# Who is the most prominent person to disappear? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 27, 2022, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546 "2022-04-27T14:47:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2022, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546/21 "2022-04-27T16:27:01Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Ambrose Bierce Also B. Traven, who wrote The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2022, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546/22 "2022-04-27T16:29:03Z")
A lot of great replies, keep’em coming. I still think Hoffa takes the palm for most prominent person to disappear in mysterious circumstances, but the Judge Crater and Lord Lucan cases are intriguing. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2022, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546/23 "2022-04-27T16:34:42Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Is Harold Holt really a mystery, though? Yeah – there are really two flavors of disappearances: - The body was never found, though it’s generally agreed upon as to what happened. Holt, as well as people like Glenn Miller, seem to fall into this group. - The body was never found, and the circumstances behind their fate are also unclear or unexplained – and, due to that, there’s often a lot of speculation and theories about it. Earhart and D.B. Cooper fall into this group; arguably, Hoffa does, too – though it’s pretty well-accepted that it was a mob hit, the details, and his final resting place, are where the speculation falls. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2022, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546/24 "2022-04-27T17:07:12Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > The thing with Hoffa, though, is that there is little doubt that he was killed. It’s just his body that has “disappeared”. The ultimate fate of Earhart or some prominent Nazis\* is/was more of a mystery. Earhart’s fate is not much of a mystery. It’s almost certain her plane crashed in the middle of the ocean and she was either killed in the crash or drowned. The same is true of several of the other “mysterious disappearances” in kenobi’s link. These are people who drowned and whose bodies weren’t recovered. ---
**Author:** ![Raza](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raza/32/213_2.png) [@Raza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raza)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2022, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546/25 "2022-04-27T17:18:05Z")
Along with some family members, she went missing in 1995. She and the others were soon assumed murdered based on FBI investigations, but it wasn’t until 2001 when one of the murderers showed investigators the locations of the bodies. Probably more despised by most Americans, and more infamous than famous, I guess. > **[Madalyn Murray O'Hair](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madalyn_Murray_O%27Hair)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > Madalyn Murray O'Hair (née Mays; April 13, 1919 – September 29, 1995) was an American activist supporting atheism and separation of church and state. In 1963 she founded American Atheists and served as its president until 1986, after which her son Jon Garth Murray succeeded her. She created the first issues of American Atheist Magazine and identified as a "militant feminist". > O'Hair is best known for the Murray v. Curlett lawsuit, which challen... ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2022, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546/26 "2022-04-27T17:35:04Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > When a rumor started, many years after the disappearance, that Hoffa might have been buried underneath one of the end zones at the then-under-construction Giants Stadium in New Jersey, it became a running joke for years. I suspect that without this meme Hoffa would have passed from public consciousness years ago. Plus I suspect that Earhart was much more famous amongst the population in general before her disappearance than Hoffa was. Not sure how to quantify that though… ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2022, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546/27 "2022-04-27T18:26:01Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > > [@kenobi\_65](#): > > > > Hoffa might have been buried underneath one of the end zones at the then-under-construction Giants Stadium in New Jersey, it became a running joke for years. > > I suspect that without this meme Hoffa would have passed from public consciousness years ago. Then there was the strange story in 2006 that the [FBI searched a Milford, Michigan farm for Hoffa’s body](https://www.cnn.com/2006/US/05/24/hoffa.search.barn/index.html), over 30 years after his disappearance. Going so far as to completely raze a horse barn to look for it. Rumor has is the son of the family who owned the farm was in prison, and his father wrote him saying “The farm’s not doing well-- I don’t know how we’re going to afford to have that old horse barn removed”. The son wrote back saying “don’t worry, I’ll figure something out. But just make sure that the people who tear down the barn don’t dig too deep under it-- they might find Hoffa’s body”. After the mother reports that the FBI showed up soon after and razed the barn, the son wrote “told you I’d figure out how to get it done!” (First part true, second part adapted from an [old joke](https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/cvujs/an_old_man_and_his_garden/)) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2022, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546/28 "2022-04-27T18:51:45Z")
Amelia Earhart is no more of a mystery than Glenn Miller. Her plane crashed in the South Pacific. Jimmy Hoffa disappeared with no idea of what happened to him. He could have gone away voluntarily or he could have been kidnapped. He could have been alive for who knows how long or dead soon after. [Michael Rockefeller](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Rockefeller) disappeared on an expedition to New Guinea in 1961. Some villagers claimed to have killed him, but his remains and no evidence of his demise was ever found. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2022, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546/29 "2022-04-27T19:05:17Z")
There’s the interesting bit “He walked around horses” - most notable for the science fiction story it inspired. > **[He Walked Around the Horses](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/He_Walked_Around_the_Horses)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > "He Walked Around the Horses" is a science fiction short story by American writer H. Beam Piper. It is initially based on the true story of diplomat Benjamin Bathurst, who mysteriously disappeared in 1809. It was first published in the April 1948 issue of Astounding Science Fiction magazine (now Analog). > The story is told in epistolary style, as a series of reports, statements and memoranda by various government, army and police officials, and in... > **[Benjamin Bathurst (diplomat)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Bathurst_(diplomat))** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > > Benjamin Bathurst (18 March 1784 – 1809?) was a British diplomatic envoy who disappeared in Prussia during the Napoleonic Wars. He was the third son of Henry Bathurst, Bishop of Norwich. His sister was the poet Caroline de Crespigny. > Bathurst disappeared on or about 25 November 1809, sparking much debate and speculation about his ultimate fate, especially in science fiction stories, based on a widespread belief (fostered by secondary sources) ... And Ghislaine Maxwell’s father disappeared, but that’s less of a mystery - he’d looted the company’s pension fund, and was out in the middle of the ocean on his yacht when the fan was being impacted back home. > **[Robert Maxwell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Maxwell)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > > Ian Robert Maxwell MC (born Ján Ludvík Hyman Binyamin Hoch; 10 June 1923 – 5 November 1991) was a Czechoslovak-born British media proprietor, member of parliament (MP), suspected spy, and fraudster. > Early in his life, Maxwell escaped from Nazi occupation in his native country, joined the Czechoslovak Army in exile during World War II and was decorated after active service in the British Army. In subsequent years he worked in publishing, buildi... ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2022, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546/30 "2022-04-27T19:07:41Z")
Louis Augustin Le Prince disappeared in 1890, after inventing one of the first movie cameras. > **[Louis Le Prince](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Le_Prince)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince (28 August 1841 – disappeared 16 September 1890, declared dead 16 September 1897) was a French artist and the inventor of an early motion-picture camera, possibly the first person to shoot a moving picture sequence using a single lens camera and a strip of (paper) film. He has been credited as the "Father of Cinematography", but his work did not influence the commercial development of cinema—owing at least in part t... ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2022, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546/31 "2022-04-27T19:27:48Z")
The story about what happened to the $600,000 in gold coins is as interesting as the disappearance! I, too was surprised when I heard about it on “All Things Considered” on the 1-year anniversary of their disappearance that I hadn’t heard about it AT ALL, which I guess illustrates just how “admired” she really was. As for D. B. Cooper, he’s famous for being missing, and most likely hiding in plain sight for many years, and is most likely deceased himself. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2022, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546/32 "2022-04-27T19:28:48Z")
Disappeared for good or just disappeared for a while? Iin the latter category we have SC Gov [Mark Sanford](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Sanford_extramarital_affair) ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2022, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546/33 "2022-04-27T21:46:13Z")
Disappeared for good, a la Jimmy Hoffa ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2022, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546/34 "2022-04-27T22:38:29Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Or possibly the Australian Prime Minister [Harold Holt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Harold_Holt) I knew about him, because Bill Bryson mentioned the incident in _In a Sunburned Country_. \ > [@2\_More\_Bits](#): > > [Aimee Semple McPherson](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-incredible-disappearing-evangelist-572829/#:~:text=Aimee%20Semple%20McPherson%20was%20an,for%20five%20weeks%20in%201926.&text=Along%20the%20Los%20Angeles%20beach,unable%20to%20stop%20their%20tears.) was _awfully_ famous in her time. My dad got dragged to the Foursquare Temple by my grandma when he was a kid. ---
**Author:** ![UDS1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47774/32.png) [@UDS1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS1)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546/35 "2022-04-28T00:29:28Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > And Ghislaine Maxwell’s father disappeared, but that’s less of a mystery - he’d looted the company’s pension fund, and was out in the middle of the ocean on his yacht when the fan was being impacted back home. Maxwell doesn’t count. He went missing from his boat, but his drowned body was recovered from the ocean twelve hours later. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546/36 "2022-04-28T03:18:05Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > In the UK, possibly [Lord Lucan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bingham,_7th_Earl_of_Lucan). Even I know about that despite being an American born a few years after his disappearance due to a catchy (cover) song by Black Box Recorder. Is he more or less known in the UK than Percy Harrison Fawcett, though? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546/37 "2022-04-28T03:24:43Z")
Well, there was a [movie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lost_City_of_Z_(film)) about six years ago about Percy Fawcett’s last expedition, so right now he might be better known. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546/38 "2022-04-28T07:58:36Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Is he more or less known in the UK than Percy Harrison Fawcett, though? I’ve never heard of Percy Fawcett. Lord Lucan is known to pretty much everyone. Well, people over 40 anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Boycott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boycott/32/6741_2.png) [@Boycott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boycott)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546/39 "2022-04-28T10:09:11Z")
She was featured quite heavily in a book that I read a few months ago about the history of space exploration. O’Hair’s objections to religious verses being read by astronauts starting with the Genesis reading from the crew of Apollo 8 in a Christmas broadcast back to Earth led to a legal showdown against NASA regarding separation of church and state. She lost the case which eventually was tossed out by the Supreme Court. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546/40 "2022-04-28T11:37:52Z")
Another sensational (in its time) disappearance in the UK was Victor Grayson, a young firebrand Socialist MP. > **[Victor Grayson](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Grayson)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > > Albert Victor Grayson (born 5 September 1881, disappeared 28 September 1920) was an English socialist politician of the early 20th century. An Independent Labour Party Member of Parliament from 1907 to 1910, Grayson is most notable for his sensational by-election victory at Colne Valley, and unexplained disappearance in 1920. > Albert Victor Grayson was born in Liverpool, the seventh son of William Grayson, a Yorkshire carpenter, and Elizabeth C... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546.md?page=3)