There's something uniquely disturbing about people vanishing into thin air. Here are over a dozen mysterious disappearances that have left experts scratching their heads.
1
/
15
The Roanoke Colony
John White, the governor of Roanoke Colony in Virginia, was there when the first English child—his granddaughter, Virginia Dare—was born in the Americas. Shortly after her birth on Aug. 18, 1587, White left Roanoke for England, intent on gathering supplies and garnering additional support. He’d never see Virginia or any of the colonists again.
By the time he returned, the entire colony had vanished—not just the people but every structure. To this day, historians consider it one of the most famous unexplained vanishings, with no clear evidence of what happened to Virginia or the rest of the Roanoke colonists.
2
/
15
Owen Parfitt
The disappearance of Owen Parfitt from his sister’s front porch in the English countryside may not be the most famous of all mysterious disappearances, but it’s certainly one of the more puzzling. In the summer of 1763, Parfitt, who was paralyzed and in his 60s, vanished while sitting outside. Farm workers across the road claimed they saw no one approach or leave. One moment he was there; the next he was gone. His story remains one of history’s strangest unsolved disappearances.
3
/
15
Ambrose Bierce
American author Ambrose Bierce, whose writings partly inspired HBO’s True Detective, became the subject of his own mystery in 1913. At more than 70 years old, he told friends he was heading to Mexico to join Pancho Villa’s revolution. After a few letters from the frontlines, he was never seen or heard from again. Some believe he was killed in action, while others suspect suicide. Bierce’s fate remains one of the most baffling missing persons cases of the early 20th century and continues to be listed among the strangest unsolved mysteries of all time.
4
/
15
Barbara Newhall Follett
Barbara Newhall Follett created a fantasy language at age 8 and published her first novel at age 13, but her success came at a cost. By 25, she had fallen into depression. On Dec. 7, 1939, after an argument with her husband, she walked out of their home and never returned. Despite extensive searching, her body was never found. Her story still haunts the literary world today.
5
/
15
Paula Jean Welden
In December 1946, Bennington College sophomore Paula Jean Welden set out for a long walk and never came back. The authorities were stumped, and making the search even more complicated was the fact that Vermont didn’t have a state police at the time. After a local man bragged to his pals that he knew where her body was buried, police thought they had a break in the case … but he couldn’t lead them to a site and later said he was all talk.
Welden’s case is one of Vermont’s most enduring unsolved disappearances, and it remains a chilling entry in the so-called Bennington Triangle, a hot spot for mysterious disappearances.
6
/
15
James Tetford
Not only did several people mysteriously disappear around Bennington, Vermont, but they did so in the 1940s. Three years after Paula Jean Welden went missing, James Tetford vanished in the same region. He was last seen dozing on a crowded bus, but when it arrived at Bennington, Tetford was gone, leaving behind all his belongings. His 1949 disappearance, combined with others in the area, helped fuel talk of the Bennington Triangle.
7
/
15
The MV Joyita
8
/
15
Patty Blough, Renee Bruhl and Ann Miller
On July 2, 1966, three young women in bathing suits boarded a small motorboat at a Lake Michigan beach. None were ever seen again. Crime reporter Dick Wylie believed they were headed to a floating abortion clinic and that something went fatally wrong. He theorized the women were silenced to eliminate witnesses. To this day, the case stands as an unsettling unsolved disappearance.
9
/
15
The Sarah Joe
In February 1979, five friends took a small boat called the Sarah Joe out from Maui into what became one of Hawaii’s worst storms. They never returned. A decade later, the boat turned up wrecked on the Marshall Islands—next to the grave of one of the missing men. How he got there and who buried him remain unanswered questions. The Sarah Joe mystery continues to confound experts in missing persons cases.
10
/
15
Tom Young and Keith Reinhard
In 1987, Tom Young vanished near Silver Plume, Colorado. A year later, his body was found with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Around the same time, journalist Keith Reinhard became fascinated with Young’s story and began writing a novel about it. In 1988, Reinhard went for a hike and never came back. The eerie parallels between the two men’s fates cement this case as one of the region’s strangest unsolved disappearances.
11
/
15
Jodi Huisentruit
On June 27, 1995, Iowa news anchor Jodi Huisentruit was abducted from her apartment complex parking lot on her way to work. Authorities found signs of a struggle, including her shoes, earrings and car key scattered by her vehicle. Despite palm prints and a hair sample collected at the scene, no one could solve the crime, and her fate remains unknown. Jodi’s story is among the most chilling missing persons cases in journalism history.
12
/
15
Ray Gricar
On April 15, 2005, Ray Gricar, a homicide prosecutor in Pennsylvania, told his girlfriend he was skipping work for a drive. The next day, his car was found abandoned. Months later, his laptop and hard drive were recovered—damaged beyond use. Despite years of searching, police found no further trace of him, and two decades later, Gricar’s mysterious disappearance remains unsolved.
13
/
15
Brian Shaffer
On April 1, 2006, medical student Brian Shaffer was recorded on security cameras entering a Columbus, Ohio, bar with friends. Strangely, there’s no footage of him leaving. Some believe he slipped away intentionally; others think foul play was involved. Either way, Shaffer’s case has become one of the most baffling unexplained vanishings in modern times, ranking alongside urban legends that turned out to be true.
14
/
15
Barbara Bolick
On July 18, 2007, experienced hiker Barbara Bolick vanished in Montana’s Bitterroot Mountains while out with a family friend. He claimed she walked ahead on the trail and then disappeared without a sound. Despite searches, no trace of her has ever been found. Her story is a haunting example of how the wilderness can complicate missing persons cases.
15
/
15
Lauren Spierer
On June 3, 2011, Indiana University student Lauren Spierer disappeared after a night of partying with friends. Despite possible leads over the years, investigators have found nothing conclusive about this mysterious disappearance. Still, her parents continue to push for answers and justice.
