Has anyone ever contemplated faking their own death?

Have you ever considered faking your own death in order to start a new life under an assumed identity? If you haven’t, perhaps you personally know of someone who has.

I recently finished a book about a man who fakes his death. I never considered that people would do anything more than think about it. However, after doing a bit of research, apparently some people have actually gone to this extreme for the sake of a do-over life.

It seems that most real-life stories involve some sort of criminality. But it occurred to me that we probably only know the examples that involve criminal behavior because they are the ones who get caught. Those people who fake their deaths for non-criminal reasons don’t get caught because very few, if any, are looking for them or suspect their motives.

This calls for real honesty and serious answers. I don’t want to hear about on-line/facebook/twitter ‘deaths’, please. I’d ask that you refrain from sarcastic comments about Elvis and Michael Jackson, too.