Beyond the Syllabus: 5 famous people who disappeared mysteriously

The mysterious disappearance of MH-370 has left everyone stunned. No debris, no crash site, no trace of any passenger onboard. Two hundred and thirty nine people onboard a flight that disappeared without a trace in today’s satellite age is a little hard to digest.
But in reality, disappearances have happened throughout the history. While some people disappear without leaving behind any footprint, some leave considerable clues but still cannot be traced.
In this episode of Beyond the Syllabus, we decided to look up five mysterious disappearances. These famous disappearances have left generations puzzled. Read the entire story and the urban legends associated with their vanishing acts.

1. Amelia Earhart
Missing since: July 2, 1937
Location: The Pacific Ocean

The mysterious disappearance of America’s aviation pioneer, author, editor and fashion designer has been a subject of intrigue and speculation since 1937.

Amelia Mary Earhart, nicknamed as the "Queen of the Air and “Lady Lindy”, had several claims to fame. She was the first woman pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean and as well as the first person to fly over both Atlantic and Pacific oceans. She disappeared while flying over Pacific Ocean.

In 1937, Earhart embarked on a round-the-world flight, navigating earth around the equator. On July 2, 1937, Earhart was flying towards Howland Island from Lae in a Lockheed Electra 10E. “We must be on you, but cannot see you—but gas is running low. Have been unable to reach you by radio. We are flying at 1,000 feet,” she was heard speaking on transmitter. She was last heard at 7:30GMT (View Source).

Urban Legends: While no one knows what happened, numerous theories are going around. Some believe that the plane ran out of fuel and the plane crashed in the ocean. Some others believe that she probably managed to escape and was floating on the ocean for several days. There are also legends about Earhart being a Japanese spy. Earhart’s disappearance embarked one of the most expensive searches of its time. The truth is yet to be ascertained.

2. Harlod Holt
Missing since: December 17, 1967
Location: Point Nepean, Victoria, Australia

Imagine Narendra Modi visiting a temple for Puja. And suddenly, he’s missing. Never to be found again! Imagine the widespread shock.

That is exactly what happened with Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt.

Holt, leader of the Liberal Party, became the 17th PM of Australia. He had been in office for 22 months only, when the unfortunate incident took place.

On December 17, 1967, Holt along with his friends and security staff, decided to visit Cheviot Beach on Point Nepean near Portsea, Victoria. He decided to go for a swim, despite the strong currents. Soon, he disappeared from view (Source). A rescue operation was quickly launched which became one of the largest search operations in Australian history.

On December 19, 1967, the Australian government officially pronounced him dead. Finally in 2005, a coroner ruled the cause of death to be accidental drowning or eaten by shark.

Urban Legends: The most accepted explanation for his disappearance is strong water currents combined with bad health. Holt was suffering from various physical ailments during the time of the incident. He was advised not to swim. Previously, Holt faced a similar situation and had to be pulled out of water, severely ill and vomiting sea water. Though a good swimmer, he probably drowned because of strong currents.

Then there are counter theories, fuelled by the fact there was no formal inquiry. Some claim he was murdered, others say he staged his own death to be with his mistress. Another legend claims he was a Chinese spy and was picked up by a Chinese submarine. No mysterious disappearance is complete without Alien abduction. Suicide has also been speculated.

3. Jimmy Hoffa
Missing since: July 30, 1975
Location: Bloomfield Township, Oakland County, Michigan, United States

Jimmy Hoffa, an American labour union leader, was the former president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (the labour union in US & Canada).

Hoffa had been a part of organised crime for quite a few years. He was even imprisoned and sentenced to 13 years of jail time. However, US president Richard Nixon, facilitated his release after he resigned from the president post of IBT. He was kidnapped from a parking lot in July 1975, aged 62. According to information, Hoffa was last seen in outside a suburban Detroit restaurant.

Here’s what happened. On July 30, 1975, Hoffa went to meet Detroit mobster Anthony Giacalone and New Jersey labour leader Anthony Provenzano. It is assumed that the meeting was to discuss Hoffa’s running for IBT presidency again. Hoffa called his wife to say that he has been stood up. And then he vanishes. His green 1974 Pontiac Grand Ville was found in the restaurant parking lot. Extensive investigations continued for several years. He was officially declared dead in 1982.

Urban Legends: Hoffa’s disappearance has been widely speculated as murder. On the day of his disappearance, a maroon 1975 Mercury Marquis Brougham had pulled out of the suburban Detroit restaurant and nearly hit a truck. The truck driver recognised Jimmy Hoffa sitting in the backseat of the car and noticed a long object covered with a grey blanket on the seat between Hoffa and another passenger. The driver thought it looked like a shotgun or a rifle. Using the description, investigators trace car owner – Joe Giacalone, son of mobster Anthony Giacalone. Joe had lent the car to fellow mobster Charles O'Brien, who was quite close to the Hoffa family. O'Brien however claimed not meeting Hoffa.

“Twenty-six years later in March of 2001, a DNA match was made between a hair found in the back of the car and a hair taken from Hoffa's hairbrush,” informed Anthony Bruno in his article.
We leave the rest to your imagination!

4. Louis Le Prince
Missing since: September 16, 1890
Location: Dijon station, France

Look up the cinematography history and you’ll come across famous names like Thomas Edison and the Lumière brothers. But it is Louis Le Prince who shot the first moving pictures on paper film using a single lens camera. He’s now fondly called the “Father of Cinematography”.

Le Prince pioneer work was filming a street scene in October 1888 at Roundhay Garden Scene and Leeds Bridge using single-lens camera and Eastman's paper film. Mind you, this moving picture sequence was filmed several years before the work of competing inventors such as Lumière Brothers and Thomas Edison!

However, he was never able to show his work to the world as he mysteriously vanished from a train. Le Prince embarked from Dijon to Paris. On September 16, 1890, he took the Dijon–Paris express. His brother saw him off the station. However, his friends could not find him onboard upon arriving in Paris. Even his luggage was missing.

Urban Legends: More than 100 years after his death, a police file photo of a drowned man was found, who could have been Le Prince. Many attribute suicide as the cause of his mysterious disappearance, since Le Prince was on the verge of bankruptcy. Some claim he simply vanished to avoid financial troubles or was murdered.

Ummm...by the way... soon after Le Prince's disappearance, Thomas Edison tried to take credit for his first filming invention. The court even awarded it to him, till truth prevailed. Was it a Patent Wars assassination?

5. Jean Spangler
Missing since: October 7, 1949
Location: Los Angeles, California

Jean Elizabeth Spangler was glamour girl, dancer, model and small-time actress in Hollywood. She had a five-year-old daughter Christine with former husband Dexter Benner.

On October 7, 1949, Spangler left home (in LA) to meet Benner and discuss child support payment. She was to go for a late night shoot, post the meeting. She was last seen waiting for someone. Interestingly no studio was working or shooting was happening on October 7. The case has not yet been closed.

Urban Legends: Naturally, the first doubt was on the ex-husband. But he had a rock-solid alibi.

On October 9, Spangler's torn purse was found near Fern Dell entrance to Griffith Park, LA. An unfinished note addressed to "Kirk" was found in the purse. It read, "Can't wait any longer, Going to see Dr Scott. It will work best this way while mother is away,...". Spangler's mother was in Kentucky at the time.

Neither Kirk nor Dr Scott was ever found. According to Spangler's friends, she was three months pregnant at the time of disappearance and wanted to get an abortion (illegal at that time). Though many thought the Kirk could be famous Kirk Douglas, with whom Spangler was shooting.

Before her disappearance, Spangler was often seen with a mobster Davy Ogul, who also disappeared two days later. Interestingly, in 1950, a customs agent in El Paso, Texas claimed to see Ogul and Spangler in a hotel. A hotel clerk also identified Spangler from the photograph.