 in  the summer of 1974 he left his clothes on a beach in Miami and  disappeared. However this was pure coincidence: David Nobbs (qv)  wrote his novel early in 1974, before Stonehouse disappeared (so  Nobbs couldnt have based the novel on Stonehouses disappearance)  but the novel wasnt published until 1975, after Stonehouse went  missing (so Stonehouse couldnt have got ideas for his disappearance  by reading the novel).