Matthew Harvey (35) was in fact in the UK, but the reason for his trip and elaborate hoax is not yet known.
The extensive media interest in his story led directly to the discovery of the truth when a member of the public in the UK who saw Mr Harvey’s photo in a newspaper told police she had spotted him over the weekend.
They have now established that Mr Harvey caught a ferry to Poole at noon on Saturday – around the time he was reported missing.
He returned to Guernsey at 5.30 pm on Monday, 90 minutes before he was plucked from Fermain Bay by a passing yacht, close to where he had dived.
Steve and Anne-Marie Westwood were aboard their boat shortly before 7 pm on Monday when they noticed something floating in the water which turned out to be Mr Harvey, who was motionless in the water.
