Panama 'Dream' Ends in
Media Glare
By Andy Gallacher, BBC
News
For the last three days
I have been camped
outside the small
apartment in Panama City
that Anne Darwin bought
just six weeks ago, and
I have not been alone.
Journalists outside
building in Panama City
where Anne Darwin is
thought to live
Mrs Darwin is said to
have bought a city
apartment six weeks ago
News crews from Panama
have also been there as
the story of John
Darwin, the man who was
declared dead five years
ago, grips the world.
It is what people call a
'water cooler moment',
one of those stories
that gets people
talking, no matter where
you are from or what
language you speak.
Mrs Darwin has been
keeping a very low
profile here, she has
not been seen in her
small apartment and
there are now reports
that she may be heading
back to the UK.
She has always made it
clear that she would go
back to Britain at the
first opportunity, a
trip that now will have
a far bigger impact
given newspaper reports
over a photograph
apparently showing her
and her husband John,
here in the city last
year.
According to the reports
she has now admitted the
picture is genuine and
is quoted as saying her
life is now a nightmare.
It could be a nightmare
that will only get worse
in the following days.
John Darwin is now being
held by police in the
North East of England
and the couple's sons
have released a
statement voicing their
disappointment and shock
at the revelations that
their father has been
alive all these years.
A neighbour in the small
residential block in the
heart of Panama City,
has also told the BBC
that John Darwin moved
here last year.
She went on to say that
the couple were looking
for a farm to buy, a
dream that may now never
unfold.
The story of the Darwins
has taken many twists
and turns in the past 24
hours and it has all
been followed closely
here.
Panama is a popular
destination for expats;
there is a community of
around 6,000 Britons
here drawn by the warm
climate and cheap
living.
But all eyes are now on
Anne Darwin's return to
the UK and what will
happen in this bizarre
case.
One can only imagine the
scenes as she touches
down in Britain,
undoubtedly to be
greeted by a hungry
press eager for more
answers.
Just a couple of days
ago all the 55-year-old
would say is that she
took her husbands life
insurance money in "good
faith" and that she was
as shocked as everyone
else when he turned up
alive and well.
There is little doubt
that as more and more
intriguing details
emerge the Darwin family
will remain firmly in
the media's glare.
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