The Canoe Man: The Unbelievable Fake Death of John Darwin

Moms and Mysteries: A True Crime Podcast

Moms got ya covered-feed

True Crime

4.6 • 8.8K Ratings

🗓️ 10 February 2026

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

John Darwin, a prison officer from the UK, vanishes after a morning kayak trip, leaving behind a shattered canoe and a grieving family. After he’s declared legally dead, his wife Anne collects a £250,000 life insurance payout. But the story is far from over. Five years later, John walks into a police station claiming amnesia, unraveling a web of deceit that includes a secret passage, a new life in Panama, and a single photograph that exposed one of the most audacious fake-death scams in modern history. Thank you to this week's sponsors! Start your risk-free Greenlight trial today at Greenlight.com/moms. Download Cash App Today: https://click.cash.app/ui6m/vwn13ren #CashAppPod. Cash App is a financial services platform, not a bank. Banking services provided by Cash App’s bank partner(s). Prepaid debit cards issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC. See terms and conditions at https://cash.app/legal/us/en-us/card-agreement. Direct deposit and promotions provided by Cash App, a Block, Inc. brand. Visit http://cash.app/legal/podcast for full disclosures. New episodes every Tuesday and Thursday! Follow us on Instagram: @momsandmysteries Join our Patreon: patreon.com/momsandmysteries Watch on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@momsandmysteries Visit our website: momsandmysteries.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	At Accardo, you'll save 25% on your first shop and get free delivery, which means if you were to buy a four cheese pizza, you'd basically be getting one of the cheeses for free.
0:10.2	Save and splurge at Arcado, the online supermarket.
0:12.9	Geographical and other restrictions.
0:14.5	Minimum spend, 60 pounds and charges apply.
0:16.6	New customers only, maximum saving 20 pounds terms at Accardo.com.
0:19.8	A man went out for a quiet morning
0:21.9	kayak along the English coast and never came home. His family mourned him and a massive search was
0:28.2	launched. He was eventually declared legally dead. Years later, he walked into a police station and said,
0:35.2	I think I'm a missing person. What followed was a secret passage,
0:39.6	a stolen identity, and one of the most unbelievable fake death scams ever pulled off.
0:51.7	Hey guys, and welcome to the Moms and Mysteries podcast, a true crime podcast featuring myself, Mandy, and my dear friend Melissa.
0:59.1	Hi, Melissa.
0:59.9	Hi, Mandy. How are you?
1:01.4	I am doing well. How are you?
1:03.2	I am doing good, not as good as you because I love your little sweatshirt, overthrow.
1:09.5	It's like been 12 degrees here or something. Like close enough. Okay.
1:15.1	It's been freezing three times, like actual freezing three times this week. We are struggling.
1:20.4	We're struggling. But I love it. It looks so comfortable and I need one. Thank you. I love this thing.
1:26.8	It's just like, I don't even know how you would even describe what this is. This is what I call my teddy bear coat. Like it's just very fuzzy and warm and heavy is the main thing. Because what really gets us here in Florida, I feel like is when it's like cold and windy, which we've had a lot of, like this during this winter
1:45.0	freeze storm.
1:47.7	What some of you call winter, yeah.
1:49.6	Yeah, just some of you just call that winter.
	...

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