The Mysterious Disappearance of Percy Fawcett

{ December 14, 2009 @ 6:04 pm } · { Unsolved disappearance, missing person }
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In 1925, British explorer Percy Fawcett set off into the Amazon to find the Lost City of Z. It was believed that deep in the jungle there existed a golden city, a glittering El Dorado, in which lived a mythical race of God like people. Many people died trying to find it. Fawcett’s journey inspired Conan Doyle’s “The Lost World.” This wasn’t Fawcett’s first attempt, but he vowed it would be his last and was especially optimistic as he was joined by his 21-year-old son. Mysteriously, the party vanished and was never seen again.

This puzzle has intrigued hundreds of people over the years. History buffs have studied the clues left behind and developed various theories about what happened. When New Yorker writer David Grann stumbled upon a set of diaries, he couldnt’ resist the lure. THE LOST CITY OF Z traces Grann’s extraordinary journey that eventually leads into the Amazonian forest. It’s fascinating. Grann’s attention to detail and a knack for bringing history to life, makes the reader feel as if they were right there being eaten alive by mosquitoes and fire ants. I won’t give the ending away, but I think it provides a very logical, well researched chronology of Percy Fawcett’s last attempt to find the Lost City of Z.

LOST will disappear after 2010

{ November 19, 2009 @ 1:35 pm } · { Unsolved disappearance, mystery, suspense }
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The countdown is on for the final season of LOST to begin in January 2010. There are lots of rumours about what will happen in the final season. You can check out a few at Suite 101. This television drama wins my vote for the best mysterious disappearance story ever. I’m not sure what I’m going to do in 2011 without it.

This fall my addiction has driven me to purchase the first season of FRINGE, also created by the mastermind of LOST, J. J. Abrams. It deals with issues on the fringe of science like mind control, astral projection and teleportation to solve crimes linked to someone suspected of using the world as a human laboratory. While it contains echoes of LOST’s theme of the island being fought over by unknown powers who want to tap its hidden magic, in my experience FRINGE falls short of LOST’s brilliance. It doesn’t have the multi-layered depth of characterizations that added such richness to LOST’s unique plot and setting. FRINGE falters when it veers too closely to CSI dramas or Medium in a cookie cutter approach that robs it of originality. However, I’m only on disc 4 and I’m willing to give it a chance to deepen and come into its own. I love the premise and, with J. J. Abrams at the helm, hope it’s on the verge of surprising me. Still, with the official disappearance of LOST in 2011, I will be lost.

Mysterious Disappearance of Morgan Harrington: Update

{ November 9, 2009 @ 2:38 pm } · { Unsolved disappearance, missing person }
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I received an update from a friend of the family of Morgan Harrington who disappeared on October 17, 2009 at a concert with friends. Please note that it is always important to verify any listing for donations for funds to aid in the search for a missing person with local law enforcement. Unfortunately, there are many, many scam artists who take advantage of these tragedies to commit crimes. Here is the notice I received:

Based on your past coverage, I wanted to share with you the below statement issued today by the Harrington family regarding a fund established to aid in the search for their daughter. The Find Morgan Fund will be used to support the printing and production of flyers, missing persons advertisements, and other search materials necessary to advance the search for Morgan.

I would appreciate if you could share this statement with your readers. Additionally, your readers can help raise awareness about the search for Morgan by following us on Twitter (www.twitter.com/find_morgan) or joining the “Help find Morgan Harrington” Facebook group (http://bit.ly/1K8B8).

STATEMENT BY DAN AND GIL HARRINGTON

We are deeply moved by the outpouring of support we’ve received since our daughter disappeared 16 days ago on October 17 from a concert in Charlottesville, VA.

At the request of friends and supporters, the Harrington family has established the Find Morgan Fund to help in the search for our daughter. The Harrington family will donate any unused funds to charities that assist families of missing persons and causes with which Morgan has been directly involved, including Mental Heath America of Roanoke Valley and OMNI Orphan Medical Network International.

Contributions may be sent by mail to the following address:

Find Morgan Fund

P.O. Box 7588

Roanoke, VA 24019

Contributions may also be sent via PayPal through www.FindMorgan.com.

We are truly grateful for your kindness and we thank you again for all your thoughts and prayers.

Never too late: New appeal for Madeleine McCann

{ November 4, 2009 @ 8:28 pm } · { Unsolved disappearance, missing person }
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The Child Explointation and On-Line Protection Center in the UK has a launched a fresh appeal in the search for missing British girl Madeleine McCann on the Internet. It’s directed towards people who may be close to those responsible for her disappearance. It contains the plea, “It’s never too late to do the right thing”. The video also includes age progression images of Madeleine who was 3 years old in May of 2007 when she disaappeared from the holiday rental in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz. Let’s hope this finally provides the information needed.

VIEW NEW VIDEO

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Mysterious disappearance of Morgan Harrington

{ October 22, 2009 @ 9:56 pm } · { Unsolved disappearance, missing person }
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This is the kind of news story that hits hard to every parent. Police are still looking for Morgan Harrington, a 20 year old student at Virginia Tech, who disappeared on Saturday night when she was separated from her friends at a Metallica concert. To date, law enforcement say they have no evidence to suggest Morgan is a victim of foul play, but, clearly it hasn’t been ruled out. It’s encouraging to note they’ve been flooded with tips. Hopefully one of them will bring a resolution soon.

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Jaycee Dugard: Oprah, People and The View

{ October 14, 2009 @ 4:15 pm } · { Unsolved disappearance, cold case, miracles, missing person, mystery }
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It’s great to see everyone is talking about the amazing Jaycee Dugard case. It’s hard to believe she has reappeared after so many years. Yesterday on Oprah, she featured members of law enforcement who helped crack the disappearance. There were also parents whose children have disappeared and now, because of Dugard’s startling reappearance, have renewed hope. It was so hard to listen to mothers and fathers describing their missing child’s last words and movements. If you missed the program check out OPRAH TV for all the details on these missing children and information on who to contact if you have any information that will help solve these cases. According to missingkids.com there are 800 missing kids in the U.S. alone.

In this week’s PEOPLE MAGAZINE, Jaycee Dugard says she’s happy to be back home with her family. On THE VIEW this morning, Barbara Walters held up the magazine cover and pointed to 2 photos. One was a police sketch done shortly after Jaycee disappeared, projecting how Jaycee would look in X number of years. The other is how she looks today. As Barbara Walters astutely noted, it is amazing how close the police sketch artist came to the real thing. I applaud their expertise and hope it’s some bit of reassurance to parents struggling to survive this tragic criminal act.

Stephen King: Heart of Darkness

{ September 9, 2009 @ 5:39 pm } · { Unsolved disappearance, missing person, spirituality, suspense }
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One of the best books I read this summer was Lisa Rogak’s autobiography of author Stephen King. I read King’s book ON WRITING which is excellent, but only provides a glimpse of the man behind the mythology. This book peels back the proverbial layers. Stephen King is very down to earth. I was fascinated to read about how he and his family have made it a point to demystify the cult of fame. King and his wife are lucky they found each other; they work together.

I empathized with Stephen King’s dislike for categorizing writing; in particular, those who esteem ‘literary’ writing and look down their noses at commercial writing. (I’ve always thought it’s ‘the emporer who wore no clothes phenomenon.’) It is reassuring to me, for some reason, to read about a writer who had the absolute epitomy of the writer’s dream come true and, despite the crazy roller coaster ride, has kept his truth intact. You’re thinking: making tons and tons of money helps! Actually, that, believe it or not, can come with its own set of problems. Having grown up in an alcoholic family and attended ACOA 12-step, I admire Stephen’s committment to sobriety. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that he wrote THE GREEN MILE at that time. It’s a great book.

But the most fascinating aspect for me was this mysterious disappearance: When Stephen had just turned 2, his father casually mentioned he was heading out to the store to buy cigarettes. He walked down the street and they never saw him again.

Lisa Rogak references a theory that every fiction writer is writing to someone who is missing in their lives. It’s an interesting thought. It would mean that I’m writing to my deceased father. I’ve always said, “God can’t resist filling the black holes in children’s souls with something good.” My ‘good’ gift was and is writing. I think, after reading this book, that maybe Stephen King’s is too.

Mysterious Disappearance of Natalee Holloway

{ July 13, 2009 @ 3:59 pm } · { Unsolved disappearance, missing person }
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I just finished reading “Loving Natalee:The Truth Story of The Aruba Kidnapping and Its Aftermath” by Beth Holloway. Beth’s daughter, Natalee, vanished in Aruba during a senior class trip in May of 2005. I remember seeing Beth on CNN at the time and feeling such sympathy, trying to imagine the unimaginable; a parent’s worst nightmare. I can’t fathom getting that call. This book depicts Beth’s courage in never giving up the relentless search for her daughter, despite the odds, despite the lack of cooperation from the local authorities and all the roadblocks encountered. I was deeply touched by Beth Holloway’s tenacity and love for her daughter. I hope, as Oprah advocates, that some good will come out of this and other parents may learn something from this tragic kidnapping.

SHADOWS UNSOLVED DISAPPEARANCES

{ July 3, 2009 @ 5:29 pm } · { Unsolved disappearance, cold case, missing person, mystery }
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My fascination with unsolved disappearances was featured recently in FILMS and BOOKS, along with my new suspense novel LET THE SHADOWS FALL BEHIND YOU. Missing persons, crime, are a national obsession–and entertainment which is unsettling when you consider then 10 million people go missing each year.

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RCMP Baffled by Disappearance of Teenager

{ July 1, 2009 @ 10:47 am } · { Unsolved disappearance, missing person }
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This missing teenager case in British Columbia is unsettling. Almost 10 days ago, Jodi Henrikson vanished after a late night party on Bowen Island. She had no cell phone, job or bank account. She carried a few dollars. When Jodi left, she told her parents that she was going camping at Cultus Lake. The search for the missing teen has only come up empty to date. I hope someone comes forward soon and that it isn’t a case of teens holding back because they’re afraid to talk to the police.

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