Sometimes people just disappear – like your dad when he went to the store and never came back. He was a deadbeat, and so are you. But some disappearances are more mysterious. In fact, many historical figures have disappeared under mysterious circumstances, never to be seen again. Even royals have vanished – like Zannanza, prince of the great Hittite empire. He is just one of the cases of historical disappearances explored in the following video and article!
Zannanza
He was not first in line for the throne, but almost became pharaoh of Egypt, one of the few other great powers of the time. As part of a diplomatic arrangement, he was sent to marry an Egyptian princess – which sounds good until you realize how inbred they were – and to make things worse, he seems to have gone missing on the journey. The Egyptian court claimed to have seen no sign of Zannanza, and he never returned home.
His bride to be ended up marrying another future pharoh, her half brother Tutankhamun, and the Hittite’s believed he was murdered over this. Trouble is though, we don’t have much true detail on what happened, and for all we know Zannanza could have died in a big sandstorm. So I prefer to look at more recent historical disappearances, like that of William Hare, one of history’s most notorious criminals.
William Hare
In the early 1800s, grave robbing was so common people had to install metal cages over burials. Why were so many people stealing human corpses? Money. So much was still unknown about the body, and Medical schools were in desperate need to fresh cadavers – But these were superstitious times. Very few people donated their bodies to science, and only convicts and orphans were typically claimed by the state for dissection. So as always, a black market emerged to fill the void.
Just like today, doctors in the 19th century were shady characters. Often, they would employ the services of body snatchers, people who would literally steal and sell corpses. In time fortunes were made, and it became an industry of it’s own. So when William Hare found himself in financial trouble, body snatching was a way out. He was small time landlord, an angry and disturbed man. When one of his tenants died, he just sold their corpse for an unpaid debt.
To do so he brought in the most shady friend he had, William Burke. And as it proved profitable, they began looking for more corpses to sell. But unlike many in the business, they would not rob cemeteries. Instead, they had a more direct approach – getting homeless people drunk and smothering them. In a single year they killed 16 people, selling them to the same doctor at a local medical school. Then in 1828 they were caught in the act of murder. But proving murder in those days was difficult, especially when victims bodies have been cut open by medical students.
Fearing they would go unpunished, authorities made a deal with Hare, since he was clearly less psychopathic than Burke. All charges against Hare and his wife were dropped, in exchange for a full confession, which at trial was used to find William Burke guilty of murder. In a classic 1800s prank, the judge ordered his body be given to science. So after the hanging, Burke was taken to a medical school for dissection. As for Hare, he was a free man. He was last seen heading south towards the English border. After that, he was never seen again.
Some said he was murdered on the journey my a victim’s relative, but the most common theory is that he relocated to London. It is said he took up work in a lime pit, but after getting burnt lime in his eyes, ended up a blind beggar on the streets. Others claim he fled to Canada, where he again took to serial murder. But either way, he was a fun guy.
William Morgan
Also in the 1820s, another strange disappearance unfolded in New York. The man in question was William Morgan, a legendary hater who accidentally became a political martyr. Like all great men, he began life as a brick layer. Yet in time he ended up in numerous careers – including as a shop keeper and a soldier. He even opened a brewery – but it was soon destroyed in a big fire. With it went his entire life’s savings. So with nothing left, he was forced to again find work in construction. It seems to have been around this time that Morgan got involved in Freemasonry.
His exact level of involvement is unknown, but Morgan would later claim to have reached the level of master mason. What we know is he was an active member, giving speeches of freemasonry across the state of New York. He at one point established his own masonic lodge. But Morgan was a divisive figure within the community. Some accused him of lying his way into the secret society, and of establishing his own lodge simply to get ahead.
For a while he denied these allegations – but when it became clear the tide was turning, he did what we all would – he betrayed them. Teaming up with a local newspaper, he wrote a tell all book revealing the secrets of Freemasonry. Remember that the Freemasons are a secret society, and while today they are largely seen as harmless, it wasn’t always like that. In the early 1800s, they were treated with a great deal of suspicion – partly due to their undeniable influence on society. In fact, when Morgan published his book, the then president was a Freemason. And that’s not to mention the countless lesser political or business leaders who were members.
So for William Morgan to openly show disdain for them was a bold move. Not only did his book provide specific detail on masonic rituals, but it was highly critical in nature. So as soon as the book was published, all hell broke loose. First of all, the office of the local newspaper was attacked and set on fire. Then Morgan was charged with a series of petty crimes. None of them stuck, but his persecution had clearly only just began. One night, a group of masons paid his bail, and as he was released from jail, rushed him into a carriage and rode off. That was the last anyone saw of William Morgan, as it would later turn out. What happened next is unclear, but the most common theory is they drowned him in the Niagara River.
The masons claimed to have given him money on the condition he leave for Canada and never return – but amazingly, no one believed them. So a public who already distrusted the Freemasons now had a martyr who died for the cause. What resulted was a massive anti-masonic movement. An entire political party was even founded to oppose them – which in 1828 became the first third party to win seats in congress. Still, the disappearance of William Morgan remains an open mystery.
Harold Holt
Not all historical disappearances happened to someone named William. For example, there was a man called Harold Holt. A good name, in my opinion. Sounds like a cartoon character from the 1920s. But in the late 1960s he was Australia’s Prime Minister, and one morning he went for a swim in the sea, and just never came back.
It was the 17th of December 1967, and Holt had taken the day off. With a group of friends he visited the beach, where around midday he went for a swim. They watched as he swam further and further away, until disappearing from view. To them, this was not a big deal at first. He was a strong swimmer. They simply expected him to soon swim back to the shore. But, spoiler alert, no. Like a legend, he just never came back.
Historical disappearances are always chaotic, but for a serving prime minister to disappear was a unique crisis. One of the biggest search efforts in Australian history was rapidly organized, sweeping the coast and ocean in the area he went missing – but no trace of Harold Holt was ever found. It was clear that he was gone for good, most likely having drowned – so in time he was declared dead, and new elections held. But to some, the whole affair was all too suspicious. In fact, some came to believe he faked his own death. One of numerous conspiracy theories, it claims Holt was a secret communist, and a spy for China. Ever nervous of being discovered, he arranged for Chinese intelligence to help him disappear at sea. According to the theory, they were waiting in a small boat, or a submarine just off the coast.
An entire book was later written putting forward this theory, and even today a lot of people claim he’s still living in China. They point out that Holt refused to let his bodyguard join him on the beach trip. One less potential witness to his collection, perhaps. But his wife Zara later said this was more likely so that Holt could hide his extra marital affairs. Apparently he had dozens of them – and to be fair, why else would a man go into politics.
Historical Disappearances
These are just a few historical disappearances I find interesting, but there are many more out there. For example, you could look into the case of William Cantelo, a machine gun developer who vanished in the 1880s. Or maybe I will just write another article like this in the future.