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Into Thin Air: People and Places That Vanished Without A Trace
EACH YEAR, tens of thousands of people go missing in the United States, while around the world, countless millions vanish into the unknown, never to be seen or heard from again..
In an age of GPS, smart phones and computerized record-keeping from the cradle to the grave, it is difficult to comprehend how living human beings can suddenly and unaccountably disappear, leaving no trail or clue to their whereabouts.
Of the estimated 800,000 Americans who are reported missing each year, most eventually return or are accounted for within a few days. A much smaller percentage, however, remain lost forever.
This book, explores the unexplained and often mysterious fates of a number of people and places that vanished into the unknown. Most of the victims profiled in these pages share some level of fame or notoriety—gangsters, movie stars, royal princes and princesses, socialites, airplane pilots and even a prime minister. Some of the usual notables are included--Jimmy Hoffa, Anastasia Romanov, Lionel Crabb, Theodosia Burr Alston, Michael Rockefeller and Judge Crater,.
Lesser known but no less sensational or tragic figures are also examined, including Dorothy Arnold, the young socialite who wanted to be a famous author, Orion Williamson, the Alabama farmer who faded into nothing but a wispy shadow in full view of his wife and two neighbors, and Tiffany Sessions, the attractive blonde University of Florida coed who was snatched late one afternoon while on a power walk near campus.
In 2005, the whole world was horrified when news broke that a brilliant and talented young Alabama high school beauty named Natalee Holloway had disappeared on the last night of her class trip to the sun=drenched Caribbean island of Aruba. Presumably murdered, her body remains missing more than a decade later.
If there’s a common link between all these ill-fated individuals, it’s that nobody knows what became of them. No trace of their bodies has ever been found. They simply vanished into the unknown, their whereabouts shrouded in rumors, legends and folklore.
Think about it: it’s one thing when an ordinary farmer or student or housewife disappears. But when a world-famous explorer, aviator, prince, businessman or politician vanishes without a trace, that’s headline news. Feeding frenzies begin in the media, with round-the-clock cable news shows and websites probing each salacious detail about the case.
When Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 disappeared over the Indian Ocean several years ago, CNN, MSNBC and most of the tabloid press couldn’t crank out enough updates to satisfy the public’s insatiable appetite for information about the doomed flight. Was it hijacked? Did the pilot commit suicide? Did a bomb blow it out of the sky? Was it swallowed up by a black hole (as one CNN host once inferred)—or was the whole aircraft abducted by an alien spaceship? Since ancient times, countless individuals groups, towns and even entire civilizations have faded from the historical record. Some have vanished in the air, at sea, on remote mountaintops, in faroff jungles. Others have fallen into oblivion in full view of relatives or neighbors.
In the end, this book demonstrates that truth is often stranger than fiction, whether dealing with UFO abductions, playboy prime ministers, evil kings, corrupt judges, glamorous movie stars, cannibal headhunters or lost, vine-shrouded cities slumbering deep in steamy jungles.
In an age of GPS, smart phones and computerized record-keeping from the cradle to the grave, it is difficult to comprehend how living human beings can suddenly and unaccountably disappear, leaving no trail or clue to their whereabouts.
Of the estimated 800,000 Americans who are reported missing each year, most eventually return or are accounted for within a few days. A much smaller percentage, however, remain lost forever.
This book, explores the unexplained and often mysterious fates of a number of people and places that vanished into the unknown. Most of the victims profiled in these pages share some level of fame or notoriety—gangsters, movie stars, royal princes and princesses, socialites, airplane pilots and even a prime minister. Some of the usual notables are included--Jimmy Hoffa, Anastasia Romanov, Lionel Crabb, Theodosia Burr Alston, Michael Rockefeller and Judge Crater,.
Lesser known but no less sensational or tragic figures are also examined, including Dorothy Arnold, the young socialite who wanted to be a famous author, Orion Williamson, the Alabama farmer who faded into nothing but a wispy shadow in full view of his wife and two neighbors, and Tiffany Sessions, the attractive blonde University of Florida coed who was snatched late one afternoon while on a power walk near campus.
In 2005, the whole world was horrified when news broke that a brilliant and talented young Alabama high school beauty named Natalee Holloway had disappeared on the last night of her class trip to the sun=drenched Caribbean island of Aruba. Presumably murdered, her body remains missing more than a decade later.
If there’s a common link between all these ill-fated individuals, it’s that nobody knows what became of them. No trace of their bodies has ever been found. They simply vanished into the unknown, their whereabouts shrouded in rumors, legends and folklore.
Think about it: it’s one thing when an ordinary farmer or student or housewife disappears. But when a world-famous explorer, aviator, prince, businessman or politician vanishes without a trace, that’s headline news. Feeding frenzies begin in the media, with round-the-clock cable news shows and websites probing each salacious detail about the case.
When Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 disappeared over the Indian Ocean several years ago, CNN, MSNBC and most of the tabloid press couldn’t crank out enough updates to satisfy the public’s insatiable appetite for information about the doomed flight. Was it hijacked? Did the pilot commit suicide? Did a bomb blow it out of the sky? Was it swallowed up by a black hole (as one CNN host once inferred)—or was the whole aircraft abducted by an alien spaceship? Since ancient times, countless individuals groups, towns and even entire civilizations have faded from the historical record. Some have vanished in the air, at sea, on remote mountaintops, in faroff jungles. Others have fallen into oblivion in full view of relatives or neighbors.
In the end, this book demonstrates that truth is often stranger than fiction, whether dealing with UFO abductions, playboy prime ministers, evil kings, corrupt judges, glamorous movie stars, cannibal headhunters or lost, vine-shrouded cities slumbering deep in steamy jungles.
Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 15, 2020
Flawed
Good stories but this was not edited well. Typos abound and he frequently repeats the same information shortly after delivering it.
Good stories but this was not edited well. Typos abound and he frequently repeats the same information shortly after delivering it.
March 10, 2023
DNF. Stories were ones I’ve already read about. It was repetitive and there were a lot of errors that should have been caught in editing.
August 20, 2020
Good read
The stories are well told , I really enjoyed the book, it is worth your time. I will
I will definitely read more titles by this author.
The stories are well told , I really enjoyed the book, it is worth your time. I will
I will definitely read more titles by this author.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews