Ambrose Bierce was a cynic, a muckraker, and a satirist.
In the late 19th century, other than Mark Twain, it would have been hard to find a more famous
writer and journalist. Unfortunately, most of his works
have been neglected in the 21st century. So much so that the most salient
fact about him nowadays is that, in 1913, while traveling with Francisco "Pancho" Villa's rebel army in Mexico, he disappeared
without a trace.
Bierce was hardly the first or last celebrity to utterly vanish, but since
his 168th birthday occurs this week, we couldn't help but be reminded of some
of those other missing celebrities. The roster includes such notables as
Judge Joseph Force Crater, an associate justice on the New York Supreme Court. Crater
had led a more-or-less unremarkable life (despite some shady connections and
extramarital affairs) until one night in 1930, when he got into a New York taxicab
and became famous for never being seen again ("The Missingest Man in New York").
Aviatrix Amelia Earhart was the most famous
female pilot in the world when she set out on an attempted flight around the world in 1937. She made it as far as the South Pacific before sending an
emergency message that she was low on fuel. Her plane disappeared and
despite weeks -- well, decades, really -- of searching (and hundreds of rumors), neither she nor the plane have ever been found.
In recent years, the gold medal for vanishing acts must go to Jimmy Hoffa.
Hoffa, the former boss of the powerful Teamsters union,
had numerous (alleged) mob ties until he took a powder in 1975. Numerous theories
have been offered as to his final disposal and whereabouts, which have ranged
from suburban Detroit to the end zone of the football stadium in the New Jersey Meadowlands. Despite countless theories,
books, and investigations, no one knows -- or if they do know, they're not
talking. "Dead men tell no tales," indeed!
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