10 Mysterious Disappearances You've Never Heard Of

Writer, journalist and poet, Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914) remains one of the great, lesser-known American writers. A veteran of the American Civil War, Bierce was renowned for his short fiction, including the acknowledged classic, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. He is also the author of the satirical work, The Devil's Dictionary – an 'alternate' dictionary which contains such epithets as: “Admiration - Our polite recognition of another’s resemblance to ourselves.”

Bierce's horror fiction has been ranked alongside notables such as Edgar Allan Poe and H. P. Lovecraft. As a literary critic, Bierce's opinions were highly influential. In 1913, aged 71, the writer declared his intent to travel to Mexico to experience first-hand the ongoing Mexican Revolution, and to tour some of his old civil war battlefields on the way.

Bierce passed through Louisiana and Texas into Mexico. It was reported that for some time he journeyed with the army of Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa, but left them at the city of Chihuahua. There, he wrote a letter to an old friend, stating that he was leaving the next day for an 'unknown destination'. Bierce was never seen again.