I love the Manics as well since early 90's. In fact I've been listening to their music quite a lot in the past few months after a long pause....It's a big mystery and i can't really tell what happened...who knows?? Only Richey knows!!
I don't think he's alive. I don't think he would fake his own death. From what I've read about him, he was very talented, gifted and sensitive. I once read that his car was found abandoned. My guess is that he may have drowned himself in the Thames. There are interesting parallels in his story with Ian Curtis'. I mean, I'm not 100% sure, but didn't he disappear right before an American tour? Yeah, I know a lot of people hope that he's alive. I think he was just one of those people that were too fragile for this world. I mean,'once to make a point to a music journalist, he once wrote "for real" on his arm with a knife. That's heavy.