List of solved missing person cases: pre-1950


This is a list of solved missing person cases of people who went missing in unknown locations or unknown circumstances that were eventually explained by their reappearance or the recovery of their bodies, the conviction of the perpetrator responsible for their disappearances, or a confession to their killings. This list includes disappearances before 1950. There are separate lists covering disappearances between 1950 and 1969, List of solved missing person cases: 1970s, List of solved missing person cases: 1980s, List of solved missing person cases: 1990s and then since 2000.

1910s

DatePersonAgeCountry of disappearanceCircumstancesOutcomeTime spent missing or unconfirmed
1910José María Grimaldos López28SpainJosé María Grimaldos López, a shepherd from Tresjuncos, Spain, went missing on August 20, 1910. Two men were convicted of his killing after confessing under torture. Grimaldos resurfaced in 1926.Found alive16 years
1911Elsie Paroubek5United States of AmericaElsie Paroubek was a Czech American girl who disappeared in Chicago, Illinois, on April 8, 1911. On May 9, 1911, employees of the Lockport power plant near Joliet, thirty-five miles outside of Chicago, saw a body floating in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal that was identified as hers.Died from suffocation31 days
1912Teresita Guitart CongostUnknownSpainTeresita Guitart Congost was kidnapped by Enriqueta Martí from Carrer de Joaquín Costa, Barcelona and was located seventeen days later.Found alive17 Days
1913Captain Robert Falcon Scott43AntarcticaThe bodies of Scott's group, except Oates and Evans, were found 13 months after separating from the support party to make the final part of the journey to the South Pole. The search party had been postponed by the Antarctic winter.Died from hypothermia and starvation13 months
1913Edward Wilson39AntarcticaThe bodies of Scott's group, except Oates and Evans, were found 13 months after separating from the support party to make the final part of the journey to the South Pole. The search party had been postponed by the Antarctic winter.Died from hypothermia and starvation13 months
1913Henry Bowers28AntarcticaThe bodies of Scott's group, except Oates and Evans, were found 13 months after separating from the support party to make the final part of the journey to the South Pole. The search party had been postponed by the Antarctic winter.Died from hypothermia and starvation13 months
1913Edgar Evans35AntarcticaThe bodies of Scott's group, except Oates and Evans, were found 13 months after separating from the support party to make the final part of the journey to the South Pole. The search party had been postponed by the Antarctic winter.Died from hypothermia and starvation13 months
1913Lawrence Oates32AntarcticaThe bodies of Scott's group, except Oates and Evans, were found 13 months after separating from the support party to make the final part of the journey to the South Pole. The search party had been postponed by the Antarctic winter.Died from hypothermia and starvationNever found
1913Charles B. Stover52United States of AmericaThe New York City Parks Commissioner from 1910 to 1913, Stover disappeared one day in October 1913 after going out for lunch. Over the next few months, nation-wide searches were organized to locate him, only for him to mail a letter of resignation and eventually return safely from an apparent vacation on January 28, 1914.Found alive3 months
1914–1918Jack Cock22–25UnknownCock was reported as "missing, presumed dead" at an uncertain point during World War I, but later turned up alive. After his service, he went on to have an illustrious career as a professional footballer, small-time actor and a pub owner until his death in 1966.Found aliveUnknown
1914Larrett Roebuck25FranceRoebuck was the first English Football League player to be killed in the First World War. He was recorded as "presumed dead" after an attack near Beaucamps-Ligny during the Race to the Sea. His death was confirmed by two comrades in January 1915.Killed in actionBody never found
1914Charles Pelham, Lord Worsley27BelgiumCharles Pelham, Lord Worsley was a British soldier whose parents were Charles Pelham, 4th Earl of Yarborough and Marcia Pelham, Countess of Yarborough. He served as a lieutenant in C Squadron of the Royal Horse Guards during hostilities in Flanders, commanding a machine gun section. On 30 October 1914, Worsley's section was cut off at Zandvoorde, Belgium, by a German attack and he was listed as missing in action, and then as dead early in 1915. His body was buried by German soldiers, and with the help of a map, his grave was located in December 1918.Killed in action4 years
1915Alan Cordner24Ottoman EmpireCordner, an Australian rules footballer and a private in the B Company of the 6th Battalion of the First AIF, was killed at Cape Helles in Ottoman Turkey during the initial invasion of the Gallipoli peninsula. He was initially posted as "wounded", then "wounded and missing". Some twelve months after the Red Cross conducted an investigation into his fate, he was declared "killed in action". His body was never recovered.Killed in actionBody never found
1915John Isaac35FranceIsaac, an English first class cricketer and a captain in the 2nd battalion, Rifle Brigade, was posted as missing at Fromelles, France during the northern attack of the Battle of Aubers Ridge on May 9, 1915. His body was recovered in April 1921 and identified by the medal ribbons. He was subsequently reburied at New Irish Farm Cemetery, Ypres, West, Belgium.Killed in actionAlmost 6 years
1915John Kipling18FranceJohn Kipling was the only son of British author Rudyard Kipling. He was reported injured and missing in action on September 27, 1915, during the Battle of Loos. His grave was identified by military historian Norm Christie, but in 2002 research by military historians Tonie and Valmai Holt suggested that this grave was not that of Kipling but of another officer. In January 2016, however, further research by Graham Parker and Joanna Legg demonstrated that the original identification of the grave was correct. John Kipling's death inspired his father Rudyard to become involved with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and write a wartime history of the Irish Guards.Killed in action101 years
1916Willie Wiseman20FranceWiseman, a member of the Gordon Highlanders, was wounded during service on the Western Front, remaining missing for a week. He later returned and continued his service, and after leaving the army, became an amateur footballer playing for Queen's Park F.C.Found alive1 week
1916Will Streets30FranceStreets, an English World War I soldier and poet, went missing after being wounded on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. His body was recovered exactly ten months later and buried at Euston Road Cemetery, Colincamps, France.Killed in action10 months
1916Thornton Clarke24FranceClarke, an Australian rules footballer who served with the 60th Infantry Battalion in the First AIF, was killed in action on July 19, 1916, soon after arriving on the Western Front, during the Battle of Fromelles. Initially listed as missing, he was declared killed by a Court of Enquiry held in France on August 4, 1917. It is now known that Clarke was buried in a mass grave.Killed in actionBody never found
1916Sidney Cowan19FranceCowan, an Irish World War I flying ace, collided with another British aircraft while attempting to attack a German machine on November 17, 1916. Originally listed as missing, his grave was discovered in April 1917. The Germans had buried him at the cemetery at Ablainzevelle. He was later re-interred at the British War Cemetery at Cagnicourt.Killed in air collision5 months
1917Alf Williamson23FranceAn Australian rules footballer, Williamson was reported wounded and missing in action in France on April 11, 1917. It was later determined in late November 1917 that he had died in action at Bullecourt in France fighting with the 14th Battalion.Killed in actionBody never found
1917Bill Madden35FranceAn Australian rules footballer who enlisted in the First AIF in 1916, Madden was last seen in a newly dug trench with a wound to his right arm or shoulder. He was declared missing in action in May 1917, and following an investigation conducted by a Court of Inquiry into his case, he was declared killed in action on November 26, 1917.Killed in actionBody never found
1917Norman Callaway21FranceCallaway, an Australian first-class cricketer and First Australian Imperial Force soldier, was reported missing in action in the Second Battle of Bullecourt on May 9, 1917. By September 1917, it was confirmed that Callaway had died on the same day.Killed in actionBody never found
1917Roger Hay21–22BelgiumHay, a British World War I flying ace credited with five aerial victories, was reported missing in action on July 17, 1917, and it was later reported that he died as a result of wounds while a prisoner of the Germans the same day.Killed in actionUnknown
1917William Meggitt23UnknownBritish flying ace Meggitt was shot down and listed as missing in action on November 8, 1917, but was eventually reported as being a prisoner of the Germans in early 1918. He was repatriated after the Armistice of 11 November 1918.Found alive1 year
1918Kenneth Barbour Montgomery20Kingdom of ItalyAn English World War I flying ace officially credited with 12 aerial victories, Montgomery was shot down and listed as missing in action on February 22, 1918. His aircraft had been hit by Austro-Hungarian anti-aircraft fire and he had crash-landed in a vineyard in the village of Rustignè, Oderzo, Italy and had been captured, badly wounded. After recovering from his injuries at a military hospital, he was held as a prisoner of war in Vienna until after the armistice that ended the war.Found alive9 months
1918Dudley Gilman Tucker31FranceTucker was a military aviator who flew in the Lafayette Flying Corps, and on July 8, 1918, failed to return to base after a routine patrol with four other Spads, during which they encountered 15 German Fokkers in the Soissons and Chateau-Thierry area. He was found with the wreckage of his plane in a field along the Longpont-Chaudun road or on a battlefield at Vierzy - the German records are incomplete. He died of his wounds and after the war his body was identified and buried in an American war cemetery at Seringes-et-Nesle.Killed in actionUnknown
1918Francis Lupo23FranceLupo was a private in the United States Army who was killed in action near Soissons, France on July 21, 1918. His remains were discovered by French archaeologists in 2003 and buried with full honors at Arlington National Cemetery in September 2006. The location of the grave is section 66, grave number 7489.Killed in action85 years
1918William Otway Boger23FranceBoger, a Canadian World War I flying ace credited with five aerial victories, was shot down on August 10, 1918, while leading a patrol of three aircraft near Montdidier, France. Initially listed as missing, he was later confirmed to have been killed in action. German ace Josef Veltjens is usually considered the victor over Boger.Killed in actionBody never found
1918Friedel Rothe17German EmpireRothe was the first-known victim of German murderer Fritz Haarmann. Rothe encountered Haarmann in a café, having run away from home, and Haarmann had claimed he buried Rothe in a cemetery in Stöckener.MurderedBody never found
1918Cedric Edwards19FranceBritish World War I flying ace Edwards was shot down by anti-aircraft fire near Jigsaw Wood, France. Initially reported as "missing", his death was later confirmed, although his body was never recovered.Killed in actionBody never found
1918Harold Goodman Shoemaker26German EmpireShoemaker, an American pursuit pilot and World War I flying ace, collided in mid-air with another pilot over enemy territory on October 5, 1918, and was reported missing in action. The International Red Cross later reported that Shoemaker died in a prisoner of war camp in Germany. He was buried in the Somme American Cemetery and Memorial in the village of Bony, France.NoUnknown
1919Mamie Stuart26United Kingdom of Great Britain and IrelandEnglish woman who vanished mysteriously in Caswell Bay, Wales sometime between November and December 1919, only for her body to be found more than four decades later by potholers in the Gower Peninsula. Her bigamist husband, George Everard Shotton, was posthumously convicted of her murder, as he had died in 1958.Murdered42 years

1940s

DatePersonAgeCountry of disappearanceCircumstancesOutcomeTime spent missing or unconfirmed
1940Les Clisby25ScotlandClisby, an Australian World War II fighter ace who served with the Royal Air Force and was credited with sixteen aerial victories, went into action with his flight against more than thirty Bf 110s over Reims on May 15, 1940. Having destroyed two of the German heavy fighters, Clisby's aircraft was seen going down with its cockpit trailing smoke and flames, evidently hit by cannon fire. He and another officer were posted as missing, until both of their aircraft were recovered in the vicinity of Rethel. Clisby was buried in the military cemetery at Choloy in north-eastern France.Killed in actionUnknown
1940Hans Ehlers26FranceGerman Luftwaffe military aviator Ehlers was shot down by RAF fighters on May 18, 1940, the same day he claimed his first aerial victories. He was listed as missing, but rejoined his unit shortly afterward.Found aliveUnknown
1940Ronald Cartland33BelgiumCartland, a British Conservative Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for King's Norton in Birmingham from 1935 to 1940, was shot and killed on May 30, 1940, near Watou, Belgium while serving in the Battle of Dunkirk. Initially listed as missing, his family learned of his fate in January 1941, when his mother received a letter from one of Cartland's men, describing Cartland's death in detail. He is now buried at Hotton War Cemetery, in Hotton, Belgium.Killed in action8 months
1940Franciszek Gruszka30United KingdomPolish soldier and flying officer for the RAF who mysteriously vanished during the Battle of Britain. Initially listed as missing in action, his remains were located in 1975, when a team of scientists examining marshes in the English countryside stumbled upon the plane's wreckage and his remains.Killed in action35 years
1940Eric Charles Twelves Wilson28Somaliland Protectorate British Army officer and colonial administrator who was captured by Italian forces during the invasion of British Somaliland. Presumed killed in action, he was released after the Italians surrendered the following year.Found aliveSeveral months
1940Nicolae Iorga69Kingdom of RomaniaRomanian politician kidnapped on November 27, 1940, and later murdered by a squadron of the Iron Guard, a radical fascist organization operating in the country.Murdered1 day
1941Six Hernández childrenVariousMexicoSix Mexican children from Mexico City were not seen from 1941 to 1959 as they were confined to their house by their father Rafael Pérez Hernández. They were finally freed from the situation when the police showed up to investigate the case.Found alive18 years
1941Vladimir Chebotaryov20Soviet Union Soviet commanding officer stationed in Kiev, who was declared missing in action after the territory was occupied by Nazi forces. Chebotaryov made multiple successful escapes from various prison camps, with his final one resulting in him being picked up by Soviet intelligence officers who dispatched him to a SMERSH unit. After the war, he started a successful career as a film director and writer.Found alive4 years
1941Raymond Donoghue21UnknownAn Australian infantryman, Donoghue was captured by the Germans on April 28, 1941, and reported as a POW in August. After his release in 1945, he recounted his experiences to the media, and was later awarded the George Cross for his conduct during the war.Found alive2–3 months
1941Fyodor Truhin45Soviet Union Soviet major general who was declared missing in action after being arrested by German forces on June 30, 1941. His fate was uncovered years later, when it was revealed that he had defected to Nazi Germany. Shortly thereafter, he was arrested, convicted of treason and executed.Found alive4 years
1941Clive Barry16UnknownAt the time of his disappearance, Clive Barry was an underage youth who had falsified his date of birth so he could enlist in the Australian army. While serving in the European front, he went missing, but it was later revealed that he had been held as a POW in Italy. Two years after his capture, he managed to escape into Switzerland, and then returned to Australia, where he became a famous novelist.Found alive2 years
1941Jim McCairns21FranceMcCairns, an English RAF pilot, was posted as missing in action after failing to return from a fast combat with Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters over the French coast on July 6, 1941. His aircraft was positively identified by its squadron code letters painted on the fuselage when sighted by another member of the squadron on July 8, 1941, crash-landed near the beach at Gravelines-Dunkirk. He had been captured by German soldiers, and his status was "prisoner of war, slightly wounded".Found alive2 days
1941Konstantin Rakutin39Soviet UnionA major general of the Red Army, Rakutin led the Yelnya offensive during Operation Barbarossa. On October 7, 1941, he never returned from the frontlines, and was declared dead in 1946. His place of death was discovered by members of the Search Movement and in 1996 his remains were reburied at the military cemetery in Snegiri. He was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union in 1990.Killed in action55 years
1942Bill Aldag37Dutch East Indies Aldag, an Australian rules footballer who enlisted in the 2nd AIF in 1940, was declared missing in 1942, but later found in a POW camp in Thailand, where he worked on the infamous Burma Railway in appalling conditions. In 1945 Aldag returned home.Found aliveUnknown
1942Ern Parker19–20British Malaya Parker, an Australian rules footballer who enlisted in the Australian Army in July 1941, was declared missing after the fall of Singapore. During his incarceration Parker worked on the Burma Railway and he survived to return to Australia in late 1945.Found alive3 years
1942Hamilton Lamb42Dutch East Indies Lamb was an Australian politician who was a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1935 to 1943, representing the electorate of Lowan for the Country Party. While serving in the 2/2nd Pioneer Battalion of the Second Australian Imperial Force, he was captured as a prisoner of war and sent to work on the Burma Railway in Thailand. He died on December 7, 1943, at the Japanese work camp 131 Kilo in Thailand, suffering from malaria, dysentery and malnutrition. Official notification of his death was not received in Australia until nearly nine months later on September 1, 1944.Died as a prisoner of warAbout 2 years and 9 months
1942Harold Ball21British Malaya Harold Ball was an Australian rules football player who on February 9, 1942 was captured by Japanese soldiers near Tengah Air Base, Tengah, British Malaya. He was found dead on May 9, 1942, after being murdered.Murdered3 months
1942Peter Chitty30British Malaya Chitty, an Australian rules footballer, was captured during the Fall of Singapore in March 1942 and reported missing on March 26, 1942. While in captivity in the Changi Prison, he won the only "Changi Brownlow" awarded in the Prisoner of War Changi Football League. In 1943, he was transferred to Burma where he spent eighteen months working on the Burma Railway. He was released at the end of World War II.Found alive3 years
1942Fyodor Kostenko46Soviet Union A commander of the Southwestern Front during World War II. Kostenko is believed to have died in the Second Battle of Kharkov on May 26, 1942. His body was recovered in the spring of 2016 and later repatriated to Russia.Killed in action74 years
1942Maurice Fitzgerald25BelgiumFitzgerald was an Australian rugby league footballer who died while serving in the Royal Australian Air Force in World War II. On June 1, 1942, he was on board a Vickers Wellington which was shot down over Hainaut, German-occupied Belgium, and crashed near Binche. Fitzgerald was originally cited as missing in action, but was declared presumed dead on December 26, 1942. The crew's remains were eventually found, and all were buried at Charleroi Communal Cemetery.Killed in actionUnknown
1942Peter Turnbull25Territory of New Guinea, Australia Turnbull was an Australian fighter ace of World War II credited with twelve aerial victories. On August 27, 1942, he was patrolling for Japanese tanks with another member of his squadron when his plane was seen flipping onto its back and crashing into the jungle while diving on an enemy target. The cause of the incident was never fully established. Initially posted as missing, Turnbull was confirmed dead on 4 September when troops from the 2/12th Battalion found the wreckage of his plane and his body inside. He is buried in the Bomana War Cemetery, Port Moresby.Killed in action8 days
1942Joan Pearl Wolfe19United Kingdom19-year-old Joan Pearl Wolfe disappeared in Surrey, England on September 14, 1942. Her remains were unearthed by two Royal Marines on October 7, 1942; an autopsy conducted the next day concluded that Wolfe died of a single blow to the back of the head. August Sangret, a 28-year-old French-Canadian soldier with whom Wolfe was romantically involved, was arrested and charged with her murder. Sangret was found guilty and sentenced to execution by hanging; he was hanged on April 29, 1943, at the age of 29. The recovered fragments of Wolfe's skull were introduced as evidence at Sangret's trial.Murdered23 days
1942Dermot Chichester, 7th Marquess of Donegall26Italian Libya Dermot Chichester was a British soldier, landowner and member of the House of Lords whose father was Arthur Chichester, 4th Baron Templemore. He served in the Second World War as a captain with the 7th Queen's Own Hussars in Egypt. He was reported missing in action and believed to have been killed, but had been captured in Libya in November 1942 during the North African campaign. He remained a prisoner of war in Italy until escaping in June 1944.Found alive1 year and 7 months
1942Boyd Wagner26United States of AmericaAmerican USAAF aviator and fighter ace who disappeared in Florida under unclear circumstances. Partial remains and his plane's wreckage were found in January 1943, and he was reburied in Johnstown.No2 months
1943Juran Hisao40–41South PacificHisao was an author who was drafted into the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1943. He was reported missing in action over the South Pacific in 1943, but returned safely to Chōshi, Chiba, the following year.Found aliveApprox. 1 year
1943Hans Eller32Soviet UnionHans Eller was a German Olympic rower who was active in World War II. After being sent to Russia he disappeared on January 23, 1943, and it was later discovered that he had died on April 4, 1943, near Starobelsk in a camp.NoBody never found
1943Gerry Chalk32FranceChalk, an English amateur cricketer, was shot down over Louches in northern France on February 17, 1943, whilst serving as a Spitfire pilot in the Royal Air Force. He was listed as missing in action and was presumed dead in January 1944. His body was identified in the 1980s and his remains transferred to the Terlincthun British Cemetery near Wimille in 1989, having originally been listed on the Runnymede Memorial.Killed in actionAt least 38 years
1943Robert S. Johnson23BelgiumJohnson, a USAAF fighter pilot, encountered Luftwaffe aircraft for the first time on a May 14, 1943 mission to escort Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses to bomb Antwerp, damaging two Focke-Wulf Fw 190s that had broken up his squadron's formation. He became separated from the group and, finding himself alone, broke off the engagement. He returned to base to find that he had been erroneously reported as missing in action.Found aliveLess than a day
1943Art Grant24Nazi GermanyArt Grant was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and a pilot officer in the Royal Canadian Air Force, who was listed as presumed dead with two other crew when their aircraft, containing seven crew in total, was shot down south of Rheinberg, Nazi Germany. The remaining 4 crew members became prisoners of war, and the 3 dead crew, including Grant, had been buried at Monchengladbach after the crash, but were disinterred in 1949 and reburied at Rheinberg War Cemetery.Killed in action6 years
1943John L. Jerstad25Kingdom of RomaniaJerstad was a posthumous recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions during Operation Tidal Wave on August 1, 1943, during which he volunteered to lead a formation. Three miles from the target, the largest of the oil refineries at Ploieşti, Jerstad's bomber was badly damaged and set aflame by enemy ground fire. It crashed into the target area after bombs were released on the target, and Jerstad was listed as missing in action. His remains were located seven years later, and buried at the Ardennes American Cemetery near Neupré, Belgium.Killed in action7 years
1943Charles Peter O'Sullivan28Territory of New Guinea, Australia O'Sullivan, a veteran fighter pilot during World War II, was shot down south of Wewak on September 20, 1943. He managed to avoid being captured by the enemy and returned after being missing for one month.Found alive30 days
1943Julie MuschlerUnknownNazi GermanyIn December 1943, Julie Muschler, the lab assistant and housekeeper of Sigmund Rascher disappeared while on a mountain trip and her body was found in April 1944.Died 5 months
1944John Verdun Newton27Nazi GermanyNewton was an Australian politician and Royal Australian Air Force officer who was killed in action 55 days after being elected to the Parliament of Western Australia for the seat of Greenough at the 1943 state election. He went missing with seven other crew during an air raid on January 14, 1944, and it was later established by RAF investigations that their plane had crashed into another, and afterward the wreckage of both bombers had been subjected to massive explosions and/or intense fires. The crew were initially buried in the crater caused by the explosion, but late reinterred in the Hanover War Cemetery.Killed in actionUnknown
1944Floyd K. Lindstrom31Kingdom of ItalyLindstrom, a United States Army soldier who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on November 11, 1943, landed at an Anzio beachhead with his unit on January 22, 1944, and on February 3, killed in a German counterattack. Initially listed as missing in action, his status was changed to killed in action on June 6. First buried at Nettuno, Italy, he was returned to his family in Colorado Springs in July 1948, where he is buried next to his mother in Evergreen Cemetery.Killed in actionUnknown
1944Percy Charles Pickard28FrancePickard, an RAF officer during World War II, led a group of Mosquitos on the Amiens prison raid to destroy the walls of a Gestapo prison and free the prisoners inside, during which he and Flight Lieutenant Alan Broadley were killed. Both initially reported missing, in September 1944 it was announced they had been killed in action. Both men were buried at the St Pierre Cemetery near Amiens, France. Pickard is buried in plot 3, row B, grave 13 while Broadley is buried in plot 3, row A, grave 11.Killed in action7 years
1944Elmer Gedeon27FranceGedeon was an American professional baseball player who was one of the only two Major League Baseball players killed in World War II, the other being Harry O'Neill. On April 20, 1944, he was shot down while piloting a B-26 bomber on a mission led by Darrell R. Lindsey. He was listed as missing in action until May 1945, when his grave was located in a small British Army cemetery in France. His remains were later returned to the United States and interred in Arlington National Cemetery.Killed in action1 year
1944John Balmer33BelgiumBalmer, a senior officer and bomber pilot in the Royal Australian Air Force who was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in April 1944, failed to return from a mission over Belgium on the night of 11/12 May. Initially posted as missing, his plane was later confirmed to have been shot down, and all of the crew killed. Balmer was buried outside Brussels.Killed in actionUnknown
1944Ray Watts26BelgiumWatts, an Australian rules footballer who served as a warrant officer and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1943, was shot down by enemy fire on May 31, 1944. He managed to hide in a Belgian pine forest for six weeks until he was captured. He spent more than a year as a German prisoner of war at Stalag Luft III.Found aliveAbout 1 year
1944Păstorel Teodoreanu49–50RomaniaA notable Romanian humorist, poet, gastronome and World War II propagandist. Teodoreanu disappeared for a period of time during the Allied bombing raids of Bucharest, but later resurfaced, having taken refuge in Budești throughout the campaign. He later returned to regular journalism.Found alive
1944Shoichi Yokoi29GuamShoichi Yokoi was a sergeant in the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second World War who was one of the last three Japanese holdouts to be found after the end of hostilities in 1945. He disappeared in July 1944 during the Second Battle of Guam, and on the evening of January 24, 1972, he was discovered alive in the jungle.Found alive28 years
1944Hiroo Onoda22Second Philippine RepublicHiroo Onoda was an Imperial Japanese Army intelligence officer who fought in World War II and was a Japanese holdout. He entered a jungle on Lubang Island in Occidental Mindoro, Philippines to continue fighting after the US invaded the island. He surrendered on March 11, 1974, after 29 years of guerrilla warfare.Found alive29 years
1944Miklós Horthy Jr.37Kingdom of HungaryPolitician and son of Miklós Horthy, who was abducted by German agents on the orders of Otto Skorzeny. He was held under house arrest and then in concentration camps until he was rescued by the United States Army North on May 5, 1945.Found alive7 months
1944Bernard Gavrin29South Seas Mandate, Japan American army private who went missing during the Battle of Saipan sometime between June 15 and July 9, 1944. His fate remained unclear until his remains were recovered by a Japanese non-profit group searching for remains of Japanese soldiers. He was positively identified via DNA testing, but his exact cause of death was not determined.Presumed killed in action70 years
1944William T. Carneal24South Seas Mandate, Japan An American serviceman killed fighting the Japanese on the island of Saipan. Initially declared missing in action, his remains were discovered by a Japanese nonprofit organization searching for the remains of fallen Japanese soldiers in 2013. His remains were identified via DNA testing in December 2013.Killed in action69 years
1944Rulon Jay Borgstrom19FranceRulon Jay Borgstrom was the brother of LeRoy, Clyde, and Rolon Day Borgstrom, all of whom served and died in World War II. Rulon Jay served with the 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, when he was reported missing in an attack on Le Dreff, near Brest, France, in August 1944. He was found and died 18 days later on August 25, 1944, from wounds received in action.Killed in action18 days
1944Helmut Bergmann24FranceBergmann, a German Luftwaffe military aviator, night fighter ace, and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, was shot down and killed together with two crew members at Mortain on the Cotentin Peninsula on 6 August 1944. His remains were later found and temporarily buried, and later re-interred at the Marigny German war cemetery.Killed in actionUnknown
1944Eugeniusz Horbaczewski26FrancePolish fighter pilot and flying ace Horbaczewski led his 12-aircraft squadron over France on a 'Rodeo' mission. They attacked a group of 60 Fw 190s of Jagdgeschwaders 2 and 26 over an airfield near Beauvais. Horbaczewski quickly shot down three Focke-Wulfs, but went missing during the dogfight. In 1947, his plane's wreckage and body was found crashed near Velennes.Killed in action3 years
1944Pyotr Z. Bazhbeuk-Melikov72Soviet UnionAn ethnic Armenian politician who later joined the Odessa-based Committee for the Salvation of Bessarabia. Bazhbeuk-Melikov later fled the region during the later stages of the Russian Civil War and returned to Bessarabia; he fled the region following the Soviet occupation of 1940 and settled in Ploiești, where he died in 1944.Died from natural causes4 years
1944George Varoff30Republic of ChinaVaroff, an American pole vaulter, was shot down on December 7, 1944, while doing his military service in China. He and his crew managed to safely bail out, and eventually managed to safely reach their base.Found alive6 weeks
1944Lawrence Dickson24Nazi Germany Dickson, an American pilot and member of the Tuskegee Airmen who flew in 68 missions during World War II, went missing while flying over Austria. His remains were identified by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency in 2018.Killed in action74 years
1944Heinrich Bartels26Nazi GermanyHeinrich Bartels was an Austrian-born German fighter pilot during World War II who was posted as missing in action on December 23, 1944, after being shot down. Twenty-three years later, Bartels' fighter and his remains were found near Bad Godesberg, Germany, on January 26, 1968.No23 years
1945Carl Shaeffer20BelgiumShaeffer was taken prisoner of war by German forces in Belgium on January 18, 1945. Initially reported missing in action, he was later found to be a prisoner and was released at the end of the war. After he returned home, he began playing basketball at the University of Alabama and later became Alabama's first-ever professional basketball player.Found alive7 months
1945Al Blozis26FranceBlozis was an American football offensive tackle and track and field athlete who persuaded the United States Army to waive its size limit and accept him in. On January 31, 1945, his platoon was in the Vosges Mountains of France scouting enemy lines. When two of his men, a sergeant and a private, failed to return from a patrol, he went in search of them alone, but never returned. His death was confirmed in April 1945, and his remains buried at the Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial in Saint-Avold, Moselle.Killed in action3 months
1945Keith Thiele23Nazi GermanyThiele was a Royal New Zealand Air Force officer who was one of only four New Zealand born airmen to receive two medal Bars to his Distinguished Flying Cross. While leading a formation of eight Tempests to attack locomotives in the Paderborn-Rheine area on February 10, 1945, Thiele and another pilot were shot down by enemy anti-aircraft fire, with Thiele bailing out and being reported as missing in action. Slightly wounded, Thiele was taken captive by the flak crew that had shot him down and was sent to a prisoner of war camp at Dulag Luft near Wetzlar. The camp was liberated on March 31, 1945, before any transport or Allied forces arrived, so Thiele and a Canadian airman stole bicycles and then a motorcycle. Thiele got back to his base five weeks before the war ended in Europe.Found aliveAbout 1 month
1945Spencer Walklate27Territory of New Guinea, Australia Australian rugby footballer who later enlisted as a special operations serviceman in the Australian Army. After being sent to Japanese-occupied Papua New Guinea, Walklate was likely captured in mid-April, tortured and executed. His remains were recovered on Kairiru Island in 2013, and promptly reburied at a local war cemetery.Killed in action68 years
1945Walter Botsch48Nazi GermanyBotsch, a German general who commanded the 19th Army and received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on May 9, 1945, was considered missing in action on April 16, 1945, but later turned up alive.Found aliveUnknown
1945Gerhart Drabsch42Nazi GermanyDrabsch, a German writer whose work was part of the literature event in the art competition at the 1928 Summer Olympics, was listed at missing in action on April 9, 1945, while serving in the Volkssturm during the final days of World War II. His remains were later found and interred at Luckenwalde war cemetery.Killed in actionUnknown
1945Simon Eden20–21BurmaSimon Eden, son of Anthony Eden and Beatrice Beckett, was killed in action with the Royal Air Force in Burma in 1945. His plane was reported "missing in action" on June 23 and found on July 16; Anthony Eden did not want the news to be public until after the election result on July 26, to avoid claims of "making political capital" from it.Killed in action3 weeks
1945Genrikh Lyushkov45Manchukuo Lyushkov was a high-level Soviet defector and former Far East NKVD chief. A participant in the Great Purge, he fled to avoid what he believed would be arrest and execution into the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. After his defection, he became a military consultant and analyst for the Imperial Japanese Army. He disappeared during the Soviet invasion of Manchuria and was reported as being last seen in a crowded train station in Dairen in August 1945. His fate remained unknown for 34 years until 1979, when Yutaka Takeoka, an intelligence officer and Lyushkov's handler, publicly admitted that he executed Lyushkov on the evening of August 19, 1945 in order to prevent him from falling back into Soviet hands.ExecutedBody never found
1945Teruo Nakamura26Dutch East Indies Nakamura was a Taiwanese-Japanese soldier of the Imperial Japanese Army. He was stationed in Morotai Island in Indonesia shortly before the island was overrun by the Allies in September 1944. Declared legally dead in September 1945, he was discovered alive in 1974, and formally surrendered that year. Nakamura was the last known Japanese holdout to surrender after the end of hostilities.Found alive29 years
1945Thora Chamberlain14United States of AmericaChamberlain was a teenage female high school student from California who had disappeared and was later reported missing on November 2, 1945. It was later revealed that she had been murdered although her body was never recovered.MurderedBody never found
1946Muriel Drinkwater12WalesMuriel Drinkwater was a Welsh female child who disappeared on June 27, 1946. She left her house to go to the store to buy food for her family and was found dead in a Penllergaer, Swansea nearby woods the next the day after being murdered.Murdered1 day
1947David Bousquet 7CanadaThe bodies of two brothers, David and Derek Bousquet, were found concealed in woodland at Stanley Park in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on January 14, 1953. The Bousquets are believed to have been murdered with a hatchet around the year 1947. A DNA test conducted in 1998 confirmed that the victims were brothers between the ages of six and ten. With the help of forensic genealogy, the Vancouver Police Department publicly identified the Bousquets on November 15, 2022.Murdered69 years
1947Derek Bousquet 6CanadaThe bodies of two brothers, David and Derek Bousquet, were found concealed in woodland at Stanley Park in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on January 14, 1953. The Bousquets are believed to have been murdered with a hatchet around the year 1947. A DNA test conducted in 1998 confirmed that the victims were brothers between the ages of six and ten. With the help of forensic genealogy, the Vancouver Police Department publicly identified the Bousquets on November 15, 2022.Murdered69 years
1947Daniel S. Voorhees33–34United States of AmericaAmerican man who confessed to murder of Elizabeth Short on January 28, 1947, disappeared shortly after that, then later reappeared. He died on July 28, 1953, from lung cancer.Found aliveUnknown
1947Lai Teck45–46ThailandLai Teck, a leader of the Communist Party of Malaya and Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army, disappeared in 1947. According to the newly elected party leader Chin Peng, he personally went to Bangkok and Hong Kong and contacted the communist party organizations there, asking them to help track down and kill Lai Teck; both the Vietnamese and Thai communists assisted Chin Peng in the manhunt. Eventually, Chin Peng was told by the Thai Communist leader that Lai Teck was accidentally suffocated while three Thai Communists tried to capture him. His body was then put into a gunny sack and tossed into the Menam River.Killed in struggleBody never found
1948Riva Kwas32FranceRiva Kwas, a 32-year-old Polish woman working as a chemist in Paris, was murdered in her studio-apartment in the Auteuil district on the night of February 22, 1948. Although Kwas' body was discovered five days later, her murder remained unsolved for more than five years, until serial killer John Balaban confessed to Kwas' murder after being detained and charged for murders committed in Australia.Murdered5 days
1948Placido Rizzotto34ItalyRizzotto was a partisan, socialist peasant and trade union leader from Corleone, who was assassinated by Sicilian Mafia boss Luciano Leggio on March 10, 1948. Over 60 years after his death, remains were found on July 7, 2009, on a cliff in Rocca Busambra near Corleone, and on March 9, 2012, a DNA test, compared with one extracted from his father Carmelo Rizzotto, long dead and exhumed for this purpose, confirmed the identity of remains as being that of Placido Rizzotto following a long and difficult investigation conducted by the State Police at the service of the PS Commissariat of Corleone.Murdered61 years
1948Sally Horner11United States of AmericaSally Horner was kidnapped by Frank La Salle in New Jersey and held captive for 21 months.Rescued21 months
1948Irwin Foster Hilliard85CanadaIrwin Foster Hilliard was an Ontario lawyer and political figure. He went missing after leaving his home on a shopping trip on November 23, 1948, and while initially believed to have drowned, his body was found near Lambton on December 22.Died 29 days
1949Olive Durand-Deacon69United Kingdom69-year-old Olive Durand-Deacon, the wealthy widow of solicitor John Durand-Deacon and a resident at the Onslow Court Hotel, was invited to a workshop on Leopold Road by English serial killer John Haigh—who introduced himself to Durand-Deacon as an engineer—on February 18, 1949. Once Durand-Deacon was inside, she was shot in the back of the neck, stripped of her valuables, and placed into a vat of sulphuric acid. Two days later, Durand-Deacon was reported missing by a friend. Police searched the workshop and found items belonging to Durand-Deacon as well as previous victims of Haigh. Some of Durand-Deacon's remains were discovered behind the workshop. Haigh was arrested and charged with Durand-Deacon's murder, as well as the murders of five others. Haigh pled insanity, though was convicted and sentenced to death; he was hanged on August 10, 1949.MurderedAt least 2 days
1949Eva Neander28SwedenNeander was a female Swedish journalist and author from the 1940s, who disappeared on February 22, 1949, and was found dead, frozen in ice in Lake Unden in Tiveden exactly one year later.Died from drowning1 year
1949Sadanori Shimoyama47JapanShimoyama was the first president of the newly formed Japanese National Railways who was last seen at the Mitsukoshi department store in Nihonbashi, Tokyo on July 5, 1949. While his dismembered body was found on the Jōban Line the following day after having been run over by an outbound freight train, the circumstances of his disappearance and death still remains a mystery.Died in train accident1 day
1949Thelma Taylor15United StatesThelma Taylor was an American teenage girl who disappeared on August 6, 1949, in Portland, Oregon and was found dead five days later after being murdered.Murdered5 days