Unsolved crimes take on a whole new level of attraction when it comes to missing-person cases: instead of a whodunit murder with a body and clues, they revolve around unexplained disappearances and thus are more puzzling than other crimes. Circumstantial evidence often presents itself later, allowing family, friends, and investigators to mostly piece together what happened, but the lack of finality makes an unsolved missing-person case feel like a situation that will never be resolved, no matter what’s learned.
1. The Springfield Three. 1992. Three women went missing in Springfield, MO
2. Maura Murray. 2004. UMass student vanished
3. Natalee Holloway. 2005. Vacationing in Aruba as part of a school graduation trip. Even though there was a famous court case, the body was never found.
4. D.B. Cooper. 1971. hijacked a plane, stole $200,000 and vanished. Several mysteries and panels at Bouchercon about this over the years.
5. The Beaumont Children. 1966. Adelaide, South Australia.
6. Ambrose Bierce.1930. Mexico. Yes, the famous author of An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge and The Difficulty of Crossing a Field.
7. Percy and Jack Fawcett. 1925. Brazilian jungles.
8. Joseph Crater. 1930.
9. Michael Rockefeller. 1961. New Guinea
10. The Roanoke Colony. 1590. An Entire Town.
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As I said in Bill Crider's blog, where's Jimmy Hoffa?
ReplyDeleteThe Fawcett story is told in The Lost City of Z a recent book and one of the best books I have read. It's a recent book and out in paperback.
ReplyDeleteI think the Beaumont children were blamed on dingoes (wild dogs) but who knows. Several tribes all claim to have eaten Michael Rockefeller. Always a fascinating list.
Yes, Jimmy Hoffa must be #1!! He's sure to be under a lot of cement.
ReplyDelete