After disappearing five years ago, a canoeist reportedly walked into a police station in central London, identifying himself as missing person John Darwin.

Darwin had disappeared in 2002 after going on a canoe trip and failing to return. He was last seen setting off towards some rocks at around 9 a.m. in March, 2002. When he did not turn up during the night shift at his job at the Holme House prison, a search spanning 16 hours was started along the coast of the Seaton Carew beach, where his shattered canoe washed up, followed up his paddle weeks after.

No trace was found during the search, up until Darwin walked into the West End Central Police Station last Saturday.

"It is not known at this time where he has spent the last five-and-a-half years," BBC News quoted a police spokesman.

The spokesman added that "Mr. Darwin is fit and well and relatives have been informed of his whereabouts."

The Guardian reported that Darwin is yet to be interviewed regarding his whereabouts ever since his disppearance.

Months after Darwin's disappearance, his wife Anne recalled the agony of not knowing his whereabouts, and the desperation that came with accepting his death, but without his body for a funeral.

"All I want is to bury his body," Anne had said. "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."

A neighbor, commenting on Darwin's resurfacing, recalled "He set out from just beneath his home paddling to the sea, and never came back. When the canoe was found, it was presumed that he had drowned...To have him turn up like this is quite incredible."

Darwin was 51 during his disappearance, and left behind his wife Anne and two children.