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If you’re a true crime buff (there are so many of us these days and I love it!) then you probably know that some of the most frustrating cases around are missing persons cases – people who just disappear without a trace.
If you’re someone unlucky enough to find yourself in a firsthand experience with true crime, I imagine these types of cases would be the absolute worst.
Here are 8 missing persons cases that might never be solved, so take a look and get ready to be just a little bit frustrated.
8. The Disappearance of Amy Lynn Bradley
“My first ever missing person’s case that triggered my love for true crime was the story of Amy Bradley.
She went missing from her cruise ship in the ’90s, and there were multiple sightings of her years afterward in different countries, but nobody ever helped her.
There was even a situation in 1999 where a US Navy man visited a brothel overseas and had a woman approach him, begging for help and telling him that her name was Amy Bradley and that she was being held hostage, but he didn’t do anything about it for fear of anyone finding out where he was at the time.”
7. The Disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi
“She was a citizen of the Vatican with close ties to the Pope when she disappeared at the age of 15 after a music lesson. It involves Avon, the man who tried to kill the Pope, and s*x scandal theories.
Her parents received a mysterious tip hinting that she may have been buried by the tombs of two German princesses inside Vatican City, but neither her nor the princesses were found when they dug up the graves. Now they may have found the princesses, but Emanuela is still missing.
Another girl around the same age named Mirella Gregori also went missing about 40 days prior.”
6. The Disappearance of Heather Elvis
Heather Elvis, who was a cosmetology student, mysteriously vanished after she’d arrived home from a date. “No one ever talks about her or her disappearance.
She went missing in 2013 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and a couple was recently charged with her kidnapping, but she’s still never been found.
That poor family will never get closure.”
5. The Disappearance of Andrew Irvine
“One missing persons case that kept me disturbed for days is the Andrew Irvine case.
He was a British mountaineer who climbed Mount Everest in 1924 with a fellow Brit, George Mallory, but they never made it back down.
Mallory’s body was found 70 years later, but Irvine’s body was never found. ‘Andrew Irvine’ is the most heart-wrenching Wikipedia rabbit hole I’ve ever fallen into.”
4. The Disappearance of Emma Fillipoff
“Emma Fillipoff’s disappearance sent me down a rabbit hole for months.
Lots of drama and red flags surrounding her story — she disappeared outside of the Empress Hotel in Victoria, British Columbia, after being seen talking to the police.
Her Wiki page will give you the chills, and if you’re into documentaries, there’s an episode about her disappearance on the Fifth Estate’s YouTube channel.
If podcasts are more your thing, almost every true crime channel has covered her.
I feel so bad for her family — they’re still actively looking for her.”
3. The Disappearance of Maura Murray
“Maura Murray’s disappearance still bothers me after watching a multi-part Oxygen series about it a couple years ago. I think what gets me is how little information there is to go on — how can a person get into a car crash, then just disappear off the face of the Earth and leave barely any clues behind?
I still wonder whether she was murdered or maybe ran off and is living a different life somewhere.” Murray was a 21-year-old nursing student who got into a car accident in upstate New Hampshire.
The strange thing was, prior to disappearing, she’d told professors that she would be taking a week off due to a death in the family. However, her family later told authorities that there had been no death.
2. The Disappearance of Brittanee Drexel
“This one always stuck with me as someone who used to walk around Myrtle Beach as a teenager, alone, and we were the same age.
She was just leaving her hotel and disappeared.
Years later, a prison inmate had told authorities that Drexel had been abducted and killed, but it still hasn’t been solved.”
1. The Disappearance of Brian Shaffer
“He was seen entering a bar, but there was no security footage of him leaving when the night was over…
Like, HOW CAN THAT HAPPEN?!”
Brian was a medical student in Ohio last seen going up an escalator to a popular campus bar, but the video never showed him leaving.
Foul play has still not been ruled out.
These are all a bunch of rabbit holes that I’m happy to climb down, how about you?
If you’re a true crime buff and have a “favorite” missing persons case that’s not here, share it with us in the comments!
