The qualification for this list is that the people were notable in their own right, and not simply because they disappeared, so no Madeleine McCann and the crew of the Mary Celeste. Some were simply accidental. Some have attracted conspiracy theories. One was definitely foul play. In chronological order:
Steve Fossett, American businessman, aviator and sailor. Disappeared on 3 September 2007 while flying over the Nevada desert. Fossett was the first man to fly solo around the world non-stop in an airballoon. No trace found yet.
Richey Edwards, member of the Welsh rock band the Manic Street Preachers. Disappeared on 1 February 1995, the day that he and fellow MSP James Dean Bradfield were due to fly to the USA on a promotional tour. His car was found abandoned near the the Severn Bridge (a renowned suicide location), but there was evidence that the car had been lived in, and there have been unconfirmed sightings.
Jimmy Hoffa, US trade union leader. Disappeared on 30 July 1975 while on his way to meet two Mafia leaders. Many conspiracies abound about his disappearance and final resting place, with the most popular claiming that he is buried beneath the Giants stadium. No confirmed trace ever found.
Harold Holt, Australian Prime Minister. Disappeared on 17 December 1967 while swimming at a surf beach near Portsea, Victoria. Holt was controversial for expanding Australia’s role in the Vietnam War. No trace ever found.
Glenn Miller, American jazz musician and bandleader. Disappeared on 15 December 1944 over the English Channel while en route from England to France to play for troops in recently liberated Paris. No trace ever found.
Antoine de Saint Exupéry, French aviator and author. Disappeared on the evening of 31 July 1944 over the Mediterranean Sea, while on a reconnaissance flight. An unidentifiable body wearing French colors was found soon after. In 1998 his identity bracelet was found. In 2000 the remains of the aeroplane were found. In March 2008 a former Luftwaffe pilot told a Marseille newspaper that he had engaged and downed a plane in the area where Saint Exupéry\’s plane was found. His story is unverifiable, and has met with criticism from some German and French investigators.
Amelia Earhart, American aviator and author. Disappeared on 2 July 1937 (along with her navigator) in the South Pacific, while attempting to circumnavigate the earth. No trace ever found.
Roald Amundsen, Norwegian explorer. Disappeared on 18 June 1928 with 5 others in a plane crash in the Barents Sea while searching for the team of a fellow-explorer Umberto Nobile. A pontoon improvised into a life raft was found, suggesting that at least some of the group had survived the crash.
Ambrose Bierce, American journalist and author. Disappeared in Mexico some time after 26 December 1913 while travelling with rebel troops to gain a first-hand perspective of the Mexican Revolution. No trace ever found.
Joshua Slocum, Canadian/American sailor and author. Disappeared in the West Indies some time after 14 November 1909 aboard his boat Spray. No trace ever found.
Contributor: astraya
My favorite type of list. Great one, can’t wait to read the comments
If Clinton gets VP you may be adding Obama to this list.
Check your date on Glenn Miller’s dissappearance. I think its off by 50 yrs.
Intriguing list. I’d heard about some of these, and did a project on Amelia Earhart in grade school. Also I remember the news about Fossett last year. Very sad that they haven’t found a trace yet.
Oh, and just some nitpicking, but in Glenn Miller’s description, it says he disappeared in 1994, not 1944. Kind of funny, because I was wondering at first why Paris needed liberating in the 90′s.
Lesson of the day: If you’re famous, don’t fly your own airplane.
Wow, being as I live in Norway and Roald is one of the Norwegian national heroes I should have known of his disappearance.
I wish you had written a bit more about the people on the list, good idea though.
Jfrater:
Great list but I’m pretty sure you’ve mixed up the double consonants. Disappeared not dissapeared.
Paris liberated in 1994?
And how old was Glenn Miller then? 
astraya: Interesting list.
Thank You.
psst; in #8, either many conspiracies abound about his disappearing and final resting place – or – there are many conspiracies around his disappearing and final resting place.
sorry for being a pain.
What about the Blair Witch crew…
stevezio; Do you really think Clinton as VP would be bad. I dislike/don’t trust the woman but I think she is a good choice for running-mate. She is ruthless enough to get the job done. And Obama would be telling her what job.
by the way
Randall, SlickWilly; Congratulations! Your guy got the ticket.
Glenn Miller dissapeared in 1944, not 1994
D. B. Cooper is the name attributed to a man who hijacked a Boeing 727 aircraft in the United States on November 24, 1971, received US$200,000 in ransom, and parachuted from the plane. The name he used to board the plane was Dan Cooper, but through a later press miscommunication, he became known as “D. B. Cooper”. Despite hundreds of leads through the years, no conclusive evidence has surfaced regarding Cooper’s true identity or whereabouts, and the bulk of the money has never been recovered. The FBI believes he did not survive the jump. Several theories offer competing explanations of what happened after his famed jump.
Source: WIKIPEDIA
Ok list, though would have been a lot better if the entries about each person were expanded, it’s not a very deep list.
mom- clinton is a terrible choice. not because she is a woman, but because she is a woman on a power trip. lol. but like i always says. black people and white women are only good for *****os. vote for McCain!!!
Mom424, I think he meant that Clinton would have Obama assassinated to become the president.
Yeah, it’s disappeared, not dissapeared.
Also, why are the items numbered from 10 to 1? If it’s in chronological order, then they should be numbered 1 to 10 so that it doesn’t look like a ‘real’ top 10 (1 being “the best”). You know what I mean!
Interesting subject for a list. But, I wish there was a bit more background information about these folks.
mom424 ~ Clinton as anything is bad. How do you dislike and distrust someone and still think she’s a good pick? And as far as “getting the job done,” the jobs they want to get done will bankrupt America!
I like the counting down from 10 to 1 myself =/
Interesting list, but I think it would have been a bit better if you added maybe some theories on their disappearance or something
I agree. Such a great list that it left me wanting more info.
oh my stevezio!
I like this list but I agree that it could have been expanded just a bit more. I would love to know more about Richey Edwards… off to the Wiki for me.
Thanks for the comments. I thought about adding more to each entry, but decided to keep my first submission short and simple. I submit, I learn. I spend long periods of my day sitting in the staff room of a Korean high school, which can get pretty mind-numbing.
I didn’t mean this to be “top”. I numbered them in chronological order forward, and they got posted in reverse order.
Aeroplanes feature a lot. When I researched this list I was struck by how experienced most of these people were.
Jamie – I love the photos you added.
Great list Astraya. Learned about quite a few. I imagine you are Australian by your name, you left off Sir Charles Kingsford Smith. Every true Australian knows who he is. Australian troops would question Japanese spies posing as Australians during WW2 who he was. Wrong answer and they would know you were Japanese. That and the sandals.
Good list but what about Judge Crater?
Wikipedia: Joseph Force Crater (1889-01-05 – date of death unknown) was a judge in New York City who suddenly disappeared on the night of 1930-08-06. He was last seen leaving a restaurant and entering a taxi. He had stated earlier that he was planning to attend a Broadway show. His disappearance became one of the most famous in American history and pop culture, and earned him the title of “The Missingest Man in New York”.
Crater: I’m Australian. I’d never heard of Judge Crater. I was working mainly from personal knowledge, but also checked http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_who_have_disappeared. Crater is on that, but his name meant nothing to me.
Kingsford-Smith: I’m Australian, and I certainly know who Kingsford-Smith is, but I didn’t know that he’d disappeared in that manner. I would certainly have included him. He’s not on the wikipedia list, but then neither is Saint Exupery. As I said: I submit, I learn.
Great list! I’ve always been interested in Amelia Earhart.
I’ve never heard of Crater either! Weird.
Rushfan; Because I am not naive about how things work in government, either in the US or in Canada. You must be stubborn, manipulative, and cut-throat in order to accomplish anything. Unfortunate but true; Hillary’s qualities would be an asset. Also as a bonus, it is better to keep her close so you can keep an eye on her.
Sir Charles Kingsford Smith. Every true Australian knows who he is. Australian troops would question Japanese spies posing as Australians during WW2 who he was. Wrong answer and they would know you were Japanese.
Wally – LOL…Japanese “posing” as Australians.
And what a stunning tactic on the part of Australian military intelligence.
The kiwis, of course, had a somewhat less underhanded method of unmasking Japanese “spies” – they singled out the little Asian guys who spoke a strange language and who said things like “banzai” and “hai”, and bowed a lot; turns out most of these crafty little tinkers were not Australians, but Japanese
And all of this accomplished without resorting to the dreaded Kingsford-Smith interrogation technique
Mom ~ Wow, and I thought I was cynical. I have higher expectations of my elected officials than that. And to the point, Hillary hasn’t actaully accomplished anything that I’m aware of, so what have the attributes you’ve attributed to her accomplished? Also, “keep you enemies closer” doesn’t apply to positions of power where they could actually destroy the country.
astraya – nice list! Well done.
Wow, and I thought I was cynical. I have higher expectations of my elected officials than that.
rushfan – speaking as a non-American and an interested observer…I do admire the persistence with which you maintain these “higher expectations”. In living memory you have Nixon, Clinton, and GWB; each of whom has left their own unique mark on American society.
In Narnia or wherever you live do you just keep low expectations so you’re never disappointed? :;
Come on, Amelia Earhart should have been #1.
I knew a few of these, but I had no idea that Glenn Miller went missing. Nice list!
Cool. Glenn Miller should read 1944, not 1994.
Interestingly, Jimmy Hoffa and clergyman, James Pike, were both born on the same day, 2/14/1913, and both disappeared, although Pike’s body was eventually recovered.
Bison Dele (né Brian Williams), former National Basketball Association regular, disappeared from a yacht in the South Pacific back in ’02, presumably with foul play involved. John Brisker, another basketball player (NBA and ABA), went to Uganda in ’78 and disappeared again.
just how does a list about missing people turn into a political debate? Isn’t anyone else sick of this never-ending campaign?
sorry, yer right. i’ve also got one going on the “who should be the next president” list. meet me over there to continue this discussion.
Wasn’t Emelia’s plane eventually found?
Her navigator died in the crash (found in the plane) and Emilia lived for a couple of weeks on the island they crashed on, radioing Russians and Americans, none of whom were believed…?
Am I way off?
wasn’t that an episode of Gilligan’s Island?
sky- i’ve never heard that before, but could be?
Rushfan- thanks! you are kind
I am suprise that D B Cooper wasn’t on this list.
In Narnia or wherever you live do you just keep low expectations so you’re never disappointed?
rushfan – I’m a NZ’er, but I live in London. And I have high expectations because I don’t have too many reasons to lower mine
(BTW…I wasn’t meaning to sound anti-American in my earlier comment, if that’s what you thought)
nah, i was trying to add a winky smiley face at the end to show levity but it didn’t work :;
why isn’t it working? ;/
AHahahahaha, fail lol! xD
Way creepy.
kiwiboi-
How could you leave NZ for London? NZ is the most beautiful place! My best friend moved there a few years back. I can’t wait to visit again
Sky, there is a bunch of theories about her disappearance but none of them proven.
Go to Disappearance Theories from this Wik link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelia_Earhart
By the way astray, I enjoyed reading this list
Wooty45: Well sure, I love countdowns like everyone else, but not when they’re meaningless, like it is in this case.
Jamie! Change Glenn Miller’s disappearance year before the list explodes!!!
.)
Very nice list, astraya. (Coincidentally, my “Spanish name” in high school Spanish class was estrella
How…HOW? did we turn a list about missing people into another political debate? Maybe I should just monkey wrench it with “Hey! You forgot Jesus Christ!” Shame on you people…/sigh
Rushfan comment #31 well said. Great List Steve Fosset seems like a great guy. I love reading anything about him.
In other words, not all Listverse lists need to be countdowns, especially when items are not meant to be ‘better’ than others, and most especially when items already have a defined order, like this one (so for the latter type, a 1 to 10 numbering should be the norm).
Kreachure ~ wow, ***** much?
oh, and Jesus Christmas!
How could you leave NZ for London? NZ is the most beautiful place! My best friend moved there a few years back. I can’t wait to visit again
green – you’re not wrong about NZ. For my work, though, NZ’s a little small. I sure miss the place though.
sorry, Cedestra Estrella, I’m not up for a jesus debate just now…
Kreachure, I can just see you sitting in a darkened room rocking back and forth brushing your doll’s hair muttering “lists that already have a defined order…not all lists need to be countdowns…”
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