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
its MPW pal:)
where am i, im right behind you
BOO!!!!
Would any of us know your mom’s brother, Nick? What diner was it? Do they have good meat loaf? Did you ever find your mom’s brother? I must know.
There you are!
That’s hilarious, I kept clicking on your comment under “recent comments” but it just takes you wherever…
There’s also a recent comment that says from “everyone: f**k off, Randall.” I’d love to find out where that is
HEY, my winky worked!! hoo ray!
seriously, what do you mean?
i cant be here all the time you know
Sorry, Nick. I didn’t realize you were responding to the post prior to yours. To me it sounded like frickin Slingblade wandered into the room and wanted in on the conversation…”my mom’s brother worked in a diner, mmmm hmmm. I like french fried pertaters. mmmm hmmm.”
“or he was made up by the people on the plane and they split the cash but threw some out of the plane to give the illusion that he was real”
I have to admit MPW that is one I have not heard.
Did you just think that up now or have you heard this theory before?
i was at school earlier, then i went to the store and came home and ate some pretzels and watched tv, now i am here
honestly was only going to talk about him being dead and suddenly it hit me “what if he never existed”
all original:)
i love french fried pertaters mmm hhhmmmm
Maybe Bobcat Goldthwait should be on this list? Seriously, what ever happened to that poor guy? Did y’all ever see Shakes the Clown? Tragic.
i am curious how did they know db coopers name
did he tell them
“im DB Cooper gimme gimme gimme”
bobcat is dead because “i shot him” (in a charles broson voice)
who cares im glad he is gone, i cant stand that jerk
monogrammed underwear
bronson
Chuck Norris killed Charles Bronson.
Rushfan and MPW: Did you 2 know there are Listverse forums with PM’s and a listverse IRC chat? I know MPW does because he posts in the forums.
i got carried away and rushfan is a character
Hey – I have no objections to people chatting on the comments
When we can afford a complete redesign of the site it will be much easier to communicate with other users.
how do you get those faces into the comments anyway?
Ohohoh I got one!
David Copperfield!
You know, cause he… and then he… nevermind.
there is only one man who has chuck norris’s number…. me!!
M(r)P(otato)W(eenie) ~ I still can’t get over the fact that you don’t watch SNL. You’re missing out on Laser Cats, MaGruber!, the target lady, two a-holes doing various things, et al
i dont watch much tv. mostly sports,simpsons,discovery channel and such
I saw Chuck Norris in jeans once.
quite a prodigious lump
In fact, they have a bronze monument in Yellowstone.
but I digress.
astraya: it all as a collective 10, makes me aware of connections to deep sea explorers and treasure hunters and conspiratorial(sp? or is it even a word?) minds… Makes me think of investigative indulgences(sp?). makes me think of the “died by drowning” list.
of The world swallowing
of leveling off degrees of disapperance (sp?)
I was trying to get more into the forums and IRC. It was too quiet in there and I was really bored.
yo Randall,
I never said that it was for spying purposes, her or the US government’s intentions were nothing of that sort.
I said she might have gotten lost as you pointed out and possibly got into Japanese territory. The Japs without thinking twice shot her plane down.
This doesn’t change much,the story still remains that she got lost but think about it, it does sent chills down your spine to think that she had been actually killed by the Japs.
When did I ever mention it was a spy mission?
But the US would cover it up to avoid any bellicose situations.It didn’t matter to them that much and opening their mouths would lead to complications.
Sorry for the CIA gaffe, I didn’t know.
Interesting … Antoine de Saint Exupéry was the author of “Le Petit Prince” oui?
TokiLoki12: MC Hammer??? Don’t you mean 2Pac?? Why isn’t he on the list?? Doesn’t anyon else think it’s weird that he’s still releasing music long after he “Died”…
Gee! For some reason, I’m thinking of a Metallica song. (Hmm) What’s the name of that tune?
Jw…I just tried to log into the forums, but it wouldn’t accept my user name and password…I’ll have to try again later
Great list..didn’t people started to think that going alone on a plane or a baloon would be a bad idea?
And there is another famous person, but I guess you wouldn’t know it. The portuguese King Sebastian disappeared in North Africa while fighting there, somewhere around 1600 (too lazy to check the exact date at wikipedia). His body was never found, and no one ever knew if he was captured, killed or simply just run away. He was young and had no children, which means it originated a mess with the sucession to the throne. We have a popular legend that says that in a cloudy, misty day he will return, appearing from the fog. I think it is a cool legend, people like it, althought of course everyone knows if he didn’t died at the battle he is surely dead now.
Astraya:
Uh… I’d argue that both Judge Crater AND Michael Rockefeller were “notable in their own right” prior to their disappearances. The problem is you’re not an American, so you aren’t really hip to who these people were.
Crater’s debatable, I suppose, but I’d argue that he was certainly “notable” and well-known in *New York* before he became a missing person statistic.
Michael Rockefeller, on the other hand, was a *Rockefeller.* This alone made him automatically “notable” and well-known. Even before his disappearance, he was known as a successor to the Rockefeller throne of wealth and power. Hardly a dude who’s anonymous.
Rushfan: You need to create another username and pw for the forums. It can be the same username, but you have to reregister. Can’t wait to see you posting in there.
cool, thanks
it’s telling me my email is already being used
That is odd. We will get you in there. There was a java link to IRC in the Site Update:May 2008 list. http://listverse.com/administration/site-update-may-2008/
Will have to find out about the email thing when JFrater is up later.
What about an entire town full of people seemingly vanished off the face of the earth? Roanoke Colony ring any bells?
joe~see #113~”The Roanoake settlement might possibly have been on this list if I was American.”
Unfortunately there seems to be a pretty logical and straight forward reason for every disapearance on this list.
Thanks again for all of these comments.
Any list containing 10 items compiled with a degree of subjectivity (how do you measure “notable”?) is going to miss many, sometimes very important, items. (see the new list on influential metal rock bands)
I don’t disagree with any of your suggestions. Some were on my short list of 15, then got trimmed.
MPW 62 – I did want to name Fred Noonan, Earheart’s navigator, but I couldn’t find his name. The wikipedia article doesn’t give his name in the opening paragraph. It does later on, but I’d gone into brain freeze by then. I also wanted to name Amundsen’s companions, but that would have taken too much space.
Randall 154 – I’d challenge you to name any current associate justices of your state court, but I’ve gleaned enough about you in the last six months to know that you could probably do it! Even if Judge Crater was notable in New York before his disappearance, he’s not up with the world’s firsts and bests that form the bulk of the list. Same for Michael Rockefeller.
G Note 161 – the title is “notable people” not “mysterious disappearances”.
Thanks, everyone, it’s been a privilege.
****
Author: astraya
Comment:(I deleted a lot of good stuff, just for the sake of space)
I did want to name Fred Noonan, Earheart’s navigator, but I couldn’t find his name. The wikipedia article doesn’t give his name in the opening paragraph.
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astraya:
exactly why I have a policy of NEVER, EVER using Wiki! It’s written and compiled by non-professionals, anybody, absolutely anybody, can write up an article or edit an existing article.
So you have people who don’t really know their subject matter, writing articles for people who want real, solid information on just that subject.
Not exactly the Encyclopedia Britannica. A set I have actually read.
Yes, exactly. Wiki’s important however to gather the facts quickly.But as a whole it’s superficial.
Astraya: no prob.
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#164. Ro – June 6th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Yes, exactly. Wiki’s important however to gather the facts quickly.But as a whole it’s superficial.
****
Thanks. I was starting to think I was the only one with an anti-wiki bias.
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146. Diogenes thunked – June 5th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
I saw Chuck Norris in jeans once.
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This is one of my favorite kinds of sentences, the dangling participle! What you have said is that you saw Chuck Norris while YOU were wearing jeans, but when I read the rest of the post (very funny, btw), it was Chuck who was wearing jeans.
Thanks for the laugh. I needed it!
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#148. Ro – June 5th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
yo Randall,
Sorry for the CIA gaffe, I didn’t know.
****
Ro, what Randall failed to mention was that the CIA was preceeded by the OSS, same deal, different name. Oh, they made a few changes re: what they could/couldn’t do, would/wouldn’t release, but the changes were cosmetic, really, unless you want to count the ultra-secret sub-sets (and NO RANDALL, I DIDN’T get this info from either X-Files or Wiki).
So, Ro, your only gaffe is a matter of nomenclature, not one of fact.
****
From this moment forward, Randall does not occupy my world.
I don’t use wikipedia as an infallible or even reliable source. I use it as a convenient source.
Roberto Clemente
I wish Russell Brand was on this list.
Ray Bees: hahah
Roberto Clemente didn’t disappear it is well known he is dead
George Mallory was a famous disappearance, although technically he doesn’t count, as his body was found a few years ago atop Mt Everest.
Lord Lucan was also, although conspiracy theorists beleive he is alive and well in Australia somewhere
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On another note, the quality of the comments on the site has been in decline for several weeks. A lot of sniping and rubbish is appearing. Randall – pull your head in, your comments are usually smarter, as are others. Not everyone is American, we dont know the ins and outs of American judges, ect, however, 83% of Americans cant find my country on a map………………………………….
Spart, what is your country? Your nic makes me think of Sparta, so Greece, then you mention Australia…but only a 1 year could miss Australia.
Spart, I find it sad and ironic that you hold Randall in such high regard as he is one of the meanies who “snipes” and “talks rubbish” as you put it. Granted, I am new here, but it became painfully clear right away what a name-calling troll he can be. Can you find Idaho on a map? ;}
Maybe I’m being stupid and you know and are allowing this, but did you notice that this list is over here at http://fundivision.net/?p=938 (I got the link off of ebaumsworld)?
God, man look at that mole on Richie Edwards O_o
I dont remember, but wasnt there like a book on what REALLY happened to Hoffa?
Oh, I wanted to say this much earlier but didn’t want to hurt the author’s feelings but I have to now, for the sake of listverse.
Chronological order is rubbish because you want and expect to see the most sensational piece at the number 1 spot. A time frame spoils the list in my opinion. Numbering the lists should be the most exciting prospect after all, as you combine your own knowledge, research and countless of other factors to give others the pleasure of having everything done for them. Then they can enjoy and relish to the fullest their countdown of the top 10 where they know that it gets better and better as they scroll down.
That’s precisely what’s so mouth watery about top 10 lists
and this is listverse, the home of top 10 lists.
I’m from Australia, and you bet, I can find Idaho. Worked next door in BC and looked pretty seriously at a job in Seattle onetime.
TranquilHegemony
Trust me, I dont hold much regard for Randall, but ocaisionally he contributes a little that isn’t just rubbish.
spart, i actually agree. the more i see his comments, it’s aparent he’s a smart guy, but he has “smart guy syndrome” where he can’t just be smart, he has to be the smartest guy in the room at the expense of anyone and everyone else
i would love love love to live in seattle. i wish it would rain every day!
seque:
The OSS was the *WWII* predecessor of the CIA (and yes, there WERE some hefty differences) and did NOT exist when Amelia Earhart disappeared. Okay, so you didn’t get your info from Wikipedia… but you didn’t look hard enough, all the same.
Which seems typical of the way you toss your opinions around on this site…