Up the Creek Without a Paddle

Five years after the shattered remains of his red canoe were discovered on a beach, John Darwin suddenly reappeared in a police station. Despite a massive search following his disappearance in 2002, John Darwin's body was never found, and his wife Anne spoke of her anguish at not being able to lay her husband to rest. Family and friends were amazed and delighted at John's return, but soon intriguing evidence was revealed. Cleveland police had reopened the case in September 2007 after they received new information that raised suspicions over Darwin's apparent disappearance. Photographs were then uncovered showing John and Anne together in Panama in 2006, and it soon became clear that-far from being the miraculous return of a lost canoeist-this was a case of serious fraud. In fact, Anne had cashed in her husband's life insurance policies and was claiming a widow's pension while John lived in hiding at the couple's home. In 2004 he obtained a false passport in the name of John Jones, allowing him to travel with his wife to Panama where they intended to set up home. John and Anne were subsequently arrested on suspicion of fraud and remanded in custody. This is the remarkable story of the man who came back from the dead, the wife who concealed his existence from the world, and the web of lies that unraveled to reveal the incredible truth of the Darwins' deception.