I'm curious as to how you would explain the following questions if you believe that Corrie went AWOL:
1) How is he paying for basic living expenses, things like food and shelter?
2) How has he managed to go unrecognized/change his appearance?
3) Why would he allow his mother/family to go through so much pain and financial expense to find him?
4) Where could he have traveled without items like a passport or other identification?
People can certainly go AWOL and be alive, but it costs money to assume a new identity. Technology makes it hard to disappear, especially in a small country -- his face was everywhere, and I just don't see how it's possible to live a life having no contact with the outside world. I suppose it's not impossible for a person to become a hermit and live solely off the land, but Corrie seemed like a pretty sociable person and not one to cut off contact with the rest of humanity.