20 Famous Disappearances That Baffle Investigators

Eight years ago this week, Crystal Rogers disappeared without a trace. The Louisville, Kentucky, mother of five, vanished from her car that had a flat tire, leaving her keys, purse, and wallet inside. On July 3, state police attracted national attention by telling local reporters they were still committed to solving the mystery. At the same time, the mysterious reappearance of 25-year-old Rudy Farias of Houston, Texas—who had allegedly been missing since he was 17—had journalists, investigators, and news junkies scratching their heads. Missing people capture the public imagination, and it's easy to see why. We expect life to follow a logical order with ready explanations, and there is so much we can't know about people who just seem to vanish. As much as we learn, so many mysteries remain. These are 20 famous disappearances that continue to totally baffle investigators.  

In perhaps the most famous unsolved disappearance of all time, the trailblazing aviator vanished in July 1937 while attempting to fly around the world. Earhart and her navigator were last seen in New Guinea during a fueling stop; they are presumed to have crashed in the Pacific the next day. The wreckage has never been found. But nearly a century later, Earhart's plight continues to attract rumors and conspiracy theories that have been debunked. Experts are no closer to determining what really happened to her.  

Probably second in notoriety to the disappearance of Amelia Earhart is the vanishing of American labor union leader Jimmy Hoffa. The onetime Teamsters head disappeared without a trace in 1975. Entangled with organized crime from the early days of his career, in 1967 Hoffa was sentenced to 13 years in prison on a raft of charges including bribery and fraud. He was released in 1971, only to disappear four years later, presumably murdered by the Mafia. 

In what's perhaps America's first viral missing persons case, a group who attempted to establish the first permanent English settlement in North America vanished without a trace in the late 16th century. In 1585, 112 to 121 colonists settled on Roanoke Island in what is now North Carolina. When a ship arrived to check on them in 1590, they had disappeared. The only clue was the word "Croatoan" carved into a tree. The settlers' fates are unknown to this day. Historians speculate they may have assimilated with local Native American tribes, or simply been massacred. But multiple archeological investigations through the years have failed to determine exactly what happened to what's called "the Lost Colony."  

On Nov. 24, 1971, an unidentified man hijacked a flight bound from Portland, Oregon, to Seattle. He said he carried a suitcase bomb and would blow up the plane unless he received $200,000 in ransom and four parachutes when the flight landed in Seattle. His demands were met, the plane's passengers were released in Seattle, and after the plane took off again, the man parachuted out over the Pacific Northwest. The man's ticket was issued to "Dan Cooper," which a newspaper reporter erroneously relayed as "D.B. Cooper." Regardless, he was never found.

In a case that has utterly baffled authorities for nearly two decades, Ohio State University medical student Brian Shaffer vanished from a bar near campus at the beginning of spring break on Mar. 31, 2006. At closing time, friends Shaffer had accompanied to the bar waited for him outside, but he never appeared. The areas inside and outside the bar were thoroughly monitored by security cameras; they captured Shaffer entering the bar, but none recorded him leaving. Investigators theorized he might have vanished to grieve his recently deceased mother, or to escape the pressures of his medical program and an increasingly serious relationship. But three years later, Shaffer's father died, and he failed to reappear or communicate with the family. The case remains open. 

One of the earliest missing person cases to intrigue the public, British diplomat Benjamin Bathurst vanished in Prussia during the Napoleonic Wars in 1809. After he disappeared from a carriage during a mission to Hamburg, press coverage was so heated that the episode became folklore. Some accounts attributed Bathurst's vanishing to supernatural forces, and he became a popular figure in science fiction. In reality, experts say, he was probably murdered. 

The British aristocrat Richard John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan, disappeared on Nov. 8, 1974, after the murder of his children's nanny. The dashing earl—so dashing he had reportedly been considered to be the first cinematic James Bond—had three children with his beautiful blonde wife in a sprawling London townhouse (and no apparent need to work). But their marriage broke up in 1972, and Lord Lucan and his wife fought a tough custody battle, which he lost. In 1974, the children's nanny was bludgeoned to death in the kitchen, and Lucan's estranged wife was injured in the attack. She named the attacker as Lord Lucan. By the time police issued a warrant for his arrest three days later, Lucan had vanished. A jury convicted him of the nanny's murder the next year, but he was never seen again. He was pronounced legally dead in 1999. 

The 18-year-old college student vanished from a UCLA dorm in December 1999 under baffling circumstances. Friends saw him playing an online video game in the dorm around 4 am, but when his roommate woke the next morning at 9 am, Negrete was gone, having left his wallet, keys, shoes, clothes, and musical instruments behind. Police initially said search dogs traced the teen's scent to a bus stop across campus; they later said that was inaccurate. Tips about a mysterious stranger seen in the dorm around 4:35 that morning came to nothing. The campus was thoroughly searched, and almost 500 leads were pursued by investigators and Negrete's anxious family. But almost 25 years later, the case has gone stone-cold.  

In 1961, the 23-year-old son of New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller—himself the son of John D., at one point the richest man in the world—disappeared in 1961 during an anthropological expedition in New Guinea. Michael had hoped to find native works to feature at his parents' new Museum of Primitive Art. But his boat overturned, and no trace of him was ever found, despite a two-week search by land and sea, involving thousands of locals. "The official cause of Michael's death was drowning, but there had long been a multitude of rumors," Smithsonian magazine reported. "He'd been kidnapped and kept prisoner. He'd gone native and was hiding out in the jungle. He'd been consumed by sharks. He'd made it to shore, only to be killed and eaten." His story inspired an off-Broadway play, a novel, a pop song, and the '80s TV show In Search Of…, hosted by Leonard Nimoy. 

It's perhaps the music world's most infamous vanishing—Richey Edwards, the 27-year-old guitarist and lyricist for the up-and-coming British band Manic Street Preachers, disappeared on Feb. 1, 1995, the day before the band was to depart for a tour of the U.S. It was discovered that in the days leading up to his disappearance, he had withdrawn small amounts of money from his bank account each day, and gave a friend the book Novel with Cocaine, telling her to read the introduction, in which the author described staying in a mental asylum before disappearing. Two weeks later, Edwards' car was discovered in a parking lot near a well-known "suicide bridge," so it was assumed he had taken his own life. In the intervening years, Edwards has been "spotted" in various places around the world; none of the sightings have been validated (or conclusively dismissed, either). 

In a disappearance that rocked the music world two generations earlier, '40s-era bandleader Glenn Miller disappeared during a flight in 1944 while serving in World War II. During three years starting in 1939, Miller racked up 16 No. 1 records and 69 top-40 hits, more than Elvis Presley or the Beatles. In 1942, he enlisted in the Air Force at the age of 38 to bring entertainment to troops fighting overseas. On Dec. 14, 1944, he boarded a three-seater plane in London alongside a lieutenant and pilot so he could organize concerts for troops in France. The plane vanished shortly after takeoff; no sign of the craft or its occupants were ever found.

The 18-year-old American teenager disappeared during a post-graduation trip to Aruba in 2005, inspiring years of press coverage but few answers. She was last seen by friends in a car outside a local bar with three local residents, including Joran Van der Sloot, who was to become the primary suspect. The men said they dropped Holloway at her hotel and had no idea what happened to her after that. Holloway's remains were never found, but she was declared legally dead in 2012. On June 8 of this year, Van der Sloot (who is serving a 28-year sentence for murdering Peruvian Stephany Flores) was extradited to the United States to face trial for extortion and wire fraud linked to Holloway's disappearance. 

In 1978, the 20-year-old Australian disappeared after reporting an encounter with a UFO while at the controls of a Cessna 182. On the evening of Oct. 21, Valentich radioed Melbourne air traffic control to report he was being followed by an aircraft at about 4,500 feet. He said it passed over him and had "four blinding lights," and that he had begun to experience engine problems. Valentich was told no known aircraft were on radar at that level. Asked to identify the type of vessel, he said, "It's not an aircraft." Soon after, all communication from his plane was lost. Neither he nor his aircraft were ever seen again. Conspiracy theorists suggest Valentich was abducted by a UFO; aviation authorities posit that Valentich—who had been rejected from the Australian Air Force and repeatedly flunked aspects of flight training—had become disoriented and saw the reflections of his own plane in the water while flying upside down. 

On Dec. 17, 1967, the prime minister of Australia vanished while swimming. A massive search-and-rescue operation was immediately launched in the area, his body was never found. Holt was presumed to have drowned, but the lack of closure allowed conspiracy theories to foster, including that he was a spy for China and had been spirited away to parts unknown by a submarine. 

In a case that has fascinated worldwide tabloids for years, three-year-old Madeleine McCann vanished from a Portuguese resort in 2007. The toddler was on vacation with her British parents, her two-year-old twin siblings, and a group of family friends and their children. Madeline disappeared from the family's hotel room while the adults were having dinner in a nearby restaurant. Called "the most heavily reported missing-person case in modern history," 15 years of investigations—including one opened by the UK's Home Office, the equivalent of the US Department of Homeland Security—haven't conclusively determined what happened to her. The case still draws major tabloid coverage to this day, with outlets like the Daily Mail reporting on new theories and developments like "Key witness speaks for first time" as recently as this week.

Gricar served as the district attorney of Centre County, Pennsylvania, from 1985 to April 2005, when he was reported missing after failing to return home from a road trip. On April 15, his abandoned car was found in the parking lot of a local antique store. That summer, his laptop and its hard drive were later discovered in two different places in the nearby Susquehanna River. Investigators have never determined what happened to him. They theorize he may have committed suicide (which his older brother had, nearby, a decade earlier); met with foul play related to a case; or disappeared to start a new life. In December 2004, Gricar had announced plans to retire—from both the DA's office and the practice of law—in December 2005. His girlfriend and adult children said he seemed happy and looked forward to enjoying retirement.

Too often, people who are missing are never found. That's why this month's story out of Houston, Texas, was initially shocking—then just got more so. In 2015, 17-year-old Rudolph "Rudy" Farias was reported missing by his mother; she said he vanished while out walking his dogs. On July 3, it was reported that Rudy had been found after eight years. Then local TV stations started digging, and neighbors told them Rudy had been living at home the entire time. Why was he reported missing? Was he ever truly gone? Like anyone following the story, investigators are currently baffled but say answers are forthcoming.

The most infamous royal disappearance is undoubtedly the nearly 600-year-old story of the Princes in the Tower—a mystery that might be approaching an answer. In 1483, 12-year-old Edward V and his nine-year-old brother, Richard of Shrewsbury, were locked in the Tower of London, purportedly so their uncle, the Duke of Gloucester, could claim the throne for himself as Richard III. They were never seen again. Shakespeare himself theorized that Richard III had the youngsters murdered. That hasn't been proven, but answers one way or the other may be forthcoming. King Charles recently signaled he will allow DNA testing to be done on the remains of two children found in the Tower in the 1600s and two found on the grounds of Windsor Castle in the 1700s—an investigation Queen Elizabeth consistently blocked during her reign.  

In 1950, 21-year-old Richard Colvin Cox became the only cadet ever to disappear from the famed military academy at West Point, New York. He vanished after being visited twice by a mysterious man named George, who claimed to have known him in Germany. (After high school, Cox had served in the Army overseas.) Officials called the vanishing "beyond alarming," but nothing came of their investigation, or other inquiries by the FBI and various journalists over the past 73 years. A prep school classmate made a provocative claim that Cox was deliberately avoiding his family. Some posit that Cox was gay and escaped to start a new life. Others suggest he was recruited by the CIA because of his experience overseas. There's no conclusive evidence that either scenario—or any other—is the truth. 

Arnold, a wealthy 25-year-old New York socialite and heiress, vanished on Dec. 12, 1910. The aspiring writer was depressed after receiving two rejections from magazines and had recently asked her father if she could move from the family's uptown home to Greenwich Village to work on her craft. He shut down her request, saying "A good writer can write anywhere." On Dec. 12, Arnold went shopping for a dress (with plenty of cash on hand) and chatted with a friend, whom she told she planned to walk in Central Park. Arnold never returned home. A wide range of theories were floated to explain her disappearance—including suicide, murder, an accident resulting in amnesia, death after an illegal abortion, or escape to live a creative life—but no answer surfaced. Her mother's 1928 obituary called the search for Dorothy "the really great search of the age, and one that did much to develop modern newspaper 'police' coverage."