25 Famous People That Went Missing Under Mysterious Circumstances
Most people have heard of Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly, who went missing one day during a flight. Surprisingly, she’s not the only famous person to have vanished without a trace. In fact, several celebrities have mysteriously gone missing with no leads on where to find them. Today, we dive into a list of unsolved disappearances that people still remember. What circumstances led to these vanishing acts? Where are these people now? The answers remain hauntingly elusive to this day.
#1 Richey Edwards
Image source: blue_leaves987, festivaltopia.com
Richey Edwards, the troubled lyricist and guitarist for the Welsh rock band Manic Street Preachers, vanished on February 1, 1995. On the day he was due to fly to the U.S. for a tour, he checked out of his London hotel and was never reliably seen again. Authorities found his car abandoned two weeks later near the Severn Bridge, a notorious s**cide location. Despite his well-documented history of depression and s*******m, his body was never recovered, and he was legally presumed dead in 2008.
#2 Joe Pichler
Image source: Universal Family & Home Entertainment, watchmojo.com
Former child actor Joe Pichler, known for his roles in the Beethoven film franchise, vanished in January 2006 at the age of 18. Authorities discovered his empty car parked near a bridge in his hometown of Bremerton, Washington, just days after friends last saw him. Inside the vehicle, they found his wallet and a note that expressed a desire to be a “stronger brother.” Investigators believe Pichler may have jumped from the bridge, but they never recovered his body.
#3 Antoine De Saint-Exupéry
Image source: Agence France-Presse, 247wallst.com
The author of the beloved book The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, was also a military pilot for the Free French Air Force. In July 1944, he took off from an airbase in Corsica to fly a reconnaissance mission over occupied France. He and his plane never returned, vanishing without a trace over the Mediterranean Sea. His fate remained a mystery for decades until divers finally discovered the wreckage of his aircraft off the coast of Marseille in 2000.
#4 Jean Spangler
Image source: RKO Radio Pictures, festivaltopia.com
On the evening of October 7, 1949, actress and dancer Jean Spangler left her Los Angeles home, telling a relative she was going to a night film shoot. Two days later, authorities discovered her purse with a torn strap near an entrance to Griffith Park. It contained a cryptic, unfinished note addressed to a “Kirk” that mentioned seeing a “Dr. Scott.” The discovery led to a massive investigation that briefly involved actor Kirk Douglas, but no trace of Spangler was ever found.
#5 Tammy Lynn Leppert
Image source: Sony Pictures / Columbia Pictures, watchmojo.com
Teen beauty queen and actress Tammy Lynn Leppert exhibited increasingly erratic behavior after working on the film Scarface, telling her family she feared for her life. On July 6, 1983, she left her home in Cocoa Beach, Florida, with a male friend. He later told police he dropped her off alone in a parking lot following an argument. The 18-year-old was never seen again, and her case has been linked to unsolved m**ders and dr*g rings in the area.
#6 Ambrose Bierce
Image source: Unknown author, festivaltopia.com
American author Ambrose Bierce was known for his cynical stories and journalism about the Civil War. In 1913, at age 71, he traveled to Mexico to witness the country’s revolution as an observer with Pancho Villa’s army. His last confirmed contact was a letter he wrote from Chihuahua on December 26, 1913. After that date, Ambrose Bierce was never seen or heard from again, and his disappearance remains unsolved.
#7 Barbara Newhall Follett
Image source: Stefan Cooke, watchmojo.com
A celebrated child prodigy in the 1920s, Barbara Newhall Follett found literary fame with her novel The House Without Windows. As an adult, she grew unhappy with her marriage and on December 7, 1939, she walked out of her apartment after an argument with her husband. She left with only thirty dollars and was never seen again. Her husband did not report her missing for two weeks, and her case remained largely forgotten until a modern rediscovery of her work brought the mystery to public attention.
#8 Harold Holt
Image source: Ronald Hall – DoD, National Archives of Australia
Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt vanished while swimming at Cheviot Beach in Victoria on December 17, 1967. His companions watched from the shore as he entered the turbulent surf and was quickly pulled away by a strong undertow. The incident triggered one of the largest search and rescue operations in the nation’s history. Authorities never recovered his body, and his presumed drowning has since spawned numerous conspiracy theories over the years.
#9 Connie Converse
Singer-songwriter Connie Converse was one of the earliest artists in the 1950s folk scene, but she never found commercial success. By 1974, a disillusioned Converse decided she needed a completely new start. She packed her belongings into her Volkswagen Beetle, left a series of farewell letters for her family, and simply drove away from her Michigan home. Her family respected her wishes and never heard from her again, leaving her ultimate fate a complete mystery.
#10 Amelia Earhart
Image source: NASA, Smithsonian Institution
Pioneering aviator Amelia Earhart embarked on a historic attempt to fly around the world in 1937. She and her navigator, Fred Noonan, vanished over the central Pacific Ocean during one of the final legs of their journey. Their last radio communications indicated they were close to their refueling stop, the tiny Howland Island, but could not locate it. The subsequent massive search operation found no trace of them or their aircraft, creating one of the most famous unsolved mysteries of the 20th century.
#11 Dorothy Arnold
Image source: Library of Congress, worldatlas.com
On December 12, 1910, New York socialite and writer Dorothy Arnold vanished in broad daylight while shopping in Manhattan. After leaving her family’s upscale residence, she purchased a book and briefly spoke with an acquaintance on Fifth Avenue. That was the last confirmed sighting of the 25-year-old heiress. Her wealthy family initially tried to handle the situation privately, delaying a police report for weeks and hampering the official investigation. Despite extensive searches and numerous theories, no trace of Dorothy Arnold was ever found.
#12 Lord Lucan
Image source: Express / Getty Image, wikipedia.org
On the night of November 7, 1974, British peer Richard John Bingham, the 7th Earl of Lucan, disappeared following a violent crime. Earlier that evening, an attacker had bludgeoned his children’s nanny, Sandra Rivett, to death in the basement of the family’s London home. Lord Lucan’s estranged wife, Veronica, was also attacked but escaped and identified him as the assailant. Authorities later found Lucan’s blood-stained car abandoned, but despite an international search, he was never seen again.
#13 Bison Dele
Image source: Ryan Van Dusen, watchmojo.com
In July 2002, NBA player Bison Dele vanished in the South Pacific along with his girlfriend and the boat’s captain. The sole person to return from the trip aboard Dele’s catamaran was his older brother, Miles Dabord, who later docked the boat in Tahiti. Dabord claimed he shot Dele in self-defense after an argument and fled using his brother’s passport and money. Before authorities could fully investigate his story, Dabord died from an insulin overdose, leaving the exact events of what happened at sea a permanent mystery.
#14 Ylenia Carrisi
Image source: PANOCH, Robinwarder1
Italian television personality Ylenia Carrisi vanished while visiting New Orleans in January 1994. The daughter of two of Italy’s most famous singers, she was last seen staying at a hotel in the city’s French Quarter. The leading theory stems from a security guard’s report of a woman matching her description jumping into the Mississippi River. Despite the lack of a body, her father had her declared legally dead in 2014.
#15 Hale Boggs
Image source: Cecil W. Stoughton, 247wallst.com
In October 1972, the small plane carrying U.S. House Majority Leader Hale Boggs vanished somewhere between Anchorage and Juneau during a campaign trip in Alaska. His disappearance triggered a massive 39-day search, but investigators never found any trace of the aircraft or its four occupants. That November, both Boggs and Congressman Nick Begich, who was also on board, were re-elected posthumously. The incident led directly to a new federal law mandating that most civil aircraft carry emergency locator transmitters.
#16 Jimmy Hoffa
Image source: MPI / Getty Image, indiatimes.com
The powerful and controversial president of the Teamsters Union, Jimmy Hoffa, became one of America’s most famous missing persons. On July 30, 1975, he went to the parking lot of a restaurant in suburban Detroit for a scheduled meeting with two high-ranking mob figures. Hoffa was never seen again, and the only thing authorities found was his car. Although investigators widely believe the Mafia m***ered him, they have never located his body, sparking decades of theories and searches.
#17 Glenn Miller
Image source: Ad on page 27 of May 16, 1942 Billboard magazine, worldatlas.com
During World War II, popular American bandleader Glenn Miller traveled through Europe to entertain Allied troops with his famous orchestra. On December 15, 1944, he boarded a small military plane in England for a flight to newly liberated Paris. The single-engine aircraft vanished somewhere over the English Channel and never reached its destination. Officials never found any wreckage or remains and presumed the plane crashed due to a combination of mechanical failure and poor weather.
#18 Theodosia Burr Alston
Image source: John Vanderlyn, 247wallst.com
Theodosia Burr Alston, the accomplished daughter of former U.S. Vice President Aaron Burr, vanished at sea in early 1813. She had boarded a schooner called the Patriot in South Carolina to sail to New York and reunite with her father. The vessel never reached its port, disappearing completely along the Atlantic coast. No wreckage was ever found, leading to enduring theories that the ship was either lost in a storm or captured by pirates.
#19 Rico Harris
Image source: all_thats_interesting
Former Harlem Globetrotter Rico Harris vanished in October 2014 while driving from Southern California to Seattle to move in with his fiancée. Authorities later located his abandoned car in a remote state park parking lot in the hills of Yolo County. Investigators also found his backpack and phone nearby, but there was no sign of the 6’9″ former athlete. Despite extensive searches of the rugged terrain, Harris was never found, leaving his family with no answers.
#20 Oscar Zeta Acosta
Image source: Cashman Photo Enterprises, Inc. Published by Random House, watchmojo.com
The Chicano attorney and activist Oscar Zeta Acosta is best known for his portrayal as Dr. Gonzo in Hunter S. Thompson’s book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. He was last heard from in May 1974 while traveling through Mazatlán, Mexico. Acosta’s son reported receiving a final phone call in which his father stated he was about to board a boat “full of white snow.” Acosta was never seen again, and theories about his fate range from a dr*g deal gone wrong to a political a***ssination.
#21 Sean Flynn
Image source: Luxor Films, watchmojo.com
The son of legendary actor Errol Flynn, Sean Flynn built a career for himself as a daring photojournalist. While on assignment covering the war in Southeast Asia, he and fellow journalist Dana Stone rode motorcycles into Cambodia on April 6, 1970. The two men rode directly into a checkpoint manned by Khmer Rouge guerrillas and were taken captive. Neither Flynn nor Stone was ever seen again, and both are presumed to have been executed by their captors.
#22 Alain Kan
Image source: RTS Archives, clattr.com
Provocative French glam rock singer Alain Kan vanished under strange circumstances on April 14, 1990. While in a Paris Métro station with his girlfriend, he excused himself to go buy cigarettes. Kan never returned and was never seen or heard from again. His abrupt departure has left his fate a complete mystery.
#23 Percy Fawcett
Image source: Unknown author, 247wallst.com
British explorer Percy Fawcett became obsessed with finding a mythical lost city he called “Z” deep within the Amazon jungle. In 1925, he launched an expedition into Brazil’s Mato Grosso region with his son Jack and Jack’s friend, Raleigh Rimmel. The party’s final communication on May 29 reported they were venturing into unexplored territory. After that message, the three men vanished without a trace, and dozens of subsequent rescue missions failed to uncover their fate.
#24 Jim Sullivan
Image source: Dan Csenar, watchmojo.com
In 1975, folk-rock musician Jim Sullivan was driving from Los Angeles to Nashville to find greater success. He checked into a motel in Santa Rosa, New Mexico, but then disappeared, leaving his room key behind. Authorities later found his car abandoned on a remote desert road with his wallet, guitar, and unsold records still inside. The mystery of his vanishing is often linked to the strange title of his 1969 album, U.F.O., which contained lyrics about aliens.
#25 John Brisker
Image source: Unknown University of Toledo, wikipedia.org
John Brisker earned a reputation as one of the most volatile and intimidating forwards in the American Basketball Association. After his basketball career ended, he travelled to Uganda in the spring of 1978 during the brutal regime of dictator Idi Amin. Brisker vanished shortly after arriving, sparking theories that he was working as a mercenary. The U.S. State Department officially declared him dead in 1985, but his exact fate remains unconfirmed.
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