Wife of 'Canoe Man' arrested in UK

LONDON, England (CNN) -- The wife of "Canoe Man" John Darwin, presumed dead until he walked into a London police station earlier this month, has been arrested on her return to the UK, police have told CNN.

Anne Darwin, 55, was arrested by officers when she arrived at Manchester airport in northwestern England at 0925 GMT Sunday on a flight from Atlanta, Georgia, a spokesman for Manchester police said.

She was detained, the spokesman said, after a request from Cleveland police, which is investigating fraud allegations and which covers the area of northern England where Darwin and her husband lived at the time of his disappearance. She has not been charged and is now at Hartlepool police station for questioning.

John Darwin, 57, was charged by Cleveland police in Saturday evening with making an untrue statement to procure a passport and obtaining money transfer by deception, Detective Sgt. Iain Henderson of Cleveland Police said Saturday.

John Darwin is to appear Monday before Hartlepool magistrates court, Henderson said, when police plan to ask for him to be remanded in custody. Henderson added that John Darwin was "fit and well."

Darwin came to worldwide attention after he walked into a police station in London on December 1 and told police officers he was suffering from amnesia and had no memory of the past five years.

He did so after the remains of a red canoe he paddled into the North Sea, off northeastern England, washed up on shore near his home in Seaton Carew in March 2002.

Despite an extensive search involving police, coastguards and the Royal Navy, no trace was found of the prison officer and former teacher.

Within 24 hours his canoe's paddle was recovered by police near the area where he was thought to have disappeared. Two months later the remains of his canoe washed up.

He was declared dead by a coroner in 2003, 13 months after his disappearance in March 2002.

Henderson said the police had received many calls, both from the UK and overseas, in response to their appeals for information about John Darwin's whereabouts since he was last seen.

Shortly after he went to police, John Darwin was reunited with his two sons, Mark and Anthony, now aged 31 and 29, who last week released a joint statement saying the reappearance of their father was "a huge shock."

The sons said their father claimed to have no memory of the past seven years.

"We have spoken with John and he appears to be in good health, however he currently has no memory of events since June 2000," they said. E-mail to a friend