People disappearing and dying is a common occurrence, but it’s somehow even more shocking when it happens to a famous person. It’s almost as if their status should grant them additional protection from unfortunate events. However, that is far from the truth. In fact, they are just as at risk as the general population, if not more so, due to their dangerous activities.
Throughout history, famous rulers, adventurers, and artists have died mysteriously or had unknown resting places for their remains. There are numerous historical figures whose bodies cannot be found and whose final resting place remains a mystery.
In this gallery you can read about some of the most exciting cases.
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Jimmy Hoffa
Jimmy Hoffa, a prominent union leader in the 1960s, was the president of the major US union, the Teamsters. Despite his fame, Hoffa’s reputation was tarnished by his involvement in organized crime, which ultimately led to a prison sentence for corruption.
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Jimmy Hoffa
After he was released from prison, he disappeared a few years later. He was last seen at a bar in Detroit, where he allegedly met with two mafia bosses. It is believed that the Mafia murdered him that same day, but his body was never found. Despite various clues, no crucial information could be uncovered, so his final resting place remains a mystery.
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
The talented Austrian composer died at the age of just 35. In September 1791 he fell ill and gradually became bedridden, suffering symptoms such as pain, swelling and vomiting.
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Wolfang Amadeus Mozart
Despite his desperate efforts to complete his masterpiece “Requiem”, the famous composer died in December without achieving his goal. As was customary at the time, he was buried in a common grave. A gravedigger later claimed that he had buried Mozart and could identify his skull, but examinations of the skull were inconclusive.
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Leonardo da Vinci
The esteemed Renaissance artist moved to France in the last years of his life, where he died at the age of 67. His final resting place is speculated to be the local church in Amboise, but this has proven difficult to confirm.
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Leonardo da Vinci
The Saint-Florentin church was destroyed during the French Revolution and it was decided to demolish and rebuild it. Sixty years later, during excavations, some human bones and a piece of stone with a few letters of da Vinci’s name were found. It is claimed that the church is his resting place, but this cannot be confirmed.
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Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great, an esteemed emperor and conqueror, unfortunately met an unexpected end. At the age of only 33, he fell ill after a large feast and ultimately died. It is believed that his illness was due to either malaria or poisoning. He was buried in a tomb made of pure gold. Needless to say, it was looted until there was nothing left.
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Alexander the Great
Several emperors were themselves involved in looting. According to legend, Alexander’s upper body armor was stolen by the Roman Emperor Caligula, while the Egyptian King Ptolemy IX. had his coffin melted down to make coins. Since 200 AD, the whereabouts of Alexander’s remains have been a mystery, giving rise to various theories that suggest they could be anywhere from Australia to Venice.
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Glenn Miller
Glenn Miller was a successful musician in the 1930s and 1940s and is considered one of the greatest big band leaders of all time. During World War II he joined the Air Force, where his musical skills were very useful. In 1944 he traveled to France so that his band could play for the troops in Paris.
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Glenn Miller
However, his plane never arrived at its destination. Miller, his two companions and his plane disappeared somewhere over the English Channel and were never seen again.
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Vlad the Impaler
Vlad III, also known as Vlad the Impaler, was a leader known for his cruelty. Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” was inspired by him. His reputation for being bloodthirsty was the result of the brutal way he dealt with his enemies.
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Vlad the Impaler
Vlad was notorious for displaying his victims’ bodies by impaling them on pikes even while they were still breathing. After his death at the hands of the Ottomans, his head was put on a pike to confirm his death. However, the location where his body rests remains a mystery.
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Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan was another tyrannical ruler, but unlike Vlad, he disappeared of his own volition. He was in his 60s when he died and is believed to have succumbed to long-term injuries sustained in a fall from a horse.
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Genghis Khan
On his deathbed, he insisted that he be secretly buried in an unmarked grave. After the slaves buried his body, they were killed. Subsequently, the soldiers who killed the slaves were also killed. His system must have worked because to this day no one has been able to locate his remains.
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Marcus Antonius and Cleopatra
Cleopatra was the last and most infamous ruler of Egypt, and Marcus Antonius was her famous lover. When their empire fell to the Roman Emperor Octavian, the couple decided to kill themselves. Marcus Antonius stabbed himself with a sword because he thought Cleopatra was already dead.
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Marcus Antonius and Cleopatra
Cleopatra was captured but met a tragic end when she was bitten by a poisonous snake. Historians claim that Octavian allowed Cleopatra and Marcus Antonius to be buried together, although the exact location is not known.
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Harold Holt
In 1966, Harold Holt was appointed Prime Minister of Australia. Sadly, he disappeared while swimming at his beloved beach in 1967 and was never found.
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Harold Holt
Harry Holt’s clothing was found untouched on the sandy beach, but no other evidence of his presence was found. Although he was an experienced swimmer, it is believed that he was swept away by the current or attacked by a shark. His death gave rise to the expression “doing a Harry Holt”, which refers to an unexpected disappearance.
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Oscar Zeta Acosta
Oscar Zeta Acosta, a Mexican-American writer and activist, has been at the center of some controversy. He gained great fame through his friendship with the writer Hunter S. Thompson, who referred to him as Dr. Gonzo immortalized in his famous book “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”. In the 1998 film adaptation he was played by Benicio del Toro, with Johnny Depp in the lead role.
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Oscar Zeta Acosta
Those who know the film know that Acosta has a penchant for recreational drugs. During his trip to Mexico, Acosta contacted his son and mentioned his intention to ride on a “white snow” ship. Unfortunately, he then disappeared without a trace. There are various theories about his disappearance, e.g. E.g. possible conflicts with drug traffickers, a fatal overdose or even a targeted assassination for political reasons.
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Davy Crockett
Davy Crockett, a well-known American frontier soldier, has been revered as a folk hero for many generations. Historical records confirm his death during the famous Siege of the Alamo in the midst of the Texas Revolution. However, the exact circumstances of his death and the location of his final resting place remain a mystery.
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Davy Crockett
The people who died at the Alamo were burned by the Mexican army. There is a marble vessel in the Cathedral of San Fernando that is said to contain the ashes of Crockett and various other courageous frontier figures. However, historians doubt that the ashes are actually Crockett’s.
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Solomon Northup
Solomon Northup, an African American man, was kidnapped and forced into slavery. After a long struggle, he regained his freedom and processed his remarkable experiences in “Twelve Years as a Slave,” a memoir that was made into a film in 2013 and won an Oscar.
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Solomon Northup
Unfortunately, this was not a happy ending to his story. He assumed the role of an itinerant orator and disappeared on a trip to Canada in 1857. There is speculation that he was kidnapped again and taken into slavery, or that he was killed because of his anti-slavery beliefs.
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Jean Spangler
Jean Spangler was a prominent figure in the entertainment industry during the Golden Age of Hollywood. On one particular day, she informed her family that she would be meeting with her ex-husband to discuss child support, followed by a night shoot for a film. However, she never returned home. Shockingly, her ex-husband denied he wanted to meet her and it emerged there was no filming planned for that evening.
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Jean Spangler
It appeared she wanted to disappear, but after two days her handbag was discovered near a park. The straps were damaged, suggesting it had been forcibly torn from her shoulder. Despite the efforts of more than 160 people who extensively searched the area, no further evidence could be found. The case remains unsolved to this day. She is believed to have died when she disappeared in 1949, aged 26.
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Amelia Earhart
Amelia Earhart is perhaps the most famous missing person in the world. She went down in history as the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. In 1937, Earhart and her navigator undertook a highly publicized circumnavigation of the world. Unfortunately, they ran into trouble after completing 35,405 km of the planned distance of 46,670 km.
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Amelia Earhart
While flying over the Pacific Ocean, Earhart made a distress call to report that she was running dangerously low on fuel. Despite rescue efforts, communications broke down and their plane was never found. Extensive searches at this time and in the following century did not lead to their whereabouts.
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Amelia Earhart
Her disappearance has captivated historians, scientists, conspiracy theorists and everyday Americans alike. Recently, coroners began to believe they had confirmation that her remains had been found. Does this mean we can finally draw a line in the sand?
Quellen: (Mental Floss) (TV Over Mind)
Also interesting: Unsolved: The most mysterious murders of all time
2023-10-10 23:33:19
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