List of people who disappeared mysteriously at sea
Updated: 5/20/2026, 7:46:50 PM Wikipedia source
Throughout history, people have mysteriously disappeared at sea. The following is a list of known individuals who have mysteriously vanished in open waters, and whose whereabouts remain unknown. In most ocean deaths, bodies are never recovered, but this fact alone does not make their disappearance mysterious. For example, the victims of the RMS Titanic disaster are not considered to have disappeared mysteriously at sea.
Tables
· 13th century – 1969
c. 1291
c. 1291
Date
c. 1291
Person(s)
Vandino Vivaldi
Age
Unknown
Missing from
Atlantic Ocean
Circumstances
The Genoese sailor and explorer brothers were lost while attempting the first oceanic journey from Europe to Asia. Their two galleys sailed out of the Mediterranean Sea and into the Atlantic Ocean, but were not heard from again.
Ugolino Vivaldi
Ugolino Vivaldi
Date
Ugolino Vivaldi
c. 1307 or c. 1312
c. 1307 or c. 1312
Date
c. 1307 or c. 1312
Person(s)
Muhammad ibn Qu
Age
Unknown
Missing from
Atlantic Ocean
Circumstances
The eighth mansa of the Mali Empire, who was said by his successor Mansa Musa to have disappeared in an attempt to discover the limits of the Atlantic Ocean. This account has fueled speculation that Musa's predecessor reached the Americas, but no evidence of his fate is known.
c. 1346
c. 1346
Date
c. 1346
Person(s)
Jaume Ferrer
Age
Unknown
Missing from
Atlantic Ocean
Circumstances
Majorcan sailor who sailed down the west coast of Africa in search of the "River of Gold". The results of his quest, including his fate, are unknown.
1487
1487
Date
1487
Person(s)
João Afonso do Estreito
Age
Unknown
Missing from
Atlantic Ocean
Circumstances
Portuguese sailor who was the co-captain of an expedition aiming to explore the Atlantic Ocean. He and his Flemish partner Ferdinand Van Olm set sail, but never returned, and were presumed lost at sea.
1499
1499
Date
1499
Person(s)
John Cabot
Age
~49
Missing from
Northwest Passage
Circumstances
Cabot, an Italian explorer, departed with five ships during an expedition to find a western route from Europe to Asia. There are no known records of what happened to him and his expedition after that; it is not known if they disappeared at sea, remained in North America, or returned safely to Europe.
24 March 1500
24 March 1500
Date
24 March 1500
Person(s)
Vasco de Ataíde
Age
Unknown
Missing from
Cape Verde or Cape of Good Hope
Circumstances
Portuguese sailor Vasco de Ataíde's ship was part of Pedro Álvares Cabral's 1500 expedition to India. On 24 March, the ship he captained and its 150 crew disappeared after sailing west toward Brazil. The chronicler of the expedition said that there were no strong or contrary winds that could have caused the loss.
1501
1501
Date
1501
Person(s)
Gaspar Corte-Real
Age
50–51
Missing from
Northwest Passage
Circumstances
Portuguese explorer Gaspar Corte-Real disappeared on an expedition to discover the Northwest Passage from Europe to Asia. Two of his ships returned to Lisbon, but the third, with Gaspar on board, was lost and never heard from again.
1502
1502
Date
1502
Person(s)
Miguel Corte-Real
Age
53–54
Missing from
Northwest Passage
Circumstances
Miguel Corte-Real, a Portuguese explorer, disappeared while searching for his brother Gaspar. Like his brother, he took three ships and, like his brother's ship, his own was lost and never heard from again.
1511
1511
Date
1511
Person(s)
Diego de Nicuesa
Age
Unknown
Missing from
Caribbean Sea
Circumstances
Nicuesa, a Spanish conquistador and explorer, disappeared along with 17 crewmen while en route to Santo Domingo, after being denied entry to the colonial settlement of Santa María la Antigua del Darién.
1526
1526
Date
1526
Person(s)
Francisco de Hoces
Age
Unknown
Missing from
Pacific Ocean
Circumstances
De Hoces was the commander of the San Lesmes which was one of the seven ships of the Loaísa expedition under García Jofre de Loaísa. It has been speculated that the San Lesmes, last seen in the Pacific Ocean in late May, reached Easter Island, the Polynesian archipelago, or even New Zealand.
1579
1579
Date
1579
Person(s)
Ikegusuku Antō
Age
Unknown
Missing from
East China Sea
Circumstances
A bureaucrat of the Ryukyu Kingdom, Ikegusuku Antō was sent as an envoy to China, but his ship was caught in a storm and disappeared in the sea in 1579 and was never seen again.
23 June 1611
23 June 1611
Date
23 June 1611
Person(s)
Henry Hudson
Age
45–46
Missing from
Northwest Passage
Circumstances
Hudson went on multiple expeditions of present-day Canada and parts of the northeastern United States, searching for the Northwest Passage. In 1611, after wintering on the shore of James Bay, Hudson wanted to press on to the west, but most of his crew mutinied. The mutineers cast Hudson, his teenage son and seven others adrift; the Hudsons and thei
1638
1638
Date
1638
Person(s)
Urasoe Chōri
Age
Unknown
Missing from
Satsuma Domain
Circumstances
A member of Sanshikan, Urasoe Chōri went on a boat trip to Satsuma, but his ship was caught in a storm and disappeared in the sea. He is believed to have drowned.
1647
1647
Date
1647
Person(s)
George Lamberton
Age
Unknown
Missing from
Atlantic Ocean
Circumstances
The New Haven Colony paid for a ship to be built in Rhode Island, and the colonists loaded it with furs and other goods they hoped would finance their settlement, which was foundering. The ship set sail for England in January 1647 under Captain George Lamberton, and the colonists waited for news, which never came. The ship was presumed lost in a st
c. 1671
c. 1671
Date
c. 1671
Person(s)
Roche Braziliano
Age
40–41
Missing from
Location unknown
Circumstances
A Dutch pirate born in the town of Groningen, Roche Braziliano, whose career lasted from 1654 until 1671, disappeared during that year, and was never seen again.
April 1686
April 1686
Date
April 1686
Person(s)
Michel de Grammont
Age
40–41
Missing from
Near St. Augustine, Florida, U .
Circumstances
The French privateer renowned for attacking Spanish flagships from 1670 to 1686, was lost in a storm together with his entire crew while on a rescue mission to save fellow buccaneer Nicolas Brigaut.
1688
1688
Date
1688
Person(s)
John Coxon
Age
Unknown
Missing from
Jamaica
Circumstances
Coxon, a buccaneer and member of the Brethren of the Coast who was infamous for his various raids on the Spanish Main through the 17th century, turned to hunting pirates in 1682. He, his 97-man crew, and an eighty-ton ship armed with eight guns, mysteriously disappeared in 1688; their fate is unknown.
1694
1694
Date
1694
Person(s)
Ridderschap van Holland
Age
Unknown
Missing from
Indian Ocean
Circumstances
Ridderschap van Holland arrived at the Cape of Good Hope on 9 January 1694, remaining there until 5 February. Ridderschap van Holland sailed from the Cape with a crew of around 300, and two passengers, including Admiral Sir James Couper. She never reached her destination, and was never heard from again. Contemporary rumours suggested that she had s
January 1726
January 1726
Date
January 1726
Person(s)
Aagtekerke
Age
Various
Missing from
Indian Ocean
Circumstances
The Aagtekerke, a ship of the Dutch East India Company, left for Batavia in the Dutch East Indies on 27 January 1726, but was lost with all hands and without trace. It was carrying silver coins and precious metals with a total value of 200,000 guilders. There is some evidence from the crew of the wrecked ship Zeewijk that Aagtekerke was wrecked on
1750 or 1760
1750 or 1760
Date
1750 or 1760
Person(s)
Sea Bird
Age
Unknown
Missing from
Rhode Island, U .
Circumstances
The Sea Bird, which also went by other names, was a merchant brig that, after a Honduras voyage and then grounding in Rhode Island at Easton's Beach in either 1750 or 1760, had lost its longboat. No people were found living on it; all that was found was a cat and a dog. The crew aboard was never seen again. The ship itself was sold to a merchant of
28 October 1758
28 October 1758
Date
28 October 1758
Person(s)
Edward Moore, 5th Earl of Drogheda
Age
56–57
Missing from
Irish Sea
Circumstances
Edward Moore was an Anglo-Irish peer and politician who went missing in a storm at sea while travelling between Holyhead and Dublin and is believed to have died.
29 October 1766
29 October 1766
Date
29 October 1766
Person(s)
John Stanwix
Age
75–76
Missing from
Atlantic Ocean
Circumstances
The British soldier and politician was lost at sea while travelling from Dublin, Ireland to Holyhead, Wales in a packet boat.
c. January 1770
c. January 1770
Date
c. January 1770
Person(s)
Henry Vansittart
Age
37
Missing from
Indian Ocean
Circumstances
Vansittart, MP and director of the East India Company, Scrafton and Forde formed a delegation to investigate corruption and reform the British government in India and sailed on the frigate Aurora. Scottish Royal Navy midshipman Robert Pitcairn after whom the Pitcairn Islands are named, and Scottish epic poet William Falconer were also on board. The
Luke Scrafton
Luke Scrafton
Date
Luke Scrafton
Person(s)
Unknown
Francis Forde
Francis Forde
Date
Francis Forde
Person(s)
51–52
William Falconer
William Falconer
Date
William Falconer
Person(s)
37
Robert Pitcairn
Robert Pitcairn
Date
Robert Pitcairn
Person(s)
17
1778
1778
Date
1778
Person(s)
Benjamin Church
Age
43–44
Missing from
Caribbean Sea
Circumstances
Church, the first Surgeon General of the United States Army, was imprisoned for communicating with the British in 1776. He was released in 1778, and shortly thereafter disappeared while sailing from Boston.
17 December 1779
17 December 1779
Date
17 December 1779
Person(s)
Thomas Lynch Jr.
Age
30
Missing from
Caribbean Sea
Circumstances
Thomas Lynch Jr. was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence. In late 1779, he and his wife Elizabeth set sail to Sint Eustatius in the West Indies. The ship disappeared shortly after its departure.
January 1780
January 1780
Date
January 1780
Person(s)
Morgan Connor
Age
Unknown
Missing from
Location unknown
Circumstances
Connor, a Continental Army officer who served as Adjutant General in 1777, was lost at sea in January 1780.
December 1780
December 1780
Date
December 1780
Person(s)
William Palfrey
Age
38–39
Missing from
Atlantic Ocean
Circumstances
William Palfrey was an American Patriot born in 1741. He went missing after getting lost at sea in December 1780 following a business trip to France.
c. December 1781
c. December 1781
Date
c. December 1781
Person(s)
Charles Carpenter
Age
Unknown
Missing from
Location unknown
Circumstances
Carpenter disappeared with the rest of the crew of HMS Necker, presumed foundered while sailing from Saint Helena to the East Indies.
March 1781
March 1781
Date
March 1781
Person(s)
John Young
Age
40–41
Missing from
Caribbean Sea
Circumstances
Young, a captain of the American Continental Navy, was the commander of the USS Saratoga when it vanished at sea during a gale while returning home from present-day Haiti.
1788
1788
Date
1788
Person(s)
Jean-François de Galaup (Lapérouse) and his expedition
Age
46–47 (Galaup)
Missing from
Botany Bay, Australia
Circumstances
The French expedition of Jean-François de Galaup, Comte de Lapérouse, disappeared after their last stop at Botany Bay (now Sydney), after meeting ships of Britain's First Fleet bringing convicts to establish the new settlement that became Australia. The wrecks of the expedition's two ships, the Boussole and Astrolabe), were subsequently discovered
July–August 1788
July–August 1788
Date
July–August 1788
Person(s)
Aimée du Buc de Rivéry
Age
11
Missing from
Caribbean Sea
Circumstances
Rivéry, a French heiress, vanished at sea while returning home to Martinique from the mainland. A popular legend suggests that she was abducted by pirates and sold as a concubine to the Ottoman Sultan under the name Nakşidil Sultan, but this has never been proven.
1794
1794
Date
1794
Person(s)
Robert Manners Sutton
Age
Unknown
Missing from
Mediterranean Sea
Circumstances
Captain Robert Manners Sutton disappeared with the rest of the crew of HMS Ardent in 1794, believed lost to a fire and explosion.
31 January 1797
31 January 1797
Date
31 January 1797
Person(s)
William Mulso
Age
Unknown
Missing from
Location unknown
Circumstances
Commander William Mulso disappeared with the rest of the crew of HMS Hermes on 31 January 1797, presumably foundered during a gale.
19 December 1799 or after
19 December 1799 or after
Date
19 December 1799 or after
Person(s)
Thomas Atkinson
Age
Unknown
Missing from
Atlantic Ocean
Circumstances
Captain Atkinson disappeared with the rest of the crew of Mildred on or after 19 December 1799, while sailing from Jamaica.
c. September 1800
c. September 1800
Date
c. September 1800
Person(s)
Patrick Fletcher
Age
Unknown
Missing from
West Indies
Circumstances
Fletcher was in command of the USS Insurgent when it disappeared near the West Indies in 1800. A severe storm struck the West Indies on 20 September, and it is thought to have caused the loss as well as that of the Pickering.
c. September 1800
c. September 1800
Date
c. September 1800
Person(s)
Joseph Ingraham
Age
37–38
Missing from
West Indies
Circumstances
Ingraham, an American sailor and maritime fur trader credited with discovering several islands in the Marquesas Islands territory as well as a three-year-long voyage across the world, disappeared while serving aboard the USS Pickering along with the rest of the crew, presumably lost in a gale.
c. 25 October 1800
c. 25 October 1800
Date
c. 25 October 1800
Person(s)
Crew of HMS Babet
Age
Various
Missing from
Caribbean Sea
Circumstances
HMS Babet was a 20-gun sixth-rate post ship of the British Royal Navy. The vessel and her crew disappeared shortly after departing from Fort Royal Bay, Martinique on 24 October 1800. She is believed to have foundered during a tropical storm.
c. 1802/1803
c. 1802/1803
Date
c. 1802/1803
Person(s)
George Roper
Age
Unknown
Missing from
Location unknown
Circumstances
The HCS Intrepid, captained by George Roper, and HCS Comet, captained by Lieutenant William Henry, were both sent by the East India Company to search for what caused the loss of the Earl Talbot. They reportedly made many discoveries relating to natural history and geography, and saw wreckage of other vessels on uninhabited islands, but found nothin
William Henry
William Henry
Date
William Henry
Person(s)
Unknown
5 February 1803
5 February 1803
Date
5 February 1803
Person(s)
George Bass
Age
32
Missing from
Port Jackson, Australia
Circumstances
The British explorer of Australia set sail from Sydney for South America and was never heard from again.
1 December 1804
1 December 1804
Date
1 December 1804
Person(s)
James Tippett
Age
Unknown
Missing from
English Channel
Circumstances
Hawk, under Tippet's command, and Boadicea were cruising in the English Channel when on 1 December Hawk set off in pursuit of a strange sail. She never reappeared. The Admiralty presumed that she had foundered and paid her off on 31 December 1804.
1807
1807
Date
1807
Person(s)
James Hawes
Age
Unknown
Missing from
Mediterranean Sea
Circumstances
Moucheron disappeared in the eastern Mediterranean in early 1807, with some accounts specifying the Dardanelles. As no trace of her or her crew was ever found, this is pure conjecture. The Royal Navy officially paid her off effective 7 June 1807.
c. September 1807
c. September 1807
Date
c. September 1807
Person(s)
John Sedley
Age
Unknown
Missing from
Unknown
Circumstances
HMS Elizabeth disappeared without a trace, presumed to have foundered with all hands.
c. November 1808
c. November 1808
Date
c. November 1808
Person(s)
John Logan
Age
Unknown
Missing from
Unknown
Circumstances
Experiment, Glory and Lord Nelson parted company with the fleet in a gale between 20 and 23 November, at 8°30′S 80°00′E / 8 °S 80 °E / -8 ; 80 . None of the three vessels was ever heard of again. The EIC declared that the value of its cargo on Experiment was £5,592.
March 1809
March 1809
Date
March 1809
Person(s)
Hay MacDowall
Age
Unknown
Missing from
Cape of Good Hope, South Africa
Circumstances
Scottish British Army officer MacDowall disappeared with the rest of the crew of the Lady Jane Dundas in March 1809, while sailing back home to England.
13/14 March 1809
13/14 March 1809
Date
13/14 March 1809
Person(s)
John James Ridge
Age
Unknown
Missing from
Indian Ocean
Circumstances
Harrier was in company with her sister ship Racehorse, about 1,000 nmi (1,900 km; 1,200 mi) from Rodrigues. Harrier fell behind and was never seen again. She was presumed to have foundered with all hands.
27 August 1809
27 August 1809
Date
27 August 1809
Person(s)
J. Hill
Age
Unknown
Missing from
Atlantic Ocean
Circumstances
Captain J. Hill disappeared with the rest of the crew of the Bellona in 1809, while sailing back home to England from Jamaica.
16 February 1810 or after
16 February 1810 or after
Date
16 February 1810 or after
Person(s)
John Bader
Age
Unknown
Missing from
Tasman Sea
Circumstances
Bader, the commander of the ship Active, disappeared after landing a sealing party on the Open Bay Islands and subsequently setting sail for Sydney.
2–3 January 1813
2–3 January 1813
Date
2–3 January 1813
Person(s)
Theodosia Burr Alston
Age
29
Missing from
Coast of South Carolina, U .
Circumstances
The daughter of U . Vice President Aaron Burr, and sometimes called the most educated American woman of her day, sailed from Georgetown, South Carolina, aboard the Patriot, which was never seen again.
28 February 1814
28 February 1814
Date
28 February 1814
Person(s)
John Davies
Age
Unknown
Missing from
English Channel
Circumstances
Anacreon was last sighted on 28 February 1814 in the English Channel as she was returning from Lisbon. Soon thereafter, she disappeared without trace in a storm. All aboard were lost.
c. October 1814
c. October 1814
Date
c. October 1814
Person(s)
Johnston Blakeley
Age
33
Missing from
Atlantic Ocean
Circumstances
Blakeley, an officer in the United States Navy during the Quasi-War with France and the War of 1812, was in command of the sloop-of-war Wasp when it was lost in the Atlantic in October 1814.
c. July/August 1815
c. July/August 1815
Date
c. July/August 1815
Person(s)
John Yarnall
Age
Unknown
Missing from
Atlantic Ocean
Circumstances
After the Dey signed a treaty, Decatur chose Epervier, under Lieutenant John T. Shubrick, Guerriere's former first lieutenant, to carry a copy of the treaty and some captured flags to the United States. Captain Lewis, and Lieutenants Neale and John Yarnall, came on board as passengers. Epervier sailed through the Straits of Gibraltar on 14 July 181
c. August 1815
c. August 1815
Date
c. August 1815
Person(s)
D
Age
Unknown
Missing from
Unknown
Circumstances
On 2 August 1815 as Preston was sailing from Jamaica to London in a convoy she encountered a gale that cost her her main and mizzen masts. A later report stated that Preston, under master Grierson, had been seen since the gale. The last report concerning the convoy of which Preston was part stated that Preston was one of the eight ships missing.
8–17 January 1816
8–17 January 1816
Date
8–17 January 1816
Person(s)
Samuel Shaw
Age
Unknown
Missing from
Port Jackson, Australia
Circumstances
The commander of the 90-ton brig Amelia, Shaw disappeared after departing from Port Jackson, Australia on the way to Java and Canton, China, carrying 50 tons of sandalwood and five tons of coal.
July 1816
July 1816
Date
July 1816
Person(s)
George Winney
Age
Unknown
Missing from
Tasman Sea?
Circumstances
The commander of the ship Whale, Winney and two crew members disappeared in July 1816 after heading out of Sydney bound for Hawkesbury.
1816/1817
1816/1817
Date
1816/1817
Person(s)
Jonathon Read
Age
Unknown
Missing from
Location unknown
Circumstances
Captain Jonathon Read commanded Anna when it was lost at sea in 1816 or 1817.
28 January 1821
28 January 1821
Date
28 January 1821
Person(s)
Obed Hendricks
Age
Unknown
Missing from
Pacific Ocean
Circumstances
Sailors on the whaler Essex, which sank in the Pacific on 20 November 1820 after being struck by a sperm whale. Their whaleboat was separated on the open sea from their fellow crewmen on 28 January 1821; it was never seen again. Years later, a boat with three skeletons inside was discovered washed up on Ducie Island, but the skeletons were not iden
William Bond
William Bond
Date
William Bond
Person(s)
Unknown
Joseph West
Joseph West
Date
Joseph West
Person(s)
Unknown
22 April 1822
22 April 1822
Date
22 April 1822
Person(s)
Charles Lefebvre-Desnouettes
Age
49
Missing from
Off the coast of Ireland
Circumstances
The French military officer and general during the Napoleonic Wars later fled to America to escape prosecution from the loyalists. He was allowed to return, but presumably died when his ship sank off the coast of Ireland.
c. 5 February 1823
c. 5 February 1823
Date
c. 5 February 1823
Person(s)
Jean Lafitte
Age
42
Missing from
Gulf of Honduras
Circumstances
French pirate and privateer Jean Lafitte was granted a commission from the Great Colombia government to take Spanish ships in June 1822. He is thought to have died on 5 February 1823 while trying to take two Spanish merchant vessels in the Gulf of Honduras, but rumors abounded that he had a different fate.
June 1827
June 1827
Date
June 1827
Person(s)
Douglas Clavering
Age
32–33
Missing from
near Sierra Leone
Circumstances
Clavering, a British Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer, served as a commander of HMS Redwing when it disappeared near Sierra Leone with all hands, never to be seen again.
April 1831
April 1831
Date
April 1831
Person(s)
Carlo Giuseppe Bertero
Age
42
Missing from
South Pacific Ocean
Circumstances
The Italian naturalist and botanist known for documenting the flora and fauna in the West Indies and South America presumably died in a shipwreck while on a voyage from Tahiti to Chile.
17 July 1835
17 July 1835
Date
17 July 1835
Person(s)
Henry Hutton
Age
Unknown
Missing from
Unknown
Circumstances
Forth departed from Manila on 17 July 1835 for London. She disappeared without a trace and was presumed to have foundered with the loss of all hands.
1840
1840
Date
1840
Person(s)
Rosalie
Age
Various
Missing from
Atlantic Ocean
Circumstances
The Rosalie, a large French vessel, was found abandoned with sails set and cargo intact. Its crew had vanished.
17 March 1841
17 March 1841
Date
17 March 1841
Person(s)
Richard Roberts
Age
37–38
Missing from
Atlantic Ocean
Circumstances
Roberts was the captain of the SS President when it disappeared in a gale while returning back to Liverpool from New York. Methodist clergyman Rev. George Grimston Cookman who served as the Chaplain of the Senate and Irish comic actor Tyrone Power were among the passengers who were lost.
George Grimston Cookman
George Grimston Cookman
Date
George Grimston Cookman
Person(s)
40
Tyrone Power
Tyrone Power
Date
Tyrone Power
Person(s)
43
July 1845
July 1845
Date
July 1845
Person(s)
Franklin's lost expedition
Age
59 (Franklin)
Missing from
Victoria Strait
Circumstances
The expedition led by Sir John Franklin, with 129 seamen, made last contact with a whaling ship before entering Victoria Strait in search of the Northwest Passage. The remains of some individuals, written messages and the wrecks of the ships HMS Erebus (in 2014) and HMS Terror (in 2016) were later discovered. However, the majority of the crew, incl
7 October 1849
7 October 1849
Date
7 October 1849
Person(s)
Francisque Arban
Age
34
Missing from
Mediterranean Sea
Circumstances
Arban was a French balloonist renowned as the first person to cross the Alps in a balloon. On 7 October 1849, he took on a flight from Barcelona but was blown over to the Mediterranean Sea, where he disappeared and is thought to have died.
17 May 1852
17 May 1852
Date
17 May 1852
Person(s)
Sir Montagu Chapman, 3rd Baronet
Age
51
Missing from
Tasman Sea
Circumstances
The Anglo-Irish landowner and High Sheriff of Westmeath in 1844 disappeared while sailing from Melbourne to Sydney, Australia.
28 or 29 September 1854
28 or 29 September 1854
Date
28 or 29 September 1854
Person(s)
James Thompson Gerry
Age
Unknown
Missing from
Caribbean Sea
Circumstances
As of 30 June 1854, the crew of Albany consisted of 18 officers, 156 seaman, and 23 Marines. It is likely the ship's complement was little changed when she was lost three months later. The crew included several sons and grandsons of prominent men: Commander James T. Gerry, youngest son of Elbridge Gerry, formerly Vice President of the United States
23 January 1856
23 January 1856
Date
23 January 1856
Person(s)
Asa Eldridge
Age
47
Missing from
Atlantic Ocean
Circumstances
Eldridge was the commander of the SS Pacific when it disappeared under mysterious circumstances while sailing to New York from Liverpool. The bishop of Hartford, Bernard O'Reilly, who was returning from a trip to Europe, was among those lost.
Bernard O'Reilly
Bernard O'Reilly
Date
Bernard O'Reilly
Person(s)
52
| Date | Person(s) | Age | Missing from | Circumstances | Ref. |
| c. 1291 | Vandino Vivaldi | Unknown | Atlantic Ocean | The Genoese sailor and explorer brothers were lost while attempting the first oceanic journey from Europe to Asia. Their two galleys sailed out of the Mediterranean Sea and into the Atlantic Ocean, but were not heard from again. | |
| Ugolino Vivaldi | |||||
| c. 1307 or c. 1312 | Muhammad ibn Qu | Unknown | Atlantic Ocean | The eighth mansa of the Mali Empire, who was said by his successor Mansa Musa to have disappeared in an attempt to discover the limits of the Atlantic Ocean. This account has fueled speculation that Musa's predecessor reached the Americas, but no evidence of his fate is known. | |
| c. 1346 | Jaume Ferrer | Unknown | Atlantic Ocean | Majorcan sailor who sailed down the west coast of Africa in search of the "River of Gold". The results of his quest, including his fate, are unknown. | |
| 1487 | João Afonso do Estreito | Unknown | Atlantic Ocean | Portuguese sailor who was the co-captain of an expedition aiming to explore the Atlantic Ocean. He and his Flemish partner Ferdinand Van Olm set sail, but never returned, and were presumed lost at sea. | |
| 1499 | John Cabot | ~49 | Northwest Passage | Cabot, an Italian explorer, departed with five ships during an expedition to find a western route from Europe to Asia. There are no known records of what happened to him and his expedition after that; it is not known if they disappeared at sea, remained in North America, or returned safely to Europe. | |
| 24 March 1500 | Vasco de Ataíde | Unknown | Cape Verde or Cape of Good Hope | Portuguese sailor Vasco de Ataíde's ship was part of Pedro Álvares Cabral's 1500 expedition to India. On 24 March, the ship he captained and its 150 crew disappeared after sailing west toward Brazil. The chronicler of the expedition said that there were no strong or contrary winds that could have caused the loss. | |
| 1501 | Gaspar Corte-Real | 50–51 | Northwest Passage | Portuguese explorer Gaspar Corte-Real disappeared on an expedition to discover the Northwest Passage from Europe to Asia. Two of his ships returned to Lisbon, but the third, with Gaspar on board, was lost and never heard from again. | |
| 1502 | Miguel Corte-Real | 53–54 | Northwest Passage | Miguel Corte-Real, a Portuguese explorer, disappeared while searching for his brother Gaspar. Like his brother, he took three ships and, like his brother's ship, his own was lost and never heard from again. | |
| 1511 | Diego de Nicuesa | Unknown | Caribbean Sea | Nicuesa, a Spanish conquistador and explorer, disappeared along with 17 crewmen while en route to Santo Domingo, after being denied entry to the colonial settlement of Santa María la Antigua del Darién. | |
| 1526 | Francisco de Hoces | Unknown | Pacific Ocean | De Hoces was the commander of the San Lesmes which was one of the seven ships of the Loaísa expedition under García Jofre de Loaísa. It has been speculated that the San Lesmes, last seen in the Pacific Ocean in late May, reached Easter Island, the Polynesian archipelago, or even New Zealand. | |
| 1579 | Ikegusuku Antō | Unknown | East China Sea | A bureaucrat of the Ryukyu Kingdom, Ikegusuku Antō was sent as an envoy to China, but his ship was caught in a storm and disappeared in the sea in 1579 and was never seen again. | |
| 23 June 1611 | Henry Hudson | 45–46 | Northwest Passage | Hudson went on multiple expeditions of present-day Canada and parts of the northeastern United States, searching for the Northwest Passage. In 1611, after wintering on the shore of James Bay, Hudson wanted to press on to the west, but most of his crew mutinied. The mutineers cast Hudson, his teenage son and seven others adrift; the Hudsons and thei | |
| 1638 | Urasoe Chōri | Unknown | Satsuma Domain | A member of Sanshikan, Urasoe Chōri went on a boat trip to Satsuma, but his ship was caught in a storm and disappeared in the sea. He is believed to have drowned. | |
| 1647 | George Lamberton | Unknown | Atlantic Ocean | The New Haven Colony paid for a ship to be built in Rhode Island, and the colonists loaded it with furs and other goods they hoped would finance their settlement, which was foundering. The ship set sail for England in January 1647 under Captain George Lamberton, and the colonists waited for news, which never came. The ship was presumed lost in a st | |
| c. 1671 | Roche Braziliano | 40–41 | Location unknown | A Dutch pirate born in the town of Groningen, Roche Braziliano, whose career lasted from 1654 until 1671, disappeared during that year, and was never seen again. | |
| April 1686 | Michel de Grammont | 40–41 | Near St. Augustine, Florida, U . | The French privateer renowned for attacking Spanish flagships from 1670 to 1686, was lost in a storm together with his entire crew while on a rescue mission to save fellow buccaneer Nicolas Brigaut. | |
| 1688 | John Coxon | Unknown | Jamaica | Coxon, a buccaneer and member of the Brethren of the Coast who was infamous for his various raids on the Spanish Main through the 17th century, turned to hunting pirates in 1682. He, his 97-man crew, and an eighty-ton ship armed with eight guns, mysteriously disappeared in 1688; their fate is unknown. | |
| 1694 | Ridderschap van Holland | Unknown | Indian Ocean | Ridderschap van Holland arrived at the Cape of Good Hope on 9 January 1694, remaining there until 5 February. Ridderschap van Holland sailed from the Cape with a crew of around 300, and two passengers, including Admiral Sir James Couper. She never reached her destination, and was never heard from again. Contemporary rumours suggested that she had s | |
| January 1726 | Aagtekerke | Various | Indian Ocean | The Aagtekerke, a ship of the Dutch East India Company, left for Batavia in the Dutch East Indies on 27 January 1726, but was lost with all hands and without trace. It was carrying silver coins and precious metals with a total value of 200,000 guilders. There is some evidence from the crew of the wrecked ship Zeewijk that Aagtekerke was wrecked on | |
| 1750 or 1760 | Sea Bird | Unknown | Rhode Island, U . | The Sea Bird, which also went by other names, was a merchant brig that, after a Honduras voyage and then grounding in Rhode Island at Easton's Beach in either 1750 or 1760, had lost its longboat. No people were found living on it; all that was found was a cat and a dog. The crew aboard was never seen again. The ship itself was sold to a merchant of | |
| 28 October 1758 | Edward Moore, 5th Earl of Drogheda | 56–57 | Irish Sea | Edward Moore was an Anglo-Irish peer and politician who went missing in a storm at sea while travelling between Holyhead and Dublin and is believed to have died. | |
| 29 October 1766 | John Stanwix | 75–76 | Atlantic Ocean | The British soldier and politician was lost at sea while travelling from Dublin, Ireland to Holyhead, Wales in a packet boat. | |
| c. January 1770 | Henry Vansittart | 37 | Indian Ocean | Vansittart, MP and director of the East India Company, Scrafton and Forde formed a delegation to investigate corruption and reform the British government in India and sailed on the frigate Aurora. Scottish Royal Navy midshipman Robert Pitcairn after whom the Pitcairn Islands are named, and Scottish epic poet William Falconer were also on board. The | |
| Luke Scrafton | Unknown | ||||
| Francis Forde | 51–52 | ||||
| William Falconer | 37 | ||||
| Robert Pitcairn | 17 | ||||
| 1778 | Benjamin Church | 43–44 | Caribbean Sea | Church, the first Surgeon General of the United States Army, was imprisoned for communicating with the British in 1776. He was released in 1778, and shortly thereafter disappeared while sailing from Boston. | |
| 17 December 1779 | Thomas Lynch Jr. | 30 | Caribbean Sea | Thomas Lynch Jr. was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence. In late 1779, he and his wife Elizabeth set sail to Sint Eustatius in the West Indies. The ship disappeared shortly after its departure. | |
| January 1780 | Morgan Connor | Unknown | Location unknown | Connor, a Continental Army officer who served as Adjutant General in 1777, was lost at sea in January 1780. | |
| December 1780 | William Palfrey | 38–39 | Atlantic Ocean | William Palfrey was an American Patriot born in 1741. He went missing after getting lost at sea in December 1780 following a business trip to France. | |
| c. December 1781 | Charles Carpenter | Unknown | Location unknown | Carpenter disappeared with the rest of the crew of HMS Necker, presumed foundered while sailing from Saint Helena to the East Indies. | |
| March 1781 | John Young | 40–41 | Caribbean Sea | Young, a captain of the American Continental Navy, was the commander of the USS Saratoga when it vanished at sea during a gale while returning home from present-day Haiti. | |
| 1788 | Jean-François de Galaup (Lapérouse) and his expedition | 46–47 (Galaup) | Botany Bay, Australia | The French expedition of Jean-François de Galaup, Comte de Lapérouse, disappeared after their last stop at Botany Bay (now Sydney), after meeting ships of Britain's First Fleet bringing convicts to establish the new settlement that became Australia. The wrecks of the expedition's two ships, the Boussole and Astrolabe), were subsequently discovered | |
| July–August 1788 | Aimée du Buc de Rivéry | 11 | Caribbean Sea | Rivéry, a French heiress, vanished at sea while returning home to Martinique from the mainland. A popular legend suggests that she was abducted by pirates and sold as a concubine to the Ottoman Sultan under the name Nakşidil Sultan, but this has never been proven. | |
| 1794 | Robert Manners Sutton | Unknown | Mediterranean Sea | Captain Robert Manners Sutton disappeared with the rest of the crew of HMS Ardent in 1794, believed lost to a fire and explosion. | |
| 31 January 1797 | William Mulso | Unknown | Location unknown | Commander William Mulso disappeared with the rest of the crew of HMS Hermes on 31 January 1797, presumably foundered during a gale. | |
| 19 December 1799 or after | Thomas Atkinson | Unknown | Atlantic Ocean | Captain Atkinson disappeared with the rest of the crew of Mildred on or after 19 December 1799, while sailing from Jamaica. | |
| c. September 1800 | Patrick Fletcher | Unknown | West Indies | Fletcher was in command of the USS Insurgent when it disappeared near the West Indies in 1800. A severe storm struck the West Indies on 20 September, and it is thought to have caused the loss as well as that of the Pickering. | |
| c. September 1800 | Joseph Ingraham | 37–38 | West Indies | Ingraham, an American sailor and maritime fur trader credited with discovering several islands in the Marquesas Islands territory as well as a three-year-long voyage across the world, disappeared while serving aboard the USS Pickering along with the rest of the crew, presumably lost in a gale. | |
| c. 25 October 1800 | Crew of HMS Babet | Various | Caribbean Sea | HMS Babet was a 20-gun sixth-rate post ship of the British Royal Navy. The vessel and her crew disappeared shortly after departing from Fort Royal Bay, Martinique on 24 October 1800. She is believed to have foundered during a tropical storm. | |
| c. 1802/1803 | George Roper | Unknown | Location unknown | The HCS Intrepid, captained by George Roper, and HCS Comet, captained by Lieutenant William Henry, were both sent by the East India Company to search for what caused the loss of the Earl Talbot. They reportedly made many discoveries relating to natural history and geography, and saw wreckage of other vessels on uninhabited islands, but found nothin | |
| William Henry | Unknown | ||||
| 5 February 1803 | George Bass | 32 | Port Jackson, Australia | The British explorer of Australia set sail from Sydney for South America and was never heard from again. | |
| 1 December 1804 | James Tippett | Unknown | English Channel | Hawk, under Tippet's command, and Boadicea were cruising in the English Channel when on 1 December Hawk set off in pursuit of a strange sail. She never reappeared. The Admiralty presumed that she had foundered and paid her off on 31 December 1804. | |
| 1807 | James Hawes | Unknown | Mediterranean Sea | Moucheron disappeared in the eastern Mediterranean in early 1807, with some accounts specifying the Dardanelles. As no trace of her or her crew was ever found, this is pure conjecture. The Royal Navy officially paid her off effective 7 June 1807. | |
| c. September 1807 | John Sedley | Unknown | Unknown | HMS Elizabeth disappeared without a trace, presumed to have foundered with all hands. | |
| c. November 1808 | John Logan | Unknown | Unknown | Experiment, Glory and Lord Nelson parted company with the fleet in a gale between 20 and 23 November, at 8°30′S 80°00′E / 8 °S 80 °E / -8 ; 80 . None of the three vessels was ever heard of again. The EIC declared that the value of its cargo on Experiment was £5,592. |
· 1970–present
c. 1971
c. 1971
Date
c. 1971
Person(s)
Francis Brenton
Age
44
Missing from
Atlantic Ocean
Circumstances
Brenton, an English writer, explorer and adventurer who travelled around the world, mostly around the Americas and Africa, supposedly disappeared c. 1971 while sailing back to England.
16 October 1972
16 October 1972
Date
16 October 1972
Person(s)
Hale Boggs
Age
58
Missing from
Gulf of Alaska
Circumstances
Louisiana congressman who, together with friend and fellow congressman Nick Begich, at-large representative from Alaska, disappeared while flying over the Gulf of Alaska en route from Anchorage to Juneau. Their bodies were never found and they were declared legally dead two months later.
Nick Begich
Nick Begich
Date
Nick Begich
Person(s)
40
28 March 1973
28 March 1973
Date
28 March 1973
Person(s)
Henry E. Stebbins
Age
68
Missing from
Atlantic Ocean
Circumstances
Stebbins, an American ambassador to Uganda, apparently fell overboard while travelling on the SS Leonardo da Vinci and was considered lost at sea, his body never being found.
21 February 1974
21 February 1974
Date
21 February 1974
Person(s)
Thomas Leigh Gatch Jr.
Age
48
Missing from
Atlantic Ocean, near the Canary Islands
Circumstances
American balloonist Thomas Gatch disappeared while attempting to become the first human to cross the Atlantic by balloon. A day after lifting off from Harrisburg Airport on 18 February, his balloon named Light Heart lost radio contact. On 21 February, it was sighted by a ship about 1,600 km west of the Canary Islands but it has not been seen since.
9 July 1975
9 July 1975
Date
9 July 1975
Person(s)
Bas Jan Ader
Age
33
Missing from
Atlantic Ocean
Circumstances
Ader, a Dutch conceptual artist, performance artist, photographer and filmmaker, was lost at sea sometime after 9 July 1975 while attempting to cross the Atlantic Ocean from the U . to England in the smallest boat ever. His deserted vessel was found off the coast of Ireland on 18 April 1976 but offered few clues as to his fate.
1977
1977
Date
1977
Person(s)
Bill Tilman
Age
79
Missing from
Atlantic Ocean
Circumstances
Tilman, an English mountaineer and explorer renowned for his sailing voyages and climbings of the Himalayan mountains, was invited as a crew member on the En Avant in 1977, with the final destination being Smith Island. However, the boat was presumably lost at sea near the Falkland Islands, with everybody on board perishing.
October 1977
October 1977
Date
October 1977
Person(s)
Slim Wintermute
Age
60
Missing from
Portage Bay, Washington, U .
Circumstances
Wintermute, an American collegiate and professional basketball player, disappeared in October 1977, after setting out in his yacht from Portage Bay. His boat was found a few days later with one of his friends asleep on board; foul play was not suspected.
17 March 1978
17 March 1978
Date
17 March 1978
Person(s)
Eddie Aikau
Age
31
Missing from
Hawaii, U .
Circumstances
Aikau, a Hawaiian lifeguard and surfer, disappeared on 17 March 1978 when he was lost at sea while attempting to reach the island of Lanai on a surfboard. The long-distance Hawaiian outrigger, the Hōkūleʻa, on which he was a crew member, began taking on water 20 miles off Molokai. He was last seen paddling his surfboard towards Lanai to get help.
November 1978
November 1978
Date
November 1978
Person(s)
Alain Colas
Age
35
Missing from
Atlantic Ocean
Circumstances
Colas, a French sailor who was the first to complete a solitary round-the-world race in a multihull, disappeared while participating in the first Route du Rhum in his boat Manureva. Neither he nor his boat were ever found.
7 July 1979
7 July 1979
Date
7 July 1979
Person(s)
Ian Mackintosh
Age
40
Missing from
Gulf of Alaska, U .
Circumstances
Ian Mackintosh, the creator and writer of The Sandbaggers, a British television series, was flying with two others over the Gulf of Alaska in a light aircraft on 7 July 1979. The plane sent out a distress signal which was picked up by the United States Coast Guard. The plane's last known position was searched, but no wreckage of it was ever found,
23 December 1979
23 December 1979
Date
23 December 1979
Person(s)
Jon Mathews
Age
47
Missing from
Indian Ocean
Circumstances
Mathews, an American adventurer and yachtsman, together with his wife Jean attempted to circumnavigate the world on their vessel, the Drambuie II. While heading towards Durban, South Africa, they sailed into the path of Cyclone Claudette and were presumably killed in the process.
5 August 1980
5 August 1980
Date
5 August 1980
Person(s)
Alan Addis
Age
19
Missing from
East Falkland, Falkland Islands
Circumstances
The Royal Marine Alan Addis went missing on 5 August 1980. His small unit was on a patrol to North Arm in Lafonia on East Falkland. Addis was last seen at 1:30 a . after the marines had attended a local function in the social hall of the remote and small community. He was not missed until the other members of his team had set sail on a steamer to
October 1980
October 1980
Date
October 1980
Person(s)
Angus Primrose
Age
53
Missing from
South Carolina, U .
Circumstances
The designer and naval architect Primrose went missing at sea during October 1980 and is presumed to have drowned.
September 1985
September 1985
Date
September 1985
Person(s)
Art Scholl
Age
53
Missing from
California
Circumstances
Scholl was an American aerobatic pilot, aerial cameraman, flight instructor and educator based in Riverside, Southern California. He died during the filming of Top Gun when his Pitts S-2 camera plane failed to recover from a spin and plunged into the Pacific Ocean. Scholl had entered the spin intentionally in order to capture it on film using on-bo
July 1986
July 1986
Date
July 1986
Person(s)
Svante Odén
Age
62
Missing from
Baltic Sea
Circumstances
A Swedish soil scientist, meteorologist and chemist, Odén was testing a top-secret newly invented device that could detect submarines in late July 1986. During this test, he disappeared at the Baltic Sea near the Roslagen, Stockholm archipelago, and presumably died.
2 August 1987
2 August 1987
Date
2 August 1987
Person(s)
Clement Howell
Age
52
Missing from
Atlantic Ocean
Circumstances
Howell, a Turks and Caicos Islands politician and interim member of the advisory council, disappeared with four other people when their plane presumably crashed into the sea on 2 August 1987. Neither the wreckage or the bodies were ever found.
11 September 1990
11 September 1990
Date
11 September 1990
Person(s)
1990 Faucett Perú Boeing 727
Age
Various
Missing from
South-east of Cape Race, Newfoundland
Circumstances
1990 Faucett Perú Boeing 727 was a airliner that mysteriously disappeared on 11 September 1990 in an area of the Atlantic Ocean in Newfoundland. No one knows what became of the aircraft or its passengers.
21 May 1995
21 May 1995
Date
21 May 1995
Person(s)
Larry Hillblom
Age
52
Missing from
Mariana Islands
Circumstances
Hillblom, a co-founder of the DHL Worldwide shipping company, was on board a plane that went down in the Northern Mariana Islands on 21 May 1995. The bodies of the pilot and other passengers were found but no trace of Hillblom has ever been found. His house in Saipan was found to have had areas where DNA might be found washed down with acid and art
12 November 1995
12 November 1995
Date
12 November 1995
Person(s)
Bruno Bréguet
Age
45
Missing from
Ionian Sea
Circumstances
Bréguet, a Swiss-born associate of terrorist Carlos the Jackal, was last seen on a ferry from Italy to Greece 12 November 1995. His family suspected he had been murdered and a body found in Greece might have been his, but authorities remain uncertain.
January 1997
January 1997
Date
January 1997
Person(s)
Gerry Roufs
Age
44
Missing from
Pacific Ocean
Circumstances
Canadian competitive sailor Roufs vanished at sea while competing in the Vendée Globe yacht race. His boat, the Groupe LG 2, was found off the coast of Chile in July 1997, but Roufs himself was never located.
14 February 1997
14 February 1997
Date
14 February 1997
Person(s)
Grant Hadwin
Age
47
Missing from
Hecate Strait, British Columbia
Circumstances
Hadwin, an anti-logging activist, went missing 14 February 1997 while traveling by kayak across the Hecate Strait to Graham Island near British Columbia to face criminal charges for cutting down Kiidk'yaas, a rare golden spruce tree revered by the Haida people. The wreckage of his kayak was discovered in June but no trace of Hadwin himself has been
25 January 1998
25 January 1998
Date
25 January 1998
Person(s)
Tom Lonergan
Age
34
Missing from
Coral Sea, Australia
Circumstances
Tom and Eileen Lonergan, a married couple from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, disappeared when they were mistakenly stranded in the Coral Sea after a scuba dive on 25 January 1998. Eileen's father, John Hains, later said that he suspects the couple ultimately became dehydrated and disoriented and in the end succumbed to drowning or sharks.
Eileen Lonergan
Eileen Lonergan
Date
Eileen Lonergan
Person(s)
29
24 March 1998
24 March 1998
Date
24 March 1998
Person(s)
Amy Lynn Bradley
Age
23
Missing from
Curaçao, Antilles
Circumstances
Bradley, an American passenger on the Royal Caribbean International cruise ship Rhapsody of the Seas, disappeared while the ship was docking in Curaçao.
3 September 1999
3 September 1999
Date
3 September 1999
Person(s)
Yves Godard
Age
43
Missing from
Channel coast, France
Circumstances
French physician Yves Godard along with his children Camille and Marius were last seen buying waffles from a street vendor in Bréhec, a small port on the western tip of Brittany. Their rented sailboat was found abandoned in Plouézec the next day. On 7–8 September, blood identified as that of Dr Godard's wife Marie-France was found in their camper v
Marie-France Godard
Marie-France Godard
Date
Marie-France Godard
Person(s)
Unknown
Camille Godard
Camille Godard
Date
Camille Godard
Person(s)
6
Marius Godard
Marius Godard
Date
Marius Godard
Person(s)
4
12 June 1999
12 June 1999
Date
12 June 1999
Person(s)
Gerry Clark
Age
72
Missing from
Antipodes Islands, New Zealand
Circumstances
New Zealand sailor, writer and ornithologist Clark and his friend Roger Sale were sailing to recover satellite transmitters used to track albatrosses. Both of them disappeared while on the trip, and have never been located.
30 November 2000
30 November 2000
Date
30 November 2000
Person(s)
Scott Smith
Age
45
Missing from
near San Francisco, California, U .
Circumstances
Smith, a Canadian musician and bassist for the rock band Loverboy, was sailing his boat, the Sea Major, along with two friends. A large wave then swept him overboard, with subsequent searches failing to find his body.
7 July 2002
7 July 2002
Date
7 July 2002
Person(s)
Bison Dele
Age
33
Missing from
Tahiti, French Polynesia
Circumstances
Dele, an American professional basketball player, is believed to have been murdered by his brother in the sea near Tahiti, French Polynesia in 2002.
c. 29 November 2004
c. 29 November 2004
Date
c. 29 November 2004
Person(s)
Erhart Aten
Age
72
Missing from
Chuuk State
Circumstances
A Micronesian politician who served as the first elected Governor of Chuuk State (then called Truk). Aten and three other men were lost at sea while crossing Chuuk lagoon to Weno island when their boat was hit by a sudden storm.
5 July 2005
5 July 2005
Date
5 July 2005
Person(s)
George Allen Smith IV
Age
26
Missing from
Coast of Turkey
Circumstances
Smith, an American passenger on Brilliance of the Seas, disappeared from the ship and police suspect homicide.
28 January 2007
28 January 2007
Date
28 January 2007
Person(s)
Jim Gray
Age
63
Missing from
San Francisco Bay, California, U .
Circumstances
Gray, a database pioneer, Microsoft Research scientist and Turing Award winner, left San Francisco Bay in his 12 m (39 ft) sailboat Tenacious to scatter his mother's ashes at the Farallon Islands, a wildlife refuge 43 km (27 mi) away. He was reported missing when he failed to return later the same day. No Mayday call was heard and his EPIRB was not
20 April 2007
20 April 2007
Date
20 April 2007
Person(s)
Derek Batten
Age
56
Missing from
Shute Harbour, Australia
Circumstances
Kaz II, a 9 m (32 ft) catamaran, was found adrift on 20 April 2007 near Australia's Great Barrier Reef with its three-man crew, owner Derek Batten and brothers Peter and James Tunstead, missing. The yacht's sails were up and its engine was running. The global positioning system showed the yacht had been drifting since around the time of their las
Peter Tunstead
Peter Tunstead
Date
Peter Tunstead
Person(s)
69
James Tunstead
James Tunstead
Date
James Tunstead
Person(s)
63
9 November 2008
9 November 2008
Date
9 November 2008
Person(s)
Tai Ching 21 fishing boat crew
Age
Various
Missing from
Kiribati
Circumstances
The burnt and abandoned wreck of the Tai Ching 21, a Taiwanese fishing boat, was found drifting on 9 November 2008 near Kiribati. It was assumed that when the fire proved beyond their ability to control, the 29-member crew evacuated using the lifeboat and three rafts that were missing. However, no distress call was received and an extensive search
1 January 2009
1 January 2009
Date
1 January 2009
Person(s)
Jure Šterk
Age
72
Missing from
Indian Ocean
Circumstances
In December 2007, Slovenian sailor Šterk left Tauranga in New Zealand to sail solo around the world on his yacht Lunatic. His last radio message was heard on 1 January 2009. Lunatic was spotted on 26 January, approximately 1,000 nmi (1,900 km) off the coast of Australia. The boat was damaged and there was no sign of Šterk. Three months later, on 30
1 March 2009
1 March 2009
Date
1 March 2009
Person(s)
Marquis Cooper
Age
26
Missing from
Off the coast of Clearwater, Florida, U .
Circumstances
Cooper, an American football linebacker, Smith, a defensive end, and Bleakley presumably died in a boating accident, in which only one man, Nick Schuyler, survived.
Corey Smith
Corey Smith
Date
Corey Smith
Person(s)
29
William Bleakley
William Bleakley
Date
William Bleakley
Person(s)
25
9 November 2009
9 November 2009
Date
9 November 2009
Person(s)
Hubert Marcoux
Age
68
Missing from
North Atlantic Ocean
Circumstances
Sailing solo on his boat the Mon Pays ("My Country"), Marcoux left the Eastern Passage on 9 November 2009 to voyage from Nova Scotia to Bermuda. When he did not arrive, a search was conducted by Canadian and U . aircraft. Members of the Air National Guard later joined the search. Three days were spent scouring the ocean between Virginia and Bermud
22 March 2011
22 March 2011
Date
22 March 2011
Person(s)
Rebecca Coriam
Age
24
Missing from
Pacific Ocean near coast of Mexico
Circumstances
Coriam, an English crew member aboard the cruise ship Disney Wonder, was last seen when a security camera in the crew lounge recorded her having an upsetting telephone conversation. Some reports suggest she went overboard, but there is other evidence that she may have still been alive the following May.
20 June 2012
20 June 2012
Date
20 June 2012
Person(s)
Guma Aguiar
Age
35
Missing from
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U .
Circumstances
Aguiar, a Brazilian-born American industrialist and investor in the Beitar Jerusalem Football Club, was reported missing on 20 June 2012 after his unoccupied fishing boat was found on the coast of Fort Lauderdale. He was declared legally dead on 29 January 2015.
7 April 2013
7 April 2013
Date
7 April 2013
Person(s)
Jerry Krause
Age
Unknown
Missing from
Off the coast of West Africa
Circumstances
Krause, an American Christian missionary and pilot mostly known for his work with the Sahel Aviation Service in Mali, disappeared on 7 April 2013 when his plane was reported missing off the coast in West Africa while en route to São Tomé International Airport. Since no wreckage has been found, authorities believe he might have been kidnapped.
4 June 2013
4 June 2013
Date
4 June 2013
Person(s)
Evi Nemeth
Age
73
Missing from
Tasman Sea
Circumstances
Nemeth, an American computer engineer often described as the matriarch of system administration, disappeared along with several others aboard the schooner Niña that was between New Zealand and Australia on 4 June 2013. No trace of them has ever been found.
c. 1 December 2014
c. 1 December 2014
Date
c. 1 December 2014
Person(s)
Dick Conant
Age
63
Missing from
Outer Banks
Circumstances
Conant was an American boater who disappeared near the Outer Banks sometime c. 1 December 2014 while on an eight-month trip from Plattsburgh, New York to south Florida.
2 August 2015
2 August 2015
Date
2 August 2015
Person(s)
Natalia Molchanova
Age
53
Missing from
Formentera, Spain
Circumstances
Molchanova, a Russian champion free diver and multiple record holder, disappeared during a private diving lesson, likely swept away by water currents. Despite efforts from a search party, her body has never been located and she was declared dead in absentia.
9 September 2018
9 September 2018
Date
9 September 2018
Person(s)
Daniel Küblböck
Age
33
Missing from
Labrador Sea
Circumstances
The German pop singer apparently jumped off the cruise ship AIDAluna into the sea and disappeared during a cruise from Hamburg to New York on 9 September 2018. Despite an intense search, Küblböck was not found, and the search was abandoned after 80 hours as it was deemed impossible she could still be alive— the water temperature at the time had be
2 January 2021
2 January 2021
Date
2 January 2021
Person(s)
Yong Yu Sing No. 18 fishing boat crew
Age
Various
Missing from
Midway Island
Circumstances
The vessel was spotted floating near Midway Island. Upon further inspection by the United States Coast Guard, a lifeboat was missing as were all ten crew, and the ship was heavily damaged.
8 March 2021
8 March 2021
Date
8 March 2021
Person(s)
Sarm Heslop
Age
41
Missing from
United States Virgin Islands
Circumstances
Heslop disappeared from a catamaran moored off the coast of Saint John, one of the U . Virgin Islands, between 22:00 on 7 March 2021 and 02:30 on 8 March. Searches for her have proved fruitless. If she did go into the water, then she was only a maximum of 200 m (660 ft) from the shore.
6 March 2025
6 March 2025
Date
6 March 2025
Person(s)
Sudiksha Konanki
Age
20
Missing from
Dominican Republic
Circumstances
Konanki was a 20-year-old Indian citizen with permanent residency in the U . She was a pre-medical student at University of Pittsburgh who went missing on March 6, 2025. On spring break with a few of her friends at Hotel Riu Republica in Punta Cana, she was reported to have last been seen with an American on the beach.
| Date | Person(s) | Age | Missing from | Circumstances | Ref. |
| c. 1971 | Francis Brenton | 44 | Atlantic Ocean | Brenton, an English writer, explorer and adventurer who travelled around the world, mostly around the Americas and Africa, supposedly disappeared c. 1971 while sailing back to England. | |
| 16 October 1972 | Hale Boggs | 58 | Gulf of Alaska | Louisiana congressman who, together with friend and fellow congressman Nick Begich, at-large representative from Alaska, disappeared while flying over the Gulf of Alaska en route from Anchorage to Juneau. Their bodies were never found and they were declared legally dead two months later. | |
| Nick Begich | 40 | ||||
| 28 March 1973 | Henry E. Stebbins | 68 | Atlantic Ocean | Stebbins, an American ambassador to Uganda, apparently fell overboard while travelling on the SS Leonardo da Vinci and was considered lost at sea, his body never being found. | |
| 21 February 1974 | Thomas Leigh Gatch Jr. | 48 | Atlantic Ocean, near the Canary Islands | American balloonist Thomas Gatch disappeared while attempting to become the first human to cross the Atlantic by balloon. A day after lifting off from Harrisburg Airport on 18 February, his balloon named Light Heart lost radio contact. On 21 February, it was sighted by a ship about 1,600 km west of the Canary Islands but it has not been seen since. | |
| 9 July 1975 | Bas Jan Ader | 33 | Atlantic Ocean | Ader, a Dutch conceptual artist, performance artist, photographer and filmmaker, was lost at sea sometime after 9 July 1975 while attempting to cross the Atlantic Ocean from the U . to England in the smallest boat ever. His deserted vessel was found off the coast of Ireland on 18 April 1976 but offered few clues as to his fate. | |
| 1977 | Bill Tilman | 79 | Atlantic Ocean | Tilman, an English mountaineer and explorer renowned for his sailing voyages and climbings of the Himalayan mountains, was invited as a crew member on the En Avant in 1977, with the final destination being Smith Island. However, the boat was presumably lost at sea near the Falkland Islands, with everybody on board perishing. | |
| October 1977 | Slim Wintermute | 60 | Portage Bay, Washington, U . | Wintermute, an American collegiate and professional basketball player, disappeared in October 1977, after setting out in his yacht from Portage Bay. His boat was found a few days later with one of his friends asleep on board; foul play was not suspected. | |
| 17 March 1978 | Eddie Aikau | 31 | Hawaii, U . | Aikau, a Hawaiian lifeguard and surfer, disappeared on 17 March 1978 when he was lost at sea while attempting to reach the island of Lanai on a surfboard. The long-distance Hawaiian outrigger, the Hōkūleʻa, on which he was a crew member, began taking on water 20 miles off Molokai. He was last seen paddling his surfboard towards Lanai to get help. | |
| November 1978 | Alain Colas | 35 | Atlantic Ocean | Colas, a French sailor who was the first to complete a solitary round-the-world race in a multihull, disappeared while participating in the first Route du Rhum in his boat Manureva. Neither he nor his boat were ever found. | |
| 7 July 1979 | Ian Mackintosh | 40 | Gulf of Alaska, U . | Ian Mackintosh, the creator and writer of The Sandbaggers, a British television series, was flying with two others over the Gulf of Alaska in a light aircraft on 7 July 1979. The plane sent out a distress signal which was picked up by the United States Coast Guard. The plane's last known position was searched, but no wreckage of it was ever found, | |
| 23 December 1979 | Jon Mathews | 47 | Indian Ocean | Mathews, an American adventurer and yachtsman, together with his wife Jean attempted to circumnavigate the world on their vessel, the Drambuie II. While heading towards Durban, South Africa, they sailed into the path of Cyclone Claudette and were presumably killed in the process. | |
| 5 August 1980 | Alan Addis | 19 | East Falkland, Falkland Islands | The Royal Marine Alan Addis went missing on 5 August 1980. His small unit was on a patrol to North Arm in Lafonia on East Falkland. Addis was last seen at 1:30 a . after the marines had attended a local function in the social hall of the remote and small community. He was not missed until the other members of his team had set sail on a steamer to | |
| October 1980 | Angus Primrose | 53 | South Carolina, U . | The designer and naval architect Primrose went missing at sea during October 1980 and is presumed to have drowned. | |
| September 1985 | Art Scholl | 53 | California | Scholl was an American aerobatic pilot, aerial cameraman, flight instructor and educator based in Riverside, Southern California. He died during the filming of Top Gun when his Pitts S-2 camera plane failed to recover from a spin and plunged into the Pacific Ocean. Scholl had entered the spin intentionally in order to capture it on film using on-bo | |
| July 1986 | Svante Odén | 62 | Baltic Sea | A Swedish soil scientist, meteorologist and chemist, Odén was testing a top-secret newly invented device that could detect submarines in late July 1986. During this test, he disappeared at the Baltic Sea near the Roslagen, Stockholm archipelago, and presumably died. | |
| 2 August 1987 | Clement Howell | 52 | Atlantic Ocean | Howell, a Turks and Caicos Islands politician and interim member of the advisory council, disappeared with four other people when their plane presumably crashed into the sea on 2 August 1987. Neither the wreckage or the bodies were ever found. | |
| 11 September 1990 | 1990 Faucett Perú Boeing 727 | Various | South-east of Cape Race, Newfoundland | 1990 Faucett Perú Boeing 727 was a airliner that mysteriously disappeared on 11 September 1990 in an area of the Atlantic Ocean in Newfoundland. No one knows what became of the aircraft or its passengers. | |
| 21 May 1995 | Larry Hillblom | 52 | Mariana Islands | Hillblom, a co-founder of the DHL Worldwide shipping company, was on board a plane that went down in the Northern Mariana Islands on 21 May 1995. The bodies of the pilot and other passengers were found but no trace of Hillblom has ever been found. His house in Saipan was found to have had areas where DNA might be found washed down with acid and art | |
| 12 November 1995 | Bruno Bréguet | 45 | Ionian Sea | Bréguet, a Swiss-born associate of terrorist Carlos the Jackal, was last seen on a ferry from Italy to Greece 12 November 1995. His family suspected he had been murdered and a body found in Greece might have been his, but authorities remain uncertain. | |
| January 1997 | Gerry Roufs | 44 | Pacific Ocean | Canadian competitive sailor Roufs vanished at sea while competing in the Vendée Globe yacht race. His boat, the Groupe LG 2, was found off the coast of Chile in July 1997, but Roufs himself was never located. | |
| 14 February 1997 | Grant Hadwin | 47 | Hecate Strait, British Columbia | Hadwin, an anti-logging activist, went missing 14 February 1997 while traveling by kayak across the Hecate Strait to Graham Island near British Columbia to face criminal charges for cutting down Kiidk'yaas, a rare golden spruce tree revered by the Haida people. The wreckage of his kayak was discovered in June but no trace of Hadwin himself has been | |
| 25 January 1998 | Tom Lonergan | 34 | Coral Sea, Australia | Tom and Eileen Lonergan, a married couple from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, disappeared when they were mistakenly stranded in the Coral Sea after a scuba dive on 25 January 1998. Eileen's father, John Hains, later said that he suspects the couple ultimately became dehydrated and disoriented and in the end succumbed to drowning or sharks. | |
| Eileen Lonergan | 29 | ||||
| 24 March 1998 | Amy Lynn Bradley | 23 | Curaçao, Antilles | Bradley, an American passenger on the Royal Caribbean International cruise ship Rhapsody of the Seas, disappeared while the ship was docking in Curaçao. | |
| 3 September 1999 | Yves Godard | 43 | Channel coast, France | French physician Yves Godard along with his children Camille and Marius were last seen buying waffles from a street vendor in Bréhec, a small port on the western tip of Brittany. Their rented sailboat was found abandoned in Plouézec the next day. On 7–8 September, blood identified as that of Dr Godard's wife Marie-France was found in their camper v | |
| Marie-France Godard | Unknown | ||||
| Camille Godard | 6 | ||||
| Marius Godard | 4 | ||||
| 12 June 1999 | Gerry Clark | 72 | Antipodes Islands, New Zealand | New Zealand sailor, writer and ornithologist Clark and his friend Roger Sale were sailing to recover satellite transmitters used to track albatrosses. Both of them disappeared while on the trip, and have never been located. | |
| 30 November 2000 | Scott Smith | 45 | near San Francisco, California, U . | Smith, a Canadian musician and bassist for the rock band Loverboy, was sailing his boat, the Sea Major, along with two friends. A large wave then swept him overboard, with subsequent searches failing to find his body. | |
| 7 July 2002 | Bison Dele | 33 | Tahiti, French Polynesia | Dele, an American professional basketball player, is believed to have been murdered by his brother in the sea near Tahiti, French Polynesia in 2002. | |
| c. 29 November 2004 | Erhart Aten | 72 | Chuuk State | A Micronesian politician who served as the first elected Governor of Chuuk State (then called Truk). Aten and three other men were lost at sea while crossing Chuuk lagoon to Weno island when their boat was hit by a sudden storm. | |
| 5 July 2005 | George Allen Smith IV | 26 | Coast of Turkey | Smith, an American passenger on Brilliance of the Seas, disappeared from the ship and police suspect homicide. | |
| 28 January 2007 | Jim Gray | 63 | San Francisco Bay, California, U . | Gray, a database pioneer, Microsoft Research scientist and Turing Award winner, left San Francisco Bay in his 12 m (39 ft) sailboat Tenacious to scatter his mother's ashes at the Farallon Islands, a wildlife refuge 43 km (27 mi) away. He was reported missing when he failed to return later the same day. No Mayday call was heard and his EPIRB was not | |
| 20 April 2007 | Derek Batten | 56 | Shute Harbour, Australia | Kaz II, a 9 m (32 ft) catamaran, was found adrift on 20 April 2007 near Australia's Great Barrier Reef with its three-man crew, owner Derek Batten and brothers Peter and James Tunstead, missing. The yacht's sails were up and its engine was running. The global positioning system showed the yacht had been drifting since around the time of their las | |
| Peter Tunstead | 69 | ||||
| James Tunstead | 63 | ||||
| 9 November 2008 | Tai Ching 21 fishing boat crew | Various | Kiribati | The burnt and abandoned wreck of the Tai Ching 21, a Taiwanese fishing boat, was found drifting on 9 November 2008 near Kiribati. It was assumed that when the fire proved beyond their ability to control, the 29-member crew evacuated using the lifeboat and three rafts that were missing. However, no distress call was received and an extensive search | |
| 1 January 2009 | Jure Šterk | 72 | Indian Ocean | In December 2007, Slovenian sailor Šterk left Tauranga in New Zealand to sail solo around the world on his yacht Lunatic. His last radio message was heard on 1 January 2009. Lunatic was spotted on 26 January, approximately 1,000 nmi (1,900 km) off the coast of Australia. The boat was damaged and there was no sign of Šterk. Three months later, on 30 | |
| 1 March 2009 | Marquis Cooper | 26 | Off the coast of Clearwater, Florida, U . | Cooper, an American football linebacker, Smith, a defensive end, and Bleakley presumably died in a boating accident, in which only one man, Nick Schuyler, survived. | |
| Corey Smith | 29 | ||||
| William Bleakley | 25 | ||||
| 9 November 2009 | Hubert Marcoux | 68 | North Atlantic Ocean | Sailing solo on his boat the Mon Pays ("My Country"), Marcoux left the Eastern Passage on 9 November 2009 to voyage from Nova Scotia to Bermuda. When he did not arrive, a search was conducted by Canadian and U . aircraft. Members of the Air National Guard later joined the search. Three days were spent scouring the ocean between Virginia and Bermud | |
| 22 March 2011 | Rebecca Coriam | 24 | Pacific Ocean near coast of Mexico | Coriam, an English crew member aboard the cruise ship Disney Wonder, was last seen when a security camera in the crew lounge recorded her having an upsetting telephone conversation. Some reports suggest she went overboard, but there is other evidence that she may have still been alive the following May. | |
| 20 June 2012 | Guma Aguiar | 35 | Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U . | Aguiar, a Brazilian-born American industrialist and investor in the Beitar Jerusalem Football Club, was reported missing on 20 June 2012 after his unoccupied fishing boat was found on the coast of Fort Lauderdale. He was declared legally dead on 29 January 2015. | |
| 7 April 2013 | Jerry Krause | Unknown | Off the coast of West Africa | Krause, an American Christian missionary and pilot mostly known for his work with the Sahel Aviation Service in Mali, disappeared on 7 April 2013 when his plane was reported missing off the coast in West Africa while en route to São Tomé International Airport. Since no wreckage has been found, authorities believe he might have been kidnapped. | |
| 4 June 2013 | Evi Nemeth | 73 | Tasman Sea | Nemeth, an American computer engineer often described as the matriarch of system administration, disappeared along with several others aboard the schooner Niña that was between New Zealand and Australia on 4 June 2013. No trace of them has ever been found. | |
| c. 1 December 2014 | Dick Conant | 63 | Outer Banks | Conant was an American boater who disappeared near the Outer Banks sometime c. 1 December 2014 while on an eight-month trip from Plattsburgh, New York to south Florida. |
· Solved cases › 15th century – 1969
September 1475
September 1475
Date
September 1475
Person(s)
Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter
Age
45
Missing from
English Channel
Circumstances
Lancastrian leader during the English Wars of the Roses. Holland fell overboard for unknown reasons and drowned in the English Channel while returning to Britain, having served within Edward IV's 1475 expedition to France. He was later found floating in the sea between Dover and Calais.
1544
1544
Date
1544
Person(s)
Hugh Willoughby
Age
unknown
Missing from
Arctic Sea
Circumstances
English soldier and voyager who led a fleet of three vessels in search of a north-east route towards the Far East and his boat on route to Lapland. While neither the wreckage or his body were ever recovered, Willoughby's journal was. It has been suggested that he died from carbon monoxide poisoning.
1695
1695
Date
1695
Person(s)
Ouzel Galley
Age
Various
Missing from
Uncertain, possibly Smyrna
Circumstances
The Ouzel was last seen in the autumn of 1695 leaving dock in Dublin under the command of Capt Eoghan Massey of Waterford. She reappeared – supposedly the triumphant victim of high seas piracy – in 1700. According to her captain, he and his crew had been commanded and forced to loot several locations including North Africa over the span of several
1897
1897
Date
1897
Person(s)
Barney Barnato
Age
46
Missing from
At sea, near the island of Madeira
Circumstances
Barnato was a British entrepreneur and Randlord who disappeared at sea after mysteriously falling overboard, and was later found dead on 14 June 1897 at sea near Madeira, Portugal.
29 September 1913
29 September 1913
Date
29 September 1913
Person(s)
Rudolf Diesel
Age
55
Missing from
English Channel
Circumstances
The German inventor of the diesel engine disappeared from the steamer SS Dresden on the way from Antwerp to London. He retired to his cabin at about 10 p . and was never seen alive again. Ten days later, a corpse was found in the North Sea near Norway. On 13 October, the corpse was identified by Rudolf's son Eugen as belonging to his father.
1916
1916
Date
1916
Person(s)
Michael Joseph McNally
Age
56
Missing from
Chesapeake Bay, U .
Circumstances
Michael Joseph McNally, a United States Marine Sergeant, disappeared between 1 and 2 November 1916, while he was aboard a Baltimore Steam Packet Company steamer, and roughly three weeks later he was found dead.
1918
1918
Date
1918
Person(s)
Peter Tessem
Age
unknown
Missing from
Cape Chelyuskin
Circumstances
Tessem was a Norwegian carpenter who, together with a seaman named Paul Knutsen, disappeared in Cape Chelyuskin after an expedition to the Arctic. Four years later, a mummified corpse with a golden watch engraved with Tessem's name was found, indicating that it was his remains. Knutsen's body was never found.
15 November 1924
15 November 1924
Date
15 November 1924
Person(s)
Artur de Sacadura Freire Cabral
Age
43
Missing from
Northern Sea
Circumstances
Portuguese aviator who, together with Gago Coutinho, conducted the first aerial crossing of the South Atlantic in 1922. Two years later, Cabral and his co-pilot would disappear while flying over the English channel, with only partial remains of their plane's wreckage recovered later on.
4 July 1928
4 July 1928
Date
4 July 1928
Person(s)
Alfred Loewenstein
Age
51
Missing from
North Sea
Circumstances
Loewenstein was a Belgian financier who fell out of his private plane while travelling from Croydon to Brussels. His body was found 15 days later near Boulogne, France.
November 1941
November 1941
Date
November 1941
Person(s)
Thomas Welsby Clark
Age
21
Missing from
Christmas Island
Circumstances
Clark was a Royal Australian Navy sailor aboard HMAS Sydney who died during a battle with the German cruiser Kormoran. His body washed ashore on 6 February 1942, but remained unidentified until 19 November 2021.
8 December 1941
8 December 1941
Date
8 December 1941
Person(s)
Robert Tills
Age
23
Missing from
Malalang Bay, Philippines
Circumstances
Tills was a USN officer and pilot who became the first American naval officer killed during the Battle of the Philippines. His body was lost at sea, but was recovered in November 2007 and positively identified in December 2008.
27 May 1943
27 May 1943
Date
27 May 1943
Person(s)
Louis Zamperini
Age
26
Missing from
Oahu, Hawaii, U .
Circumstances
Zamperini was an Olympic distance runner and soldier serving on the B-24 bomber Green Hornet. Due to mechanical difficulties, the bomber crashed into the sea, killing most of the crew aside from Zamperini and two others. The trio drifted across the sea for 47 days, during which one man died, before Zamperini and his companion were captured by the I
22 April 1943
22 April 1943
Date
22 April 1943
Person(s)
Edward Blake Thompson
Age
25
Missing from
North Atlantic Ocean
Circumstances
Thompson was a member of the Ontario Rugby Football Union and served within the Royal Canadian Air Force in World War II. He was one of eighty-six individuals lost at sea when the ship upon which he was traveling, the SS Amerika, was torpedoed by the German Submarine U-306 south of Cape Farewell, Greenland.
13 June 1943
13 June 1943
Date
13 June 1943
Person(s)
Nathan Bedford Forrest III
Age
38
Missing from
Kiel, Nazi Germany
Circumstances
Forrest was Brigadier general of the USAAF who crashlanded in Germany during a bombing raid. His body was found washed up on Ruegen Island several months after he was reported missing.
October 1947
October 1947
Date
October 1947
Person(s)
Gay Gibson
Age
21
Missing from
Atlantic Ocean
Circumstances
Gibson was a young British actress who disappeared while she was on a trip aboard the MV Durban Castle between England and South Africa on 18 October 1947. It was later discovered that she was murdered and disposed of at sea.
1 October 1950
1 October 1950
Date
1 October 1950
Person(s)
Robert W. Langwell
Age
unknown
Missing from
Near Chuksan-ri, South Korea
Circumstances
Langwell was a USN seaman who was declared missing in action after falling overboard after the ship he was ensigned to, the minesweeper USS Magpie, struck a mine and sank. Langwell's body washed ashore and was buried by villagers, with his remains returned to the United States in 2008.
27 August 1963
27 August 1963
Date
27 August 1963
Person(s)
Jenny Cheok
Age
21
Missing from
Sisters' Islands, Singapore
Circumstances
Cheok, a bar waitress, was murdered by her boyfriend, Grand Prix driver and law student Sunny Ang, during a boat trip to Sisters' Island. While Cheok's body has never been found, Ang was tried, convicted and ultimately hanged for the murder.
| Date | Person(s) | Age | Missing from | Circumstances | Ref. |
| September 1475 | Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter | 45 | English Channel | Lancastrian leader during the English Wars of the Roses. Holland fell overboard for unknown reasons and drowned in the English Channel while returning to Britain, having served within Edward IV's 1475 expedition to France. He was later found floating in the sea between Dover and Calais. | |
| 1544 | Hugh Willoughby | unknown | Arctic Sea | English soldier and voyager who led a fleet of three vessels in search of a north-east route towards the Far East and his boat on route to Lapland. While neither the wreckage or his body were ever recovered, Willoughby's journal was. It has been suggested that he died from carbon monoxide poisoning. | |
| 1695 | Ouzel Galley | Various | Uncertain, possibly Smyrna | The Ouzel was last seen in the autumn of 1695 leaving dock in Dublin under the command of Capt Eoghan Massey of Waterford. She reappeared – supposedly the triumphant victim of high seas piracy – in 1700. According to her captain, he and his crew had been commanded and forced to loot several locations including North Africa over the span of several | |
| 1897 | Barney Barnato | 46 | At sea, near the island of Madeira | Barnato was a British entrepreneur and Randlord who disappeared at sea after mysteriously falling overboard, and was later found dead on 14 June 1897 at sea near Madeira, Portugal. | |
| 29 September 1913 | Rudolf Diesel | 55 | English Channel | The German inventor of the diesel engine disappeared from the steamer SS Dresden on the way from Antwerp to London. He retired to his cabin at about 10 p . and was never seen alive again. Ten days later, a corpse was found in the North Sea near Norway. On 13 October, the corpse was identified by Rudolf's son Eugen as belonging to his father. | |
| 1916 | Michael Joseph McNally | 56 | Chesapeake Bay, U . | Michael Joseph McNally, a United States Marine Sergeant, disappeared between 1 and 2 November 1916, while he was aboard a Baltimore Steam Packet Company steamer, and roughly three weeks later he was found dead. | |
| 1918 | Peter Tessem | unknown | Cape Chelyuskin | Tessem was a Norwegian carpenter who, together with a seaman named Paul Knutsen, disappeared in Cape Chelyuskin after an expedition to the Arctic. Four years later, a mummified corpse with a golden watch engraved with Tessem's name was found, indicating that it was his remains. Knutsen's body was never found. | |
| 15 November 1924 | Artur de Sacadura Freire Cabral | 43 | Northern Sea | Portuguese aviator who, together with Gago Coutinho, conducted the first aerial crossing of the South Atlantic in 1922. Two years later, Cabral and his co-pilot would disappear while flying over the English channel, with only partial remains of their plane's wreckage recovered later on. | |
| 4 July 1928 | Alfred Loewenstein | 51 | North Sea | Loewenstein was a Belgian financier who fell out of his private plane while travelling from Croydon to Brussels. His body was found 15 days later near Boulogne, France. | |
| November 1941 | Thomas Welsby Clark | 21 | Christmas Island | Clark was a Royal Australian Navy sailor aboard HMAS Sydney who died during a battle with the German cruiser Kormoran. His body washed ashore on 6 February 1942, but remained unidentified until 19 November 2021. | |
| 8 December 1941 | Robert Tills | 23 | Malalang Bay, Philippines | Tills was a USN officer and pilot who became the first American naval officer killed during the Battle of the Philippines. His body was lost at sea, but was recovered in November 2007 and positively identified in December 2008. | |
| 27 May 1943 | Louis Zamperini | 26 | Oahu, Hawaii, U . | Zamperini was an Olympic distance runner and soldier serving on the B-24 bomber Green Hornet. Due to mechanical difficulties, the bomber crashed into the sea, killing most of the crew aside from Zamperini and two others. The trio drifted across the sea for 47 days, during which one man died, before Zamperini and his companion were captured by the I | |
| 22 April 1943 | Edward Blake Thompson | 25 | North Atlantic Ocean | Thompson was a member of the Ontario Rugby Football Union and served within the Royal Canadian Air Force in World War II. He was one of eighty-six individuals lost at sea when the ship upon which he was traveling, the SS Amerika, was torpedoed by the German Submarine U-306 south of Cape Farewell, Greenland. | |
| 13 June 1943 | Nathan Bedford Forrest III | 38 | Kiel, Nazi Germany | Forrest was Brigadier general of the USAAF who crashlanded in Germany during a bombing raid. His body was found washed up on Ruegen Island several months after he was reported missing. | |
| October 1947 | Gay Gibson | 21 | Atlantic Ocean | Gibson was a young British actress who disappeared while she was on a trip aboard the MV Durban Castle between England and South Africa on 18 October 1947. It was later discovered that she was murdered and disposed of at sea. | |
| 1 October 1950 | Robert W. Langwell | unknown | Near Chuksan-ri, South Korea | Langwell was a USN seaman who was declared missing in action after falling overboard after the ship he was ensigned to, the minesweeper USS Magpie, struck a mine and sank. Langwell's body washed ashore and was buried by villagers, with his remains returned to the United States in 2008. | |
| 27 August 1963 | Jenny Cheok | 21 | Sisters' Islands, Singapore | Cheok, a bar waitress, was murdered by her boyfriend, Grand Prix driver and law student Sunny Ang, during a boat trip to Sisters' Island. While Cheok's body has never been found, Ang was tried, convicted and ultimately hanged for the murder. |
· Solved cases › 1970–2009
4 June 1989
4 June 1989
Date
4 June 1989
Person(s)
Rose-Noëlle crew
Age
various
Missing from
Pacific Ocean
Circumstances
The trimaran, which was occupied by four New Zealand nationals, capsized off the coast of New Zealand and leaving the men drifting on the wreckage for 119 days before they managed to reach land.
30 June 2005
30 June 2005
Date
30 June 2005
Person(s)
Patrick McDermott
Age
48
Missing from
Off the coast of Los Angeles, California, U .
Circumstances
McDermott was the boyfriend of singer Olivia Newton-John; he disappeared after going on an overnight fishing trip. The United States Coast Guard concluded he was likely lost at sea. He was the subject of unsubstantiated claims to have faked his own death.
20 April 2008
20 April 2008
Date
20 April 2008
Person(s)
Adelir Antônio de Carli
Age
41
Missing from
Off the coast of Brazil
Circumstances
Adelir Antônio de Carli (February 8, 1967 – April 20, 2008), also known in Brazil as Padre Baloeiro or Padre do Balão ("Balloon Priest" in Portuguese), was a Brazilian Catholic priest, who died during an attempt at cluster ballooning on April 20, 2008. On July 4, 2008, remains later identified as Carli's were found in the ocean 100 km (62 mi) from
September 2008
September 2008
Date
September 2008
Person(s)
CIA operatives
Age
various
Missing from
South China Sea
Circumstances
Four Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operatives during a covert mission in the South China Sea off the coast of the Philippines
4 January 2009
4 January 2009
Date
4 January 2009
Person(s)
Sonny Fai
Age
20
Missing from
Te Henga / Bethells Beach, New Zealand
Circumstances
Professional rugby player for the New Zealand Warriors who disappeared while trying to save his brother and four cousins from a rip current. While his body was never found, he was declared drowned a few months later.
26 January 2009
26 January 2009
Date
26 January 2009
Person(s)
Bob Chappell
Age
65
Missing from
Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Circumstances
Chappell was a radiation oncology medical physicist who was killed by his partner aboard a yacht named Four Winds. Though Chappell's body has never been found, his partner, Susan Neill-Fraser, was convicted of the crime.
28 February 2009
28 February 2009
Date
28 February 2009
Person(s)
Marquis Cooper, Corey Smith, and William Bleakley
Age
Various
Missing from
Off the coast of Clearwater, Florida, U .
Circumstances
Boating accident where all three eventually succumbed to hypothermia and their bodies were later lost at sea. Sole survivor Nick Schuyler co-wrote a book about the experience in 2010, titled Not Without Hope.
| Date | Person(s) | Age | Missing from | Circumstances | Ref. |
| 4 June 1989 | Rose-Noëlle crew | various | Pacific Ocean | The trimaran, which was occupied by four New Zealand nationals, capsized off the coast of New Zealand and leaving the men drifting on the wreckage for 119 days before they managed to reach land. | |
| 30 June 2005 | Patrick McDermott | 48 | Off the coast of Los Angeles, California, U . | McDermott was the boyfriend of singer Olivia Newton-John; he disappeared after going on an overnight fishing trip. The United States Coast Guard concluded he was likely lost at sea. He was the subject of unsubstantiated claims to have faked his own death. | |
| 20 April 2008 | Adelir Antônio de Carli | 41 | Off the coast of Brazil | Adelir Antônio de Carli (February 8, 1967 – April 20, 2008), also known in Brazil as Padre Baloeiro or Padre do Balão ("Balloon Priest" in Portuguese), was a Brazilian Catholic priest, who died during an attempt at cluster ballooning on April 20, 2008. On July 4, 2008, remains later identified as Carli's were found in the ocean 100 km (62 mi) from | |
| September 2008 | CIA operatives | various | South China Sea | Four Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operatives during a covert mission in the South China Sea off the coast of the Philippines | |
| 4 January 2009 | Sonny Fai | 20 | Te Henga / Bethells Beach, New Zealand | Professional rugby player for the New Zealand Warriors who disappeared while trying to save his brother and four cousins from a rip current. While his body was never found, he was declared drowned a few months later. | |
| 26 January 2009 | Bob Chappell | 65 | Hobart, Tasmania, Australia | Chappell was a radiation oncology medical physicist who was killed by his partner aboard a yacht named Four Winds. Though Chappell's body has never been found, his partner, Susan Neill-Fraser, was convicted of the crime. | |
| 28 February 2009 | Marquis Cooper, Corey Smith, and William Bleakley | Various | Off the coast of Clearwater, Florida, U . | Boating accident where all three eventually succumbed to hypothermia and their bodies were later lost at sea. Sole survivor Nick Schuyler co-wrote a book about the experience in 2010, titled Not Without Hope. |
· Solved cases › 2010–present
29 September 2010
29 September 2010
Date
29 September 2010
Person(s)
Richard Abruzzo
Age
47
Missing from
Adriatic Sea
Circumstances
American balloonist champion who, together with colleague Carol Rymer Davis, disappeared due to a thunderstorm while competing for the Gordon Bennett Cup. Their bodies were found three months later off the Italian coast, on 6 December 2010.
Carol Rymer Davis
Carol Rymer Davis
Date
Carol Rymer Davis
Person(s)
65
17 November 2012
17 November 2012
Date
17 November 2012
Person(s)
José Salvador Alvarenga
Age
37
Missing from
Costa Azul, Mexico
Circumstances
Salvadoran fisherman who got lost at sea in the Pacific Ocean. He remained adrift until 30 January 2014, when he was finally found washed ashore at the Marshall Islands' Ebon Atoll, and returned to his home country.
8 March 2014
8 March 2014
Date
8 March 2014
Person(s)
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 occupants
Age
various: 1–76
Missing from
South China Sea
Circumstances
A commercial Boeing 777-200ER airliner which disappeared above the South China Sea on 8 March 2014, carrying 239 passengers and crew. The precise cause of the loss of the aircraft is undetermined, and only eighteen pieces of debris conclusively determined as belonging to the aircraft have ever been recovered. It is now believed to be located in the
15 November 2017
15 November 2017
Date
15 November 2017
Person(s)
ARA San Juan crew
Age
various
Missing from
South Atlantic
Circumstances
The ARA San Juan was an Argentine submarine which mysteriously vanished while performing a training exercise. Despite search efforts, assisted by several nations, the fate of the submarine and its crew remained unknown until a year later, when marine robotics company Ocean Infinity discovered the sunken wreck.
21 January 2022
21 January 2022
Date
21 January 2022
Person(s)
Jean-Jacques Savin
Age
75
Missing from
Azores
Circumstances
Savin was an adventurer who embarked on a three-month journey from Sagres, Portugal to Martinique on 1 January 2022. On 21 January, Savin issued two distress calls, with last contact at 00:34 that morning. His boat was discovered overturned later that day. Despite being reported as having been found dead in the boat's cabin, it was later clarified
| Date | Person(s) | Age | Missing from | Circumstances | Ref. |
| 29 September 2010 | Richard Abruzzo | 47 | Adriatic Sea | American balloonist champion who, together with colleague Carol Rymer Davis, disappeared due to a thunderstorm while competing for the Gordon Bennett Cup. Their bodies were found three months later off the Italian coast, on 6 December 2010. | |
| Carol Rymer Davis | 65 | ||||
| 17 November 2012 | José Salvador Alvarenga | 37 | Costa Azul, Mexico | Salvadoran fisherman who got lost at sea in the Pacific Ocean. He remained adrift until 30 January 2014, when he was finally found washed ashore at the Marshall Islands' Ebon Atoll, and returned to his home country. | |
| 8 March 2014 | Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 occupants | various: 1–76 | South China Sea | A commercial Boeing 777-200ER airliner which disappeared above the South China Sea on 8 March 2014, carrying 239 passengers and crew. The precise cause of the loss of the aircraft is undetermined, and only eighteen pieces of debris conclusively determined as belonging to the aircraft have ever been recovered. It is now believed to be located in the | |
| 15 November 2017 | ARA San Juan crew | various | South Atlantic | The ARA San Juan was an Argentine submarine which mysteriously vanished while performing a training exercise. Despite search efforts, assisted by several nations, the fate of the submarine and its crew remained unknown until a year later, when marine robotics company Ocean Infinity discovered the sunken wreck. | |
| 21 January 2022 | Jean-Jacques Savin | 75 | Azores | Savin was an adventurer who embarked on a three-month journey from Sagres, Portugal to Martinique on 1 January 2022. On 21 January, Savin issued two distress calls, with last contact at 00:34 that morning. His boat was discovered overturned later that day. Despite being reported as having been found dead in the boat's cabin, it was later clarified |
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