# Celebrities who have completely vanished **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 18, 2015, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-completely-vanished/715272 "2015-03-18T09:27:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-completely-vanished/715272/61 "2015-03-19T16:36:46Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > IIRC, she had a baby that was very likely Manson’s. If she’s trying to keep this fact from the kid, she really doesn’t want to be found. There are Manson case fanatics who have tracked her and everyone else involved down and go over every detail in their forums. CA has fairly open public records. ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-completely-vanished/715272/62 "2015-03-19T19:15:44Z")
Matt Drudge has gone the slightly-less-bat-crap-crazy-version-of Howard Hughes route. There’s even some interesting articles out there about trying to track him down, and just general senses of where he lives. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-completely-vanished/715272/63 "2015-03-19T19:25:24Z")
John Lennon faked his death to escape fame _really_ convincingly. So did Buddy Holly, Jimi Hendrix, Sam Cooke, Freddy Mercury . . . (I can dream, can’t I?) ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-completely-vanished/715272/64 "2015-03-19T20:20:57Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I’m not sure if “on the lam” is the same as “vanished.” He was heavily using heroin and had warrants in New Jersey so he couldn’t return home. He was unemployable due to drug use and did not have stable living arrangements. But he did not disappear. My recollection is that, at the time, there was speculation that he might be dead. No one knew where he was. It’s been more than a decade so my recollection might be wrong. Yes, he disappeared because there were warrants out for him. If we eliminate those who have a good reason to disappear, it will severely limit the scope of this conversation 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-completely-vanished/715272/65 "2015-03-19T20:47:15Z")
I don’t think anyone’s seen Elvis since that time he was spotted working at a convenience store in Kalamazoo, MI back in the 80’s. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-completely-vanished/715272/66 "2015-03-19T20:47:23Z")
> [@Eliahna](#): > > My recollection is that, at the time, there was speculation that he might be dead. No one knew where he was. It’s been more than a decade so my recollection might be wrong. > > Yes, he disappeared because there were warrants out for him. If we eliminate those who have a good reason to disappear, it will severely limit the scope of this conversation 🙂 I believe that it was pretty widely known that he was openly living in California. The charges weren’t important enough for the state to extradite from that far. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-completely-vanished/715272/67 "2015-03-19T21:05:27Z")
Actress Greta Garbo pretty much vanished into private life in 1941 at age 35. No husband, no kids, little contact with the outside world. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-completely-vanished/715272/68 "2015-03-19T21:34:41Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Actress Greta Garbo pretty much vanished into private life in 1941 at age 35. No husband, no kids, little contact with the outside world. But everyone knew where she lived- on 52nd Street in Manhattan. True, she dropped out of show biz and never returned, but she wasn’t living in the middle of nowhere. She walked around the streets of New York, alone and/or with friends. She had a social life. It just didn’t include any other celebrities. Nobody ever had to ask “Where is she?” Everyone knew exactly where she was. But hardly anyone from the press or from her old life ever tried to contact her, and that’s the way she wanted it. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-completely-vanished/715272/69 "2015-03-19T23:29:42Z")
[Bobby Driscoll](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Driscoll), a child actor who starred in early Disney movies like “Song of the South” and “So Dear to My Heart” and provided the voice for the animated Peter Pan, disappeared some time in 1967. In March 1968 his body was found in New York, but no one knew who he was until a fingerprint match identified the body over a year and a half later. This wasn’t released to the public till a few years after that, so for all that time he effectively “vanished.” ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-completely-vanished/715272/70 "2015-03-19T23:36:28Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Anesthesia Romanov writes: > > \> Salinger died back in 2010. > > Yes, of course I knew that. > > Robert163 writes: > > \> Sixto Rodriguez, Otherwise know and Rodriguez. Musician form the 70’s that no > \> one could find. They made a very interesting documentary on him. The > \> Documentary was called Searching for Sugar Man. > > And there are certain ways in which that documentary wasn’t accurate: > > [6 Famous Documentaries That Were Shockingly Full of Crap | Cracked.com](http://www.cracked.com/article_20585_6-famous-documentaries-that-were-shockingly-full-crap_p2.html) There were a lot of holes in that story, that’s for sure. It was still a good movie. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-completely-vanished/715272/71 "2015-03-19T23:53:32Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Actress Greta Garbo pretty much vanished into private life in 1941 at age 35. No husband, no kids, little contact with the outside world. As she was gay or at least a fem-leaning bi, the latter isn’t too surprising. But as **astorian** notes, she didn’t hide out - she just didn’t hang at Elaine’s. She went back to being a private citizen. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-completely-vanished/715272/72 "2015-03-20T00:04:49Z")
> [@Octarine](#): > > John Lennon faked his death to escape fame _really_ convincingly. So did Buddy Holly, Jimi Hendrix, Sam Cooke, Freddy Mercury . . . > > (I can dream, can’t I?) Jimi most certainly did _not_ fake his death. We sat upon his grave, passed a joint around and decorously left the roach for him. He was definitely down there. The one you are thinking of is Jim Morrison. He faked his death and fled to a quiet, peaceful existence on a small farm in SW Ireland, just out of view of Craggy Island. Eno mentioned having a brief visit after doing that _Father Ted_ episode. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-completely-vanished/715272/73 "2015-03-20T00:12:14Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > No one ever hears from [Jack Chick](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_T._Chick) until a new tract comes out. No one knows what he looks like, or he has only given one professional interview since 1975. [One picture did come out a few years ago, but yeah, he’s very private.](http://jimmyakin.typepad.com/defensor_fidei/images/2007/04/13/jackchick.jpg) > [@Robert163](#): > > Sixto Rodriguez, Otherwise know and Rodriguez. Musician form the 70’s that no one could find. They made a very interesting documentary on him. The Documentary was called Searching for Sugar Man. 1. I think the main issue was that folks in S. Africa did not know his full name, where he was from, or pretty much who he was. The internet fixed that problem. 2. He did do a few tours that the movie ignored. He didn’t totally disappear. He lives not far from me, by the way. Neat. > [@RivkahChaya](#): > > And all of America wished he’d shut up and go away again. Are you referencing Bobby Fisher? 'Cause that dude has shut up permanently. He dead. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-completely-vanished/715272/74 "2015-03-20T00:34:01Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > [One picture did come out a few years ago, but yeah, he’s very private.](http://jimmyakin.typepad.com/defensor_fidei/images/2007/04/13/jackchick.jpg) Wow…he looks like an old Stephen Colbert. > [@Rodgers01](#): > > [Bobby Driscoll](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Driscoll), a child actor who starred in early Disney movies like “Song of the South” and “So Dear to My Heart” and provided the voice for the animated Peter Pan, disappeared some time in 1967. In March 1968 his body was found in New York, but no one knew who he was until a fingerprint match identified the body over a year and a half later. This wasn’t released to the public till a few years after that, so for all that time he effectively “vanished.” This makes me think of actor [Joe Pilcher](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Pichler), who was in a couple of _Beethoven_ movies. He disappeared after playing cards with friends in 2006. His car was found, but he has never been heard from since. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-completely-vanished/715272/75 "2015-03-20T02:38:26Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > But everyone knew where she lived- on 52nd Street in Manhattan. > > True, she dropped out of show biz and never returned, but she wasn’t living in the middle of nowhere. She walked around the streets of New York, alone and/or with friends. She had a social life. It just didn’t include any other celebrities. > > Nobody ever had to ask “Where is she?” Everyone knew exactly where she was. But hardly anyone from the press or from her old life ever tried to contact her, and that’s the way she wanted it. Look Smithers, Garbo is coming! ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-completely-vanished/715272/76 "2015-03-20T16:09:06Z")
Quirky girl Michelle Meyrink had vanished for some 15 years when someone tracked her down. I have no idea if she’s still in the same location a dozen years later. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-completely-vanished/715272/77 "2015-03-20T16:30:46Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Wow…he looks like an old Stephen Colbert. Give him a pipe and he could pass for _MAD_ cartoonist [Dave Berg](http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/scale_small/6/69951/1601126-dave_berg.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-completely-vanished/715272/78 "2015-03-20T17:17:48Z")
Not sure if Playboy Playmates of The Month qualify as celebrities, but quite a few have gone missing after their pictorial. But one in particular stands out: [Melinda Windsor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melinda_Windsor), May Playmate, February 1966. She used a pseudonym and promptly disappeared. Very little is known about her before, during or after. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-completely-vanished/715272/79 "2015-03-20T19:45:05Z")
Mozart, of course. No one’s seen him in centuries, and no one knows where he went. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-completely-vanished/715272/80 "2015-03-20T19:48:35Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Not sure if Playboy Playmates of The Month qualify as celebrities, but quite a few have gone missing after their pictorial. > > But one in particular stands out: [Melinda Windsor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melinda_Windsor), May Playmate, February 1966. She used a pseudonym and promptly disappeared. Very little is known about her before, during or after. Quite a few men’s-mag nudies posed under pseudonyms, and not a few never had any idea their photo shoot ended up in such a magazine… at least, not in the lesser titles. While Playboy tends to shoot its own pictorials, especially centerfolds, they have bought just as many outright (see: Marilyn Monroe) and made up entirely fictitious names and histories for the subjects. All legal; the models signed away all rights. So I don’t find it too unusual that even a Playboy POTM did a vanishing act. Probably more than that one, if the full record was examined. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-completely-vanished/715272.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-completely-vanished/715272.md?page=5)