The most played episodes among Podcast App listeners.

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   Number 1: Episode 28 - The Babes in the woods

   Welcome Back Casefilers! Grab your hot coffee and favourite flannel for this week’s episode! In January 1953, a groundskeeper clearing brush near Beaver Lake in Vancouver’s Stanley Park made a grisly discovery: the skeletal remains of two young children, covered with a woman’s fur coat. The children had been bludgeoned with a hatchet and left in the woods, their bodies arranged side by side with their soles facing each other. For nearly seventy years, they were known only as the “Babes in the Woods” - nameless victims of one of Vancouver’s oldest unsolved murders. In 2022, DNA technology finally gave the boys their names back: Derek and David D’Alton, brothers aged six and seven. But identifying the victims only deepened the mystery. Who killed these two young brothers? Why were they left in the woods? And what happened to the mysterious couple witnesses saw leaving the park without them? Join us as we explore this haunting cold case - a story of two young boys, a brutal murder, and a mystery that has haunted Vancouver for generations. 🎙️ In This Episode ✔️ The discovery of the remains in Stanley Park✔️ The forty-five-year mistake that sent police on a wild goose chase✔️ The 2022 DNA identification of Derek and David D’Alton✔️ The witnesses who saw a family of four—and later, just two✔️ The theories: Was it their mother? A stranger? Someone else?✔️ Why the case remains unsolved after more than seventy years Follow Dark Roast For your weekly caffeine fueled true crime fix! TikTok: @DarkRoastCaffeineCasefilesInstagram: @darkroastcaffeinecasefilesSubstack: @darkroastcaffeinecasefilesFacebook: Dark Roast: Caffeine Casefiles PodcastSpotify: Dark Roast Caffeine CasefilesYouTube: Dark Roast: Caffeine CasefilesEmail: [email protected]: Dark Roast: Caffeine Case Files by Caitlin Francois on Substack⭐ Rate & ReviewIf you enjoyed this episode, please rate us 5 stars and leave a review on Spotify. It helps other true crime and coffee lovers find the show.☕ Help fill the coffee potLove the show? Support me at buymeacoffee.com/darkroasttruecrime – every cup keeps the cases brewing.Stay caffeinated, stay curious. ☕🔎 Dark Roast: Caffeine Case files by Caitlin Francois is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Dark Roast: Caffeine Case files by Caitlin Francois at darkroastcaffeinecasefiles.substack.com/subscribe

   September 18, 2026·16min
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   Number 2: Episode 27 - The Vanishing of Kenley Matheson

   Welcome Back Casefilers! Today I’m kicking off with one of Nova’s Scotia’s haunting unsolved mysteries! Spooky season ( for some of us) has started ! The air is getting crisper, the leaves are changing and suddenly it’s time for leggings and flannel over tank tops and shorts. So grab your favourite hot cup of caffeine, get comfy and let’s dive in…. In September 1992, twenty-year-old Kenley Matheson was just two weeks into his first semester at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. A quiet, adventurous young man from Cape Breton, Kenley had spent years travelling before deciding to pursue a degree. He was excited about his future. His sister, Kayrene, had started university with him—a familiar face in a new world. Then, on September 21st, 1992, Kenley was seen walking down Main Street. He was never seen again. No phone calls. No letters. No activity on his bank account. No trace of his red and black backpack, his purple t-shirt, or his baseball cap. The case grew cold, but Kenley’s family never stopped searching. In this episode, we take a deep dive into the disappearance of Kenley Matheson—a case that has haunted the Annapolis Valley for more than thirty years. We explore the theories: Did Kenley walk away from his life? Was he the victim of a fellow student? Could he have crossed paths with a suspected serial killer? And what about the 2025 revelation of a new suspect—someone who allegedly confessed to killing Kenley and disposing of his body? We’ll also examine the documentary “Missing Kenley,” the 2023 search of Melanson Mountain, and the heartbreaking hope that keeps Kenley’s family going after all these years. Grab your favourite mug. Get comfortable. Because the darkness is real—but so is the light in the world. 🎙️ In This Episode ✔️ The timeline of Kenley’s final days✔️ The 2023 search of Melanson Mountain✔️ The shocking 2025 suspect revelation✔️ Theories: Walkaway, murder, serial killer, or misadventure?✔️ The documentary “Missing Kenley”✔️ A mother’s plea, a sister’s mission, and a community haunted by unanswered questions ⚠️ Listener Discretion This episode deals with a missing person case that remains unsolved. We discuss theories involving violence and potential foul play. If this is too heavy for you right now, please take care of yourself first—you can always catch the next episode. 🔗 Follow Dark Roast for Weekly Episodes Get your true crime and caffeine fix every week. Find us everywhere: 📱 TikTok: @darkroastcaffeinecasefilels📱 Threads: @darkroastcaffeinecasefiles📱 Instagram: @darkroastcaffeinecasefiles📱 Substack: @darkroastcaffeinecasefiles📱 Facebook: Dark Roast: Caffeine Casefiles Podcast🎧 Spotify: Dark Roast Caffeine Casefiles📺 YouTube: Dark Roast: Caffeine Casefiles Email: [email protected]: [Dark Roast: Caffeine Case Files by Caitlin Francois on Substack] ⭐ Rate & Review If you enjoyed this episode, please rate us 5 stars and leave a review on Spotify. It helps other true crime and coffee lovers find the show. ☕ Help Fill the Coffee Pot Love the show? Support us at buymeacoffee.com/darkroasttruecrime – every cup keeps the cases brewing. Stay caffeinated, stay curious. ☕🔎 📌 Show Notes & Resources Cases Discussed in This Episode: * Kenley Matheson (1992) * The documentary “Missing Kenley” (Ron Lamothe) * Andrew Paul Johnson (suspected serial killer) Sources: * CBC News * CTV News * Global News * The Globe and Mail * RCMP releases * Lesley University Dark Roast: Caffeine Case files by Caitlin Francois is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Dark Roast: Caffeine Case files by Caitlin Francois at darkroastcaffeinecasefiles.substack.com/subscribe

   September 11, 2026·30min
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   Number 3: The Hunting of Rasheem Carter

   ☕EPISODE 26 : THE HUNTING OF RASHEEM CARTER “Mom, there’s three truckloads of white men trying to kill me.” Those were the last words 25-year-old Rasheem Carter spoke to his mother before he disappeared. He was a father. A welder. A chef. A son. He went to the police for help. He was turned away. One month later, his partial remains were found scattered in the woods - head severed, teeth missing. Local authorities said no foul play was involved. The DA says the community knows what happened. No arrests have been made. This week on Dark Roast Caffeine Casefiles - we tell his story. ⚠️ CW: Graphic violence, human remains, racial terror 🎧 Listen now ☕ Follow Dark Roast for weekly episodes 📱 TikTok: @DarkRoastCaffeineCasefiles 📸 Instagram: @darkroastcaffeinecasefiles 📰 Substack: @darkroastcaffeinecasefiles 📘 Facebook: Dark Roast: Caffeine Casefiles Podcast 🎵 Spotify: Dark Roast Caffeine Casefiles ▶️ YouTube: Dark Roast: Caffeine Casefiles ✉️ Email: [email protected] 🌐 Web: Dark Roast: Caffeine Case Files by Caitlin Francois on Substack ⭐ Rate & Review on Spotify! ☕ Support us: buymeacoffee.com/darkroasttruecrime Stay caffeinated, stay curious. ☕🔎 #DarkRoastCaffeineCasefiles #TrueCrime #RasheemCarter #Mississippi #Unsolved #TrueCrimeTok #TrueCrimePodcast #JusticeForRasheem #ColdCase #PodcastRecommendation #TrueCrimeCommunity Get full access to Dark Roast: Caffeine Case files by Caitlin Francois at darkroastcaffeinecasefiles.substack.com/subscribe

   August 31, 2026·27min
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   Number 4: Episode 25 - The Price of Freedom

   In this special deep-dive episode, we journey into one of the darkest chapters of American history—the era of emancipation—and uncover the true crime stories that history books often forget. We begin with John Reed, a free Black man in 1820s Pennsylvania who fought for his life when kidnappers broke into his home in the dead of night. The handcuffs and rope found on his attackers told the story—but would the courts believe him? Then, the harrowing tale of Solomon Northup, a free Black musician and landowner who was drugged, kidnapped, and sold into slavery—losing twelve years of his life before finally regaining his freedom. His memoir, Twelve Years a Slave, would expose the horrors of kidnapping into slavery to the world. Next, the heartbreaking tragedy of Margaret Garner, a mother who made the impossible choice to kill her own daughter rather than see her returned to slavery. Her case inspired Toni Morrison’s Beloved and remains one of the most gut-wrenching stories of resistance in American history. We follow the relentless fight of Rose Herera, a mother whose children were kidnapped to Cuba by her former enslavers. She took her case all the way to the U.S. Senate, turning a domestic kidnapping into an international scandal. Finally, we expose The Plot to Perpetuate Slavery—a spy thriller involving Union officers, Confederate operatives, and a confidence man known as the “King of the Confidence Men.” Their mission? To scam President Lincoln into withdrawing the Emancipation Proclamation. They nearly succeeded. These are the crimes of emancipation. These are the prices that were paid for freedom. ⚠️ LISTENER DISCRETION ADVISORYThis episode contains graphic descriptions of violence, child death, kidnapping, and the brutal realities of American slavery. Please take care of yourself while listening. If you or someone you know needs support: * National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988 (or 1-800-273-8255) * Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741 * SAMHSA National Helpline: 1-800-662-4357 For further reading: * Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup * Beloved by Toni Morrison * Beyond Freedom’s Reach: A Kidnapping in the Twilight of Slavery by Adam Rothman * The Plot to Perpetuate Slavery by Phil Roycraft * Equal Justice Initiative – The Legacy of Slavery and Racial Injustice ☕ Follow Dark Roast for weekly episodesGet your true crime and caffeine fix every week. 📱 Find us everywhere: * TikTok: @DarkRoastCaffeineCasefiles * Instagram: @darkroastcaffeinecasefiles * Substack: @darkroastcaffeinecasefiles * Facebook: Dark Roast: Caffeine Casefiles Podcast * Spotify: Dark Roast Caffeine Casefiles * YouTube: Dark Roast: Caffeine Casefiles * Email: [email protected] * Web: Dark Roast: Caffeine Case Files by Caitlin Francois on Substack ⭐ Rate & ReviewIf you enjoyed this episode, please rate us 5 stars and leave a review on Spotify. It helps other true crime and coffee lovers find the show. ☕ Help fill the coffee potLove the show? Support us at buymeacoffee.com/darkroasttruecrime – every cup keeps the cases brewing. Stay caffeinated, stay curious. ☕ Get full access to Dark Roast: Caffeine Case files by Caitlin Francois at darkroastcaffeinecasefiles.substack.com/subscribe

   August 03, 2026·34min
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   Number 5: Episode 24 - The House On Lake Simcoe

   For more than a century, it stood on the shores of Lake Simcoe—a place families were told would provide care, compassion, and protection for society’s most vulnerable. Instead, the Huronia Regional Centre became a place of silence, suffering, and systemic abuse that remained hidden for generations. In this episode of Dark Roast Caffeine Casefiles, we travel to Orillia, Ontario, to uncover the devastating history of one of Canada’s largest and longest-running institutions for people labeled “intellectually disabled.” Opened in 1876 as the “Orillia Asylum for Idiots,” this facility would operate for 133 years—housing more than ten thousand human beings while abuse, neglect, and death became the daily routine. Through survivor affidavits, court documents, and historical records, we’ll walk through the reality of life inside Huronia’s walls: * The overcrowded wards where 1 attendant cared for 60 residents * The “caged cribs” used to confine children and adults for hours—or days * The routine chemical sedation of children with adult doses of antipsychotics * The sexual abuse that went unreported and unpunished * The numbered graves of hundreds of residents—many with no names We’ll follow the decades-long fight for justice, the 2013 class-action lawsuit settlement, and the provincial apology that came too late for so many. Content Warning: This episode contains detailed descriptions of neglect, physical and sexual abuse, restraint, and institutional mistreatment of children and adults with disabilities. Listener discretion is strongly advised. Huronia Survivor Support: The most direct link appears to be the Remember Ever Name Survivors Group, a group led by survivors of the Huronia Regional Centre. Website: www.remembereveryname.ca Archdiocese of Toronto Restorative Justice Program: While there isn’t a dedicated program page, restorative justice is a key part of the Archdiocese’s social outreach. The Office of Social Care & Community Outreach lists “Prison ministry (restorative justice)” as one of its main areas of care. Website: www.archtoronto.org (See the “Social Care & Community Outreach” section) Community Living Ontario: Website: www.communitylivingontario.ca #TrueCrime #Podcast #DarkRoastCaffeineCasefiles #CanadianTrueCrime #HuroniaRegionalCentre #TrueCrimePodcast #History #DarkHistory #DisabilityRights #InstitutionalAbuse #SurvivorStories #JusticeForSurvivors #Ontario #Orillia #ColdCase #Casefiles #CrimePodcast #CoffeeAndCrime #UnsolvedHistory #Advocacy #NeverForge ☕ Follow Dark Roast for weekly episodes Get your true crime and caffeine fix every week. 📱 Find us everywhere: * TikTok: @DarkRoastCaffeineCasefiles * Instagram: @darkroastcaffeinecasefiles * Substack: @darkroastcaffeinecasefiles * Facebook: Dark Roast: Caffeine Casefiles Podcast * Spotify: Dark Roast Caffeine Casefiles * YouTube: Dark Roast: Caffeine Casefiles * Email: [email protected] * Web: Dark Roast: Caffeine Case Files by Caitlin Francois on Substack ⭐ Rate & Review If you enjoyed this episode, please rate us 5 stars and leave a review on Spotify. It helps other true crime and coffee lovers find the show. ☕ Help fill the coffee pot Love the show? Support us at buymeacoffee.com/darkroasttruecrime – every cup keeps the cases brewing. Stay caffeinated, stay curious. ☕🔎 Get full access to Dark Roast: Caffeine Case files by Caitlin Francois at darkroastcaffeinecasefiles.substack.com/subscribe

   July 20, 2026·47min
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