I've seen quite a few cases like this online, where people on various forums have faked their own death. Sometimes it's for attention (someone literally faked that they were dying of cancer to get people to make Youtube videos of a game they were working on), sometimes it's just wanting to leave the community (someone else faked their death in a car accident to stop working on a project that others were pressuring them about).

Either way, the linked article was an interesting read. Least partly cause it felt like watching a documentary with the wildlife or civilisation replaced by forum/online game goers.