Mystery

5 Frightening Mysterious Disappearances

5 Frightening Mysterious Disappearances

Mysterious disappearances are one of the favorite discussion subjects for conspiracy theorists. After all, they are pretty intriguing, and most of them are hard to explain. Even in today's modern world, when we have access to all sorts of advanced technology, the vanishing of people is surprisingly common.

Throughout modern history, there have been countless instances of people vanishing. In many cases, they became famous due to the bizarre nature of their disappearances. Below, you can take a look at compelling, mysterious disappearances that are still unexplained and spark curiosity in everyone that learns about them.

Famous Mysterious Disappearance: Amelia Earhardt

5 Frightening Mysterious Disappearances

The case of Amelia Earhardt is, perhaps, one of the most famous mysterious disappearances in history. Born and raised in Kansas, Earhardt became the first female pilot to cross the Atlantic on her own without any stops in 1932.

This accomplishment brought her immense popularity throughout the world. In the United States, she was awarded countless honors for her further achievements in aviation. Earhardt was even one of the most prominent women's rights activists, making her even more famous.

Her exciting story would take a tragic turn, however. The ambitious nature of Earhardt saw her take another, a more challenging endeavor in 1937. She attempted to become the first female pilot to circle the world. Unfortunately, this decision would turn out to be fatal for her.

Earhardt and her co-pilot Fred Noonan would suddenly disappear while flying over the Pacific Ocean, somewhere near Howland Island. Before their disappearance, they would be last seen in New Guinea in July 1938, during one of the refueling stops for their journey. A year and a half later, they would be declared dead.

Still, Amelia Earhardt is remembered as one of the pioneers in aviation history. Her story is compelling and inspiring, making her case one of the most interesting mysterious disappearances that still puzzle investigators.

D. B. Cooper's Mysterious Disappearance

5 Frightening Mysterious Disappearances

There is only one person who has been established as the undisputed king of plane hijackings by popular media. That man is D. B. Cooper - a man responsible for hijacking a Boeing 727 in late 1971, extorting an amount of $200,000 from the authorities and then vanishing without a trace. The case of D. B. Cooper is undoubtedly one of the most mysterious disappearances of the 20th century.

But how exactly did one man manage to hijack a whole commercial flight? As the story goes, a man that identified himself as Dan Cooper bought a plane ticket from Portland to Seattle on November 24, 1971. When the plane departed, he proceeded to hand a flight attendant a note, asking her to sit beside him. He said he was carrying a suitcase that contained a bomb.

After seeing the suitcase, the flight attendant assumed that the device within it was dynamite. She listened to Cooper's demands and dispatched it to the Seattle-Tacoma airport air control.

At the airport, the authorities delivered $200,000, four parachutes, and a refueling truck to refuel the plane after landing, just as D.B. Cooper had requested. Then, he released the passengers and returned to the cockpit crew to give them further instructions.

Sometime later, the same plane would take off and head to Mexico City, but D. B. Cooper would parachute out of the plane somewhere in Southeast Washington. The police would not be able to find him ever since.

D. B. Cooper's story is truly unique. It is the only unsolved commercial flight hijacking to this day. The fate of the infamous D. B. Cooper was never determined, as he has eluded the authorities to this day. All in all, he belongs on the list of the most mysterious disappearances in history.

The Mysterious Disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi

5 Frightening Mysterious Disappearances

In June 1983, a 15-year-old Emanuela Orlandi suddenly disappeared after returning home from a music lesson in Vatican City. Emanuela was a daughter of a Vatican employee, often spending time in the City with different religious officials and, sometimes, even the Pope himself. Her vanishing would become one of the most mind-boggling and mysterious disappearances.

On the day of her disappearance, after taking her music lesson, Orlandi called her sister to tell her about a recent job proposal from Avon. However, she would not return home the following day, vanishing without a trace. When her parents called the police, it was too late - the girl was already gone.

There have been many theories about what happened to the 15-year-old Orlandi throughout the years. Many people believe that the Italian Mafia is involved in one of the most famous mysterious disappearances of the 20th century. Others point at a sex trafficking scandal that potentially includes high-ranking Vatican officials.

Over the years, Orlandi's family has fiercely continued to investigate what exactly happened to their daughter, but without success.

In the end, no one knows what happened to Emilia Orlandi. Was she a victim of Italian crime lords or an unfortunate participant of the conspiracy theories surrounding Vatican City? Her case remains one of the most mysterious disappearances to this day.

Jimmy Hoffa's Mysterious Disappearance

5 Frightening Mysterious Disappearances

Jimmy Hoffa was the leader of the largest union labor in the United States - Teamsters. By the late 1960s, he had already established himself as a bright and hard-working boss. Back then, however, the speculations about the corrupt nature of Teamsters would cause him to evade the authorities for as long as he could.

Eventually, he would be captured in 1964 on charges of his involvement with organized crime. Four years after his release from prison, in July 1975, he would mysteriously disappear somewhere in Detroit, never to be found again.

The debate about what exactly happened to the notorious schemer is still going on to this day. At the height of his popularity, he was often connected to dangerous people and dangerous activities, accused of things like conspiracy and bribery on multiple occasions. His demise would ultimately begin after his imprisonment.

This is why the theory that the Mafia murdered him is the most common. After he had lost all the power he once held, he was no longer needed.

Jimmy Hoffa's case would become one of the most mysterious disappearances of modern history. To this day, he has a mixed legacy. On the one hand, he was celebrated as the man who fought for the rights of union workers. On the other, his connections with the Mafia destroyed the image of him that he had carefully built up for years.

In 2019, Al Pacino played Jimmy Hoffa in Martin Scorsese's The Irishman, depicting his relations with organized crime.

The Mysterious Disappearance Of Lars Mittank

5 Frightening Mysterious Disappearances

Lars Mittank, a young German tourist, shook the world with his mysterious disappearance from a Bulgarian airport in 2014.

The 28-year-old was visiting Eastern Europe's famous Golden Sands. After getting an ear injury, he went to a doctor that advised him not to fly because the pressure might cause further damage to his ear.

He stayed in a hotel, alone, while his friends left for home. Then, he called his mother, asking her to cancel his credit cards, sounding quite scared. The following day, the airport doctor confirmed he was safe to fly home, Lars vanished.

The last known footage showed a young man who appeared to be in serious trouble.

After the video from the Varna Airport, recorded on July 8, 2014, there is no trace of Lars Mittank. The infamous video showed a scared and agitated Mittank deciding to run for the woods instead of boarding the plane. Something happened between, as some suggest, a fight between soccer and his disappearance into thin air.

Whatever it might be, his case is genuinely among the most mysterious disappearances of the 21st century. To this day, the authorities are baffled with what exactly happened with Lars Mittank.

So, what are some other mysterious disappearances you can think of?