# 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:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546/41 "2022-04-28T15:12:39Z")
That’s an intriguing one !! ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546/42 "2022-04-28T18:19:36Z")
A borderline case is the strange case of Rudolf Diesel’s disappearance, the inventor of the engine of the same name. He vanished from a ship on a passage from Germany to England in 1913. He most probably fell overboard and drowned in the North Sea, as a few days later, Dutch fishermen found a dead body they couldn’t recover because of bad weather, but they took some personal items which Diesel’s son later identified as belonging to his father. The big mystery is the cause of death: suicide, accident or murder? Suicide seems to be most likely, but Diesel was on a delicate mission. After he hadn’t been able sell his engine to the German navy, he was traveling to Britain for negotiations with Germany’s enemy. Relations between Britain and Germany were already very tense, so it was risky business. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546/43 "2022-04-28T18:34:48Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > > [@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. > (snip) A matter of semantics, I think - I wouldn’t term such deaths “mysterious”, just because the bodies were never recovered. Sure, it’s _possible_ that Holt was a Chinese spy who was picked up by a submarine and taken to Beijing to be debriefed, or that Miller’s plane was abducted by aliens from Tralfmadore; but reasonable people understand that the prosaic explanations - Holt was caught in strong currents and drowned, and Miller died when his plane crashed - are overwhelmingly more likely. ---
**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 28, 2022, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546/44 "2022-04-28T18:42:06Z")
> [@UDS1](#): > > Maxwell doesn’t count. He went missing from his boat, but his drowned body was recovered from the ocean twelve hours later. Thanks. Somehow I missed that detail at the time… ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546/45 "2022-04-28T18:51:01Z")
Does [Shelly Miscavage](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shelly_Miscavige) count? AFAIK she hasn’t been seen since 2007. Not hugely prominent I guess, but the wife of the leader of a huge church. ---
**Author:** ![Cayuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546/46 "2022-04-28T19:32:38Z")
I read an article just a couple of year ago that uncovered the account of an RAF pilot returning from France engaging and shooting down a plane headed the other way that he could barely see through the fog. I think he even said he realized it wasn’t German as it was going down. The location and time were when and where the plane Miller was on was last heard from. In other words, it was a friendly fire incident. (And no, this isn’t the friendly fire theory involving RAF pilots dumping their bombs into the Channel. That’s been discredited. But it was widespread enough to make it impossible for me to find a reference for the more recent story. Sorry.) ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546/47 "2022-04-28T20:23:08Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > Does [Shelly Miscavage](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shelly_Miscavige) count? AFAIK she hasn’t been seen since 2007 That kind of fits into the same category as [Don Lewis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Don_Lewis?wprov=sfti1). Without any real evidence beyond their disappearance, almost everybody is certain they are dead and have little doubt that the spouse did the deed. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546/48 "2022-04-28T21:44:27Z")
Huge in news coverage, not in numbers. I personally believe that she was murdered, and her body was destroyed, or at least hidden very well. ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546/49 "2022-04-28T23:08:18Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > 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. Not really. _The Lost City of Z_ didn’t make much of an impact and, in any case, Lucan’s disappearance had been the subject of a much-publicised TV drama in 2013. Then there’s the fact that Lady Lucan’s interview and subsequent suicide in 2017 also got lots of attention. In Britain Lucan clearly remains the archetypal disappearance, rivalled only by [Shergar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shergar). But unlike Shergar, Lucan wasn’t especially famous before he disappeared. ---
**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, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546/50 "2022-04-28T23:10:14Z")
Well, I saw The Lost City of Z, but didn’t see the TV drama about Lord Lucan, so for me Fawcett is better known. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546/51 "2022-04-28T23:24:45Z")
Judge Crater’s disappearance popped up often enough in the 70s, usually as a humorous reference, that I looked it up in my handy World Book Encyclopedia at some point back then. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2022, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546/52 "2022-04-29T20:36:56Z")
**Raoul Wallenberg** born 4 August 1912 – disappeared 17 January 1945. Probably died in a Soviet prison, maybe in 1947, but may have been sighted in prison in the 60s, 70s and 80s. > **[Raoul Wallenberg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raoul_Wallenberg)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > > Raoul Gustaf Wallenberg (4 August 1912 – disappeared 17 January 1945)\[note 1\] was a Swedish architect, businessman, diplomat, and humanitarian. He saved thousands of Jews in German-occupied Hungary during the Holocaust from German Nazis and Hungarian fascists during the later stages of World War II. While serving as Sweden's special envoy in Budapest between July and December 1944, Wallenberg issued protective passports and sheltered Jews in bu... ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2022, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546/53 "2022-04-29T21:56:11Z")
If the person can be recently dead, then I should put in a vote for Jesus’s body disappearing from his tomb. And recognising that he was more of a locally noted trouble-maker of Middle Eastern appearance than a widely known religious figure at the time. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2022, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546/54 "2022-04-30T02:05:06Z")
I’ll have to ask for a cite about the disappearance. And it can’t be the _Bible_. If you use the _Bible_, then it also says he was seen later. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2022, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546/55 "2022-04-30T02:44:25Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > I’ll have to ask for a cite about the disappearance Mrs Gilhooley in Scripture class 1972, pers. comm. She was old enough to be there. ---
**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 30, 2022, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546/56 "2022-04-30T02:45:32Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > If the person can be recently dead, then I should put in a vote for Jesus’s body disappearing from his tomb. And recognising that he was more of a locally noted trouble-maker of Middle Eastern appearance than a widely known religious figure at the time. Aside from being fictional, the OP specified “recent history”. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2022, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546/57 "2022-04-30T13:34:54Z")
The pilot of the MH370 is a famous person. but only because he went missing. Ah well of course this list should have been missing people who were famous before they went missing. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2022, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546/58 "2022-05-01T00:32:16Z")
Yeah, but there is little real doubt about Holt. Dangerous waters, **sea jellies** , sharks, etc. I hadn’t heard about Lucan but he would be about 90 now. > [@SanVito](#): > > I’ve never heard of Percy Fawcett. Lord Lucan is known to pretty much everyone. Well, people over 40 anyway. Not in the USA, maybe, I am over 40, never heard of him, but I have heard of Col Fawcett. > [@nearwildheaven](#): > > 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. The name is Dan, not D.B. He was totally unprepared for the jump, and whatever happened to him, he never spend any significant % of his loot, we know that for sure. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2022, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546/59 "2022-05-02T16:48:15Z")
RIght. There are a lot of interesting historical cases, like the Princes in the Tower, but I’m interested in the last 200 years or so. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-prominent-person-to-disappear/963546.md?page=2)