Exploring the Unknown: Mysterious Disappearances!

Gone without a trace!

Ships traveling the seas, massive jets packed with passengers, entire communities (or even one solitary individual) vanish without a trace. Who or what is responsible for these mysterious disappearances?

According to NAMUS (National Missing and Unidentified Persons System), over 600,000 people, on average, are reported missing each year. Thankfully, the majority of those cases are resolved quickly, with the missing person being reunited with their loved ones in short order.

That said, there remain tens of thousands of unsolved disappearances in this country every year and, inside of that year, over 4000 bodies are found.

Of those bodies, only a thousand or so are ever identified.

I don’t know about you, but I find that fact heartbreaking and so very foreign to me. How tragic that a person can go missing, even die, and there is no one to either search for them or grieve them.

But, back on topic…the missing. One person who vanishes is bad enough, but what about people who disappear as part of a group? People who have been gone for decades with no contact, no leads, no bodies.

As if someone snapped a finger and they were gone.

Take the disappearance of Springfield, Missouri residents Suzie Streeter, Stacy McCall, and Suzie Streeter’s mother, Sherrill Levitt. In June of 1992, following their high school graduation ceremonies, best friends Suzie and Stacy went out on the town. They hit several graduation parties before returning to the Levitt home about two in the morning.

The next day, friends came to pick up Suzie and Stacy for a planned trip to a waterpark. They arrived at the Levitt home to find the house unlocked and empty. The purses and cigarette packs of the women were left behind. It was as if they ran out the door with only the clothes on their backs.

The disappearances became known as the case of the “Springfield Trio.” Various leads have come and gone over the years but to date, no bodies have been found, leaving this mystery unsolved.

Another instance of a group disappearance is the case of the “Fort Worth Missing Trio.” In that 1974 case, three young females (Rachel Trlica-aged 17, Lisa Wilson-aged 14, and Julie Moseley-aged 9) vanished from a Fort Worth mall after doing some Christmas shopping.

Several witnesses recalled seeing the girls leave the mall with packages, heading toward the parking area.

They never arrived home.

When the girls failed to show up that evening, family members headed to the mall and found Rachel’s 1972 Oldsmobile in the mall lot, Christmas packages in the back seat. The family waited the rest of the evening in the parking lot but the girls never showed up. Police were called to the scene and, since they found no signs of a struggle, theorized that the girls were simply runaways.

Runaways who left their only means of transportation behind; runaways who spent their savings on expensive Christmas gifts for their families, only to leave them behind.

Fortunately, a person with an actual brain realized it was fifty shades of stupid to believe the girls disappeared voluntarily, and the case moved into the ‘suspicious’ pile.

As yet, decades after they were declared legally dead, no remains have been found. And, although tips continue to trickle in regarding the disappearances, their families have suffered for forty-eight years not knowing what really happened to these girls.

Of course, mysterious disappearances do not occur only on land. There have been dozens of reports of planes suddenly disappearing from radar or ships that vanish without explanation or wreckage.

But what of the spooky ghost ships? The ones that sail across the sea, unmanned, passengers and crew no where to be found? Perhaps the best example of this is a ship called the Mary Celeste.

On November 7, 1872, Captain Benjamin Briggs, accompanied by his wife and toddler daughter, set sail for Italy with a crew of eight highly recommended, highly trusted men. Nearly a month later, the ship would be discovered by another vessel, abandoned. Although the sails were slightly damaged, the ship was found to be sea worthy, with its cabins neat and the kitchen well-stocked.

There were little clues about the possible fate of the Captain, his family, and the crew. Several theories abound, including mutiny( although the crew were said to be rock solid and reliable), a pirate attack, or a paranormal event. The last entry in the ships log was dated November 25th— about tens days before the ship was found empty— and made no mention of anything concerning.

No personal effects or remains were found. The sea gave up nothing.

So what would push an experienced Captain to voluntarily leave the security of his ship? To put everyone in a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean, including his two-year-old little girl? Whatever his reasons, the decision (whether voluntary or not) to abandon a functioning ship makes this disappearance one of the most puzzling mysteries in maritime history.

What else? Oh, here’s one…does the word ‘Croatoan’ mean anything to you? That’s right, ladies and gents—we are talkin’ Roanoke and the Lost Colony. The original Roanoke colony was founded in 1585 but deserted only a year later due to a lack of food supplies. In 1587 they decided to try again, sending out a second expedition. Those colonists arrived safely in Roanoke and began a settlement there (in what is now Dare, North Carolina, FYI😉).

It was this second group of settlers, comprised of approximately 120 men, woman, and children, who would forever be known as ‘the Lost Colony.’

The plan was simple. The colonists on Roanoke would ‘set up shop,’ while awaiting another expedition—set to arrive the following year—which would resupply them with food, clothing, and other goods.

Only, their plan hit a snag the following year with the advent of the Anglo-Spanish War. That conflict, and the resulting Spanish Armada, delayed the supply ship from returning until 1590. Once the re-supply mission finally arrived, they found the settlement fortified, with strong defenses, but abandoned. The only clues found were the letters ‘CRO’ carved in a tree and the word ‘Croatoan’ on a wood post.

There was no sign of the settlers.

What happened to them? Some say they were killed by a local tribe angry at the intrusion on their land; others believe the colonists were not killed by a neighboring tribe, but rather, joined the clan and assimilated into it. Another theory is that the colonists simply moved to Croatoan Island, a nearby land mass.

Still others believe something more sinister was responsible.

Something evil.

*Cue creepy music here….Da-Da-Dahhhhh!

So, what do we make of it? Amelia Earhart, Jimmy Hoffa, Anastasia Romanov (maybe? still not convinced on this one), D.B. Cooper (for the fetuses in the back, Cooper hijacked a plane in ‘71, parachuted out, and was never seen again.) Where are these people? Is there a rational explanation for their disappearances? Or could they be the result of something else? Something…different? Unearthly?

Just like the Tootsie Roll Pop, the world may never know.🍭

Thanks for the read! Don’t miss next time, where I will reveal what evidence (if anything) Cyndi and I find during our paranormal investigation in ‘haunted’ Savannah.

And stay tuned…if it’s ‘active,’ we may even do a livestream!

Later, gators

—Q