Vanished Without a Trace: Infamous Disappearances Quiz

Estimated Completion Time
2 min
Vanished Without a Trace: Infamous Disappearances Quiz
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About This Quiz

Forget ghost stories — the most terrifying tales tell of real people who seemingly vanished from sight. Take our quiz to test your knowledge of famous disappearances, past and present.
Where was Virginia Dare born?
London
Roanoke
Dallas
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Dare was the first child born to English parents in the New World. She was born in the Roanoke colony in 1587 and disappeared along with the rest of the colonists shortly after.

What word did the Roanoke colony leave as a clue to their disappearance?
Navajo
Croatoan
death
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The word "Croatoan," the name of a Native American tribe and nearby island, was carved into a tree. It was the only clue to the disappearance of the colonists in Roanoke.

What missing person was famously impersonated by Anna Anderson?
Anastasia Romanov
Natalee Holloway
Elizabeth I
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Anderson was one of many women who falsely claimed to be the missing Anastasia Romanov, daughter of a Russian czar, who was killed in 1918.

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True or false: Anastasia's body has never been found.
true
false
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

DNA testing performed in 2009 revealed that Anastasia and her brother Alexei died at the same time as the rest of their family and were buried in a separate grave nearby.

Who wrote "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"?
Ambrose Bierce
Edgar Allan Poe
H.P. Lovecraft
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Journalist and author Ambrose Bierce is just as famous for his mysterious disappearance as for his writings.

Where did Ambrose Bierce disappear?
Australia
Mexico
the Amazon
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Bierce left for Mexico at age 71 in 1913 and was never heard from again.

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What was the first name of the Lindbergh baby?
Stevie
Charlie
Joey
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Named for his father, young Charlie Lindbergh was kidnapped on March 1, 1932.

How much did the Lindbergh kidnappers ask for in ransom?
$10,000
$25,000
$50,000
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The kidnappers asked for $50,000, which the family paid. Sadly, the child's body was discovered 72 days later in the woods.

Where did Amelia Earhart depart from on her famous last flight?
Tokyo
Vancouver
Miami
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Earhart attempted to fly from Miami to Howland Island when she mysteriously disappeared in 1937.

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True or false: Amelia Earhart was flying solo when she disappeared.
true
false
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

While Earhart gets all the attention, her navigator Fred Noonan was also lost that day.

Where did Frank Morris and John and Clarence Anglin disappear from?
Alcatraz
Folsom State Prison
Rikers Island
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The three inmates traveled through air vents and climbed down a chimney to escape Alcatraz in 1962. Despite an extensive search, the men were never located.

What year did D.B. Cooper famously hijack a Northwest Airlines flight?
1951
1961
1971
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Cooper hijacked a plane and ordered the crew to fly to Mexico on Nov, 24, 1971.

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How much ransom did Cooper demand?
$50,000
$100,000
$200,000
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Cooper demanded and received $200,000 and four parachutes before jumping from the plane between Seattle and Reno, Nevada.

True or false: None of the D.B. Cooper ransom was ever found.
true
false
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Around $5,800 of the marked bills washed up in the Columbia River in 1980, but Cooper himself was never located.

What year did "Steal This Book" author Abbie Hoffman disappear?
1954
1964
1974
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Youth International Party leader and author disappeared in 1974 before turning up seven years later with a new name and reconstructed face.

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True or false: As of 2016, Jimmy Hoffa's body has never been found.
true
false
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Former Teamster leader Hoffa was last seen on July 30, 1975, and the location of his body remains a mystery.

Where was Hoffa last seen?
Detroit
Memphis, Tennessee
New York
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

James Riddle Hoffa was last spotted in a restaurant in Detroit, Michigan.

Where was the Mary Celeste heading when its crew vanished?
Spain
France
Italy
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The Mary Celeste was heading from New York to Genoa, Italy, when its entire crew vanished in 1872.

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Where was Natalee Holloway vacationing when she vanished in 2005?
Aruba
Mexico
Jamaica
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The U.S. teenager vanished after a night at an Aruba bar in 2005.

Where was Glenn Miller heading when he mysteriously disappeared?
California
Paris
Japan
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

U.S. Army Air Force Band leader Glenn Miller was flying from England to Paris when his plane disappeared. His remains have never been found.

Where was Agatha Christie found after she vanished in 1926?
her home
the beach
hotel spa
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Christie vanished for 11 days in 1926 before she was spotted at a hotel spa in England.

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Who is Lord Lucan accused of murdering?
his wife
his children's nanny
his children
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Lord Lucan vanished shortly after the murder of his children's nanny, Sandra Rivett, in 1974.

Where was Percy Fawcett exploring when he was lost in 1925?
Nile River
Sahara Desert
Amazon
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Fawcett was exploring the Amazon in Brazil when he disappeared in 1925.

What was Fawcett searching for in the Amazon when he vanished?
spices
a city
a lost friend
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Fawcett and two other men were searching for El Dorado, which Fawcett referred to as the "City of Z."

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What country did Harold Holt serve as prime minister of?
Australia
Canada
France
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Holt was the prime minister of Australia when he disappeared while swimming on a beach in 1967.

What country was the McCann family visiting when their daughter Madeleine disappeared?
Portugal
Spain
Mexico
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Madeleine McCann disappeared from a Portuguese resort in May 2007.

What year did the Princes in the Tower vanish?
1383
1483
1583
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

English princes Edward and Richard vanished in 1483, right around the time their Uncle Richard III took over the throne and locked them in the Tower of London.

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Where was Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 heading when it vanished in 2014?
New York
London
Beijing
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The doomed plane was traveling from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing when it disappeared on March 8, 2014.

Where was Michael Rockefeller last seen in 1961?
New Zealand
New Guinea
New Hampshire
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The son of New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller was lost in New Guinea in 1961.

What state employed Ray Gricar as a prosecutor until 2005?
California
Texas
Pennsylvania
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Gricar was a Pennsylvania prosecutor who declined to charge disgraced coach Jerry Sandusky before he mysteriously disappeared in 2005.

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You Got:
/30
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