Mysterious Celebrity Disappearances That Have Yet To Be Explained

Published on March 22, 2023
Countless people disappear each year. Some end up being found, while others’ disappearances go on unexplained. It’s always especially fascinating when a well known person goes missing. Here are some recognized people who went missing and were never found. Their stories are truly incredible.

Theodosia Burr Alston

Many might have heard the name Theodosia Burr Alston in a song from the hit musical Hamilton, and she was the real-life daughter of Aaron Burr. After Burr was tried for treason, she fled the country. She got on a boat and was never seen again, with no confirmation of what happened to her.

Theodosia Burr Alston

Theodosia Burr Alston

Richey Edwards

Richey Rdwards was a Welsh musician who was the rhythm guitarist and lyricist for the band Manic Street Preachers. In February 1st, 1995 he disappeared. In 2008, his parents became the executors of his estate as he was presumed dead. He was 27 years old when he disappeared.

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Richey Edwards

Richey Edwards

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Harold Holt

Harold Holt was the 17th Prime Minister of Australia who was in office from 1966 until he disappeared in 1967. One day in December 1967 he decided to take a swim at the remote Chevriot Beach. Apparently while he was out in deep waters, he got caught in a rip and disappeared entirely. Despite an extensive search operation, he was never found.

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Harold Holt

Harold Holt

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Connie Converse

Connie Converse was a singer-songwriter who was active during the 1950’s in New York City. After becoming depressed and burnt out, she decided she wanted to embark on a new life in 1974 and she left her family home and was never seen again. Her music was not very well known until a 2004 radio show played her music and her album How Sad, How Lovely was released in 2009.

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Connie Converse

Connie Converse

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Jim Sullivan

Jim Sullivan was a singer, songwriter, and guitarist who worked in the industry and released two albums in the 1960’s. In 1975, he left Los Angeles and drove alone with the goal of reaching Nashville. However, he disappeared after last being seen in New Mexico. It is still unclear what happened to him.

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Jim Sullivan

Jim Sullivan

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Barbara Newhall Follett

Barbara Newhall Follett was a child prodigy novelist who published her fist novel The House Without Windows in January 1927 when she was only 12 years old. She published her next novel, The Voyage of Norman D., when she was 14. In 1939, when she was 25 years old, after she grew suspicious that her husband was being unfaithful to her, she became depressed and decided to walk out of her apartment, leaving her husband behind, and was never seen again.

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Barbara Newhall Follett

Barbara Newhall Follett

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Rico Harris

Rico Harris was a professional basketball player who played on International Basketball League teams as well as the Harlem Globetrotters. After engaging in a long distance relationship, Harris decided to move from California to Washington. However, he was last seen in Sacramento and was never seen again.

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Rico Harris

Rico Harris

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Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Antoine de Saint-Exupery was a French writer who is best known for his book The Little Prince. After he joined the Free French Air Force in North Africa, he disappeared while on a reconnaissance mission from Corsica. He disappeared on the mission that went from Corsica over the Mediterranean Sea in 1944.

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Antoine De Saint Exupery

Antoine De Saint Exupery

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Jim Thompson

Jim Thompson was an American businessman who helped revitalize the Thai silk industry between the 1950’s and 60’s. According to Time magainze, he “singlehandedly saved Thailand’s vital silk industry from extinction.” In March 1967, he disappeared from Malaysia’s Cameron Highlands, prompting one of the largest land search in Southeast Asian History, however he was never found.

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Jim Thompson

Jim Thompson

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John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan

John Binghamd was a British peer who was born into an aristocratic family, which is why he was the 7th Earl of Lucan. After his wife and their children’s nanny were attacked (the nanny was murdered), Lady Lucan identified her husband as the attacker. He quickly left their property and was never seen again.

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John Bingham, 17th Earl Of Lucan

John Bingham, 7th Earl Of Lucan

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Amelia Earhart

Amelia Earhart was a pioneer in the field of aviation as she was the first female aviator to fly across the Atlantic Ocean solo. She attempted to become the first woman to complete a circumnavigational flight of the globe in 1937. However, she and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over the Pacific Ocean and were never found again.

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Amelia Earhart

Amelia Earhart

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Glenn Miller

Glenn Miller was a big band trombonist, composer, and bandleader who was the best selling recording artist from 1939 until 1942. During World War II, Miller volunteered to join the U.S. military in order to entertain the troops. In December 1944, while flying over Paris, the aircraft he was in flew through bad weather, leading the plane to disappear over the English Channel.

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Glenn Miller

Glenn Miller

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Dorothy Arnold

Dorothy Arnold was a socialite and heiress who was the daughter of fine goods importer Francis R. Arnold. She grew up in an affluent family in Manhattan. In December 1910, she went to go shopping and was last seen on Fifth Avenue. She told her friend that she wanted to walk through Central Park before going home, and she disappeared that night. She was never seen again and the mystery of her disappearance was never solved.

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Dorothy Arnold

Dorothy Arnold

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Bison Dele

Bison Dele was a professional basketball player who played center for the Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Clippers, Detroit Pistons, Denver Nuggets, and Chicago Bulls. He won a championship with the Bulls in 1997. It is believed that he was killed by his brother Miles Dabord in 2002 and he disappeared on a catamaran in Tahiti.

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Bison Dele

Bison Dele

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Joe Pichler

Jor Pichler was a child actor who appeared in the third and fourth Beethoven movies. He was last seen in his car on January 9th, 2006 when he went missing. He was never seen again, and although there was a search operation, a body was never found.

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Joe Pichler

Joe Pichler

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Jean Spangler

American model, danger, and actress Jean Spangler appeared in several bit parts in Hollywood movies in the late 1940’s. On October 7th, 1949, she left her home in order to meet her ex-husband. She was last seen that day, but her purse was found two days later around Griffith Park. She was never found and no evidence has been uncovered since her disappearance.

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Jean Spangler

Jean Spangler

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Sean Flynn

Sean Flynn was an actor and photojournalist who was known for his work covering the Vietnam War. He was the son of actor Errol Flynn and actress Lili Damita. After traveling with US Army Special Forces in Cambodia in April 1970, he and fellow photojournalist Dana Stone were captured by guerrilla communist fighters. Neither was ever seen again.

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Sean Flynn

Sean Flynn

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Michael Rockefeller

Michael Rockefeller was the fifth son of New York Governor and Vice President Nelson Rockefeller. While on an expedition in the Asmat region of Netherlands New Guinea, he disappeared after his canoe overturned and he attempted to swim to shore. It’s unclear what happened to him, as his body was never found.

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Michael Rockefeller

Michael Rockefeller

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Ylenia Maria Sole Carrisi

Ylenia Maria Sole Carrisi was the daughter of actors Romina Power and Albano Carrisi. She was best known as the letter turner on the Italian version of Wheel of Fortune. While visiting New Orleans, she was said to have then planned to go to Mexico. However, she was last seen in the French Quarter of New Orleans and was never seen again.

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Ylenia Maria Sole Carrisi

Ylenia Maria Sole Carrisi

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Daniel Lind Lagerlöf

Daniel Lind Lagerlöf is a Swedish screenwriter, producer, and director who is presumed dead. He disappeared in October 2011 while preparing to film Fjällbackamorden – Strandriddaren. It is believed that he slipped on some rocks and pulled out to sea along steep cliffs in Bohuslän. No remains were found and there were no witnesses.

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Daniel Lind Lagerlöf

Daniel Lind Lagerlöf

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Scott Smith

Scott Smith was the bassist for Canadian rock band Loverboy, known for hits like “Working for the Weekend.” In November 2000, Smith was out sailing his boat when a huge wave swept him overboard. Despite efforts by the Coast Guard and a private company, he was not found.

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Scott Smith

Scott Smith

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“Sweet Jimmy” Robinson

Jim “Sweet Jimmy” Robinson was a boxer who is best known for fighting Muhammad Ali in Miami Beach in February 1961. He is currently missing and his whereabouts are unknown. He was last seen in 1967.

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“Sweet Jimmy” Robinson

“Sweet Jimmy” Robinson

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Oscar Zeta Acosta

Oscar Zeta Acosta was a Mexican-American novelist, attorney, and politician who was an activist in the Chicano Movement. He was good friends with writer Hunter S. Thompson and was featured as a character in Thompson’s book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas as Dr. Gonzo. During a 1974 trip to Mexico, he disappeared and was never found.

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Oscar Zeta Acosta

Oscar Zeta Acosta

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D.B. Cooper

D.B. Cooper is an epithet for the man who hijacked a Boeing 727 plane in the US between Portland and Seattle in November 1971. He collected ransom and a parachute which helped him leap to an unknown fate over Washington state. The crime remains unsolved and his identity remains unknown.

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D.B. Cooper

D.B. Cooper

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Roald Amundsen

Roald Amundsen was a Norwegian explorer of the polar regions. He was a central figure of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. While on an a rescue mission to help airship Italia in the Arctic, Amundsen disappeared. He was never found despite rescue mission efforts.

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Roald Amundsen

Roald Amundsen

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Jimmy Hoffa

Jimmy Hoffa was a labor union leader who was the president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters from 1957 until 1971. He became involved with organized crime, and it is believed that his 1975 disappearance was due to his being murdered by the Mafia, though this was never officially confirmed.

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Jimmy Hoffa

Jimmy Hoffa

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Patrick McDermott

Patrick McDermott was a cameraman who was the on and off partner of Olivia Newton-John. While on an overnight fishing trip on the cost of Los Angeles, he went missing. The US Coast Guard declared that he was likely lost at sea.

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Patrick McDermott

Patrick McDermott

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Slim Wintermute

Slim Wintermute was a professional basketball player who played for the Detroit Eagles from 1939 until 1940. While out on his yacht in October 1977, he went missing after his boat was found without him. He was never seen again.

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Slim Wintermute

Slim Wintermute

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Hale Boggs

Hale Boggs was a Democratic politician and a member of the US House of Representatives from New Orleans. In 1972, while he was still a majority leader, he was on a twin engine airplane traveling to Alaska with Alaska congressman Nick Begich when the plane disappeared. They were never found.

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Hale Boggs

Hale Boggs

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Ambrose Bierce

Ambrose Bierce was a short story writers, journalist, and Civil War vet whose book The Devil’s Dictionary was considered to be one of the “100 Greatest Masterpieces of American Literature.” In 1913, he told reporters that he was heading to Mexico to witness the Mexican Revolution. He then disappeared and was never seen again.

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Ambrose Bierce

Ambrose Bierce

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Weldon Kees

American poet, painter, novelist, jazz pianist, and filmmaker Kees was a highly influential artist. His book The Last Man is considered by Harold Bloom one of the most important works in Western Canon. He became quite disturbed and his family and friends began to worry about him. He was last seen in July 1955. His car was found on July 19th, totally abandoned and he was never seen again.

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Weldon Kees

Weldon Kees

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Zahir Raihan

Zahir Raihan was a Bangladeshi novelist, writer, and filmmaker best known for his focumentaly Stop Genocide, which he made in 1971 during the Bangladesh Liberation War. Raihan disappeared after his brother was captured and killed by the Pakitan army. It is believed that he was killed during the final days of the war.

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Zahir Raihan

Zahir Raihan

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Art Scholl

Art Scholl was an aerobatic pilot, aerial cameraman, flight instructor, and educator. While filming the movie Top Gun, he disappeared when his Pitts S-2 camera plane did not recover from a spin and it plunged right into the Pacific Ocean. He tried to capture this on film and went into the spin and the last words heard by him were “I have a problem, I have a real problem.” The plane crashed but neither the remains nor his body were ever found.

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Art Scholl

Art Scholl

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Licorice McKechnie

Christina “Licorice” McKechnie is a Scottish musician who was a part of the Incredible String Band between 1968 and 1972. In 1987, she decided to go hitch-hiking across the Arizona desert and has never been seen again.

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Licorice Mckechnie

Licorice McKechnie

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Hart Crane

Hart Crane was an American Poet who was highly inspired by T.S. Eliot. He has been hailed as one of the great poets by playwrights, poets, and literary critics like Tennessee Williams and Harold Bloom. He was severely depressed and addicted to alcohol, most likely because he struggled with being homosexual at a time when it was not accepted. While on steamship Orizaba, witnesses say he jumped overboard and exclaimed “goodbye, everybody!” His body was never found and his tombstone reads: “Harold Crane Hart 1899-1932, lost at sea.”

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Hart Crane

Hart Crane

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Ian MacKintosh

Ian MacKintosh was a British Royal Navy officer who was also a screenwriter for British TV, and a thriller novel writer. In July 1979, he went flying with two other people over the Gulf of Alaska. The plane disappeared after sending out a distress signal, and all three passengers were ever seen again.

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Ian MacKintosh

Ian MacKintosh

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Pierre Bianconi

Pierre Bianconi was a French professional soccer player who played as defender. In December 1993, when he was just 31 years old, Bianconi went missing. His car was found on the port of Bastia in Corsica, but he was never seen again.

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Pierre Bianconi

Pierre Bianconi

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Forrest Schab

Forrest Schab, best known by his stage name DY, is a Canadian rapper from Vancouver. In November 2010, DY went missing while in Mexico. He has still not been found, and there has been speculation that his disappearance is connected to drugs and organized crime.

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Forrest Schab

Forrest Schab

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John Brisker

John Brisker was an American professional basketball player from Detroit who played for the Pittrburgh Pipers/Condors, Seattle SuperSonics, nad Cherry Hill Rookies. In 1978, he traveled to Uganda to launch an “import-export business.” He was never heard from again, and nobody knows what happened to him.

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John Brisker

John Brisker

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Philip Taylor Kramer

Philip Taylor Kramer was a bass guitar player for the band Iron Butterfly who played with them from 1974 until 1980. He later became a computer science engineering executive and inventor. He disappeared in February 1995, launching a massive investigation. In 1999, his Ford Aerostar minivan as well as his remains were found, but it is unclear what happened to him.

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Philip Taylor Kramer

Philip Taylor Kramer

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