Top 10 Creepiest Unsolved Disappearances of All Time
Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at the most frightening and unsettling disappearance cases that remain unsolved to this day.
Benjamin Bathurst
#42 on WM-History-Top-50-Creepiest-Disappearance-Stories_F2Z5N5
For centuries now, the disappearance of Benjamin Bathurst was viewed as an almost supernatural occurrence. The British diplomat was in Prussia during the Napoleonic Wars, traveling with his courier, Herr Krause. The story goes that Bathurst and Krause stopped at an inn to wait for new horses. When told that they were ready, Bathurst left the inn, followed shortly behind by Krause. But when Krause got outside mere seconds later, Bathurst was gone. His disappearance quickly became fodder for speculative fiction, the sudden nature of it leading to many fanciful ideas. However, modern historians believe that this story is highly exaggerated and that it’s very likely that Bathurst was murdered. Prussia was plagued by highway thieves at the time, and the diplomat wore expensive clothing.
Shelly Miscavige
#34 on original list
Back in 1982, Shelly Barnett married David Miscavige, the future leader of the Church of Scientology. David Miscavige has run the controversial Church since 1986, and Shelly often worked behind-the-scenes as his assistant. However, she has not been seen since 2007, leading many to believe that something nefarious is going on. In 2012, attorneys claimed that she was devoting her time to Scientology and no longer wished to appear in public. And the following year, ex-Scientologist Leah Remini filed a missing persons report, but it was closed within hours when the LAPD supposedly found and spoke with Miscavige. Regardless, many continue to question the narrative, and the Church has continuously refused to comment on her whereabouts.
The Fort Worth Missing Trio #19 on original list
Rachel Trlica, Renee Wilson, and Julie Ann Moseley were Christmas shopping in the Fort Worth, Texas Seminary South Shopping Center when they went missing. The girls failed to return to their respective homes, prompting their families to conduct a search. They found Trlica’s car in the parking lot and it contained multiple gifts, indicating that the girls had returned to the vehicle at some point. Nevertheless, the trio were nowhere to be seen. Trlica’s husband later received a letter presumably written by her, stating that they were “going to Houston” to “get away” and they’d be back in about a week. But they never showed up and have remained missing ever since. The families have since cast doubt on the letter’s authenticity.
Johnny Gosch #28 on Original list
On September 5th 1982, Johnny Gosch, a paperboy in West Des Moines, Iowa, disappeared during his morning paper route. Multiple witnesses reported seeing him speak with a mysterious man in a blue car shortly before he vanished, while another claimed they saw a silver car speeding away near the spot where Gosch’s paper wagon was left. The case has since gained widespread publicity, but authorities have made no headway in determining who took Gosch or what became of him. In 1997, his mother, Noreen, alleged that Gosch visited her briefly with an unidentified man, but left without revealing where he was going. The validity of this claim remains in doubt, and despite other unconfirmed sightings, Gosch is still officially missing.
Tara Calico #25 on original list
On June 15th 1989, a woman found a Polaroid photograph at a Florida convenience store. The picture showed a young woman and a boy, both bound and gagged, seemingly in the back of a van. Many believed the woman to be Tara Calico, who had vanished nearly one year earlier during her routine bike ride near her home in Belen, New Mexico. Neither she nor her bike were found, and authorities only recovered pieces of her Sony Walkman and a cassette tape along the trail. While Scotland Yard identified the woman in the picture as Calico, an FBI analysis proved inconclusive. Her whereabouts remain a mystery, but in 2023, the Valencia County Sheriff’s Office announced new leads in the case. Asha Degree #22 on original list
After putting their daughter, Asha, to bed on February 13th 2000, Harold and Iquilla Degree woke up the next morning to find her missing. There were no signs of forced entry, and Asha’s brother, O'Bryant, was asleep in his own bed. Strangely, it seemed she had packed a bag and simply walked out of the house. Around 4am, several motorists spotted her walking along a highway alone, and when one approached her, she fled into the woods, never to be seen again. Months later, Asha’s bag was found at a construction site, containing items that didn’t belong to her. For years, the case yielded no significant leads, until September 2024 when authorities classified her disappearance as a homicide, and named two suspects. Maura Murray #7 on original list
On February 9, 2004, Murray, a nursing student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, emailed her professors claiming that there’d been a death in the family. Her parents have since stated that no such death occurred. She looked into hotels in Vermont, loaded her car with clothing and toiletries, and packed up her belongings in boxes. After leaving campus, she purchased alcohol and withdrew $280 from an ATM. Murray crashed her car around 7:00 that night, and when police arrived at 7:45, she was nowhere to be found. The responding officer found a few suspect items in the car, including driving directions to Vermont and blank accident report forms. Of Murray herself there was, and has been, no trace. The Springfield Three
#6 on original list
This missing persons case, in which Sherrill Levitt, Stacy McCall, and Suzie Streeter all disappeared, has remained unsolved since 1992. The story begins at Levitt’s home in Springfield, Missouri, where the women spent the night after attending high school graduation parties. When a friend arrived at the house the next morning, all three were missing - despite their cars being parked outside. The friend found a broken porch light and she reportedly received an obscene phone call while there. Levitt’s dog was also visibly agitated. When McCall’s mother later arrived to investigate, she found a “strange” message on the answering machine, but this was accidentally deleted. Unfortunately, the crime scene was so badly contaminated that it prevented a proper investigation.
Amelia Earhart
#1 on original list
If there’s one unsolved story more popular than that of D.B. Cooper, it’s that of Amelia Earhart. Earhart was a popular and renowned aviator and the first woman to fly solo over the Atlantic. In 1937, she and navigator Fred Noonan attempted to circumnavigate the globe. However, they disappeared over the Pacific near Hawaii and were never heard from again. Countless theories have been put forth regarding their ultimate fate, but no consensus has ever been made. It’s most likely that Earhart and Noonan ran out of fuel and crashed into the Pacific while desperately looking for Howland Island. It’s a boring answer, but the most realistic often are.
The Sodders
