8 Famous People Who Went Missing (And Were Never Found)

2. Michael Rockefeller

Vanished in 1961

At the ripe young age of 23, the privileged son of New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller, disappeared without a trace.

In 1960, Michel Rockefeller gained First Class Honours in English and then served in the American Army for the next six months. He knew full well that after his study at the Harvard Business School, he would be expected to follow a career in Business and Finance. But first, Rockefeller wanted to take part in a six-month expedition to what was then known as Dutch New Guinea, to collect the art of the Asmat people who resided there. He was a keen photographer, and was being sponsored by the Harvard Peabody Museum to take photos of his travels and findings. His motivation to go there was driven by his need for adventure, before he settled back into his life and focused on his career. He uttered, “I want to do something romantic and adventurous in a time and place which is about to disappear.” Little did he know though, he was also about to disappear.

By the '60s, Dutch colonial authorities and missionaries had already been on the island for about a decade, but many Asmat people had never seen a white man. To them, anything that didn’t come from their island was alien, so when Rockefeller and his team visited the village of Otsjanep, they thought of them as supernatural beings.

The locals put up with the team’s photography, but they didn’t allow the researchers to purchase cultural artifacts, like bisj poles, intricately carved wooden pillars that serve as part of Asmat rituals and religious rites.

Rockefeller was fearless, though in the Asmat people, he found what he felt was a fascinating violation of the norms of Western society. He wrote in his diary, “Now this is wild and somehow a more remote country than what I have ever seen before,” as he made some shocking discoveries unveiling the normality of cannibalism in the tribes. Concluding his initial mission, he was ecstatic with his findings, but this wasn’t enough for him, as he went to return in 1961. His final trip.

This time, he was accompanied by René Wassing, a government anthropologist. As their boat approached Otsjanep on 19 November 1961, a sudden squall churned the water and riled crosscurrents. The boat capsized, leaving Michael and Wassing clinging to the overturned hull.

Though they were 12 miles from the shore, Michael reportedly told the anthropologist, “I think I can make it” — and he jumped into the water.

He was never seen again, and is believed to have been cannibalized by a nearby tribe.