List of people who disappeared mysteriously: 1910–1990

This is a list of people who disappeared mysteriously: 1910–1990 or whose deaths or exact circumstances thereof are not substantiated. Many people who disappear end up declared presumed dead and some of these people were possibly subjected to forced disappearance.

This list is a general catch-all; for specialty lists, see Lists of people who disappeared.

1910s

DatePerson(s)AgeMissing fromCircumstancesRefs.
1910Burt Alvord32–33Central AmericaAn American lawman-turned-outlaw, Alvord had been a Cochise County, Arizona deputy, but had turned to crime—primarily train robbery—by the early 1900s. He was last seen in 1910 working as a Panama Canal employee. Alvord's ultimate fate is unknown.[1]
c. 12 July 1910Alexander Pfitzner29Marblehead, Massachusetts, U.S.Hungarian-American engineer and aviation pioneer who designed and flew the first monoplane to be built in the United States. Reported as suicidal due to his lack of commercial success, Pfitzner is said to have committed suicide in Marblehead Harbor on 12 July 1910. His body was never found, and there were rumoured sightings of him in New York City in September.[2]
12 December 1910Dorothy Arnold25New York City, New York, U.S.Manhattan socialite and perfume heiress Dorothy Arnold vanished after buying a book in New York City. She intended to walk through Central Park but was never seen again.[3]
March 1912Sebastiano DiGaetanoc. 50New York City, New York, U.S.DiGaetano disappeared shortly after stepping down as boss of the Bonanno crime family. It is believed that he and his wife returned to Italy, but not known for certain.[4]
23 August 1912Bobby Dunbar4St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, U.S.Bobby Dunbar disappeared during a fishing trip. A child found in the custody of William Cantwell Walters of Mississippi eight months later was ruled to be Bobby Dunbar by a court-appointed arbiter, and Walters was found guilty of kidnapping. The child grew up as Bobby Dunbar, had four children of his own, and died in 1966. In 2004, DNA tests proved that the child found was not related to Bobby's brother, Alonzo.[5]
December 1913Ambrose Bierce71Chihuahua, MexicoThe American writer known for An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and The Devil's Dictionary was supposedly last heard from in a letter of December 1913 to his secretary and companion, Carrie Christiansen. Theories of his demise are plentiful; some claim that he perished in war-torn Mexico or perhaps was executed as a spy in the municipal cemetery of Sierra Mojada, Coahuila, where a gravestone bearing his name was erected in 2004. Professional American skeptic Joe Nickell, however, has concluded that Bierce deliberately misled the public about his destination, and that Bierce actually went to the Grand Canyon where he committed suicide.[6][7][8][9]
16 January 1914F. Lewis Clark52Santa Barbara, California, U.S.Clark, a prominent industrialist from the U.S. state of Idaho, disappeared on a business trip to Santa Barbara, California.[10]
c. March 1914Alejandro Bello Silva27ChileA lieutenant in the Chilean Army, Bello disappeared during a qualifying examination flight over central Chile that was to be his final flight. At some point during the flight, Bello became lost in the clouds and was never seen again. Although search efforts commenced within hours, no trace of him or his aircraft was ever found.[11]
September 1914František Gellner33Zamość, Austrian Galicia, Austria-HungaryThe Czech poet, short story writer, artist and anarchist was reported missing on 13 September 1914.[12]
25 January 1915Arthur Lang24Cuinchy, FranceThe English first-class cricketer and serviceman of the Grenadier Guards was reported missing in action on 25 January 1915 during the First World War, presumably killed.[13]
12 August 1915Frank Beck54Gallipoli, TurkeyA land agent for the British royal family and volunteer leader of a company, Beck and many of his men went missing during the Gallipoli campaign. His body was never identified.[14]
February 1916David M. Kelly75Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.Kelly, an American lawyer, politician, and Civil War veteran who was earlier in his life the 29th speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly, was last seen at his law office in Boston and was thought to be taking a train home to his residence in Sharon, Massachusetts. He was never found, despite an intensive search by hired detectives.[15]
18 July 1916Eric Milroy28Delville Wood, FranceMilroy, a rugby union player who represented Scotland and Watsonians, was commissioned in the Black Watch at the start of World War I, but went missing on 18 July 1916, presumably killed. According to his great nephew, Milroy's mother never believed he was dead, and left the lights on in the house at night should he ever return.[16]
8 August 1916Oscar Linkson28Guillemont, FranceLinkson, an English footballer enlisted in the 1st Football Battalion to fight in France, went missing in a battle to seize Guillemont Station during the Battle of the Somme. His body was never found.[17]
14 September 1916Luigi Forlano32Villanova, Austrian Littoral, Austria-HungaryForlano, an Italian footballer and founding partner of the Juventus Football Club, fought as captain of the Bersaglieri during the First World War. He went missing in Villanova (today Nova Vas nad Dragonjo, Slovenia) while combating Austrian forces, and his remains were never recovered.[18]
28 July 1917Ellis Vair Reid27Ypres, BelgiumA Canadian RAF World War I flying ace credited with 19 victories, Reid's aircraft disappeared over Ypres while flying with the No. 10 (Naval) Squadron. His remains were never found.[19]
11 September 1917Georges Guynemer22Poelcappelle, BelgiumGeorges Guynemer was a French World War I flying ace who mysteriously disappeared on 11 September 1917 in Poelcappelle, Belgium. Reported missing in action on failing to return from a combat flying mission, Guynemer was never seen or heard from again.[20]
27 October 1917Arthur Rhys-Davids20Roeselare, West Flanders, BelgiumA British flying ace and veteran of the Third Battle of Ypres, Rhys-Davids was reported missing in action on 27 October 1917. His aircraft was last seen over the Belgian city of Roeselare.[21]
27 May 1918William Fiske32Aisne, FranceAn English professional football goalkeeper and a sergeant in the Border Regiment, Fiske went missing during the Third Battle of the Aisne. His remains were never recovered.[22]
27 May 1918Rudolf Windisch21Gouvrelles, FranceWorld War I flying ace Windisch was reportedly captured as a prisoner of war in a French prison. Reports differed on his status, with some rumors claiming that he died in captivity. He was never seen again and his true fate is unknown.[23]
June 1918Knud Andersen51EnglandDanish zoologist Knud Andersen mysteriously disappeared in June 1918. His colleague Oldfield Thomas submitted his final manuscript on his behalf, stating that Andersen expected "to be absent from his scientific work for some time."[24]
5 June 1918Charles Quette23FranceQuette, a French World War I flying ace credited with ten confirmed and five unconfirmed aerial victories, disappeared five days after being temporarily promoted to sous lieutenant.[25]
28 July 1918Antoine Cordonnier26FranceCordonnier, a French World War I flying ace credited with five aerial victories, disappeared six months after transferring to Escadrille 15.[26]
14 August 1918Herbert Gould26Douai, FranceGould was a British World War I flying ace credited with six aerial victories. He and his gunner/observer, Second Lieutenant Ewart William Frederick Jinman, were reported missing in action near Douai, France, on 14 August 1918.[27]
3 September 1918Arnaldo Berni24Punta San Matteo, County of Tyrol, Austria-HungaryBerni, a Royal Italian Army soldier noted for using his mountaineering skills to repel the Austro-Hungarian Army, was declared missing in action during the Battle of San Matteo.[28]
2 June 1919Mansell Richard James25Tyringham, Massachusetts, U.S.Canadian flying ace James was last seen in western Massachusetts on 2 June, just days after a record-setting flight between Atlantic City and Boston.[29]
2 December 1919Ambrose Small56Toronto, CanadaThe Canadian millionaire disappeared from his office. He was last seen at 5:30 pm on 2 December 1919 at the Grand Opera House.[30]

1920s

DatePerson(s)AgeMissing fromCircumstancesRefs.
1920Homer Lemay6Waukesha, Wisconsin, U.S.Lemay disappeared in 1920, and on 8 March 1921 the body of an unidentified boy was found murdered in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and nicknamed Little Lord Fauntleroy. Many years later authorities said that the body might have been that of Lemay.[31]
1 April 1920Alexander Trishatny50Russian SFSRTrishatny, a Russian politician and founding member of the Union of the Russian People, was detained and disappeared by Cheka authorities on 1 April 1920.[32]


21 April 1920Sergei Trishatny55Petrograd, Russian SFSRA founding member of the Union of the Russian People, Sergei Trishatny was detained by Cheka authorities on 17 January 1920 for his connection to the monarchist party. He escaped from a detention camp in Petrograd on 1 April, the same day his younger brother Alexander was detained. The Cheka officially added him to their wanted list on 21 April. His ultimate fate is unknown.[33]
c. September 1920Clayton Kratz23Molotschna, UkraineThe Mennonite relief worker from the U.S. state of Pennsylvania left the U.S. on 1 September 1920 to travel to Russia. While there, he was arrested by military authorities at the village of Halbstadt, likely on suspicion of being a spy. He was held with other political prisoners and later transferred; his fate after that is unknown.[34]
September 1920Yakiv Sukhovolski39-40Millerovo, Ukrainian SSRYakiv Sukhovolski was a Ukrainian writer and anarcho-syndicalist who went missing from Millerovo, Ukrainian SSR in September 1920. Whatever became of him is unknown.[35]
28 September 1920Victor Grayson39London, EnglandThe British former Member of parliament was not seen again after 28 September 1920 after telling friends he was going to the Queen's Hotel in Leicester Square and would be back, but did not return. He was also seen the same day by an artist who knew him entering a house in Thames Ditton belonging to Maundy Gregory, corrupt honours dealer, who is alleged to have murdered Grayson who had been investigating his activities.[36]
29 April 1921?Alexander Dubrovin66Moscow, Russian SFSRDubrovin, a Russian politician and leader of the Union of the Russian People, was supposedly arrested and killed by Cheka authorities for organizing pogroms and murders in the mid-1900s. However, poor record keeping and claims from different historians place his last known sightings from 1918 to 1929, making it unclear when his actual disappearance occurred.[37]
September 1921Dick Rowland and Sarah Page19 and Probably 17Tulsa, OklahomaTulsa race massacre probably began because Rowland, an African American shoe shiner at a nearby store, tripped in an elevator and grabbed onto Page, a white elevator operator, to avoid falling, causing Page to scream, and a witness probably mistook this for an attempted rape. A small number of sources theorize that Rowland and Page could have been lovers who were having a lover's quarrel in the elevator. It is uncertain if either Dick Rowland or Sarah Page was their real name, and Sarah Page has been theorized to have been as young as 15 or as old as 21, although most sources agree she was 17. Rowland himself survived the Tulsa Race Riot, likely because his police protection in jail ironically made him safer than almost any other black person in Tulsa. Both Page and Rowland disappeared after Page helped get the charges against Rowland dropped following the Tulsa Race Riot, and nothing is known for sure about the rest of their lives.[38] [39] [40] [41] [42] [43] [44]
1922Martin Dibobe45Monrovia, LiberiaThe Cameroonian train driver living in Germany went to visit to his home country in 1922; after being denied entry there, he traveled to his cousin in Monrovia, Liberia. There his trail is lost.[45]
22 September 1922Alejandro Carrascosa21Buenos Aires, ArgentinaCarrascosa, an Argentine poet, writer and student, disappeared on 22 September and left hints that he was not going to be seen again, and was not.[46]
8 June 1924Andrew Irvine22Northeast ridge, Mount EverestThe English mountaineer, who took part in the 1924 British Mount Everest expedition, was last seen high on the mountain's northeast ridge on 8 June 1924 and his body has not been found.[47]
1924Liu Menggengc. 43Republic of ChinaMenggeng, a politician and physician of the Republic of China and Manchukuo, left office in 1924 and was never seen again.[48]
29 May 1925Percy Fawcett57Mato Grosso, BrazilFawcett, a British archaeologist and explorer, together with his eldest son and a friend, was last seen traveling into the jungle of Mato Grosso in Brazil to search for a hidden city called the Lost City of Z. Several unconfirmed sightings and many conflicting reports and theories explaining their disappearance followed, but despite more than a dozen follow-up expeditions and the recovery of some of Fawcett's belongings, their fate remains a mystery.[49]
5 November 1925Sidney Reilly51Moscow, Soviet UnionBritish spy Sidney Reilly set off for the Soviet Union in an attempt to overthrow the Bolshevik regime and was said to have been captured and shot on 5 November 1925 but it is not known for sure since no location of his body is known. The photo of him seen dead was said to be alleged and it was even speculated that he was still alive, given that there were later sightings of him.[50][51]
13 November 1925Alice Corbett19Northampton, Massachusetts, U.S.An American college student, Corbett was last seen leaving her residence on the campus of Smith College on the morning of 13 November. Extensive searches of urban and wilderness areas across Western Massachusetts failed to yield any evidence of her fate. Her case received wide publicity through regional newspapers and national wire services.[52]
15 April 1926Frederick McDonald53–54Sydney, AustraliaAn Australian politician, McDonald set off from Martin Place, Sydney, for a meeting with Jack Lang two blocks away but failed to arrive. He was possibly murdered by his political rival Thomas Ley. In 1947, Ley was convicted at the Old Bailey of the "Chalkpit Murder", that of a barman in England, and sentenced to hang, but was then declared insane and sent to Broadmoor high-security psychiatric hospital, where he died of a cerebral hemorrhage two months later.[53]
30 October 1926Marvin Clark73–74Portland, Oregon, U.S.A retired American sheriff, Clark disappeared en route to visit his daughter by stagecoach during the Halloween weekend. His disappearance has the distinction of being the oldest active missing person case in the United States.[54]
6 August 1927Włodzimierz Zagórski45Vilnius, LithuaniaThe Austro-Hungarian military intelligence officer, Polish brigadier general, staff officer and aviator disappeared en route to a meeting in Warsaw, Poland by train.[55]
26 August 1927Paul Redfern25VenezuelaAn American musician and a pilot from Columbia, South Carolina, Redfern became known during the summer of 1927 for attempting to fly from Brunswick, Georgia to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He was last sighted inland over Venezuela on 26 August.[56]
18 November 1928Glen Hyde29Grand Canyon, Arizona, U.S.The American newlyweds Glen and Bessie Hyde were last seen on 18 November 1928 and disappeared while attempting to raft the Colorado River rapids of the Grand Canyon.[57]
Bessie Hyde22
15 April 1929J. Steward Davis38–39Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.Davis, an American lawyer and political activist in Baltimore, Maryland, disappeared under suspicious circumstances on 15 April 1929 and was never heard from again.[58]
25 December 1929Larry Griffin48–49Stradbally, County Waterford, IrelandGriffin, an Irish postman, disappeared from the village of Stradbally, County Waterford on Christmas Day 1929. He is alleged to have been murdered in a drunken altercation and his body disposed of to conceal the fact that the pub was illegally serving alcohol on Christmas Day, a fact which would have threatened the livelihoods of both the publican and members of the local police force allegedly drinking at the premises.[59]

1930s

DatePerson(s)AgeMissing fromCircumstancesRefs.
19 April 1930Crosbie Garstin42Salcombe, EnglandCrosbie Garstin was a poet and best-selling novelist who mysteriously disappeared in the Salcombe estuary on 19 April 1930. Garstin's body was never recovered.[60]
6 May 1930Tony Buccola40Los Angeles, California, U.S.A Los Angeles crime family boss who "vanished"; the only trace of him was his wrecked car found two days after his disappearance in Venice, California.[61]
15 May 1930Mary Agnes Moroney2Chicago, Illinois, U.S.Moroney went missing after her mother, a struggling 17-year-old mother of two, gave her to a stranger calling herself "Julia Otis" in exchange for $2 on the understanding that the woman would take care of the girl in California for a short time and then return her to the Moroneys' Chicago home when things were better. She never did, and the ensuing investigation attracted national media attention. The girl was never located, and the case remains the oldest unsolved missing-persons case of this nature in the files of the Chicago Missing Persons Bureau. A California woman's belief that she was Mary Agnes has subsequently been disproven by DNA testing. Familial DNA testing performed in 2023 determined that Jeanette Burchard, a Florida woman who had died in 2003, was indeed Mary Agnes Moroney. Though the results are conclusive, since Burchard's body itself has not been tested, and the perpetrator(s) have not been identified, the case is still officially unsolved. However, the Chicago Police cold case unit have pronounced the case closed.[62][63][64]
6 August 1930Joseph Force Crater41Manhattan, New York, U.S.An associate justice of the New York Supreme Court, Crater was last seen leaving a restaurant on West 45th Street in Manhattan. He was never seen or heard from again. His mistress, Sally Lou Ritz, 22, was falsely said to have disappeared a few weeks later, but was interviewed by police as late as July 1937. Crater's disappearance, which prompted one of the most sensational manhunts of the 20th century, was the subject of widespread media attention and a grand jury investigation. Crater was declared legally dead in 1939 and his missing persons file was officially closed in 1979; however, cold case squad detectives have investigated new leads as recently as 2005.[65]
24 October 1930Emil Kauppi55Tampere, FinlandKauppi was a Finnish composer primarily known for his 1925 composition Päiväkummun pidot (The Feast at Solhaug). Following the premiere of his poorly reviewed Nummisuutarit (The Cobblers on the Heath), he was last seen in Tampere on 24 October 1930, and is thought to have committed suicide.[66]
15 October 1931Joseph Ardizzone46California, U.S.Los Angeles crime family boss; vanished while driving from his home to pick up a relative; declared legally dead seven years later. No trace of him was ever found.[67]
1932Jack Black60–61United StatesAuthor Jack Black is believed to have committed suicide in 1932 by drowning as he reportedly told his friends that if life got too grim, he would row out into New York Harbor and, with weights tied to his feet, drop overboard.[68]
2 February 1933Danny Walsh40Pawtuxet Village, Warwick, Rhode Island, U.SAn organized crime figure in Providence, Rhode Island involved in bootlegging, Walsh was kidnapped from Pawtuxet Village in Warwick and is believed to have been murdered. His body was never found.[69]
17 February 1933Julien Torma30Tyrol, AustriaA French Dadaist writer, Torma never returned from a 17 February trip into the Austrian Tyrol.[70]
20 June 1933Mariano Barberán37Mexico, near VillahermosaBoth Spanish aviators disappeared in the vicinity of Villahermosa, Mexico on 20 June 1933 while on a flight to Mexico City in the Br.19 TF Super Bidon Cuatro Vientos, which they previously used for a flight from Spain to Cuba ten days prior.[71]
Joaquín Collar Serra26
1933C. B. Johnstonc. 38Ohio, U.S.Johnston, an American college athlete and coach, sent a postcard to his wife from Zanesville, Ohio, saying he was on his way to Chicago to publish a book after being fired as head football coach of what is now Appalachian State University. No one heard from him after that.[72]
1934Wallace Fard Muhammad56–57Detroit, Michigan, U.S.Founder of the Nation of Islam, Muhammad left Detroit and was never heard from again.[73]
19 February 1934Georg Baumann42Shanghai, ChinaEstonian Greco-Roman wrestler Baumann was erroneously reported as having died during the First World War, but later reports claim that he had died sometime before 19 February 1934, while working as a wrestler and circus artist.[74]
c. November 1934Everett Ruess20Escalante, Utah, U.S.Ruess, a young American artist, disappeared while traveling through the deserts of Utah.[75][76]
22 November 1934Etta Riel20Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S.Riel was an American woman who vanished on the day of a scheduled paternity hearing against her former boyfriend. The case was complicated by anonymous telephone calls placed to a local train station the night of her disappearance and a telegram sent to her attorney weeks later from an unknown individual impersonating her. Extensive police searches across Central Massachusetts failed to locate her and the case was never solved.[77]
1935Li Yuan43–44Republic of ChinaLi Yuan was a politician of the Republic of China and later Manchukuo who disappeared in 1935. The circumstances of his later life and death are unknown.[78]
2 September 1935Yoshio Fujimaki24Tokyo City, Empire of JapanYoshio Fujimaki was a printmaker who disappeared from fellow printmaker Tadashige Ono's home in Mukojima Ward, Tokyo. While the circumstances of his disappearance are unclear, Ono believed he threw himself in to the Sumida River, which was a subject of one of his artwork.[79][80]
9 September 1935Abraham Weinberg35Manhattan, New York, U.S.A Jewish New York City mobster and hitman, Weinberg was last seen leaving a Midtown Manhattan nightclub. Several conflicting reports emerged about the manner of his death, but none were ever confirmed and his body was never recovered.[81]
1936Miguel Arcángel Roscigna44–45ArgentinaArgentine anarchist militant, politician, and fugitive Roscigna was sent to prison in 1927 and released in 1936. He disappeared after that and was never seen again.[82]
7 December 1936Jean Mermoz35Aubenton, FranceFrench air pilot Jean Mermoz went missing on 7 December 1936 while flying his Latécoère 300 Croix-du-Sud near Aubenton, Aisne. It is assumed that the plane crashed in the sea, but it is unconfirmed since his body was never recovered.[83]
3 June 1937Juliet Stuart Poyntz50New York City, New York, U.S.An American communist and ex-intelligence agent for the Soviet Union, Juliet Poyntz disappeared on 3 June 1937. A police investigation turned up no clues to her fate, and her belongings, all of her clothing and hand luggage in her room appeared to be untouched.[84][85]
17 April 1938Andrew Carnegie Whitfield28New York City, New York, U.S.Whitfield, the nephew of wealthy steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, mysteriously disappeared shortly after he departed from Roosevelt Field on Long Island, New York on the morning of 17 April 1938.[86]
8 May 1938Marjorie West4McKean County, Pennsylvania, U.S.Four-year-old Marjorie West disappeared from a Mother's Day picnic after being briefly left alone by her sister.[87]
2 July 1938Alfred Beilhartz3–4Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, U.S.Beilhartz disappeared after falling behind his parents while hiking during a vacation at Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.[88]
19 March 1939Lloyd L. Gaines27–28Chicago, Illinois, U.S.Gaines was a central figure in the legal case Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada, which was an early success for the civil rights movement. One evening, he left his Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity house in Chicago, having told the housekeeper he was going to buy some stamps, and was never seen or heard from again. Some accounts suggest he was living in New York or Mexico City in the late 1940s.[89]
September 1939Stanisław Ptak37PolandPolish footballer Ptak disappeared during the Soviet invasion of Poland in September 1939, and was believed to have been killed by the NKVD when attempting to cross the border.[90]
September 1939Stanisław Zieliński27PolandZieliński, a Polish cyclist who competed in the individual and team road race events at the 1936 Summer Olympics, disappeared in September 1939 while attempting to flee Warsaw during the Invasion of Poland.[91][92]
3 September 1939Rita Gorgonowa38PolandGorgonowa, a governess who was convicted of murdering a child in her care, disappeared after being released from prison.[93]
7 December 1939Barbara Newhall Follett25Brookline, Massachusetts, U.S.An American child prodigy novelist, Follett had enjoyed critical and commercial success with two novels published before she was 14 in the late 1920s. Her work suffered after that due to the collapse of her parents' marriage and changing popular tastes; she became increasingly despondent throughout the 1930s until in 1939, believing her husband had been involved with another woman, she walked out of her apartment with $30 ($589 in 2021) and was never seen again.[94]

1940s

DatePerson(s)AgeMissing fromCircumstancesRefs.
1940sKou Yingjie60–69?Republic of ChinaKou Yingjie who was also known by his courtesy name of "Bichen" was a military leader of the Republic of China (1912–1949) who belonged to the Zhili clique. Kou disappeared sometime in the 1940s after he was appointed to the Councilor in the General Staff Office and was never heard of again.[95]
22 June 1941Wolfgang Schellmann30Grodno, Byelorussian SSRGerman Luftwaffe aviator and fighter ace Schellmann went missing on the first day of Operation Barbarossa, reportedly killed by NKVD troops.[96]
After 22 June 1941Izaak Appelc. 36Kyiv, Ukrainian SSRA Polish chess master, Appel disappeared following the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. His fate, and the precise whereabouts of his fate, remain unknown.[97]
25 June 1941Dmitry Ivanyuk41Slawharad, Byelorussian SSRIvanyuk, a Soviet Red Army colonel and leader of a 4th Army division, went missing after the division was surrounded during Operation Barbarossa. He was declared missing in action on 17 July 1941.[98]
July 1941Thomas C. Latimore51Hawaii, U.S.American naval officer Thomas Calloway Latimore, who was captain of the USS Dobbin and the 24th (22nd unique) Governor of American Samoa, disappeared in Hawaii believed to be in July 1941.[99]
c. July 1941Jaan Tõnisson72Estonian SSRAs one of the foremost Estonian political leaders, Tõnisson was arrested during the Soviet occupation, put on trial and was thought to have been shot around July 1941, but his exact whereabouts after the trial remain unknown.[100]
15–18 July 1941Vasily Yevdokimov43Byelorussian SSRYevdokimov, a major general of the Red Army who commanded the 50th Rifle Division in the Byelorussian SSR during Operation Barbarossa, was discharged and sent to a civilian hospital after he suffered a mental breakdown, but his further fate is unknown.[101]
August 1941Alexandru Robot25–26Odessa, Ukrainian SSRRobot, a Romanian, Moldovan and Soviet poet, was last seen in August 1941 in Odessa, Ukrainian SSR and is believed to have died after that.[102]
3 October 1941Heinrich Hoffmann28Shatalovo, Russian SSRGerman Luftwaffe flying ace Hoffmann was presumably shot down by a member of a Soviet aviation regiment.[103]
6 December 1941Alexander Zatonski26Cyrenaica, LibyaZatonski, an American RAF pilot and member of the No. 238 Squadron, disappeared while engaging a German Messerschmitt Bf 109. Neither his remains nor his plane were ever recovered.[104]
1942Johann SchulzUnknownLocation unknownGerman swimmer Schulz is believed to have gone missing during World War II.[105]
14 February 1942Franz Eckerle29Velikiye Luki, Russian SFSREckerle, a German Luftwaffe fighter ace and aerobatics pilot, is believed to have been shot down and killed while fighting in Soviet territory.[106]
15 February 1942Walter Brown56Rengat, Dutch East IndiesBrown, an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, is believed to have been killed after his regiment moved up to the front enemy line to make a final stand.[107]
22 March 1942Arved Crüger30MaltaCrüger, a German Luftwaffe Geschwaderkommodore, is believed to have been shot down by British forces in Malta.[108]
16 May 1942Mark Stolberg19–20Novorossiysk, Russian SFSRStolberg, a Russian chess master who entered the Soviet Army at the end of 1940, disappeared in the battle of Malaya Zemlya on 16 May 1942.[109]
16 June 1942John Frost23Bir Hakeim, EgyptA high-scoring SAAF flying ace, Frost was last known to be battling Bf 109s from Jagdgeschwader 27 after encountering them while escorting Douglas Bostons. It is believed that he was shot down by either Hans-Joachim Marseille, a very prominent German ace, or Günter Steinhausen, a German Experte.[110]
20 July 1942Howard Mayers32Western Desert, EgyptAn Australian flying ace of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, Mayers disappeared after being forced to land in the Western Desert. His aircraft was later found, but he was not and it is believed that he either died by ground fire or later while being transported to Europe to be interned in a prisoner of war camp.[111]
25 December 1942Georg Schentke23Stalingrad, Russian SFSRA Luftwaffe flying ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, Schentke was last seen on 25 December 1942 when bailing out of his aircraft over Soviet positions after it was damaged by debris.[112]
1943Ernst Balz38–39Location unknownBalz, a German sculptor whose work was part of the sculpture event in the art competition at the 1936 Summer Olympics, went missing in action in 1943 during World War II, with his official date of death recorded as 31 December 1945.[113]
1943Abraham Gancwajch41–42Warsaw, PolandGancwajch, a prominent Nazi collaborator in the Warsaw Ghetto during the occupation of Poland in World War II and a Jewish "kingpin" of the ghetto underworld, was last seen in 1943 and is rumored to have been killed.[114][115]
1943Endre Rudnyánszky57–58Russian SFSRA Hungarian lawyer, military officer, and communist, Rudnyánszky was last seen in the Russian SFSR in 1943. It is believed that he may have died that year.[116]
February 1943Xia Suchu53–54Republic of ChinaXia Suchu was a Republic of China politician who was important during the Provisional Government of the Republic of China (1937–1940). He disappeared in February 1943 after resigning as Chief to the Agency for State Affairs of the North China Political Council, and his whereabouts thereafter are unknown.[117]
1 March 1943Julius Hirsch50Auschwitz-Birkenau, GermanyHirsch, an Olympian footballer who played for the Germany national football team during the 1912 Summer Olympics, was deported by the Nazis to the Auschwitz concentration camp on 1 March 1943 and was not seen again. He was declared dead in 1950 with a death date of 8 May 1945.[118]
6 March 1943Hans Beißwenger26Staraya Russa, Russian SFSRBeißwenger, a German Luftwaffe fighter ace, was reported missing in action following an air battle close to Lake Ilmen in Staraya Russia on 6 March 1943.[119]
16 July 1943Günther Scheel21Bolkhov, Russian SFSR, Soviet UnionGerman Luftwaffe flying ace Scheel is believed to have been killed after shooting down two Yak-9 fighters and subsequently colliding with the wreckage of the second. However, one source indicates that he may have bailed out and landed behind enemy lines. He was reportedly seen alive at a camp at Yelabuga in 1946, and in a camp at Solny in 1948 receiving medical treatment.[120]
27 July 1943Josef Jennewein23Oryol, Russian SFSRJosef Jennewein was a German world champion alpine skier from St Anton am Arlberg, Austria who served as a Luftwaffe fighter pilot credited with 86 air victories. He was posted as missing in action on the Eastern Front near Mtsensk in Oryol Oblast, Russian SFSR on 27 July 1943 and was never seen or heard from again.[121]
19 August 1943Max Stotz31Kirov, Russian SFSRStotz, an Austrian Luftwaffe military aviator and Staffelkapitän, was last seen drifting down over Soviet held territory after bailing out of his aircraft following aerial combat with Yakovlev Yak-9 fighters.[122]
29 August 1943Berthold Korts31Amvrosievka, Donetsk Oblast, Ukrainian SSRGerman Luftwaffe military aviator Korts and his wingman were last seen in combat with Soviet P-39 Airacobra fighters in the vicinity of Amvrosievka on 29 August 1943.[123]
5 September 1943Heinz Schmidt23Kotelva, Ukrainian SSRGerman Luftwaffe military aviator and fighter ace Schmidt is thought to have been accidentally shot down by allies while fighting in the Ukrainian SSR.[124]
20 November 1943Dan Billany30Capistrello, ItalyAn English novelist, Billany served as a lieutenant in the British Army when he was captured and became a prisoner of war in Italy. After the capitulation of Italy, he hid in the countryside from the Germans. Billany and three others eventually attempted to make their way over the Apennines towards the Allied forces. They were last seen on 20 November 1943 in Capistrello, Italy.[125]
27 November 1943Lee Kizzire27Wewak, Papua New GuineaKizzire, an American football player and later a USAAC pilot, was shot down over Papua New Guinea. His plane was found in a lagoon, but his remains were never recovered, and Kizzire was declared dead on 22 January 1946.[126]
11 December 1943Rudolf Wagner22Zhitomir Oblast, Ukrainian SSRWagner, a Luftwaffe flying ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross credited with 81 aerial victories, all of which achieved over the Eastern Front, was posted as missing in action after aerial combat over Zhytomyr Oblast, Ukraine on 11 December 1943.[127]
26 December 1943Edward Cragg24Cape Gloucester, New BritainA flying ace with fifteen confirmed kills, Cragg was reported missing in action near Cape Gloucester, New Britain on 26 December 1943. His P-38 aircraft was last observed descending to the ground after being shot down in combat with enemy fighters. On the mission he was shot down, Cragg claimed his 15th aerial victory, becoming a triple ace. He was declared legally dead in 1946.[128]
1943–1944Herschel Grynszpan22Magdeburg, GermanyGrynszpan was the Jewish exile from Germany whose 1938 assassination of diplomat Ernst vom Rath in Paris, France was the trigger for Kristallnacht in Germany. For various reasons, largely legal delays, a planned trial was never held in either France or (after 1940) Germany during which Grynszpan was held in various prisons and concentration camps. Adolf Eichmann testified at his 1961 trial in Jerusalem that he had interrogated Grynszpan in Magdeburg in either late 1943 or early 1944, but after that there is no record of his whereabouts or ultimate fate. The West German government had him declared legally dead in 1960.[129]
January 1944Bonifacio Mencias55PhilippinesA Filipino physician and guerilla sympathizer, Mencias was arrested by the Kenpeitai for his affiliation with the anti-Japanese forces. It is presumed that he was executed by them not long after his arrest, but his ultimate fate is unclear.[130]
January 1944Ilya Timofeyevich Osipov22Soviet UnionA Red Army soldier who took part in numerous battles, most notably the Battle of the Dnieper, Osipov was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on 10 January 1944, but disappeared sometime later in the month.[131]
22 January 1944Otto Gaiser24Berdichev, Ukrainian SSRGaiser, a German Luftwaffe flying ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, was last seen battling Il-2 Sturmoviks near Berdichev, Ukraine, presumably being shot down by the Soviet ground defences.[132]
23 April 1944Rocco Perri56Hamilton, CanadaAn organized crime figure in Ontario, Perri was last seen in Hamilton, Ontario on 23 April 1944. His body has never been found, though it is speculated that he was murdered by being fitted with cement shoes and thrown into Hamilton Harbour.[133]
June 1944Werner Scholl21Soviet UnionWerner Scholl was the younger brother of Hans and Sophie Scholl, who were best known for their resistance to Nazism as part of the White Rose. He was declared missing in action in June 1944, assumably dying on the Soviet front.[134]
24 June 1944Hans Hahne49Vitebsk, Byelorussian SSRHahne, a German officer in the Wehrmacht who commanded the 197th Infantry Division, went missing in action on 24 June 1944 near Vitebsk during the Soviet Vitebsk–Orsha Offensive of Operation Bagration.[135]
July 1944Robert Byerly28Paris, FranceByerly, an American-born Canadian soldier and agent for the British Special Operations Executive, was last seen in July 1944 and is believed to have been killed at the Gross-Rosen concentration camp in Poland on 8 May 1945 or 1946.[136]
August 1944Valter Krimm41Sinimäed Hills, Estonian SSRKrimm, an Estonian politician who joined the German military after the German occupation of Estonia during World War II, went missing during the Battle of the Blue Hills in August 1944 and is presumed to have been killed.[137]
7 August 1944Horst Ademeit32Daugavpils, Latvian SSRAdemeit, a German Luftwaffe flying ace and military aviator, disappeared while pursuing a Soviet Ilyushin Il-2. He was declared missing in action, and never seen again.[138]
18 August 1944Sheila Fox6Farnworth, EnglandFox disappeared in Farnworth, near Bolton, Lancashire. Witnesses claim they saw Fox riding on the handlebars of a bike being pedalled by a 25–30-year-old man. In 2001 a witness came forward claiming he saw a local resident digging a hole on his property in the area where Fox disappeared. The property owner was revealed to have been convicted of rape and child molestation but Fox's remains were not found.[139]
18 October 1944Walter Stettner Ritter von Grabenhofen49Avala, SerbiaStettner, a German general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II and a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, went missing on Mount Avala near Belgrade in Serbia on 18 October 1944 after his unit was cut off during the Soviet Belgrade Offensive and is believed to have been killed in action.[140]
26 October 1944Gertrude Tompkins Silver33Palm Springs, California, U.S.Silver is the only Women Airforce Service Pilots member to go missing during World War II. She departed from Mines Field (Los Angeles International Airport) for Palm Springs, on 26 October 1944, flying a P-51D Mustang destined for New Jersey. She never arrived at Palm Springs and due to reporting errors, a search for her was not started until three days later. Despite an extensive ground and water search no trace of Silver or the aircraft were found.[141][142]
3 November 1944Ján Golian39Flossenbürg concentration camp, GermanyThese two Slovak generals and commanders of the 1st Czechoslovak army during the Slovak National Uprising, fighting against the occupying Nazi forces, were captured in Pohronský Bukovec and transported to Flossenbürg, where both men were presumably tortured and killed.[143]
Rudolf Viest54
1944Gustav Albrecht, 5th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg36–37Orsha, Byelorussian SSRGustav Albrecht was the head and prince of the House of Sayn-Wittgenstein whose father was Richard, 4th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg. He was serving as an officer in the German Army when he disappeared while on a mission near the Belarusian city of Orsha, never to be heard from again.[144]
1944Erna Petermann31–32GermanyPetermann was a high-ranking female overseer at two Nazi concentration camps during the closing of World War II. She was last seen in 1944.[145]
1944Karla Mayer35–36Auschwitz, Oswiecim, PolandMayer was a German guard at three Nazi death camps during World War II. She disappeared in 1944 and her fate remains a mystery.[146]
1944 or 1945Max Amann38–40Location unknownAmann, a German water polo player who competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics, went missing in action in 1944 or 1945 during World War II, with his official date of death given as 24 December 1945.[147]
January 1945Fritz Dietrich39Heiligenbeil, East Prussia, GermanyDietrich, a German musicologist and composer who was conscripted into the army, disappeared on the Eastern Front in the area around Heiligenbeil at the start of the East Prussian offensive by the Red Army.[148]
1 January 1945Alfred Druschel27Aachen, GermanyDruschel, a German Luftwaffe combat pilot and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords, disappeared after becoming separated from his formation following a heavy flak attack south of Aachen.[149]
6 January 1945Josefa Llanes Escoda46Sampaloc, Manila, PhilippinesThe Filipina civic leader, social worker, suffragette, and founder of the Girl Scouts of the Philippines was arrested on 27 August 1944, tortured, and last seen on 6 January 1945, presumably being executed by the occupying Japanese forces and buried in an unmarked grave after that.[150]
17 January 1945Raoul Wallenberg32Budapest, HungaryA Swedish diplomat credited with saving the lives of at least 20,000 Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust, Wallenberg was arrested on espionage charges in Budapest following the arrival of the Soviet army. His fate remains a mystery despite hundreds of purported sightings in Soviet prisons, some as recent as the 1980s. In 2001, after 10 years of research, a Swedish-Russian panel concluded that Wallenberg probably died or was executed in Soviet custody on 17 July 1947, but to date no hard evidence has been found to confirm this. In 2010, evidence from Russian archives surfaced suggesting he was alive after the presumed execution date.[151][152]
31 January 1945Eduard Deisenhofer35Arnswalde, GermanyDeisenhofer, a German Waffen-SS commander who served in several combat divisions on the Eastern and Western fronts, disappeared while travelling to a new command post.[153]
10 February 1945Ernst-Heinrich Schmauser55Altenrode, near Breslau (today, Wrocław, Poland)An SS-Obergruppenführer and Higher SS and Police Leader in Silesia, Schmauser disappeared while driving from Waldenburg (today, Wałbrzych) in a convoy of several vehicles. He encountered German troops near Altenrode, who warned him that Soviet armored spearheads had already broken through, but he drove on anyway. He is believed to have been captured or killed by the Red Army and was legally declared dead on 23 February 1945, effective 31 December.[154]
14 February 1945Supriyadi21Blitar, East Java, IndonesiaSupriyadi disappeared after the failed PETA revolt against Japanese occupation on 14 February 1945. Later that year, he was named Minister for Public Security in the first cabinet formed by the newly declaring-independence Indonesia. However, he failed to appear and was replaced on 20 October 1945 by ad interim minister Muhammad Soeljoadikusuma. To this day his fate remains unknown.[155][156]
23 February 1945Rudolf Lange34Poznań, Poland (alleged)A German Sicherheitsdienst member serving in Riga, Latvia, Lange ordered the mass extermination of numerous Jews in several ghettos. Shortly after being reassigned to Poland, he was surrounded by Soviet forces, and is thought to have either died or committed suicide during battle.[157]
27 February 1945Pierre Unik36Pomezní Boudy, SlovakiaA French surrealist poet, screenwriter and journalist, Unik was captured in a prisoner of war camp in Silesia in 1940. He escaped in 1945, but disappeared in Slovakia while attempting to make it back to France.[158]
28 February 1945Heinz Schubert37Oderbruch, Germany (alleged)A composer and kapellmeister who had a successful career in Nazi Germany despite his reservations about the regime, Schubert disappeared shortly after his draft into the Volkssturm as a gunner, presumably being killed in battle.[159]
3 March 1945Karl Thom51Pillau, East PrussiaGerman World War I flying ace Thom disappeared under obscure circumstances in Pillau, East Prussia on 3 March 1945.[160][161]
March 1945Wilhelm Schitli32Location unknownSchitli, a German SS-Hauptsturmführer and Schutzhaftlagerführer in the Neuengamme concentration camp, disappeared in March 1945, and was declared missing on 31 March, never to be seen again.[162]
April 1945Aleksejs Anufrijevs33Courland Pocket, Latvian SSRLatvian basketball player Anufrijevs became the first European champion after winning a gold medal at EuroBasket 1935. Following the Soviet occupation of Latvia, he was conscripted in the Red Army, and disappeared during service in April 1945.[163]
April 1945Johann Steverc. 55GermanyA German officer in the Heer branch of the Wehrmacht during World War II. Stever fell into the custody of the Red Army as the Russians advanced into Germany in 1945. He is believed to have died shortly thereafter.[164]
18 April 1945Kurt von der Chevallerie53Kolberg, GermanyChevallerie, a German Wehrmacht general during World War II who commanded the 1st Army from 4 June to 5 September 1944 and received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, went missing in action near Kolberg on 18 April 1945, despite retiring from the army on 31 January.[165]
21 April 1945Gustav Hundt50Opava, CzechoslovakiaA Wehrmacht general during World War II who commanded several divisions and received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, Hundt disappeared near Opava, Czechoslovakia on 21 April 1945. He was declared dead on 7 June 1950 with the presumed date of death being the date of his disappearance.[112]
21 April 1945Emil Stürtz52Berlin, GermanyA German Nazi Party Gauleiter of Brandenburg, Stürtz went missing on 21 April 1945 during the Battle of Berlin and was not seen again. It was assumed that he was captured by the Red Army and died in captivity. He was officially declared dead by the District Court of Düsseldorf on 24 August 1957, with an effective death date of 31 December 1945.[166]
24 April 1945Günther Lützow32Schrobenhausen, GermanyA German Luftwaffe aviator and flying ace credited with over 110 enemy aircraft shot down in various conflicts, Lützow was part of the Jagdverband 44 when on 24 April 1945 he was reported missing in action while attempting to intercept an enemy bomber plane. His remains were never recovered.[167]
25 April 1945Erich Hilgenfeldt47Berlin, GermanyHigh-ranking Nazi Party official Hilgenfeldt is thought to have committed suicide to avoid capture by the Allies, but his body was never found.[168]
1 May 1945Santi Quasimodo58Brescia, ItalyAn Italian Blackshirt general during World War II, Quasimodo disappeared in the Brescia area on 1 May 1945. His body was never found.[169]
1 May 1945Heinrich Müller45Führerbunker, Berlin, GermanyMüller, a Nazi Gestapo chief, was last seen in the Führerbunker on the evening of 1 May 1945. While there he had stated that his intention was to avoid being taken into custody by the Soviet forces advancing on Berlin. His CIA file and related documents state that while the record is "...inconclusive on Müller's ultimate fate... [he] most likely died in Berlin in early May 1945." Other theories have suggested that he either escaped to South America like many other fugitive Nazis and lived out his life there (the Israelis continued to investigate his whereabouts into the 1960s) or was protected by U.S. or Soviet intelligence under a new identity. He is the most senior Nazi official whose fate is unknown.[170]
2 May 1945Constanze Manziarly25Berlin, GermanyA cook and dietician for Adolf Hitler, Constanze Manziarly disappeared on 2 May 1945 after splitting up from two other women in the Soviet occupied area of Berlin. She was last seen being taken towards a U-Bahn subway tunnel by two Soviet soldiers and is believed to have been killed.[171]
2 May 1945Joachim von Siegroth48Halbe, GermanySiegroth, a general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II and a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, was listed as missing in action during the Battle of Halbe.[172]
13 May 1945Gustav Grachegg62Soviet UnionGrachegg, an Austrian equestrian who competed in the individual dressage event at the 1928 Summer Olympics, was reported to be missing in action during World War II.[173]
15 May 1945Franjo Babić37Maribor, SloveniaCroatian writer and journalist Babić attempted to flee to the Allies, but was presumably killed by Yugoslav Partisans near Dravograd.[174][better source needed]
May 1945Walter Julius Bloem47Berlin, GermanyGerman writer and Waffen-SS soldier Bloem disappeared in May 1945 during the fighting surrounding Berlin.[175]
May 1945Hildegard Neumann26GermanyNeumann, a chief overseer at several Nazi concentration camps, transition camps and detention camps, disappeared in May 1945 after she left the Ravensbrück concentration camp. It is claimed that she died in 2010.[176]
20 October 1945Alfred Partikel57Darß, GermanyA German painter, Partikel disappeared while picking mushrooms in the woods near Ahrenshoop.[177]
19 December 1945Oto Iskandar di Nata48Tangerang, West Java, IndonesiaIndonesian politician Oto Iskandar di Nata is believed to have been abducted and murdered on a beach on 19 December 1945. His body was never found.[178][179]
24 December 1945Maurice Sodder14Fayetteville, West Virginia, U.S.Five of the nine Sodder children, aged 5 through 14, who lived in their parents' home, were presumed to have died in a fire that destroyed the house. However, no remains were found in the ashes the morning after the fire and some small bone fragments found during subsequent investigations turned out to have been planted. Later reported sightings of some of the children and suspicions that the fire had been arson rather than an accident led the family to believe that the children were still alive. The family kept a billboard offering a reward for information on their fate up at the house site until the late 1980s.[180]
Martha Sodder12
Louis Sodder9
Jennie Sodder8
Betty Sodder5
1945Johnny Jebsen28GermanyJebsen was an anti-Nazi German intelligence officer and British double agent (code name Artist) during the Second World War. Jebsen recruited Dušan Popov (who became the British agent Tricycle) to the Abwehr and through him later joined the Allied cause. Kidnapped from Lisbon by the Germans shortly before D-Day, Jebsen was tortured in prison and spent time in a concentration camp before disappearing, presumed killed, at the end of the war.[181]
April 1946Siegfried Engfer30–31Munich, GermanyA former Luftwaffe fighter pilot during World War II and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany, Engfer disappeared on a train journey from Vienna to Munich in April 1946.[182]
27 November 1946Soeroto Koento24-25Warungbambu [id], IndonesiaAn Indonesian military officer, Koento disappeared on 27 November 1946 night after attending the Jakarta Defense Command meeting in Kedunggede.[183]
1 December 1946Paula Jean Welden18Bennington, Vermont, U.S.The Bennington College sophomore disappeared while walking on the Long Trail near Glastenbury Mountain.[184][185]
16 January 1947Daniel S. Voorhees33–34Los Angeles, California, U.S.Voorhees, a transient restaurant porter who confessed to the murder of Elizabeth Short, checked out of a hotel in Los Angeles, California, on the morning of 16 January 1947 and was never seen again.[186]
9 April 1947Joan Gay Croft4Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.In the aftermath of the Glazier–Higgins–Woodward tornadoes, 4-year-old Joan Gay Croft and her sister Jerri were among refugees taking shelter in a basement hallway of the Woodward hospital. As officials sent the injured to different hospitals in the area, two men took Joan away saying they were taking her to Oklahoma City. She was never seen again. Over the years, several women have come forth saying they suspect they might be Joan, but none of their claims have been verified.[187][188]
1 June 1948Virginia Carpenter21Denton, Texas, U.S.Carpenter, a college student, was last seen by a taxi driver around 9:30 p.m on 1 June 1948. Despite extensive efforts to find her and tips being submitted as recently as 1998, Carpenter has never been found.[189]
7 October 1949Jean Spangler26Los Angeles, California, U.S.Aspiring actress Spangler went missing under mysterious circumstances. She left her home in Los Angeles after telling her sister-in-law that she was going to meet with her ex-husband before going to work as an extra on a film set. She was last seen at a grocery store several blocks from her home at approximately 6:00 pm. Two days later Spangler's tattered purse was discovered in a remote area of Griffith Park approximately 5.5 miles (8.9 km) from her home. She left a note addressed to "Kirk". Police ruled out a connection to the actor Kirk Douglas. Also ruled out was her ex-husband, but other theories included an illegal abortion that resulted in her death and a connection with gangsters.[190][191]
18 October 1949Dorothy Forstein40Pennsylvania, U.S.American housewife Forstein disappeared in Pennsylvania on 18 October 1949. Her two children reported that they witnessed an unknown man carrying Dorothy over his shoulder downstairs and she was never seen again.[192][193]
1949Francis Hong Yong-ho43North KoreaHong Yong-ho, a Roman Catholic prelate, was imprisoned by the communist regime of Kim Il Sung in 1949. He has never been seen again.[194]

1950s

DatePerson(s)AgeMissing fromCircumstancesRefs.
14 January 1950Richard Colvin Cox21West Point, New York, U.S.A second-year military cadet, Cox disappeared from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York after he met an unknown man, known as "George", three times over the course of a week. On the third occasion, Cox and "George" left the grounds of the academy and were never seen again.[195][196]
January 1950Raymond Maufrais23Jungle of French Guiana, South AmericaRaymond Maufrais was a male explorer and French journalist who in January 1950 after disappearing in the jungle of the French Guiana in South America was never seen again.[197]
2 December 1950James E. Johnson24Chosin Reservoir, North KoreaA sergeant in the United States Army and veteran of two campaigns in the Pacific, Johnson was presumably killed in combat while providing covering fire for his wounded comrades. His remains were never recovered, and he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his valiant actions.[198]
January 1951Ram Prasad Rai41–42TibetRai was a major figure in the Nepali Revolution of 1951. After Rai fled to Tibet in January of that year he was never seen again and is presumed to have been killed by Government forces, while he was in the caves.[199]
19 April 1951Vincent Mangano63New York, U.S.A mafia crime boss of the Mangano crime family (the future Gambino crime family), Vincent Mangano disappeared on the same day that his brother Philip Mangano was found murdered. They are believed to have been murdered on the orders of Albert Anastasia as part of a coup.[200][201]
25 April 1951Charles L. Gilliland17Tongmang-ni, South KoreaGilliland, a United States Army soldier, was presumably killed after providing covering fire for fellow soldiers from Chinese forces. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, the youngest recipient of the award.[202]
24 August 1951Beverly Potts10Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.Potts, an American schoolgirl, disappeared while walking home from an entertainment event at Halloran Park. She is believed by police to have been abducted and murdered, possibly by someone she knew and trusted as she was shy and fearful of strangers.[203][204]
15 March 1952John Robert Baldwin33KoreaRAF fighter pilot and high scoring flying ace Baldwin went missing during secondment service with the USAAF in the Korean War and is presumed to have been killed.[205][206]
1953Rudolf Mildner50–51GermanyMildner was an Austrian-German SS-Standartenführer who served as the chief of the Gestapo at Katowice and also was the head of the political department at Auschwitz. After the war Mildner testified at the Nuremberg Trials and remained in custody until 1949. It is believed that his disappearance was intentional, to avoid prosecution, and that he died in 1953. Adolf Eichmann claimed to have met Mildner in Argentina in 1958 but this claim has not been verified.[207]
19 April 1953Ronald Tammen19Oxford, Ohio, U.S.Tammen, a student at Miami University, left his Fisher Hall room at approximately 8 p.m. on 19 April 1953 to get new bed sheets from the Hall manager because a prankster had put a fish in his bed. Tammen took the sheets and returned to his dorm room to study psychology, which was the last time he was definitely seen. At 10:30, Tammen's roommate returned to find Tammen's psychology book lying open on his desk and all the room lights on, but Tammen was not there. When Tammen failed to return the following day, a search began. To this day, Tammen's fate remains unknown.[208]
11 June 1953Clem GraverUnknownChicago, Illinois, U.S.Graver, a politician in Illinois who served as a state representative, was escorted away from his home by men after pulling up on his driveway and was never seen again..[209]
13 July 1953Henry Borynski42Bradford, EnglandBorynski, a Polish Catholic priest and outspoken anti-Communist, disappeared on 13 July 1953 in Bradford, Yorkshire when he left his residence following a phone call.[210]
24 October 1953Evelyn Hartley14La Crosse, Wisconsin, U.S.Hartley disappeared from a neighbor's home while babysitting.[211][212]
23 November 1953Felix Moncla27Lake Superior, U.S.Pilot First Lieutenant Felix Moncla along with Second Lieutenant Robert Wilson, radar operator, disappeared when their United States Air Force F-89 Scorpion was scrambled from Kincheloe Air Force Base, and subsequently went missing over Lake Superior, while intercepting an unknown aircraft in Canadian airspace close to the Canada–United States border. The USAF claimed the second aircraft was Royal Canadian Air Force C-47 Dakota VC-912, crossing Northern Lake Superior from west to east at 7,000 feet en route from Winnipeg, Manitoba, to Sudbury, Ontario. The RCAF stated it had no record of such an incident.[213][214]
Robert Wilson22
13 August 1954Haji Sulong58–59Songkhla, ThailandA Thai separatist who advocated for greater autonomy for the Jawi community in the country, Haji Sulong disappeared after he was ordered to go to the Songkhla Police Station, and was not seen again.[215]
1955Stanley Mathenge35–36KenyaMathenge, a Mau Mau leader who disappeared in 1955, was later alleged to be living in Ethiopia, but has not been seen since.[216]
19 July 1955Weldon Kees41Marin County, California, U.S.Kees was an American poet, painter, literary critic, novelist, playwright, jazz pianist, short story writer, and filmmaker who went missing. On 19 July 1955 a car owned by Weldon Kees was discovered on the Marin County side of the Golden Gate Bridge. While Kees had talked about jumping over the railing of the bridge, he stated that he was physically unable to accomplish the task.[217]
31 October 1955Steven Damman2East Meadow, New York, U.S.Steven Damman, a two-year-old boy, went missing outside a grocery store along with his seven-month old sister. His sister was found several blocks away unharmed, but Steven's whereabouts remain unknown.[218]
12 March 1956Jesús Galíndez40Manhattan, New York City, U.S.Galíndez, a Spanish politician and Basque nationalist, disappeared in New York City on 12 March 1956. He is thought to have been kidnapped and murdered by Dominican security agents on the orders of Rafael Trujillo, though his body has never been located.[219]
c. 22 May 1956Gunnel Gummeson25–26Sheberghan, Jowzjan Province, AfghanistanSwedish school teacher Gummeson and her American fiancé Winant were last seen in the city of Sheberghan in northern Afghanistan. Two investigations have been carried out, but both were hampered by official corruption and codes of loyalty to clan chiefs.[220]
Peter WinantUnknown
After 1957Bob LymburneAt least 48CanadaLymburne represented Canada at the 1932 Winter Olympics in ski-jumping. Three years later, while training, he suffered a head injury. After 1957, he wandered into the woods and was not seen again.[221]
21 November 1958Adele Marie Wells7Flint, Michigan, U.S.Wells disappeared in Flint, Michigan on 21 November 1958, when she was seven years old. She had stayed home from school that morning due to a cold, and was last seen leaving her grandmother's house that afternoon. Wells is believed to have been abducted.[222]
7 December 1958Kenneth Martin58Hood River, Oregon, U.S.The Martin family of Portland, Oregon disappeared in the Columbia River Gorge while on a drive. Six months later the bodies of the two youngest daughters were recovered on the Columbia River, although the whereabouts of the mother, father and eldest daughter remain unsolved.[223]
Barbara Martin48
Barbara "Barbie" Martin15
31 December 1959Mary Flanagan16London, EnglandA London-Irish teenager who disappeared from her West Ham home on New Year's Eve, 1959, and the UK's longest missing persons' case.[224]

1960s

DatePerson(s)AgeMissing fromCircumstancesRefs.
25 November 1960Walter Broschat9Pirmasens, West GermanyThe first of the three missing children of Pirmasens. All are suspected to have been murdered by an unidentified serial killer; all three children were never found.[225]
April 1961Masanobu Tsuji59LaosTsuji, a politician and former Imperial Japanese Army officer, disappeared on a trip to Laos.[226]
31 August 1961Ann Marie Burr8Tacoma, Washington, U.S.Burr disappeared from her home in the middle of the night on 31 August 1961 while sleeping in an upstairs room with her 3-year-old sister. Law enforcement have theorized that serial killer Ted Bundy, then 14 years old, was responsible for her abduction, as he resided in the same neighborhood. Bundy denied involvement, however, and a 2011 DNA analysis was inconclusive.[227]
24 October 1961Joan Risch31Lincoln, Massachusetts, U.S.Risch was last seen in her driveway by a neighbor, and several unconfirmed sightings were reported on local roads later that day. Evidence in her house at first suggested foul play, but that opinion was reassessed when a local newspaper found that she had checked out two dozen books about mysterious disappearances and unsolved murders from the library over the preceding summer.[228][229][230]
19 November 1961Michael Rockefeller23Netherlands New Guinea (modern-day West Papua, Indonesia)Michael, the son of New York Governor and future Vice-president Nelson Rockefeller, disappeared during an expedition in the Asmat region of southwestern Netherlands New Guinea (currently in Papua).[231][232]
8 April 1962Anthony Strollo62Fort Lee, New Jersey, U.S.A caporegime in the Genovese crime family, Strollo was last seen leaving his residence in Fort Lee, New Jersey. He is believed to have been murdered on the orders of Vito Genovese in retaliation for having conspired to have Genovese imprisoned for drug trafficking. No one was ever charged in his disappearance.[233]
30 May 1962Archie E. Mitchell44South VietnamMitchell, a minister, Vietti, a doctor, working with the Christian and Missionary Alliance, and Gerber, a leprosarium worker serving with the Mennonite Central Committee, were taken captive by the Viet Cong on 30 May 1962. What became of them after that is unknown.[234][235][236]
Eleanor Ardel Vietti34
Daniel A. Gerber21
June 11, 1962Frank Morris, John and Clarence Anglin35, 32, and 31Alcatraz Federal PenitentiaryAlcatraz inmates who escaped Alcatraz and most likely drowned.[237]
17 December 1962William Ebeneezer Jones Jr.3Vineland, New Jersey, U.S.Jones was last seen outside of his neighbor's house around 11:45 a.m on 17 December 1962. His case is considered one of the oldest cases of a child under the age of five missing in New Jersey.[238]
1962Sam Sary45CambodiaA Cambodian politician, Sam Sary disappeared in 1962 and may have been put to death.[239]
29 October 1963Jill Rosenthal2 daysAtlantic City, New JerseyRosenthal disappeared on 29 October 1963, two days after her birth. Her twin brother, Jack, also disappeared in 1965. He was raised under a false identity, and his true identity was only discovered in 2019. Investigators believe there is a strong possibility Jill is still alive, having also been raised under a pseudonym.[240]
17 January 1964Klaus-Dieter Stark9Pirmasens, West GermanyThe second of the three missing children of Pirmasens. Stark disappeared while walking home from school; his body was never found. He is suspected to have been murdered by an unidentified serial killer.[241]
10 July 1964Joe Gaetjens40Port-au-Prince, HaitiGaetjens, a Haitian-American soccer player, was arrested by Haiti's Tonton Macoutes secret police on the morning of 8 July 1964 and taken to Fort Dimanche prison, where it is presumed he was killed on 10 July. His body has never been found.[242]
12 August 1964Charles Clifford Ogle41Sierra Nevada Mountains, California, U.S.Ogle took off from Oakland International Airport in his Cessna 210, a single-engine aircraft, and is believed to have been heading over the Sierra Nevada when he disappeared.[243][244]
11 October 1964Reed Jeppson15Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.Jeppson disappeared along with his two dogs while taking them for a walk. His sister believes that he was kidnapped.[245]
29 April 1965Charles Shelton33LaosShelton, a United States Air Force officer, was shot down over Laos while on a reconnaissance mission during the Vietnam War. He was last heard from when he sent a radio report that he had escaped by parachute. He was classified as a prisoner of war until 1994, making him the last official U.S. prisoner of war from the Vietnam War.[246][247]
8 May 1965Carl R. Disch26Byrd Station, AntarcticaDisch, an American ionospheric scientist, vanished while travelling to the main station complex of Byrd Station from radio noise building. Despite search parties spotting his tracks and attempts to make the station more visible, Disch was never found.[248]
29 October 1965Mehdi Ben Barka45Paris, FranceMoroccan politician Mehdi Ben Barka disappeared while in exile in Paris where he is believed to have been killed and buried.[249][250]
1 November 1965Bakri WahabUnknownSalatiga, IndonesiaBakri Wahab was a former Mayor of Salatiga and a member of PKI who was arrested on 1 November 1965. Since then, his fate remains unknown.[251]
1966Moerachman36–37Surabaya, IndonesiaMoerachman was an Indonesian politician who in 1966 after being captured and sent to the Kalisosok Prison in Surabaya was never seen again after being removed from his cell. There is a very high chance that he was executed.[252]
1966Kim Bong-han49–50North KoreaThe North Korean medical surgeon disappeared in 1966.[253]
26 January 1966Jane Nartare Beaumont9Adelaide, AustraliaThe Beaumont children – Jane Nartare, Arnna Kathleen, and Grant Ellis – disappeared from a beach near Adelaide and have not been seen since.[254][255]
Arnna Kathleen Beaumont7
Grant Ellis Beaumont4
13 March 1966Susan Pearson30Missoula, Montana, U.S.A graduate student and instructor at the University of Montana, Pearson disappeared days before she was due to submit her doctoral thesis. Her abandoned car was discovered in downtown Missoula. Her whereabouts remain unknown.[256]
9 June 1966Wikana51Jakarta, IndonesiaWikana, an Indonesian Communist Party leader, disappeared on 9 June. He was allegedly murdered as part of the Indonesian mass killings of 1965–1966.[257]
29 June 1966Anak Agung Bagus Suteja43Jakarta, IndonesiaA former governor of Bali was last seen on 29 June 1966 when four soldiers visited his house in Jakarta and asked him to meet an infantry colonel. He later said goodbye to his family, and since then, he has never been seen again. His fate remains unknown until present.[258]
2 July 1966Ann Miller19Indiana Dunes State Park, Indiana, U.S.Miller, Blough, and Bruhl, three young women from the Chicago suburbs, were last seen after leaving their blanket and personal effects behind on a crowded beach to get on a boat in Lake Michigan. Theories have ranged from an offshore illegal abortion gone wrong, resulting in the other two women being killed as witnesses, to a hit ordered by Silas Jayne, a Chicago-area horse breeder implicated after his 1987 death in a number of unsolved murders related to a bitter feud with his brother.[259][260][261]
Patricia Blough19
Renee Bruhl21
September 1966Chu Anping56ChinaChinese scholar and liberal journalist Chu Anping disappeared in September 1966.[262]
26 March 1967Jim Thompson61Cameron Highlands, MalaysiaThompson, a former U.S. military intelligence officer who once worked for the Office of Strategic Services (and later known as the "Thai Silk King" for his revival of the Thai silk industry), failed to return from an afternoon walk in the Cameron Highlands in Pahang, Malaysia, quickly prompting an extensive manhunt. No trace of him has ever been found.[263][264]
26 April 1967Michael J. Estocin35Haiphong, North Vietnam (presumed)A United States Navy officer and Medal of Honor recipient, Estocin was last seen on 26 April 1967. He is believed to have either died as a prisoner of war after his aircraft was downed over Haiphong, North Vietnam, or to have died in the crash of his plane.[265]
7 June 1967James P. Brady59Saskatchewan, CanadaBrady, a Canadian Metis leader, and Cree friend Abraham Halkett disappeared while on a prospecting trip in northern Saskatchewan. An extensive land, air, and water search located their camp but failed to find any trace of either man.[266]
Abraham Halkett40
8 September 1967Eveline Lübbert10Pirmasens, West GermanyThe final of the three missing children of Pirmasens. Lübbert was last seen close to the Pirmasens Exhibition Centre. Her body was never found.[267]
10 December 1967John Lake37New York City, New York, U.S.The sports editor of Newsweek, Lake mysteriously disappeared on 10 December 1967, last seen heading for the subway after work.[268][269]
17 December 1967Harold Holt59Portsea, Victoria, AustraliaHarold Holt, the Prime Minister of Australia, disappeared while swimming in the sea near Portsea, Victoria on 17 December 1967. An enormous search operation was mounted in and around Cheviot Beach, but his body was never recovered.[270]
1968Eugene DeBruin34–35Pathet Lao, LaosDeBruin, a United States Air Force staff sergeant and member of Air America, while serving in Laos during the Second Indochina War was captured when his plane was shot down in 1963. After that he was a POW at a Pathet Lao prison camp in Laos until 1968 when he and other prisoners attempted to escape. Following the escape attempt he disappeared and it is not known if he succeeded or what became of him.[271]
November 1968Hryhoriy Tymenko23Ukrainian SSRA Ukrainian poet and Samizdat representative, Hryhoriy Tymenko disappeared without a trace in November 1968, and has not been seen since.[272]
8 April 1969April Fabb13Metton, Norfolk, EnglandFabb was last seen near her home in Metton, Norfolk, United Kingdom. Her abandoned bicycle was later found in a field. No trace of her has been found since, although some theories have linked her case to known serial killers.[273][274]
14 June 1969Dennis Martin6Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee, U.S.Martin vanished in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and has not been seen since.[275]
31 October 1969Patricia Spencer16Oscoda, Michigan, U.S.Spencer and Hobley were last seen leaving a Halloween party together. Police have continued to investigate and believe the two were murdered, and in 2013 they announced they had a person of interest in the case but did not have enough information to continue.[276][277]
Pamela Hobley15
11 December 196911 passenger and crew of Korean Air Lines YS-11Various; ranging from 23 to 49South Korean airspace51 passengers and crew were on board a NAMC YS-11 operated by Korean Air Lines flying from Gangneung to Gimpo Airport when one of the passenger went up to the cockpit and ordered the pilot to fly the plane to Pyongyang. While most of the passengers were eventually released through the Joint Security Area at Panmunjom, all four crew and 7 of the passengers have never been repatriated to this day.[278][279][280]
29 December 1969Peggy C. Rahn9Pompano Beach, Florida, U.S.9-year-old Peggy C. Rahn and 8-year-old Wendy Brown Stevenson disappeared in Pompano Beach, Florida on 29 December 1969. Rahn and Stevenson were last seen in the company of a man who bought them ice creams cones in the beach parking lot. One suspect in the girls' disappearances was serial child molester Kenneth Guy Shilts; Rahn's and Stevenson's names were reportedly listed in an entry in Shilts's notebook. In 1973, serial killer Gerard John Schaefer was accused of murdering Rahn and Stevenson; he initially denied involvement, though later confessed in 1989. Schaefer was never charged in connection with the disappearances of Rahn and Stevenson.[281][282]
Wendy Brown Stevenson8

1970s

DatePerson(s)Age when disappearedMissing fromCircumstancesRefs.
Early 1970Akpan UtukUnknownLagos, NigeriaAkpan Utuk was a colonel in the Biafran Army. He was last seen at a party in Lagos in early 1970 and is thought to be dead.[283]
12 January 1970Cheryl Grimmer3Wollongong, AustraliaGrimmer went missing from a beachside shower block. Initially, she had refused to leave the shower block, causing one of her brothers to go collect their mother to persuade Cheryl to come out. In the moments between his leaving the shower block and returning with his mother, Cheryl disappeared. Witnesses claim they saw a man in an orange swimsuit carrying a blonde-haired child wrapped up in a towel. On 23 March 2017, a man was arrested and charged with Grimmer's abduction and murder. However, the judge at the Supreme Court of New South Wales declared some of the evidence inadmissible in the case, and the charges against the suspect were dropped in February 2019.[284]
6 April 1970Sean Flynn28CambodiaSean Flynn, the son of actor Errol Flynn and Lili Damita, and his colleague Dana Stone, disappeared on 6 April 1970 while working as freelance photojournalists for Time. Neither man's remains were ever found and they are generally assumed to have been killed by Khmer Rouge guerrillas. After a decade-long search financed by his mother, Flynn was officially declared dead in 1984. In 2010, a British team uncovered the remains of a Western hostage in the Cambodian jungle, but DNA comparisons with samples from the Flynn family were negative.[285][286]
Dana Stone30
15 May 1970Edward Andrews61–62Chicago, Illinois, U.S.Edward Andrews and his wife Stephania disappeared after leaving a party in the Chicago Loop on 15 May 1970. Police theorized that the couple accidentally drove into the Chicago River, but multiple searches over a period of years failed to locate them or their vehicle.[287][288]
Stephania Andrews61–62
18 June 1970Muhammad Bassiri28El Aauin, Spanish SaharaBassiri, a Sahrawi nationalist leader and anti-colonialist activist, was detained and presumably executed by the Spanish Legion on 18 June 1970.[289]
16 September 1970Mauro De Mauro49Palermo, ItalyDe Mauro, an Italian investigative journalist, disappeared on 16 September 1970 and has not been seen since.[290]
13 October 1970Helen Claire Frost17Prince George, British Columbia, CanadaFrost was reported missing by her sister on 15 October 1970, having failed to return home from a walk in Prince George, British Columbia two days earlier. Frost has not been seen since.[291]
15 November 1970Robin Graham18Los Angeles, California, U.S.After running out of gas on the Hollywood Freeway, Graham was last seen by California Highway Patrol officers on 15 November 1970. The officer directed her to a callbox and later saw her speaking with a man beside her car. The circumstances of her disappearance resulted in CHP policies being changed to ensure the safety of stranded female motorists.[292]
Early 1971Sada Abe65-66Chiba Prefecture, JapanSada Abe was a former geisha and prostitute infamous for the murder of her lover in the 1930s. Abe left a note behind at the hotel she worked at stating that "I'm just a no use girl" some time in 1971 and has since been unaccounted for.[293][294]
5 May 1971A. B. M. Abdur Rahim35PakistanA. B. M. Abdur Rahim was a labour legal consultant, general secretary of the Pakistan Labour Federation, and manager of the Ujala Match Factory, who was abducted from the factory by Pakistani armed forces on 5 May 1971 and has been missing since.[295]
12 May 1971Rakhal Chandra Das38PakistanRakhal Chandra Das was a Bangladeshi physician who was kidnapped on 12 May 1971 by a Pakistan Army in a hospital where he was working during the Bangladesh Liberation War and was never seen again. He is believed to have been killed.[296]
14 October 1971Jean Virginia Sampare18Gitsegukla, British Columbia, CanadaSampare was last seen by her cousin on the Highway of Tears outside Gitsegukla on 14 October 1971. He left her alone when he went home to get a jacket or his bike, and she was gone when he returned.[297]
6 December 1971Peter Christy33–34Near Jamnagar, IndiaChristy, a PAF bomber pilot and navigator, was tasked with destroying an air station belonging to the Indian Air Force, but was presumably shot down by a Surface-to-air missile.[298]
7 December 1971Jamie Rochelle Grissim16Vancouver, Washington, U.S.A student at the Fort Vancouver High School who went missing while walking home from school. Initially considered a runaway by authorities, foul play was suspected when her identification, purse, and other personal possessions were discovered approximately 20 miles from where she was last seen alive. She is suspected of being a victim of serial killer Warren Forrest.[299]
8 December 1971A. K. M. Miraj Uddin23Dhaka, BangladeshA. K. M. Miraj Uddin was a Bangladeshi athlete, freedom fighter, and politician who disappeared after being released from the Dhaka Central Jail and taken in a jeep on 8 December 1971, and has not been seen since.[300]
10 December 1971Lynne Schulze17Middlebury, Vermont, U.S.Schulze was a student at Middlebury College and was last seen by one of her college friends when she abruptly turned back on the way to a literature exam, claiming she had left her favorite pen in her dorm room. Her wallet, checkbook, and other belongings were found at the dorm. A subsequent report said that she was seen a short time later outside a health-food store co-owned and operated at that time by Robert Durst and his wife Kathleen, who herself disappeared a decade later. Schulze had also been seen buying prunes from the same store earlier in the day.[301]
14 December 1971Shahidullah Kaiser44Dhaka, BangladeshKaiser, a Bangladeshi writer and novelist who was awarded multiple awards during different decades, disappeared on 14 December 1971 and is believed to have been killed.[302][303][304]
1972Brendan Simbwaye47–48Caprivi, NamibiaBrendan Simbwaye was an anti-apartheid Namibian activist and high ranking politician, who mysteriously disappeared in Caprivi in 1972. It has been claimed that the South African security forces had murdered Simbwaye, but this has never been proven to be true.[305][306]
30 January 1972Zahir Raihan36BangladeshZahir Raihan, a Bangladeshi novelist, writer, and filmmaker and the brother of Shahidullah Kaiser, disappeared on 30 January 1972, while looking for his brother, who had been abducted by Pakistani forces.[307][302]
12 June 1972Adrien McNaughton5Arnprior, Ontario, CanadaMcNaughton wandered away from his family during a fishing trip on 12 June 1972 and has not been seen since.[308][309]
21 June 1972Boanerges de Souza Massa34Formosa, BrazilThe Brazilian physician and field surgeon for the ALN was captured, tortured and likely murdered by Brazilian authorities. His body has never been recovered.[310]
16 October 1972Nick Begich40Alaska, U.S.Nick Begich and Hale Boggs were both Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives and disappeared when the airplane in which they were traveling presumably crashed in a remote area on 16 October 1972, while en route from Anchorage to Juneau.[311]
Hale Boggs58
29 October 1972Jamal Al-Gashey18–19LibyaOne of three surviving perpetrators of the Munich massacre, Al-Gashey was released in a prisoner exchange and given refuge in Libya. Although Al-Gashey provided an interview on condition of anonymity as to his whereabouts in 1999, his current whereabouts are unknown.[312]
c. 1973Renee ArmbrustUnknownGolden, Colorado, U.S.Armbrust was the wife of a man whose body was found near Grant, Colorado; he was later identified as Anthony John Armbrust III. It is believed that Armbrust and her husband had signed a suicide pact, and authorities believe her to be deceased.[313]
24 March 1973James Allen da Luz34Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, BrazilJames Allen da Luz was a Brazilian guerrilla who disappeared on 24 March 1973 from Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil as has not been seen since. He is believed to be dead.[314]
c. 25 April 1973Ray Robinson35South Dakota, U.S.Robinson was an African-American civil rights activist who disappeared around 25 April 1973 during the Wounded Knee Protests on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. In 2014, the FBI said it had concluded from witness statements that Robinson was killed by American Indian Movement militants and he was "buried in the hills". His body has never been located.[315]
21 May 1973Christine Markham9Scunthorpe, EnglandChristine Markham was an English girl who was last seen walking to school. Markham's body has never been found. Several individuals, including serial child killers Robert Black and Joseph Kappen, have been questioned about potential involvement in Markham's abduction, but her disappearance remains unsolved.[316]
9 June 1973Jason Shannon11 monthsElizabeth West, South Australia, AustraliaAustralian baby Jason was abducted by his father Barry Shannon at his grandparents' home in Elizabeth West, Adelaide; Barry died in a vehicle collision shortly thereafter. He has not been seen since, and police believe that he was either murdered or given to a relative of Barry to be raised in secret.[317]
26 July 1973Janice Kathryn Pockett7Tolland, ConnecticutJanice Kathryn Pockett was an American female child who disappeared after leaving her home in Tolland, Connecticut on 26 July 1973 and has not been seen since.[318]
25 August 1973Joanne Ratcliffe11Adelaide, AustraliaRatcliffe and Gordon are two Australian girls who went missing while attending an Australian rules football match at the Adelaide Oval on 25 August 1973.[319]
Kirste Gordon4
26 January and 19 November 1974Guðmundur Einarsson18Hafnarfjörður, IcelandSix people were convicted of their alleged murders on the basis of confessions extracted by the police. On 27 September 2018, 44 years later, the Supreme Court of Iceland acquitted five of the six original suspects.[320]
Geirfinnur Einarsson32Keflavík, Iceland
5 March 1974Amy Billig17Coconut Grove, Florida, U.S.17-year-old Amy Billig disappeared in Coconut Grove, a neighborhood in Miami, Florida, on 5 March 1974. She had been headed to her father's art gallery to borrow money before meeting a friend for lunch, though never arrived. Billig is believed to have been abducted, drugged, raped, and murdered by members of the Pagan's Motorcycle Club.[321]
27 May 1974Oscar Zeta Acosta39Mazatlán, MexicoAcosta was a Mexican-American attorney and friend of the American author Hunter S. Thompson. Acosta is referred to as "Dr Gonzo" in Thompson's 1971 roman à clef Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. On 27 May 1974, Acosta disappeared while traveling in Mexico after telling his son Marco he was about to leave Mazatlán on a "boat full of white snow", presumably an allusion to cocaine. Marco later said that although his body was never found, he surmises that probably, knowing the people he was involved with, he ended up mouthing off, getting into a fight, and getting killed.[322]
29 May 1974Diane Gilchrist14Vancouver, Washington, U.S.A Shumway Junior High School student. The circumstances surrounding her disappearance initially led police to suspect she had run away from home; her ultimate fate remains unclear, although investigators now suspect her of being a victim of serial killer Warren Forrest.[323]
11 June 1974Georgann Hawkins18Seattle, Washington, U.S.Hawkins, a University of Washington student, vanished in an alleyway behind her sorority house. Notorious serial killer Ted Bundy admitted to her supposed murder and that her remains had been recovered along with those of other victims, but these claims have never been verified.[324]
24 June 1974Margaret Ellen Fox14Burlington, New Jersey, U.S.Fox was a teenage girl who disappeared on 24 June 1974 from Burlington, New Jersey for unknown reasons and has not been seen since. It is believed by some people that she was kidnapped.[325]
22 July 1974Pavlos Kouroupis44–45Kyrenia, CyprusKouroupis was an officer in the Hellenic Army. At the time of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, he was a lieutenant colonel and commanding officer of the 251st Battalion of the Cypriot National Guard, the unit closest to the Turkish landing site. With his unit, he opposed the Turkish army at the Battle of Pentemili beachhead, stalling its advance for two days. Kouroupis was last seen on 22 July 1974. Following the conclusion of the battle, the fate of Kouroupis is unknown.[326]
August 1974Connie Converse50Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.Converse was a singer-songwriter who was active in the New York City folk-music scene of the 1950s. In 1974, two years after losing her job as managing editor of the Journal of Conflict Resolution, Converse wrote letters to friends and family expressing her intention to start a new life. In August 1974, she loaded her Volkswagen Beetle with her belongings, drove away, and was never heard from again.[327]
29 August 1974Jimmy Taylor12Derby, Western Australia, AustraliaJimmy, a 12-year-old Australian boy, was last seen entering a dark-coloured vehicle near a local store in Derby, Western Australia. A coronial inquest named convicted murderer James Ryan O'Neill as a possible person of interest.[328][329]
November 1974Paul McGonagle35Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.McGonagle, an Irish-American mobster and leader of the Mullen Gang, disappeared in November 1974. It is supposed that he was killed on orders of rival mobster Whitey Bulger, but his remains have never been recovered.[330]
8 November 1974John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan39Newhaven, EnglandJohn Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan was the primary suspect in the murder of Sandra Rivett (the nanny of his children) who was killed the day before he disappeared. He was declared legally dead in October 1999.
18 November 1974Diana Arón24Villa Grimaldi, ChileArón was a Chilean journalist and left-wing activist who was kidnapped on 18 November 1974 by agents of the DINA (the Chilean secret police during Pinochet's military dictatorship) and taken to Villa Grimaldi, where she was tortured by Miguel Krassnoff and presumably murdered. Her body was never recovered.[331]
29 November 1974Carmen Bueno24Villa Grimaldi, ChileThe actress Bueno and the cinematographer Müller, both Chilean, were interrogated and tortured by DINA agents at Villa Grimaldi shortly before they were forcibly disappeared on 29 November 1974.[332]
Jorge Müller27
23 December 1974Rachel Trlica17Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.Trlica took her friends, Wilson and Moseley, on a shopping trip to Fort Worth's Seminary South Shopping Center to do Christmas shopping. The girls' abandoned car was discovered in the Sears lot, but the three girls' whereabouts are unknown.[333]
Renee Wilson14
Julie Ann Moseley9
6 March 1975Jim Sullivan35New Mexico, U.S.Sullivan, an American singer-songwriter, left Los Angeles on 4 March 1975 to drive to Nashville, Tennessee. His abandoned car was found at a remote ranch in New Mexico, and he was reportedly last seen walking away from it on 6 March. The car contained Sullivan's money, papers, guitar, clothes, and a box of his unsold records.[334]
31 May 1975Mona Blades18North Island, New ZealandBlades disappeared on 31 May 1975 while hitchhiking on the North Island. She is believed to have been murdered, but no remains have ever been discovered.[335]
4 July 1975Juanita Nielsen38Sydney, AustraliaNielsen, an Australian publisher, activist, and heiress, disappeared in Kings Cross, Sydney, on 4 July 1975. She was presumed murdered, but no one has been convicted of the crime, and her remains have never been found.[336]
30 July 1975Jimmy Hoffa62Bloomfield Township, Michigan, U.S.Hoffa, a U.S. trade union leader and president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, disappeared on 30 July 1975 from the parking lot of a restaurant. It is believed he was to meet with the Mafia leaders Anthony Giacalone and Anthony Provenzano.[337]
October 1975Fritz Stammberger35Tirich Mir, PakistanStammberger, a German mountaineer, disappeared in October 1975 while scouting an expedition of Tirich Mir. It is believed he may have joined the mujahideen and died in the early 1980s in Afghanistan.[338]
1 November 1975Tish Pascual-Ladlad25PhilippinesThe UPLB student journalist and first female editor-in-chief of the Aggie Green and Gold who was abducted and presumably killed during the Marcos dictatorship.[339]
c. 1975–1976Norodom Chantaraingsey49–52CambodiaChantaraingsey, a member of the Cambodian royal family and a Cambodian nationalist, was initially a leader of the guerrilla resistance against the colonial French, but was presumably killed in 1975 or 1976 while fighting the Khmer Rouge.[340]
1976Norodom Naradipo30CambodiaNaradipo, a Cambodian prince, disappeared mysteriously in 1976. Many years later, however, there were rumors that he was still alive. Several people claimed to be the missing prince, but they were all later proven to be false.[341]
1976Norodom Kantol55–56CambodiaKantol, a former prime minister of Cambodia who was the first to rule for more than two years, disappeared in 1976, presumably killed by the Khmer Rouge.[342][343]
12 January 1976Eloise Worledge8Beaumaris, AustraliaWorledge disappeared from her home and is thought to have been abducted from her bedroom.[344]
March 1976Francisco Tenório Júnior34Buenos Aires, ArgentinaTenório Júnior, a Brazilian musician and composer, disappeared mysteriously while on tour in Argentina in March 1976. A decade after his disappearance, an Argentinian military colonel came forward and claimed that Tenório Júnior had been mistaken for a guerrilla, abducted, tortured and subsequently killed, yet this was never confirmed.[345]
23 April 1976Sandy Davidson3Irvine, ScotlandThe Scottish boy Sandy Davidson disappeared while he was playing in the back garden of his house in the Bourtreehill housing estate.[346]
26 May 1976Juan MainoUnknownÑuñoa, ChileMaino, a photographer, political activist and leader of the Popular Unitary Action Movement, was detained by DINA agents for opposing Augusto Pinochet's regime. He and several others were transported to a secret government facility, and have not been seen since.[347]
21 August 1976Andy Puglisi10Lawrence, Massachusetts, U.S.Puglisi wandered away from a pool area near his home in Lawrence, Massachusetts and has not been seen since.[348][349]
27 September 1976María Emilia Islas23Buenos Aires, ArgentinaIslas, a Uruguayan political activist, disappeared together with her husband, after they were arrested for being suspected militants by Uruguayan intelligence services. Neither has been located, and both remains missing to this day.[350]
30 September 1976Ana Teresa Diego21–22La Plata, ArgentinaDiego, an Argentine astronomy student, was kidnapped and presumably killed by the military dictatorship due to her Communist political leanings.[351]
15 December 1976Jussi Kivimäki91FinlandJussi Kivimäki was a professional Greco-Roman light heavyweight wrestler who competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics. After disappearing on 15 December 1976, he was declared dead in absentia, with his date of death being recorded as sometime around 1 January 1976.[352]
1977Héctor Oesterheld58Buenos Aires, ArgentinaOesterheld, an Argentine journalist and writer of comics as well as graphic novels, also known simply as "HGO", disappeared in 1977 and is believed to have been kidnapped and has not been seen since.[353][354]
17 February 1977Helen Brach65Rochester, Minnesota, U.S.Brach, an heiress novelist, disappeared on 17 February 1977, and was thought to have been murdered. A man named Richard Bailey was charged more than a decade later with killing Brach, but not convicted. He eventually received a long sentence after being convicted of defrauding her.[355]
18 March 1977Mary Boyle6Ballyshannon, IrelandBoyle disappeared while walking back to her grandparents' house. The investigation into her death has been criticized by some parts of her family and former police officers have stated that they believe Boyle was killed. Boyle is Ireland's longest-running missing child case.[356]
15 July 1977Donald Mackay43New South Wales, AustraliaAn Australian anti-drug campaigner, Mackay may have been murdered after providing information to police that resulted in what was then the biggest drug bust in Australian history.[357]
31 July 1977Gerry Faustino21Makati, PhilippinesFilipino activists from the University of the Philippines Los Baños who were best known as some of the most prominent desaparecidos of the Marcos Martial Law era in the Philippines were abducted on 31 July 1977 and have not been seen since.[358]
Jessica Sales25
Rizalina Ilagan23
Cristina Catalla26
19 September 1977Yutaka Kume52Ushitsu, Ishikawa Prefecture, JapanYutaka Kume disappeared from Ishikawa Prefecture in 1977. In 2003, the Japanese Government issued an arrest warrant for Kim Se-ho [ja], a North Korean agent, for his role in the abduction. North Korea denies any involvement in his disappearance, nor his entry to the country ever happening.[359]
21 October 1977Kyoko Matsumoto29Yonago, Tottori Prefecture, JapanMatsumoto left her home to go to a weaving class at around 8PM of 21 October 1977 and was never seen again. Later that night she was seen talking with 2 suspicious men, who promptly punched the witness when they were asked what they were doing. Matsumoto has been listed as one of the victims of North Korean abduction by the Japanese Government in 2006.[359][360]
15 November 1977Megumi Yokota13Niigata Prefecture, JapanYokota was reportedly abducted by a North Korean agent on 15 November 1977. She was thought to have been taken to a spy-training center.[359][361][362]
c. 1977Don Taxayc. 43IndiaAmerican numismatist and historian Taxay was last seen in 1977.[363][364]
26 January 1978Peter Winston19New York City, U.S.Winston, an American chess player, disappeared under mysterious circumstances on 26 January 1978.[365]
24 February 1978Gary Mathias25Chico, California U.S.Mathias, of Yuba City, California, is the only one of a group of five men who disappeared after buying junk food and snacks at a Chico market on the night of 24 February 1978, but who has not been found. Their car was found several days later on a winding dirt road high in the Sierra Nevada; why they were there, well off their route home, and why they abandoned a car that was apparently in good working order, is not known. In June of that year, the remains of three were found in the woods where they had died of exposure; a fourth was found in a trailer 20 miles (32 km) from the car, where he had starved to death after suffering severe frostbite, despite the availability of food, heat, and warmer clothing. Mathias, too, is believed to have made it to that trailer, but left it at some point.[366]
12 March 1978Mary Leah Rodermund16Morgan City, LouisianaMary Leah Rodermund disappeared on 2 March 1978 in Morgan City, Louisiana after going to a store and is known to have been abducted as her parents were called by both her abducter and her. She was never located.[367]
April 1978John Brisker30UgandaBrisker, an American professional basketball player from Detroit, Michigan, disappeared in Uganda in April 1978.[368]
21 May 1978Anocha Panjoy22MacauPanjoy was a Thai national who was abducted by North Korean agents from Macau on 21 May 1978. Her case only became known after the release of the American Charles Robert Jenkins and his Japanese family in 2004.[369][370][371]
1 June 1978Yaeko Taguchi22Tokyo, JapanTaguchi, a Japanese citizen, is said to have been kidnapped by North Korea in June 1978 and has not been seen since.[359][372]
6 June 1978Minoru Tanaka28Narita Airport, JapanTanaka was a staff at a Chinese restaurant in Kobe who was taken to North Korea via Vienna and Moscow by North Korean agents, including the manager of the restaurant Tanaka worked at.[359][373]
25 June 1978Trudie Adams19Newport, AustraliaAdams disappeared from Newport Surf Life Saving Club in the early hours of 25 June 1978 after attending a dance, and has not been seen since.[374]
12 August 1978Shuichi Ichikawa23Fukiage, Kagoshima, JapanIchikawa and Masumoto both went out to see the sunset at Fukiage Beach but were abducted at the beach. North Korea has claimed that the two had passed away within a few years after they were last seen in 1978, but the claim has not been substantiated.[359][375]
Rumiko Masumoto24
12 August 1978Miyoshi Soga46Sado Island, JapanMiyoshi Soga was abducted by North Korean agents with her daughter, Hitomi, on 12 August 1978. While Hitomi returned to Japan in 2002, Miyoshi remains unaccounted for, with North Korea denying Miyoshi ever entered North Korea. In spite of this, the Japanese Government has issued an arrest warrant for Kim Myong-Suk, a North Korean agent, for his involvement in their abduction.[359][376]
19 August 1978Genette Tate13Aylesbeare, EnglandTate, a teenage English girl, disappeared on 19 August 1978 while delivering newspapers.[377]
20 August 1978Melvin "Ricky" Pittman17Newark, New Jersey, U.S.Collectively known as the "Clinton Avenue Five", they disappeared under unclear circumstances in 1978. In November 2008, Philander Hampton confessed that he and his cousin had killed them for supposedly stealing marijuana from his house, shooting them at gunpoint and then burning the bodies. Hampton was convicted and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, but his victims' remains have never been found.[378]
Ernest Taylor17
Alvin Turner16
Randy Johnson16
Michael McDowell16
20 August 1978Diana Ng Kum Yim24SingaporeThe five women were social escorts who were invited to a party on a ship on the day of their disappearance. It is speculated that they could be victims of a transnational prostitution ring or human trafficking syndicate, or could be kidnapped by North Korean agents.[379][380]
Yeng Yoke Fun22
Yap Me Leng22
Seetoh Tai Thim19
Margaret Ong Guat Choo19
31 August 1978Musa al-Sadr50LibyaMusa al-Sadr and two aides, Mohammed Yaaqoub and Abbas Badreddine(fr) disappeared six days after entering Libya on 31 August, during an official visit from Iranians from Lebanon at the invitation of the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.[381][382]
Mohammed YaaqoubUnknown
Abbas BadreddineUnknown
30 September 1978Andrew John Amato4Webster, MassachusettsAndrew John Amato was an American male child who disappeared from the woods in Webster, Massachusetts why he was playing on 30 September 1978 and has not been seen since.[383]
21 October 1978Frederick Valentich20Bass Strait, AustraliaFrederick Valentich disappeared on 21 October 1978 during a solo flight near Bass Strait after reporting to an air traffic controller that his plane was being circled by an unknown craft.[384]
14 December 1978Christie Farni6Medford, Oregon, U.S.Farni disappeared en route to her elementary school after testifying against her father before a grand jury regarding physical-abuse allegations against him. Serial killer Henry Lee Lucas at one point implicated himself in Farni's disappearance and alleged murder, but her whereabouts remain unknown.[385]
1978Sattar Jabr Naserc. 20–28?IraqNaser, an Iraqi writer, disappeared in 1978, and has not been seen since.[386]
c. 1979Jim Robinson54Miami, Florida, U.S.Robinson, a former professional boxer notable for his bout with Cassius Clay (the future Muhammad Ali) in 1961, was last heard from in 1979, when he was living in the Overtown district of Miami, but has not been seen or heard from since.[387]
1979J. C. P. Williams47London, EnglandWilliams, a New Zealand cardiologist who discovered Williams syndrome, went missing in London. He was declared "a missing person presumed to be dead from 1978" by the High Court of New Zealand. However, Williams renewed his passport in Geneva in September 1979. He had possibly gone into hiding, as reports of alleged and indirect contact with him were made as recently as 2000.[388][389]
14 January 1979Thomas DeSimone28New York, U.S.DeSimone, an American mobster and associate of Henry Hill and the Lucchese crime family, was reported missing by his wife, Angela, on 14 January 1979. She said she had last seen DeSimone a few weeks earlier when he borrowed $60 from her. He was broadly considered to have been murdered in retaliation for any number of murders that DeSimone himself was involved in. However, no trace of him has ever been found.[390]
28 April 1979Christina White12Asotin, Washington, U.S.On 28 April 1979, Christina Lee White attended a parade with a friend, then later returned to the friend's home feeling sick. She called her mother who advised her to return home on her bike. White was not seen again. Authorities link her disappearance with the unsolved Lewis Clark Valley murders.[391]
5 November 1979Martin Allen15London, EnglandAllen was last seen at King's Cross station at 3:50 pm on 5 November 1979, when he left his friends to go to his brother's house. A witness came forward to say that a 30-year-old male was seen at Gloucester Road tube station later that same afternoon in the company of a boy who looked like Allen. The man was heard to tell the boy not to try to run, and the witness stated that the boy looked scared. Theories exist that Allen fell prey to a paedophile gang operating in London and that he was murdered.[392][393]
11 November 1979Ali Murad Davudi56–57Tehran, IranDavudi, an Iranian Baháʼí professor and member of the Spiritual Assembly, is thought to have been kidnapped and executed by government agents as part of the ongoing persecution.[394]
17 December 1979Nasser Al Saeed56Beirut, LebanonAl Saeed, a Saudi Arabian writer and founder of the Arabian Peninsula People's Union most known for criticizing the Saudi royal family, was abducted by Saudi agents while in Beirut to conduct interviews, and was never seen again.[395]

1980s

DatePerson(s)Age when disappearedMissing fromCircumstancesRefs.
11 April 1980V. V. Sadagopan65Andhra Pradesh, IndiaVeeravanallur Vedantam Sadagopan who went by "V. V. Sadagopan" was an Indian composer, performer, music teacher, film actor, ICS aspirant, and university rank-holder who disappeared in Andhra Pradesh on 11 April 1980 and was never seen again.[396]
26 April 1980Louise Faulkner43St Kilda, AustraliaLouise Faulkner and her daughter Charmian went missing in April 1980 after Louise told a friend she was visiting her boyfriend in Gippsland. They were last seen getting into a white ute. Both were declared legally dead in 2006 at an inquest. No trace of them has been found.[397]
Charmian Faulkner2
26 April 1980Laureen Rahn14Manchester, New Hampshire, U.S.Fourteen-year-old Rahn disappeared from her apartment after spending an evening with two friends. Upon returning home in the early morning, her mother noticed the lightbulbs in the hallways of each floor in the apartment building had been unscrewed, leaving the halls dark. Upon entering the apartment, she saw the figure of a young girl in Rahn's bed, and assumed the figure was Rahn. However, several hours later, she discovered that she was in fact Rahn's friend, who had fallen asleep in the bed. Her friend claimed to have last seen Rahn during the night when she got up to go to sleep on the couch. In the years after Rahn's disappearance, her mother received various anonymous phone calls, several of which were traced to motels in Southern California.[398][399]
27 April 1980Nicolas Jaeger34Lhotse Shar, NepalJaeger, a French physician and alpinist, disappeared on 27 April 1980 while attempting to climb the Lhotse Shar in Nepal and is presumed dead, his body having never been found.[400]
May or June 1980Kaoru Matsuki25-26Madrid, SpainMatsuki was an exchange student who was starting his studies in Madrid while Ishioka was a traveler who were abducted to North Korea by Japanese North Korean sympathizers, both of which have since been issued arrest warrants by the Japanese Government. North Korea has claimed that both individuals have since passed, but their claim has not been substantiated.[359][401]
Tohru Ishioka22-23
June 1980Tadaaki Hara43Miyazaki Prefecture, JapanHara was kidnapped by North Korean agent Sin Gwang-Su and South Korean Kim Kil Uk, who had lured him from Osaka to Miyazaki with a job offer in June of 1980. Hara has not been seen since, and Sin has used Hara's identity to obtain a Japanese passport.[359][402][403]
17 June 1980Peng Jiamu55Lop Nur, ChinaChinese biochemist and explorer Peng, who led an expedition to Lop Nur, disappeared after leaving a note saying he had gone to find water. He is presumed dead; a number of attempts have been made to find his remains, but nothing has ever been found.[404]
28 July 1980John Favara51New York City, New York, U.S.John Favara was the backyard neighbor of Gambino crime boss John Gotti, in Howard Beach, New York, who disappeared on 28 July 1980, over four months after he struck and killed Gotti's 12-year-old son, Frank, with his car on 4 March, as the boy darted into the street on a motorized minibike. After the killing, Favara's wife and two sons moved out of Howard Beach; John was declared legally dead in 1983.[405][406][407]
8 August 1980Alan Addis19North Arm, Falkland IslandsAlan Addis, a British Royal Marine stationed in the Falkland Islands, was part of a three-man team that had journeyed to the remote settlement of North Arm in Lafonia on East Falkland to pick up three other Royal Marines and equipment. On the evening of 8 August, Addis and the other marines attended a function in the village hall along with forty locals. The marines left the event at different times to various local homes, and Addis's colleagues reported last seeing him at around 1:30 am. Authorities initially believed Addis had possibly drowned, but several local men were later arrested for his murder, but subsequently released.[408][409]
16 August 1980Randy Sellers17Visalia, Kentucky, U.S.Randy Sellers disappeared on 16 August 1980 after police dropped him a mile from his house, following an incident at a county fair. In the early 1990s, incarcerated serial killer Donald Leroy Evans made a string of confessions to murders, including Sellers's, but Evans's confession has not been substantiated. Attention has also focused on the two officers who last saw Sellers.[410]
6 October 1980Thomas A. Mutch49Mount Nun, IndiaThe American geologist and planetary scientist disappeared on 6 October 1980 during a descent from Mount Nun in the Kashmir Himalayas and is believed to be dead.[411]
16 October 1980Irma Flaquer42GuatemalaFlaquer, a Guatemalan psychologist and reporter, was abducted and presumably executed by government agents for perceived anti-government activities.[412]
7 November 1980Johan Asplund11Sundsvall, SwedenAsplund disappeared from his home in Sundsvall during the morning of 7 November 1980 and has not been seen since.[413]
9 or 19 December 1980Alaíde Foppa66Guatemala City, GuatemalaGuatemalan poet and educator Foppa was detained and disappeared on 19 December 1980 and is believed to have been murdered.[414]
c.26 November 1981Denise Beaudin22Manchester, New Hampshire, U.S.Suspected victim of Terry Peder Rasmussen, whom Beaudin had previously dated. Beaudin is believed to have been killed somewhere in California, although her body has never been found.[415]
28 November 1981Katrice Lee2Schloß Neuhaus, West GermanyLee was a British girl who disappeared from a NAAFI shopping complex on 28 November 1981, her second birthday.[416]
December 1981George Washington Hughes81–85Florida, U.S.George Washington "Bo" Hughes was a carver of hobo nickels until he disappeared from a hobo camp.[417]
5 July 1982Ahmad Motevaselian29Near Beirut, LebanonThese four Iranian diplomats disappeared in Lebanon on 5 July 1982. On that date, when the vehicle carrying the diplomats was passing through a checkpoint on its way to Beirut, it was intercepted by Phalange Party members. Three decades after the incident, the fate of the missing diplomats remains a mystery, and the search for the Iranian diplomats continues.[418][419]
Seyed Mohsen MousaviUnknown
Kazem AkhavanUnknown
Taghi Rastegar MoghadamUnknown
5 September 1982Johnny Gosch12Des Moines, Iowa, U.S.Gosch was reported missing by his parents after he disappeared on 5 September 1982, while delivering newspapers.[420] At that time, the custom was a three-day waiting period before police responded to missing-persons reports. Gosch was not heard from again, but his case prompted new laws for Iowa and other states resulting in missing-persons reports involving children being given immediate attention.[421]
12 September 1982Steven Pearsall35Lewiston, Idaho, U.S.On the night of 12 September 1982, Pearsall, an employee of the Lewiston Civic Theater, entered the building to use the laundry facilities and has not been seen since. His disappearance occurred on the same night as that of two women he was acquainted with, Kristina Diane Nelson and Jacqueline Ann "Brandy" Miller. Nelson and Miller were later found dead. Police believe Pearsall may have been a victim of the same killer.[422]
3 November 1982Tony Jones20North Queensland, AustraliaTony Jones disappeared while backpacking on 3 November 1982, and is believed to have been murdered.[423][424][425]
24 November 1982Gwendolyn Clemons23Kansas City, MissouriClemons disappeared from Kansas City on 24 November 1982 along with her daughter and an unnamed man, apparently to "start a new life" in Florida. On 3 December 1982, Clemons was seen walking on a bridge above the Escatawpa River on Interstate 10, near the Alabama/Mississippi border with her daughter, appearing distressed. When passing motorists tried to assist her, she refused any help. A motorist reported seeing the body of a woman, floating in the river on 5 December, however, when authorities responded, they found the body of her daughter instead. Subsequent searches did not find Clemons, however did uncover the body of another unidentified man, who was most likely unrelated to the case. Authorities still consider Clemons a missing person, but believe she is deceased.[426]
13 February 1983Upali Wijewardene44Colombo, Sri LankaSri Lankan business magnate Upali Wijewardene's private Lear jet disappeared en route to Colombo on 13 February 1983. An extensive search operation by air and naval units failed to locate any evidence of a crash; his plane disappeared without a trace, and he is believed to be dead.[427]
17 March 1983Ludovic Janvier6Grenoble, FranceJanvier disappeared on 17 March 1983 when he was believed to have been abducted along with his brothers by an unidentified white man. While his brothers escaped, Ludovic has not been located.[428]
7 May 1983Mirella Gregori15Rome, ItalyGregori disappeared from Rome on 7 May 1983 and has not been seen since.[429]
June 1983Keiko Arimoto23London, EnglandArimoto was a Japanese exchange student who was lured by Megumi Yao (wife of one of the hijackers of JAL 351 in 1970), claiming to offer a job opportunity, before disappearing. She was later determined to have been abducted by North Korean agents. North Korea has claimed that Arimoto died in 1988 with her husband Tohru Ishioka, another abduction victim, but the claim is not substantiated.[359][430]
1 June 1983Ann Gotlib12Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.Russian immigrant Gotlib disappeared from the premises of a shopping mall on 1 June 1983. The police later found her bike, but her abductor has remained a mystery.[431]
22 June 1983Emanuela Orlandi15Rome, ItalyOrlandi, who was a citizen of Vatican City, disappeared on 22 June 1983 and has not been seen since.[432]
25 June 1983Nyleen Kay Marshall4Helena, Montana, U.S.On 25 June 1983 in the Helena National Forest, four-year-old Nyleen Marshall disappeared from a large family picnic. Some children with whom she was playing claimed to have seen her talking to an unknown man in a jogging suit. In the years after Marshall's disappearance, an anonymous person placed phone calls and wrote letters to missing-person nonprofits, as well as to the Marshall family, detailing his apparent kidnapping of Marshall. The unknown writer/caller was traced to Wisconsin, and he claimed Marshall was alive and well, though some content of his letters indicated sexual abuse. The identity of the letter writer and caller remain unknown, as does Marshall's whereabouts.[433]
6 July 1983Tammy Lynn Leppert18Rockledge, Florida, U.S.Model and actress Tammy Lynn Leppert disappeared on 6 July 1983 without a trace after leaving her family home.[434]
1 September 1983Kirsa Jensen14Napier, New ZealandKirsa Jensen disappeared on 1 September 1983 while riding her horse at a beach.[435]
2 September 1983George Cogar50–51British Columbia, CanadaThe American computer scientist was last seen on 2 September 1983 aboard a private plane, a Britten-Norman Islander, with six other people to go on a hunting trip. The plane disappeared somewhere in British Columbia and was never found.[436]
26 October 1983Sondra Kay Ramber14Santa Fe, Texas, U.S.14-year-old Sondra Kay Ramber disappeared in Santa Fe, Texas, on 26 October 1983, having last been seen at her family's home. The front door was left open, food was left in the oven, and Ramber's purse and coat were still in the house. It was initially believed that Ramber had gone to the store, though she never returned home.[437]
c. 1984Baalu Girma45Addis Ababa, EthiopiaGirma, an Ethiopian journalist and critic of the Derg, was presumably abducted and killed outside the capital, but his body has never been located.[438]
10 February 1984Kevin Andrew Collins10San Francisco, California, U.S.Collins disappeared while en route to basketball practice. He was one of the first children to be featured on milk cartons and the cover of national publications.[439]
13 February 1984Naomi Uemura43Denali, Alaska, U.S.Naomi Uemura, a Japanese adventurer who was particularly well known for doing alone what had previously been achieved only with large teams, disappeared on 13 February 1984 while descending Mount Denali after a solo climb.[440]
21 April 1984Hristo Prodanov41Mount Everest, NepalProdanov, a Bulgarian mountaineer and the first Bulgarian to climb Mount Everest, disappeared on 21 April 1984 after descending the mountain the previous night. He was last heard from reporting that he had lost his gloves and is believed to have died.[441][442]
20 July 1984John Patrick Kerrigan58Ronan, Montana, U.S.Kerrigan, a Roman Catholic priest, was last seen at a bakery in Ronan. His bloodied clothing and a blood-stained coat hanger was found along Flathead Lake days later. His vehicle was discovered shortly after, containing USD $1,200, along with a blood-stained pillowcase and shovel. Kerrigan was later implicated, along with 80 others, in sexual abuse of minors by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena. His remains have never been found.[443][444]
22 July 1984Curtis Holmen31Missoula, MontanaCurtis Holmen a schoolteacher in Missoula disappeared and was never seen again. His case remains unsolved.[445]
13 November 1984Tammy Belanger8Exeter, New Hampshire, U.S.Tammy Belanger, an eight-year-old third-grade student, disappeared while walking from her home to the nearby elementary school. Police believe she was abducted; the one suspect in the case was never charged in connection with Belanger's disappearance, and he died in December 2012.[446][447]
23 December 1984Ayakannu Marithamuthu33–34Changi, SingaporeAyakannu Marithamuthu was a Singaporean caretaker who was allegedly murdered on 23 December 1984. His body has never been found, and speculation remains his body was cooked into a curry before being disposed of in garbage containers. Six individuals were later charged with Ayakannu's murder, but were released on the day of the trial due to lack of evidence.[448]
1984Ronald JorgensenUnknownRemuera, New ZealandJorgensen, a New Zealand criminal on parole after completing a prison sentence, vanished in mysterious circumstances in 1984 after his car was found wrecked at the bottom of a cliff. Police initially suspected he faked his death, but he was declared legally dead in 1998. Since his body was never found, rumors persisted that he became a police informant in Australia.[449][450][451]
4–5 January 1985Boris Weisfeiler43Biobío Region, ChileAmerican mathematician Weisfeiler disappeared during a solo hiking trip in 1985. Chilean authorities originally concluded that he drowned, but documents released by the U.S. Department of State in 2000 included a 1986 memo suggesting he may be a captive "somewhere in Chile (probably Colonia Dignidad)", and a 1987 account by a CIA source claiming that Weisfeiler had been interrogated and fatally beaten by a Chilean army patrol.[452][453]
22 February 1985Cherrie Mahan8Cabot, Pennsylvania, U.S.Mahan was last seen getting off her school bus a short distance from her house on 22 February 1985. Police focused on a van seen near the bus when she got off. Her face was the first to be put on mailers sent all around the country, a practice continued with age-progressed photos as time passed. She was declared legally dead in 1998. In 2011, police claimed they had received a promising new lead but would not discuss it.[454]
28 March 1985Sarkis Zeitlian54–55Beirut, LebanonUnger Sarkis Zeitlian was a Lebanese American journalist and political leader of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) who was abducted in Beirut on 28 March 1985 and presumably murdered under unknown circumstances.[455]
31 March 1985Vladimir Alexandrov46Madrid, SpainAlexandrov, a Soviet physicist, disappeared on 31 March 1985 while attending a nuclear winter conference.[456]
c. 6 July 1985Andrew Fluegelman41San Francisco, California, U.S.Fluegelman, a publisher, photographer, programmer, and attorney, disappeared on 6 July 1985, and is believed to have committed suicide after his car was found abandoned at the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge.[457]
6 July 1985Diane Suzuki19Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.Suzuki was last seen on the evening of 6 July 1985 after leaving a dance studio where she worked as an instructor. Blood evidence found at the scene has not been matched to any suspect, nor can it be matched to Suzuki, since her blood type was not known. A photographer she knew was questioned by police and released without charge.[458]
30 July 1985Nicole Morin8Toronto, CanadaMorin disappeared from the Etobicoke borough after leaving her apartment to go on a swim date with a friend. While her case is now considered cold, it is still under investigation by local police and missing child organizations.[459]
5 October 1985Michelle Doherty Thomas17Santa Fe, Texas, U.S.17-year-old Michelle Doherty Thomas was last seen leaving her familial residence in Santa Fe, Texas on 5 October 1985, after having returned from work at a Galveston, Texas gas station. She left to meet with friends at a nearby nightclub located on Galveston Island for later that the evening. Acquaintances claimed they had stopped at a convenience store on the way to the nightclub and Michelle had gotten into a vehicle with two men. She has not been seen since. Authorities believe that she may have been abducted and murdered.[460]
15 October 1985Cotah Ramaswami89Chennai, IndiaCotah Ramaswami, an Indian cricketer who played in two test matches in 1936, walked out of his home on 15 October 1985 and was never seen again.[461]
27 November 1985Martha Jean Lambert12St. Augustine, Florida, U.S.Lambert was a girl who went missing on 27 November 1985. She has never been seen again and foul play is highly suspected in the case.[462]
February 1986Madame Max Adolphe60HaitiAdolphe, who was the right-hand woman of former Haitian president François Duvalier, was held prisoner in an army barracks next to the national palace in Haiti following Duvalier's overthrow, and left the country in February 1986. Her current whereabouts are unknown.[463]
6 April 1986Anthonette Cayedito9Gallup, New Mexico, U.S.American girl Anthonette Cayedito disappeared from her home in the early-morning hours of 6 April 1986. Her mother went to look for her, but she could not be found.[464]
15 April 1986Hana Gaddafi5 monthsLibyaThe adopted daughter of Muammar Gaddafi, Hana Gaddafi is alleged to have died in the 1986 United States bombing of Libya; however, claims of her death in these bombings are disputed, with allegations including her having survived the raid and subsequently becoming a doctor as an adult, and of her mother fleeing to Algeria with her and her siblings, remaining.[465]
19 April 1986Tammie Anne McCormick13Saratoga Springs, New York, U.S.McCormick was last seen alive by her sister, whom she informed of her intentions to hitchhike to school. She never arrived at her destination. Although McCormick had informed school friends of her intentions to run away to Florida, she did not take any of her personal belongings, and was wearing boots she had complained gave her discomfort. It is believed McCormick met with foul play; investigators have considered two individuals as suspects in the case: Firstly, convicted child murderer, Lewis Stephen Lent Jr; then in 2011 police named Arthur Mason Slaybaugh, who died in 2001, as a person of interest in the case.[466][467][468]
14 May 1986Toh Hong Huat12SingaporeTwo students of Owen Primary School, best friends Keh Chin Ann and Toh Hong Huat, both 12 years old, went missing on 14 May 1986. Chin Ann, the youngest of three children and the only son of his family, was last seen by a classmate running out of school to buy something after passing his bag to him. Hong Huat, the only child of a single-parent family, was last seen by his mother going out of the house to go to school, saying that Chin Ann came to fetch him to go to school together (which took place after Chin Ann went out of school). The boys were generally well-behaved and had never played truant before, according to their families. Their case became known as the "McDonald's Boys Case" as the fast food chain McDonald's offered a hefty S$100,000 reward for any information of the boys' whereabouts.[469][470][471]
Keh Chin Ann12
25 June 1986Juan Pedro Martínez10SpainMartínez, the ten-year-old son of a tank truck driver, mysteriously disappeared after his father's truck overturned in the Somosierra mountain pass and spilled its cargo of over 20,000 litres of sulphuric acid, resulting in deaths of his parents. However, the child's body was never found at the scene. Physical evidence and witness accounts suggested that Martínez was abducted, possibly by a drug smuggling cartel, following the accident.[472]
21 July 1986Agustín Feced65ArgentinaFeced, an Argentinian police official believed responsible for many tortures and extrajudicial executions during the country's Dirty War, was stated to have died in prison on 21 July 1986 while facing charges related to those activities. However, the records of his death and burial are incomplete and sometimes contradictory. Several sources doubt he was even imprisoned at the time. In 1986, the military hospital announced that Feced had died, but they did not offer any proof of it.[473]
28 July 1986Suzy Lamplugh25London, EnglandBritish estate agent Suzy Lamplugh disappeared from Fulham, London, on 28 July 1986. In 1994, she was declared dead and presumed murdered. Despite further police investigations in 1998 and 2000, no trace of her has been found.[474]
14 August 1986Jeremy Bright14Myrtle Point, Oregon, U.S.Bright disappeared on 14 August 1986 while attending a county fair with his sister. The following day, his mother found his wallet, watch, and keys in his stepfather's house nearby, where he had been staying. Foul play has been suspected and police had a potential suspect who died in prison in 2007. While his family believes he is dead, and held a memorial service for him in 2011, they have not petitioned a court to make that declaration legal.[475]
23 October 1986Philip Cairns13Dublin, IrelandIrish schoolboy Philip Cairns disappeared 23 October 1986 on his way back to school after going home for lunch. His schoolbag was found abandoned in a previously searched lane near his house a few days later but there has been no trace of Philip and no arrests have been made in connection with the case.[476]
12 December 1986Simon Parkes18GibraltarLeading seaman Simon Parkes, in the Royal Navy, went missing when the ship he was serving aboard was docked in Gibraltar. Parkes had gone into town and was last seen leaving the Horseshoe Bar on the peninsula. Because he disappeared on 12 December 1986, Allan Grimson (who favoured killing on that date and was serving aboard the same ship at that time) has been named as a suspect in Parkes' possible murder, though no trace of him or a body has been found.[477]
10 February 1987Jennifer Pandos15James City County, Virginia, U.S.After two days away from school when her parents claimed she was sick, on the morning of 10 February Pandos's parents say they found a lengthy note in her room telling them she was taking some time away from home but warning them not to call the police or she would never return home. They did not notify the police for three days, and took even longer to let their family members know. The couple's account of the disappearance has changed, both of them failed lie detector tests and questions have been raised about whether Pandos really wrote the note. The case, and Pandos's older brother's attempts to find out whether his belief that his parents know more than they have claimed to, is the subject of the 2023 HBO series Burden of Proof.[478]
15 April 1987Federico Caffè73Rome, ItalyItalian economist Caffè left his home at dawn on 15 April 1987, shortly after quitting university teaching, and disappeared. He was declared dead on 30 October 1998, and the mystery of his disappearance has not been solved.[479]
16 September 1987Julie Weflen28Spokane, Washington, U.S.Weflen, an operator for the Bonneville Power Administration, disappeared on 16 September 1987. Weflen was working at the Four Mounds substation in Spokane County. She vanished some time after 3:30 pm after going to check on a transformer. Her work truck was found with its door and back hatch open and her personal possessions inside and on the ground. The gravel in the vicinity showed signs of a struggle.[480]
3 December 1987Sarinthip Siriwan61ThailandSiriwan whose real name was "Phailin Collin" was a Thai actress from Nakhon chaisri District, Nakhon Pathom who disappeared on 3 December 1987 while filming a movie in Thailand. No trace of her has ever been found.[481]
1988Louise Kay18Eastbourne, EnglandKay disappeared in the Beachy Head area in 1988, less than a year before the remains of Jessie Earl, who disappeared in 1980, were found in the same area. Due to the similar circumstances, authorities believe the cases might be related, and that both women were victims of Scottish serial killer Peter Tobin.[482]
3 February 1988Vagn Hoffmeyer Hoelgaard74Marbella, SpainA former head of office of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hoelgaard relocated from Denmark to Marbella following his retirement. He disappeared after leaving his home in 1988; he was declared legally dead in 1990.[483]
20 March 1988Susan Smalley18Carrollton, Texas, U.S.Smalley and Madison disappeared on the morning of 20 March 1988. Police know the girls were at Smalley's house by midnight, but they later left. The car in which they rode was found parked and locked in Dallas, Texas.[484]
Stacie Madison17
4 May 1988Ron Arad30LebanonRon Arad, a jet-fighter navigator, was captured on 16 October 1986 by Amal Shi'ite forces in southern Lebanon after ejecting from his damaged F-4 Phantom II while on a bombing mission. Israeli intelligence officers reportedly knew his whereabouts until the early hours of 4 May 1988, his 30th birthday, when he abruptly vanished from the house where he was held, at the village of Nebbi Shiit.[485][486]
26 May 1988Antonio Bardellino43Armação dos Búzios, BrazilBardellino, a powerful Neapolitan camorrista and boss of the Casalesi clan, was said to have been murdered on 26 May 1988 by his right-hand man, Mario Iovine. Since his body was not found, he is rumored to still be alive.[487]
13 June 1988Amber Swartz-Garcia7Pinole, California, U.S.Swartz-Garcia was kidnapped while playing jump rope in her front yard.[488]
10 September 1988Lee Boxell15Cheam, EnglandLee Boxell disappeared near his home on 10 September 1988 on his way to a football match at Selhurst Park, and has not been seen since.[489]
20 September 1988Tara Calico19Belen, New Mexico, U.S.Calico disappeared near her home after embarking on a bike ride. A Polaroid photo of a boy and girl, bound and gagged, surfaced on 15 June 1989 in Port St. Joe, Florida and speculation was that Calico might be the girl in the photo, but that was never confirmed.[490]
7 October 1988Piia Ristikankare15Piikkiö, Finland15-year-old Piia Ristikankare disappeared on 7 October 1988 following an argument with her little brothers at her home in Piikkiö. She was declared dead in absentia in 2011.[491]
19 November 1988Michaela Garecht9Hayward, California, U.S.Garecht was abducted by an unidentified white male in a grocery-store parking lot.[492]
14 January 1989Michelle Lewis21–22Rockhampton, AustraliaMichelle was last seen on her bike leaving a friend's house in North Rockhampton. The Queensland Police suspects Michelle to have been murdered.[493][494]
9 February 1989Tiffany Sessions20Gainesville, Florida, U.S.Sessions left her apartment and went out for an evening walk on 9 February 1989, but never returned.[495][496][497]
20 April 1989Patricia Meehan37Circle, Montana, U.S.Meehan, a resident of Bozeman, Montana, got into an accident on Montana Highway 200 while driving to Circle, a town in eastern Montana. Shortly afterward, a driver at the scene witnessed her climb over a fence and stare at the scene before disappearing into the nearby fields.[498][499]
26 May 1989Charles Horvath-Allan20Kelowna, CanadaHorvath-Allan disappeared on 26 May 1989 from a campsite. A Canadian-born British national, he was hiking across Canada and had plans to meet up with his mother and stepfather in Hong Kong by August 1989, but never made it.[500]
June 1989Reino Gikman59Vienna, AustriaReino Gikman was the alias used by an undercover agent for the Soviet KGB, who disappeared in June 1989 and has not been seen since.[501]
27 October 1989Melanie Melanson14Woburn, Massachusetts, U.S.Melanson went missing at a party near an industrial park and has not been seen since.[502][503]
3 December 1989Melissa Brannen5Lorton, Virginia, U.S.Brannen disappeared while attending a Christmas party at the Woodside Apartments and has not been seen since. Though a worker at the complex was convicted of abduction in 1990, her body has not been found and murder charges were not filed.[504]

See also

References