20 Historical People Who Vanished Without a Trace

D.B. Cooper

In 1971, an unidentified man calling himself Dan Cooper boarded a Northwest Orient flight carrying a briefcase he claimed contained a bomb. After taking control of the aircraft, he demanded $200,000 and four parachutes. Once the money was delivered and the passengers released, the plane took off again. Cooper then ordered the crew to fly low and slow through the night, with the Boeing 727’s rear airstair lowered in flight. That unusual design feature gave him a way to jump from the aircraft into the wilderness below. Somewhere over the forests of the Pacific Northwest, he parachuted into the night and was never seen again. The FBI spent decades chasing suspects and searching remote terrain, but no definitive answer was ever found.

Belle Gunness

Nicknamed Hell’s Belle, Belle Gunness built a deadly reputation by luring lonely men to her Indiana farm with promises of love and marriage. Many arrived carrying their life savings and were never seen again. In 1908, however, the tables appeared to turn when her farmhouse burned to the ground. Investigators discovered several bodies, including headless remains believed to be Belle's. But the corpse was noticeably smaller than the notoriously large woman, raising immediate doubts about its identity. Her lover and farmhand, Ray Lamphere, later claimed Belle had staged her own death after learning that one of her victims' brothers was coming to investigate. Reported sightings continued for years, but none were ever confirmed. Whether she died in the fire or escaped remains hotly debated.

Solomon Northup

Once a free Black man living in New York, Solomon Northup was kidnapped in 1841 and sold into slavery. He endured twelve harrowing years in the American South before finally regaining his freedom. Northup later published “Twelve Years a Slave,” a bestselling memoir exposing slavery's horrors, turning him into a prominent public abolitionist speaker. Then, in 1857, a Canadian newspaper reported he'd been jeered off a lecture stage, and he simply vanished from the historical record. Some historians believe Northup likely died sometime in the early 1860s, but no death certificate or verified account of his final years has ever surfaced. Other theories suggest he drank himself into obscurity, was kidnapped a second time, or died anonymously in a potter's field.

Judge Joseph Force Crater

As a New York Supreme Court justice, Joseph Force Crater was one of the city's most recognizable public figures. On the evening of August 6, 1930, after dinner with friends at a Manhattan chophouse, he stepped into a cab outside and was never seen again. Just days earlier, he'd cleared out his safe deposit box and withdrawn thousands in cash, fueling theories of a planned disappearance. Detectives chased leads through organized crime, gambling rings, Tammany Hall corruption, and rumored mistresses, but nothing stuck—no body, no confirmed sighting, nothing, for 75 years. In 2005, police revealed a woman's deathbed note claiming her husband and a corrupt cop murdered Crater and buried him beneath the Coney Island boardwalk. Even that lead went nowhere.

Gaspar Corte-Real

This Portuguese explorer was among the first Europeans to explore parts of North America's northeastern coastline. In 1501, Gaspar Corte-Real led an expedition to the region around present-day Newfoundland in search of new trade routes and riches. After dividing his fleet with plans to reunite before sailing home, two of the ships safely returned to Portugal. Corte-Real's vessel never did. Hoping to find his missing brother, Miguel Corte-Real mounted a rescue expedition the following year, only to disappear himself. Despite repeated efforts, neither man was ever found. Historians have suggested everything from shipwrecks and violent storms to attacks or starvation after reaching shore. Others believe Miguel may have survived longer. More than five centuries later, the fate of the brothers remains a mystery.

Raoul Wallenberg

Thanks to this hero, many lives were saved during World War II. Stationed in Nazi-occupied Budapest, Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg issued protective passports and established safe houses, rescuing tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews from deportation. But then, in January 1945, as Soviet forces captured the city, Wallenberg was arrested on suspicion of espionage and taken into custody. He was never seen by the outside world again. Twelve years later, Soviet authorities claimed he’d died of a heart attack in prison in 1947, but offered little evidence to support that conclusion. Former prisoners later reported seeing someone matching his description years afterward, fueling speculation that he survived much longer. Though a 1991 document concluded he was likely executed, his ultimate fate remains officially unresolved.

Louis Le Prince

Had history unfolded differently, Louis Le Prince might be remembered as the father of cinema instead of one of its greatest mysteries. The French inventor created one of the earliest motion-picture cameras and was preparing to premiere his work in New York. In September 1890, after stopping at his brother's home in Dijon, he boarded a train for Paris and simply disappeared. Neither he nor his luggage was ever found. Despite exhaustive searches by French police, Scotland Yard, and his family, he was nowhere to be seen. Theories have ranged from a patent war with Thomas Edison, to fratricide over his mother's inheritance, to accidental drowning in the Seine. Declared dead in 1897, Le Prince disappeared just as the medium he trailblazed was being born.

Percy Fawcett

This British explorer spent years mapping the Amazon, becoming convinced that an ancient civilization once flourished deep within the jungle. Percy Fawcett called the mythical settlement the Lost City of Z. In 1925, Fawcett, his son Jack, and Jack's friend Raleigh Rimmell set out to find it. Before leaving, Fawcett warned that no rescue mission should follow if they failed to return. His last letter to his wife, Nina, became his final message. When the Royal Geographical Society declared them lost in 1927, Fawcett’s request was ignored. Numerous expeditions entered the Brazilian rainforest searching for the trio. Many searchers perished or disappeared. Countless theories emerged, from attacks by Indigenous groups to disease, starvation, or voluntary isolation. None have ever been proven.

Ambrose Bierce

Known for his razor-sharp wit and dark sense of humor, Ambrose Bierce was already a literary legend before he vanished. In 1913, at the age of 71, the celebrated American writer traveled to revolutionary Mexico to witness the conflict involving Pancho Villa's forces firsthand. After sending several letters describing his journey, Bierce disappeared. His final letter, dated December 26, 1913, closed with the haunting line: "I leave here tomorrow for an unknown destination." Indeed, his final destination became unknown, and no reliable witness could confirm his fate. Some believe he was executed, while others think he died from illness or bandits in the remote countryside. However he met his end, Bierce left behind one final mystery worthy of his own stories.

Michael Rockefeller

Born into one of America's wealthiest families, Michael Rockefeller could’ve lived a life of comfort. Instead, the young anthropologist was drawn to adventure. In 1961, while collecting Indigenous art in Dutch New Guinea, his catamaran capsized several miles offshore. After drifting for hours, Rockefeller reportedly told his companion, René Wassing, he could make it before swimming toward land. Wassing was rescued the next day, but Rockefeller would never be seen again. Dutch authorities conducted an extensive air and sea search, but no trace of Rockefeller was found. The official conclusion was drowning, though another enduring theory claims he reached shore only to be killed by members of the Asmat tribe. Rockefeller was legally declared dead in 1964, and his fate remains one of history’s greatest mysteries.

Henry Hudson

Henry Hudson was a 17th century explorer who devoted his life to finding the Northwest Passage to Asia, a pursuit that led him and his crew to discover Hudson Bay in 1610. This expedition turned out to be his last however, as Hudson’s crew mutinied when he tried to push on after many failed attempts to find the passage. His crew, wanting to give up and return home, eventually kicked the explorer off the ship and left him and 8 others in a small boat in the middle of Hudson Bay. Hudson was never seen again, and the fate of that vessel remains unknown to this day.

Sean Flynn

The son of Golden Age actors Errol Flynn and Lili Damita, Sean Flynn tried the silver screen, but found success in photojournalism, becoming known for his coverage of the Vietnam War. During his short career, he survived parachuting into war zones and injuries from exploding grenades . . . but on April 6, 1970, his luck ran out. After a press conference, he and fellow journalist Dana Stone set out on motorcycles to photograph Viet Cong at a highway checkpoint, and were never seen again. The most popular theory is that he was handed over to the Khmer Rouge and executed, but to date his remains have never been found.

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Best known for his children’s novella “The Little Prince”, French writer and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry disappeared on more than one occasion. In 1935, he crashed into the Libyan desert, inspiring the events of his cherished novella. Although he lived to fly another day, he went missing again while on a reconnaissance mission during World War II. He was last seen taking off from Corsica on July 31, 1944, in an unarmed Lockheed P-38, which he would often pilot reading and writing at the same time. Over fifty years later, his bracelet was found by a fisherman, and remnants of his aircraft were discovered on the seabed, confirming that he’d crashed into the Mediterranean.

Bison Dele

Basketball player Bison Dele was known as an eccentric, who retired from the NBA at the peak of his career to travel the world. In 2002 he embarked on a sailing trip with his girlfriend, brother, and a skipper aboard his boat the Hakuna Matata. His brother, Miles Dabord, returned to Tahiti alone, and later forged Dele’s signature to purchase $152,000 worth of gold. Dabord told police that Dele’s girlfriend was accidentally killed during a scuffle between the brothers, so Dele killed the skipper, and Dabord shot Dele. The FBI concluded that Dele was likely murdered, but Dabord overdosed on insulin before further questioning.

Richey Edwards

Richey Edwards was one odd dude, known for being the enigmatic but massively respected lyricist and rhythm guitarist of the punkish alt rock band Manic Street Preachers. Edwards disappeared on February 1, 1995 but was reportedly spotted around Newport by fans and a taxi driver who weren’t aware that he was considered missing. His lived-in Vauxhall Cavalier was later found abandoned by the Severn Bridge, a well-known spot for taking one’s own life, leading many to believe that he’d killed himself. However, people close to Edwards disputed the idea, saying he wasn’t the type, and there've been numerous supposed sightings of the musician since. Despite the optimism, he was officially presumed dead in 2008.

Lord Lucan

British noble Richard Bingham, the 7th Earl of Lucan, was almost James Bond - both on the silver screen and in living an expensive, reckless lifestyle. He drove an Aston Martin, raced power boats, and was a skilled gambler. Despite this, he actually turned down the role of 007 in the 1960s. When his marriage deteriorated in 1972, he became obsessed with regaining custody over his three children. Their nanny was later found bludgeoned to death; his wife named Lucan the assailant. He was last seen on November 8, 1974 driving away from his friend’s house in a borrowed car. Some believe he fled the country; others that he took his own life; but we’ll probably never know.

Harold Holt

They say political waters are treacherous. But for Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt, the literal waters of Victoria’s Cheviot Beach in Portsea were the real worry. On December 17, 1967, Holt and a friend jumped in for a dip. The sea was rough that day however and Holt was soon pulled out to sea by an undertow. In a bizarre coincidence, Holt had once asked his press secretary: “what are the odds of a prime minister being drowned or taken by a shark?” Apparently, they’re the same as for everyone else; although British journalist Anthony Grey theorized Holt had defected to China and been whisked away in a submarine, he was never seen again.

Glenn Miller

A musical prodigy of the swing era, big band trombonist and bandleader Glenn Miller had a whopping 59 top ten hits. For perspective, that’s almost double the career total of the Beatles. On December 15, 1944, Miller was set to fly from the UK to Paris to entertain the troops, but his UC-64 Norseman disappeared without a trace over the English Channel. Experts later hypothesized that the plane’s carburetor froze in the nasty weather, which prevented fuel from reaching the engine which, when coupled with the bad weather, resulted in the plane’s presumed crash.

Jimmy Hoffa

When it comes to unsolved disappearances, Jimmy Hoffa is easily one of the most infamous. A popular union leader who served as President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters from 1957 to 1971, Hoffa was critical in bringing the idea of unions to the mainstream. He was also linked to organized crime however, and spent several years behind bars. When tensions arose between Hoffa and two Mafia leaders after his release, Hoffa agreed to a meeting at a restaurant - but never returned. His unlocked car was found in the parking lot the next morning. While the case remains open, many suspect that Hoffa was assassinated by the mob.

Amelia Earhart

Did she crash? Get captured by the Japanese? Or just change her name and move to New Jersey? All these years later, and the fate of the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic is still debated. On her second attempt to circumnavigate the globe in 1937, Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan vanished over the Pacific, somewhere in the vicinity of Howland Island. Some think she crashed and sank; others that she survived, only to be marooned on a deserted island, imprisoned by hostile forces, or to spend the rest of her life incognito. The mystery endures, and probably will forever.

Which disappearance shocked you the most? Let us know in the comment section.