Infamous Disappearances That Still Have Us Stumped

A merchant ship was found drifting in the Atlantic Ocean in 1872, fully rigged and with everything seemingly intact. The only thing missing was the lifeboat and the entire crew of 10 men. The old case was never solved, and the fact that their cargo was still on the ship disproves most theories pointing to a pirate attack.

On Christmas Eve, 1945, a fire destroyed the Sodder house in Fayetteville, West Virginia. George Sodder, his wife, and four of their ten children were able to escape unharmed. The remaining five children were never found, sparking all kinds of theories. Investigations determined the cause of the fire was electrical, but the family had done maintenance not long before, so they suspected arson. George Sodder had criticized the Italian fascist movement, and the most likely theories point to the kids being kidnapped by the mafia and using the fire as a distraction.

Lars Mittank was last seen near the Varna airport in Bulgaria in July 2014. Days before that, he was in a fight in the resort where he was vacationing with friends, and he wasn't able to fly alongside them due to health issues. He called his mother and told her someone was trying to kill him, and reports suggest he was acting strangely while being alone in Bulgaria. Security cam footage shows him running out of the airport and entering a forest near the area, and he was never seen again.

Jennifer Kesse was last seen leaving work at an investment firm in Orlando, Florida, on January 23, 2006. She spoke with her boyfriend and her father at different times that day, but didn't text her boyfriend the next morning before leaving for work, something that was part of her routine. She didn't show up to work, but her car wasn't at her home when they came looking for her. It was later found a mile away from her house, and security cam footage shows an unidentified person driving Kesse's car and then leaving, but the quality of the image wasn't good enough to determine anything.

A mysterious man hijacked the Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305 in 1971. He demanded money as ransom and four parachutes when the plane landed. Then, he instructed the crew to let the passengers go and refuel the aircraft for another flight. When they departed, he jumped over a remote, heavily wooded area of southwestern Washington to never be seen again. D.B. Cooper is a nickname, and the only portrayal of him was reconstructed from witnesses.

In the morning of February 14, 2000, Asha Degree took her bag and left her home for unknown reasons. She walked near the North Carolina Highway 18 in the middle of a storm and was seen by passing drivers. One of them said they approached her, but she ran into a wooded area. Some of her belongings were found more than a year later. The case is now considered a murder, but it's still unsolved to this day.

The pioneering aviator disappeared on July 2, 1937, while attempting to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the world. She disappeared alongside her navigator, Fred Noonan, and the strongest theories point to a crash and sinking in the Pacific Ocean, but no evidence of them or the aircraft has been found. She was declared dead on January 5, 1939.

The model and actress was last seen in Cocoa Beach, Florida, on July 6, 1983, after filming a scene for Scarface. Her mother reported she was acting paranoid, assuring someone wanted to kill her, and was put through a medical examination for a few days. She was released after doctors didn't find anything wrong with her. Detective Harold Lewis received two phone calls from a woman claiming that Leppert was still alive. In the calls, the woman said “Leppert would make contact when the time was right,” and that she was doing what she always wanted: going to nurse school.

Sharon Lynn Pretorius was last seen on September 28th, 1973, collecting newspaper payments in Dayton, Ohio. Her family contacted the police that evening after she failed to return home. Later, neighbors would testify that Sharon didn't collect money from them, suggesting she was abducted even before she started her round.

An entire aircraft disappeared completely on 8 March 2014 while flying from Malaysia to China. It's the greatest mystery in aviation history. While there are tons of theories about the case, it has not been solved in more than a decade.

This disappearance shook the world in 2007 when the British girl disappeared from her bed in a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Lagos, Portugal, on the evening of May 3rd. The case was covered by the mass media all over the world, making it the most heavily reported missing-person case in modern history. While it hasn't been solved, in November 2025, new evidence suggests she was murdered soon after she was kidnapped.

The college student disappeared in 2013 while he was driving back to his family's home. He called his parents a couple of times and mentioned he was going to spend the night somewhere before arriving. The next day, his family noticed the police, and they found Bryce Laspisa's car overturned and abandoned, but his cellphone and other belongings were still in there.

The medical student was last seen entering a bar in Columbus, Ohio, on April 1st, 2006. While there is CCTV footage, some parts are missing, and no one saw Brian Shaffer leave the bar. There are many different theories about this case. One suggests he was murdered inside the bar, which would explain the missing footage. Another one suggests he wanted to start a new life and disappeared on his own. A login from his email years later was pinpointed in a medical school in Italy, fueling this second theory.

Three Australian siblings disappeared from Glenelg Beach near Adelaide on 26 January 1966. Reports suggest they were interacting with a 30-year-old man at the beach, so the case is considered an abduction and murder. It was widely covered by the media, and it shook the Australian community, causing a change in their lifestyles.

Suzanne Streeter, Stacy McCall, and Streeter's mom, Sherrill Levitt, went missing from Levitt's home in Springfield, Missouri, on June 7, 1992. There were no signs of struggle, and all their belongings were still inside. There was a message on the answering machine that the police thought could lead somewhere, but it was inadvertently erased. A convicted kidnapper said he knew they had been murdered and that their bodies would never be found, but the police said the man had no credibility.