Why people fake their own deaths

When people die, sometimes it's hard to believe they are really gone — and for good reason.

Rumors of faked deaths have followed many famous people, including comedian Andy Kaufman, Elvis Presley, John F. Kennedy, and (up until October 2008) pilot Steve Fossett. Rumors and conspiracy theories aside, faked deaths are a perpetually popular subject in fiction, from Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn to today's soap operas.

And, of course, it happens in real life. Last week, Wall Street investor Marcus Schrenker disappeared while flying his plane over Alabama. He radioed a distress call, and his plane was found — without him — in a swamp. He was later discovered in a campground and arrested.

The whole thing turned out to be a botched attempt at faking his own death, undone largely because his plane ran out of fuel before it reached the Gulf of Mexico, his likely intended target. Schrenker and his company are under investigation for fraud, and by parachuting out of his plane he could literally and figuratively bail out on his troubles.

While Schrenker's attempt to convince the world of his death is more creative than most, dozens of people fake their deaths each year.

www.livescience.com...

People fake their deaths for many reasons. Most often it is done to escape legal or financial troubles, an extreme measure designed to get a fresh start and make a clean break. Other times the "victim" just wants to be alone, to get away from daily hassles, pressures, and obligations. Some people do it for life insurance fraud; others, like Alison Matera, apparently sought posthumous attention and recognition.

I wonder if i could get away with doing this... Think you could? how and why?

I would just move away from Canada to like India. Somewhere that I wouldn't have to worry about the chance of running into someone. The problem would be is staging my death and how I could get there without being traceable...

doesn't everyone have this fantasy and to be able to be or watch at the funeral,,,, i know i have many times

i think it's in our psyche,,, and wanting craving attention or love
and a need to see if anyone really cares and how much

how important or loved are you