, the batch had managed to keep the police, and in some instances the families, misled that they were six feet below.
Stories like John Darwin, Clark Rockefeller, John Stonehouse, Frank Abagnale, and the Isdal Woman remind one of how far people will go to escape their pasts.