List of unsolved deaths

Thislist of unsolved deathsincludes notable cases where:

• Thecause of deathcould not be officially determined following an investigation
• The person's identity could not be established after they were found dead
• The cause is known, but themanner of death(homicide, suicide, accident) could not be determined following an investigation
• Different official investigations have come to different conclusions

Cases where there are unofficial alternative theories about deaths – the most common theory being that the death was a homicide – can be found under:Death conspiracy theories.

Unsolved murders

Main article:Lists of unsolved murders

Unsolved deaths

Prehistoric

• Anzick-1,a 1 or 2 year old Clovis child whose skeletonized body was found nearWilsall,Montanain 1968. The child's death was carbon dated to around 9500–9000 BC. It is disputed why the child died.The child's body is the only one discovered belonging to theClovis culture.
• Fragments of a human skull found next to the Anzick-1 child. The person whom the fragments of the skull belonged to was originally believed to have died around the same time as the Anzick-1 child, therefore being the second body discovered belonging to the Clovis culture. However, these bones were carbon dated and found to be over 2 millennia younger than those of the Anzick-1 child.These bones, then, were deposited after the extinction of the Clovis culture. Like the Anzick-1 child, the cause of death of this individual is disputed.

Ancient

• The Younger Lady(25–35), is the informal name given to themummyof a woman who lived during theEighteenth Dynasty of Egypt(c. 1549 to 1292 BCE), and was discovered in theEgyptianValley of the Kingsin tombKV35by archaeologistVictor Loretin 1898.The cause of her death is unknown. Through recent DNA tests, this mummy has been identified as the mother of the pharaohTutankhamunand a daughter of pharaohAmenhotep IIIandQueen Tiye.Early speculation that these were the remains ofQueen Nefertitihas been disproven.
• TheSkrydstrup Woman(18–19), was unearthed from atumulusin southernJutlandin Denmark in 1935. She is believed to have been born in, and spent her life in, the Skrydstrup area. Furthermore, it is believed that the young woman died between 1382 and 1129 BCE, and was buried in the summertime.Her death cause is unknown.
• Tutankhamun(18–19), male Egyptian pharaoh is believed to have died around 1323 BC, though his cause of death remains unknown, with one theory being that he was fatally injured in achariotcrash.
• Zoroaster(76), was an ancient maleIranianprophet who lived during 1000 BCE and who was said to perform miracles; he founded the religion now known asZoroastrianism.Zoroaster's cause of death is unknown; it is said that Zoroaster was killed by invading Turanians around the time that he was last seen, but this was never confirmed.
• TheHasanlu Loversare the remains of two humans found inTeppe Hasanlu,Iran, in 1972 who are thought to have diedc. 800 BCE.While it has been suggested that they died from asphyxiation, no definitive cause of death has been established.
• TheBorremose bodiesare threebog bodiesthat were found in 1946 and 1948 inHimmerland,Denmark, in theBorremosepeat bog. They have been dated to have lived in theNordic Bronze Ageduring 770 BCE. The causes of their deaths are unknown.
• TheGirl of the Uchter Moor(17–19), who is also known as "Moora", is the name given to the remains of a femalebog bodydiscovered in the marshland nearUchte,Germany, in 2000. She lived during theIron Ageand died between 764 and 515 BCE;the cause of her death is unknown.
• TheSaltmenare the remains of six men who lived during the remainder of theAchaemenid Dynasty(550–330 BCE) that were found in 2010 in the salt mines inChehrabadon the southern part of the Hamzehlu village in theZanjan Provincein Iran. Though it is known that most of them were accidentally killed by the collapse of galleries where they worked,the causes of the deaths of the other saltmen remain unknown.
• Alexander the Great(32) died in 323 BCE after a short illness.Exactly what the illness was is a subject of debate; however, it is known that he was a heavy drinker throughout his life.
• Damendorf Manis a Germanbog bodydiscovered in 1900in the See Moor at the village ofDamendorfinSchleswig-Holstein,Germany, who was said to have died in 300 BCE. Only his hair, skin, and nails and his few clothes were preserved, along with traces of some bones.He was found with a leather belt, shoes, and a pair of breeches.The man's identity and cause of death are unknown.
• Orgetorix,61 BCE, was a wealthy aristocrat among theHelvetii,a Celtic-speaking people residing in what is nowSwitzerlandduring the consulship ofJulius Caesarof theRoman Republic.He was put on trial for conspiring to seize control ofGaul.His cause of death beyond this is disputed.
• Cleopatra(39), the last ruler ofPtolemaic Egypt,is believed to have died in August of 30 BCE inAlexandria.According to popular belief,Cleopatrakilled herself by allowing anasp(Egyptian cobra) to bite her. According toGreekandRoman historians,Cleopatra poisoned herself using either atoxicointment or sharp implement such as a hairpin.Primary sourceaccounts are derived mainly from the works of the ancient Roman historiansStrabo,Plutarch,andCassius Dio.Modern scholars debate the validity of ancient reports involving snakebites as the cause of death and whether she was murdered. Some academics hypothesize that herRomanpolitical rivalOctavianforced her to commit suicide in the manner of her choosing. The location ofCleopatra's tombis unknown.
• Judas Iscariot,adiscipleand one of theTwelve ApostlesofJesus,circumstances of death in AD 31 vary widely depending on the source, though many state that Judas died bysuicide,specificallyhanginghimself.
• TheWeerdinge Menwere twobog bodiesfound naked in the southern part ofBourtanger MoorinDrenthein theNetherlandsin 1904. Though one of the men is known to have been murdered, the cause of the other man's death is unknown.They died between 160 BCE and 220 CE.
• Windeby I(16) is the name given to thebog bodyin 1952 that was preserved in apeat bogclose toWindebylocated in NorthernGermanycontaining the remains of a teenage male who lived between 41 BCE and 118 CE.His death cause is disputed and unknown.
• Apollonius of Tyana(c. 85), 100 CE, was aGreekNeopythagoreanphilosopherfrom the town ofTyanain theRomanprovince ofCappadociainAnatolia.It was said that he was able to disappear and immediately reappear in another place.The circumstances of his death remain a mystery.
• Amcotts Moor Womanis the name of abog bodyof a female who lived during 200–400 CE that was discovered in a bog close toAmcotts,Lincolnshire,England, in 1747.Almost no details are known about her and the cause of her death remains a mystery.

Medieval

• TheLovers of Modenaare two male skeletons found inModena,Italy in 2009, who are thought to have lived between the 4th and 6th-century CE.Their cause of death is unknown.
• Princess Yongtai(15–16), 701. In both theOld Book of TangandNew Book of Tang,it is recorded that she was executed byEmpress Wu Zetianwith her brother and husband because of talking about rumors about the two officialsZhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong,who were also the lovers of Empress Wu Zetian. However, from her epitaph, it was said she was pregnant when she died. From a piece of her pelvic bone, it has been presumed that she died from childbirth, because her pelvis seems to be smaller than other women at the same age. It is also suspected that she went into shock on hearing the news that her brother and husband had been executed, and it caused a fatal miscarriage.
• Emperor Taizu of Song(49), the first emperor ofSong Dynasty,died in 976.There are no records about how he died. However, his younger brother was granted the throne due to the fact that he had two grown sons. There is a folk story "shadows by the candle and sounds from an axe" possibly indicating that he was murdered by his brother, but it may also have been a suicide.
• Roopkundis a high altitudeglacial lakein theUttarakhandstate ofIndia.It lies in the lap ofTrishulmassif, located in theHimalayas.It is widely known for the hundreds of ancient human skeletons found at the edge of the lake.The human skeletal remains are visible at its bottom when the snow melts.Research generally points to a semi-legendary event where a group of people were killed in a sudden, violent hailstorm in the 9th century.Studies placed the time of mass death around the 9th century CE (1,200 years old) and second group of skeletons were dated to the 19th century CE.The skeletons' identities are unknown, but radiocarbon dating suggests that the older remains were deposited over an extended period of time, while the remains of the younger group were deposited during a single event.
• KingWilliam II of England(43–44), 1100, was killed by an arrow while hunting; it may or may not have been an accident.
• Margaret Hanmer(49–50), 1420, was the wife ofOwain Glyndŵr;her death was never recorded and her body was never found.
• Agnès Sorel(28), 1450, wasCharles VII of France's chief royal mistress, having four daughters with him.Sorel fell ill while pregnant with their 4th daughter, and after giving birth, died on 9 February 1450from causes which are disputed.

Early modern

• TheLovers of Cluj-Napoca(30s), a nickname given to two skeletons found in a former Dominican convent inCluj-Napoca,Romania in 2013, are thought to have lived between 1450 and 1550. Their exact causes of death are unclear.
• Kwäday Dän Ts'ìnchi(17–20), 1450–1700, also known as "The Canadian Iceman", is a naturally mummified body found by a group of hunters in 1999 in theTatshenshini-Alsek ParkinBritish Columbia,Canada.His death cause is unknown.
• Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter(45), aLancastrian,died after mysteriously falling overboard and drowning while sailing through theEnglish Channelin September 1475.Though there are different theories to what happened, none were ever proved to be true.
• Regiomontanus(40), whose real name was "Johannes Müller von Königsberg", was anastrologer,mathematician,andastronomerof theGerman Renaissancewho was active in countries in Europe. He was thought to have died from the plagueon 6 July 1476, but this is not known for sure.
• Princes in the Tower,used to refer toEdward V, King of EnglandandRichard of Shrewsbury, Duke of Yorkwho disappeared in the summer of 1483.In 1674, workmen at the Tower dug up a wooden box containing two small human skeletons. The bones were found in a box under the staircase in theTower of London.The bones were widely accepted at the time as those of the princes, but this has not been proven and is far from certain.King Charles IIhad the bones buried inWestminster Abbey,where they remain.
• Amy Robsart(28), 1560, was the first wife ofLord Robert Dudley,favourite ofQueen Elizabeth I of England.She is primarily known for her death by falling down a flight of stairs, the circumstances of which have often been regarded as suspicious.
• TheGunnister Manare thebog bodyremains of man found in apeat bogclose to the junction of the A970 road located inGunnister,Shetland,Scotland by two Shetlanders.The man had lived in the 17th and early 18th century and how he died is unknown.
• Cornelia Zangheri Bandi(66) was anItaliannoblewoman whose death on 15 March 1731 may have been a possible case ofspontaneous human combustion.But the case has never been proven, with the true cause of death remaining unknown.
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart(35), composer, died on 5 December 1791. The circumstances of his death have attracted much research and speculation, as it remains unclear whether he died from disease or poisoning. There have also beenconspiracy theories.

19th century

Headstone of theFemale Stranger

• Meriwether Lewis(35), an American explorer who helped explore territory bought during theLouisiana Purchase,was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds in an inn along the Natchez Trace, a nature trail in Tennessee, in 1809. Though it was originally declared a suicide, historians debate whether it was murder or suicide due to the nature of his injuries and the lack of a thorough autopsy.
• TheFemale Stranger(23) refers to an unnamed American woman who died in 1816 and was elevated to national intrigue by the mysterious headstone and romanticized tale.Accounts of the stranger increase in oddity over time and help to incite further speculation as to the identity of the person buried in the grave. The reported location of the woman's death, Room 8 atGadsby's Tavern,is also a tourist destination, and supposedly her ghostly visage can be seen standing at the window.

• For several weeks after 22 April 1822, unidentifiable dead bodies washed up off the coast ofIreland.They were believed to include that ofCharles Lefebvre-Desnouettes(58), who had recently traveled, and perhaps died, there. This was never confirmed and their cause of death remains unknown.
• Paul Johann Anselm Ritter von Feuerbach(57), a German legal scholar, died on 29 May 1833. The circumstances remain unclear – his family as well as he himself shortly before his death believed that he had been poisoned due to his protection of and research work onKaspar Hauser,who himself died the same year under suspicious circumstances (see below).
• The events that led to the death of German youthKaspar Hauser(21) remain a mystery,just like many other points regarding his life and identity. On 14 December 1833, he came home with a deep stab wound in his chest of which he died three days later. While he had claimed to have been attacked, the court of enquiry doubted this due to inconsistencies in his claims and speculated that he wounded himself in order to seek attention and revive the fading public interest in him, a theory that is also supported by some historians today.
• Thomas Simpson(31) was aScottishArctic explorer,Hudson's Bay Companyagent and cousin of Company Governor SirGeorge Simpson.His violent death in what is now the state ofMinnesotaallegedly by suicide after gunning down two traveling companions in the wilderness on 6 June 1840 has long been a subject of controversy and has never been solved.
• John Gregory(42) was an English engineer who served aboardHMSErebusduring the1845 Franklin Expedition,which sought to explore uncharted parts of theNorthwest Passage.He is believed to have died some time around May 1848. Gregory's remains were identified viaDNA analysisin 2021, although his exact cause of death is undetermined.

Edgar Allan Poe

• Edgar Allan Poe(40) American writer, editor, and literary critic, died on 7 October 1849 under circumstances that remain mysterious. The circumstances leading up to it are uncertain and the cause of death is disputed. On 3 October 1849, he was found delirious inBaltimore,"in great distress, and... in need of immediate assistance", according to the man who found him, Joseph W. Walker.He was taken to theWashington College Hospital,where he died days later.
• In the years in between 1849 and 1859, a skeleton was found onKing William Islandwhich was thought to be that ofHarry Goodsir(28–29), who had disappeared in 1848. After conducting tests on the bones, it is believed that cause of death was a tooth that was infected,but this was not confirmed. Also another skeleton was found that was thought to be that ofHenry Thomas Dundas Le Vesconte(25–26), who disappeared along with Goodsir, aboardFranklin's lost expedition,but this was proven to be untrue.Whom it belonged to and cause of death are unknown. Dundas Le Vesconte's body was found, but his cause of death is unknown.
• Edward James Roye(57) was the first of Liberia'sTrue Whig Party,who had served as thefifth President of Liberiafrom 1870 until he was overthrown a year later and whose death had followed on 11 February 1872.The circumstances of Roye's death remains unknown.
• Zeng Guofan(60), a Chinese statesman, military general, andConfucianscholar of the lateQing dynasty.He is best known for raising and organizing theXiang Armyto aid the Qing military in suppressing theTaiping Rebellionand restoring the stability of the Qing Empire. Along with other prominent figures such asZuo ZongtangandLi Hongzhangof his time, Zeng set the scene for theTongzhi Restoration,an attempt to arrest the decline of the Qing dynasty.He died on 12 March 1872 of mysterious reasons.
• L'Inconnue de la Seinewas the name given to an unidentified young woman who, according to an oft-repeated story, was pulled out of theRiver Seineat theQuai du LouvreinParisaround the late 1880s.Since the body showed no signs of violence,suicidewas suspected.
• ComposerPyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky(53) died inSaint Petersburgin November 1893 nine days after hisSixth Symphony,called the "Pathétique", had debuted. His cause of death is debatedand remains unsolved.
• Barney Barnato(46), an EnglishRandlordand entrepreneur who was a prominent rival toCecil Rhodes,was found dead at sea nearMadeira,Portugal on 14 June 1897. While suicide was the prevailing theory, his family rejected it, saying that it was unlike him to do such a thing.

1900–1924

• Sursinhji Takhtasinhji Gohil(26), popularly known by his pen name,Kalapi,was aGujaratipoet and the Thakor (prince) ofLathi stateinGujaratwho died on 9 June 1900. He is mostly known for his poems depicting his ownpathos.It is believed that Kalapi's love for a woman named Shobhana became a source of conflict with their acquaintance Rajba-Ramaba and gave her a motive topoisonhim.
• Gaetano Bresci(31) was an Italian anarchist who assassinated KingUmberto I of ItalyinMonzaon 29 July 1900. Due to capital punishment being abolished 11 years earlier, he was sentenced to penal servitude atSanto Stefano Island,where he was found dead in his cell on 22 May 1901. While his death was reported as being suicide by hanging, it is believed that he had been murdered.
• David Park Barnitz(23) was aHarvardgraduate and anAmericanpoet who died on 10 October 1901 from unclear circumstances, as there are conflicting ideas about how he died.
• Paul Rée(51) was aGermanphilosopher,author, and physician who died on 28 October 1901 after he fell into the Charnadüra Gorge in the Swiss Alps nearCelerinawhen he was hiking.It is unknown whether it was a suicide or an accident.
• Émile Zola(62),Frenchauthor who died on 29 September 1902from carbon monoxide poisoning that was caused by a sealed chimney. His enemies were blamed for his death, but were not proven to have been actually responsible. It is also possible that Zola committed suicide.
• Gabriel Syveton(40), French politician and historian, was found dead inNeuilly-sur-Seineon 8 December 1904 in his office by gas poisoning.It is unknown whether this was a murder or suicide.
• On 14 March 1911 inOstendharbour, a deceased body was found that resembledCecil Grace(30), who was a pioneer aviator who disappeared on 22 December 1910 over theEnglish Channel.The body could not be identified since it was too badly disfigured,and its identity and cause of death remain unknown.
• German inventorRudolf Diesel(55) disappeared in theEnglish Channelin 1913 and was found dead at sea 10 days later. His cause of death is debated.
• Tom Thomson(39) was a Canadian artist who was active in the early 20th century.Though his career was short, he managed to produce around 400oil sketcheson smallwood panels,as well as around 50 larger works on canvas. Thomson disappeared on 8 July 1917 and was found dead a few days later. It is unknown whether his death was murder or suicide.

• Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers(64),Englishmagician and occultist who died of an unknown cause between 5–20 November 1918 inParis.The manner of death is unknown as his death certificate lists no cause for his death. Even thoughViolet Firthclaimed Mathers' death was the result of theSpanish influenzathat occurred throughout 1918 and early 1919, the dearth of facts about Mathers' private life make it very difficult to determine what truly caused his death.
• In 1919, smoked human bones were found in a fireplace near Cape Primetny, and were thought be those ofPeter Tessem and Paul Knutsen,who disappeared in 1918 while aboard the shipMaudduring an Arctic expedition.Who they belonged to and cause of death are unknown.

Silent film actressVirginia Rappe

• Silent filmactressVirginia Rappe(30) was found to have died ofperitonitisdue to aruptured bladderon 9 September 1921. While this could have been the result of some of her ongoing health problems, such ascystitis,or complications from a recentabortion(illegalat the time), Maude Delmont, an acquaintance, told theSan Francisco Police Departmentthat silent film comedianFatty Arbucklehad sexually assaulted Rappe during aLabor Dayparty in his suite at theSt. Francis Hotel,another possible cause of the ruptured bladder. Arbuckle was charged with rape andinvoluntary manslaughterbut was acquitted.
• In July 1922, an expedition was conducted during which a skeleton was discovered on the mainland shore which is across fromDikson Island.It is thought to be eitherPeter Tessem or Paul Knutsen.Its death cause is not known for certain.
• In 1923, an unidentified body on the grounds of an abandonedJesuitchurch inCorrienteswhose death might have been caused by stabbing was found. It was thought to have been that ofAlejandro Carrascosas(22), who had disappeared a year earlier.The body was never identified and the cause of the deceased's death is not known.
• George Mallory(37) was anEnglishmountaineerwho, after taking part in the first three British expeditions toMount Everest,disappeared on either 8 or 9 June 1924.On 1 May 1999, Mallory's mummified body was found.He suffered serious lower limb injuries and rope burns resulting from a fall and then likely died of exposure, but the exact cause, timing and circumstances of his death, and that of his traveling companion Andrew Irvine (who was never found), are unknown.

1925–1949

• Rudolf Steiner(64), Austrianesotericistwho developedanthroposophyandWaldorf education,died from illness on 30 March 1925, but the nature of the illness was never confirmed and remains controversial, with theories suggestingcancerorpoisoningas the most probable causes.
• Ottavio Bottecchia(32), 1927, Italian cyclist, was found by the side of a road, covered with bruises and with a serious skull fracture. His undamaged bicycle was discovered propped against a nearby tree. Bottecchia was taken to a hospital, but died soon afterwards. An official inquiry concluded accidental death, but it was suggested he had run afoul of the powerful and growingNational Fascist PartyinItalyat the time.
• José Rosario Oviedo(42), aCuban rumbadancer known as "Malanga", died in 1927. The exact circumstances under which he died have never been known for certain.One common account has it that he was murdered after a dance contest through broken glass hidden in his food, but no death certificate was ever filed and the location of his grave is unknown.
• Pyotr Wrangel(49), was aRussianofficer who died on 25 April 1928 from reasons that have been debated as his family stated that they think that he was poisoned by the butler of his brother.This was never proven for certain though.
• Cecil Kern(41–45), female American theater director and stage and film actress who was reported to have died of apulmonary hemorrhageon 1 June 1928 in aManhattanhotel.The cause of her death is not known for certain.
• Alfred Loewenstein(51) was a Belgian financier who's believed to have fallen out of a plane's rear door while going to use the lavatory. He disappeared while crossing theNorth Seaon 4 July 1928, and his body was found in France 15 days later.His death cause is unknown.
• Starr Faithfull(25), aGreenwich Villageflapper,was found drowned on the beach atLong Beach,Nassau County, New Yorkon 8 June 1931. Although Faithfull had left a suicide note, her family contended that she was murdered by wealthy politicianAndrew James Peters,formermayor of Boston,who had allegedlysexually abusedFaithfull for years beginning when she was 11 years old and paid the Faithfulls to keep silent about it. Despite a lengthy investigation, it was never determined whether Faithfull's death was homicide, suicide, or accident.
• Ivar Kreuger(52), aSwedishcivil engineer, financier, entrepreneur and industrialist who died in aParishotel room on 12 March 1932.Though it was thought it have been a suicide it may have also have been a murder.
• Jay Ferdinand Towner III(23), aPrinceton Universityundergraduate, was found dead on campus shortly after an 11 November 1933, football game.He had suffered broken wrists and severe internal injuries. His death was variously attributed to a fall suffered in the stands during the game or a car accident amid conflicting accounts of his whereabouts prior to his death; the exact cause has never been determined.

Zachary Smith Reynolds

• Zachary Smith Reynolds(20) was the son of American millionaire and businessmanR. J. Reynolds.He died from a gunshot wound to the head on 6 July 1932, at his home inWinston-Salem, North Carolina.It is unclear if his death was asuicideor amurder.
• Paul Bern(42) was an American film director,screenwriterfromWandsbek,Hamburg,Germany. He became the assistant toIrving Thalbergafter he became the producer forMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer.He was found dead inBeverly Hills, Californiaon 5 September 1932 after being shot.Even though he left a note saying that he committed suicide it is also believed that his formerex-common-law wifehad killed him as she very shortly later herself committed suicide.
• Ivo Pilar(59) was aCroatianlawyer, politician, publicist, and historianwho was found dead on 3 September 1933 at his home inZagreb,Kingdom of Yugoslaviaand it is unknown whether he was killed or if it was a suicide.
• Franziska Kessel(28) was aGermanpolitician who after being sent to jail inMainzwas found dead in her cell on 23 April 1934. It is unknown whether Kessel committed suicide or was murdered.
• Thelma Todd(29) was an actress notable for appearing in multiple comedy films where she starred alongsideBuster Keaton,Charley Chase,Laurel and Hardyand theMarx Brothers.On the morning of Monday, 16 December 1935, she was found dead in her car inside the garage ofJewel Carmen,a former actress and former wife of Todd's lover and business partner,Roland West.Her death was determined to have been caused bycarbon monoxide poisoning.The exact circumstances of the case could not be determined and sparked wide speculations and theories. The case was officially closed as "accidental with possible suicide tendencies." It could never be determined and still sparks debate whether her death was accidental, suicide or murder.
• Robert Johnson(27), an earlybluessinger and guitarist, died on 16 August 1938, nearGreenwood, Mississippi.The cause was not officially recorded. He was reportedly in extreme pain and suffering fromconvulsions;this has led to theories he had beenpoisoned with strychnineby a jealous husband; however, the alleged poisoning is said to have taken place several days earlier and most strychnine deaths take place within hours of ingestion. Another report claims he died ofsyphilisorpneumonia.The uncertain location of his gravesite has made it impossible to exhume his body for further investigation.
• Eugeniusz Kazimirowski(63) was aPolishmale member of therealism movementand a very accomplished painter died from unknown causesin the city ofBiałystokon 23 September 1939.
• Kyrylo Studynsky(30–31) was a westernUkrainiancultural and political figure who was forced to leaveLvivin July 1941 and died shortly afterfrom unknown reasons.
• Jeanette Loff(35) was an American actress, musician, and singer who came to prominence for her appearances in severalPathé ExchangeandUniversal Picturesfilms in the 1920s who died on 4 August 1942 fromammoniapoisoning inLos Angeles.Though law enforcement was unable to determine whether her death was an accident or asuicide,Loff's family maintained that she had beenmurdered.The real cause behind her death remains unknown.
• Sidney Fox(34) was an American actress who acted both on stage and in movies.On 15 November 1942 Fox died inHollywoodfrom after taking too many sleeping pills,which was the result of either asuicideor an accidental overdose.
• Władysław Sikorski(62), prime minister of thePolish Government in exile,was among 16 people killed on 4 July 1943 whentheir plane crashed into the seashortly after taking off from theRoyal Air Forcebase atGibraltar Airport.The plane had not managed to gain sufficient altitude due to itselevatorsbeing prevented from working properly; British investigators found the cause was most likely an accident while their Polish counterparts called it undetermined.The bodies of Sikorski's daughter, chief of staff and other key aides purportedly on the plane were never found,and the plane's only survivor, the pilot, had uncharacteristically worn his life preserver in the cockpit.Sabotage and a possible assassination have been suspected, withNazi Germany,theSoviet Union,theUnited Kingdom,or even rival factions in the Polish government in exile theorized to have been involved. Poland reopened the case in 2008; an exhumation of Sikorski's body found his injuries consistent with death from an air crash, ruling out some theories that he had been killed before being put on the plane, but the investigators still could not rule out the possibility of sabotage.British files on the case will remain sealed until 2050.
• Herschel Grynszpan,whose assassination of Nazi diplomatErnst vom Rathwas used to justifymassive pogroms,is assumed to have died sometime between 1940 and 1945 in a concentration camp.
• A number of Nazis disappeared in the final days of Nazi Germany, and their whereabouts are either still unknown (with them likely now being dead), or their deaths occurred under unknown circumstances. For example,Martin Bormann's body was not found for 27 years (in 1972) and were not identified until 1998.Heinrich Müllerhas still not been located.
• Emil Hácha(72), aCzechlawyer, the third President ofCzechoslovakiafrom 1938 to 1939, who died inPankrác Prisonon 27 June 1945under mysterious circumstances, and his death cause remains unknown. Hácha had collaborated with the Nazis during theGerman occupation,and had been arrested by theRed Armyafter theliberation of Prague.
• Lipót Klug(91), aJewish-Hungarianmathematician,professor who died towards the end of theSecond World Waron 24 March 1945in what were said to have been strange circumstances, his true cause of death having never been revealed.
• Viktors Eglītis(68), aLatvianart theorist and writer who died on 20 April 1945in prison inRigafrom unknown reasons.
• KingAnanda Mahidolof Thailand (20) died of gunshot wounds, either the product ofsuicide,accident or assassination, on 9 June 1946.Mahidol's successor KingBhumibol Adulyadej,Prime MinisterPridi Banomyong,and the former Japanese intelligence officerMasanobu Tsujihave alternatively been accused of complicity.
• TheBody in the cylinderrefers to a male decedent discovered within a partially sealed steel cylinder on a derelictWWIIbomb site inLiverpool,England.The discovery was made on 13 July 1945 and it is believed that the body had lain undiscovered for 60 years. Inquiries named a strong (but unconfirmed) candidate for the identity of the decedent; however, the cause of death and the reason for their presence in the cylinder remain a mystery.
• Alexander Alekhine(53), the fourthWorld Chess Champion,was found dead in a hotel room inEstoril,Portugal on 24 March 1946. Several causes of death have been proposed, but the two most likely are a heart attack or choking on a piece of meat which was found lodged in his throat in an autopsy.
• Vera West.West was an American fashion designer and film costume designer, who worked forUniversal Pictures.She was found dead in her swimming pool on 29 June 1947, having possibly committed suicide by drowning, although police were never able to ascertain the precise circumstances surrounding her death.
• Kim Man-il(3–4), was a Korean male child who inPyongyang,Soviet Koreain either 1947 or 1948 is said to have drowned under conflicting circumstances.
• TheTrow Ghyll skeleton,discovered in a cave in rural northYorkshire,England in 1947, remains unidentified.The death probably occurred in 1941; the fact that the body was discovered with a glass bottle of cyanide has led to speculation that it was someone connected with espionage.

Jan Masaryk

• Jan Masaryk(61), 1948, son ofTomáš Garrigue Masaryk,Czech diplomat, politician and Foreign Minister ofCzechoslovakia,was found dead in the courtyard of theForeign Ministrybelow his bathroom window.The initial investigation concluded that he committed suicide by jumping out of the window, although many are convinced that he was pushed. A new investigation by theCzechoslovak governmentafter theVelvet Revolutionruled his death a murder.
• Sadanori Shimoyama(47), 1948, first director ofJapanese National Railways,was last seen leaving his official car to go into a department store on his way to work the morning of 5 July of that year. Others reported seeing him at various train stations, and walking along one line, that afternoon. His dismembered body was found at noon the next day on theJōban Line.It had indisputably gotten that way as a result of being struck by a train, but the autopsy suggested he had died before being struck. That conclusion has been disputed, and whether his death was a suicide or murder remains undetermined.
• Irwin Foster Hilliard(85) was Canadian political figure and lawyer inOntariowho was last seen on 23 November 1948 before going on a shopping trip. He was found dead on 22 December 1948 close toLambton.His death cause is unknown.
• Nora Gregor(47), whose full name was "Eleonora Hermina Gregor", was anAustrianactress who acted in both on stage and in movies who died on 20 January 1949 inViña del Marfrom a debated cause.

1950–1974

• Khorloogiin Choibalsan(56), Choibalsan served as the leader of theMongolian People's Republicfrom 1939 until his death on 26 January 1952. He reportedly died of kidney cancer inMoscow;however, relations between Choibalsan andJosef Stalinare known to have become fraught in the years immediately preceding his death, leading to speculationMGBagents may have caused his death.
• Syama Prasad Mukherjee(52), an Indian politician, died in a prison hospital 23 June 1953, one and a half months after his arrest for attempting to enterJammu and Kashmirwithout a permit. The exact cause of death has never been disclosed; Prime MinisterJawaharlal Nehru,whose government Mukherjee had resigned from in protest over Nehru's decision to normalise relations withPakistandespite that country's treatment of its Hindu population, said at the time he made inquiries and was satisfied that his former minister's death was due to natural causes; speculation has continued that Mukherjee was actually murdered due to some unusual circumstances of his arrest and treatment.
• Raimondo Lanza di Trabia(39) was anItalianman who was successful in many fields. On 30 November 1954 inRome,Lanza di Trabia died from circumstances that are suspicious after he fell out of a hotel room window.
• Herman Schultheis(33) was a technician and photographer who worked forWalt Disney Studioswho disappeared on 20 May 1955 nearTikal,Guatemala.His remains were found on 23 November 1956, along with some of his belongings.His death cause is unknown.
• TheDyatlov Pass incidentwas the deaths of ninehikerson theKholat Syakhlmountain in the northernUral Mountainsrange on 2 February 1959; the bodies were not recovered until that May. While most of the victims were found to have died ofhypothermiaafter apparently abandoning their tent high on an exposed mountainside, two had fractured skulls, two had broken ribs, and one was missing her tongue. There were no witnesses or survivors to provide any testimony, and the cause of death was listed as a "compelling natural force", most likely anavalanche,by Soviet investigators.

TheLane Cove River.The bodies of Dr Gilbert Bogle and Margaret Chandler were discovered at this location on 1 January 1963

• Barthélemy Boganda(48), who was Prime Minister of theCentral African Republic,died on 29 March 1959in Boukpayanga during a mysterious plane crash.
• Diana Barrymore(38), daughter of actorJohn Barrymore,was anAmericanactress who acted both on the stage and in movies and is a relative of American actressDrew Barrymore.On 25 January 1960, Diana Barrymore died in her hometown ofNew York City.At first her death was said to be the result of a drug overdose. After anautopsywas conducted, this was proven to be untrue.Speculation included a theory that she had committedsuicide,but this was never proven. She had admitted publicly she was a recovering alcoholic. In July 1957, she gave an American television interview toMike Wallacein which she said, "At the moment, I don't drink. I hope to be able, one day, in perhaps the near future [or] the very distant future, to be able to drink like a normal human being. That may never be possible."
• Dag Hammarskjöld(56), a Swedish economist and diplomat who served as the secondSecretary-General of the United Nations,died on 18 September 1961 in Ndola,Northern Rhodesiain a mysterious plane crash.
• Lucas Samalenge(33), aKatangeseandCongolesepolitician who died under suspicious circumstances on 19 November 1961inLubumbashi.
• Dr Gilbert Stanley Bogle (39) and Margaret Olive Chandler (29)were found dead, both partially undressed, near the banks of theLane Cove RiverinSydney, Australia,on 1 January 1963. Their bluish pallor and the presence of vomit and excrement led to a finding that they had been poisoned, but the coroner was unable to determine what the toxin was. It was suspected they had been murdered (possibly by Chandler's husband) although no suspect has ever been identified.A 2006 TV documentarysuggested their deaths were not due to foul play but the result ofhydrogen sulfidegas leaking from the river bed and reaching dangerously high concentrations in the low-lying depressions where their bodies were found.
• The death certificate ofDorothy Kilgallen(52) states that she died on 8 November 1965 from "acute ethanol and barbiturate intoxication / circumstances undetermined." She was famous throughout the United States as a syndicated newspaper columnist and radio/television personality, most notably as a regular panelist on the longest running game show in history at the time,CBS'sWhat's My Line.TheNew York Citymedical examiner James Luke categorized the cause of death as "circumstances undetermined."
• Hedviga Golik(42) was aCroatianwoman fromZagreb, Croatia,who in 1966 sat down in front of her TV with a cup of tea and died from unknown reasons. Her body was discovered 42 years later when the police entered her apartment.
• Lal Bahadur Shastri(61), an Indian politician who was the secondPrime Minister of India,mysteriously died on 11 January 1966,just hours after signing theTashkent Declaration.His death cause is disputed.
• TheLead Masks Caseinvolves the death of twoBrazilianelectronic technicians, Manoel Pereira da Cruz and Miguel José Viana, whose bodies were discovered on 20 August 1966, inNiterói,Rio de Janeiro,Brazil.After anautopsywas performed the cause of death could not be proven since the organs were too badly decomposed.
• Alvar Larsson(13) was aSwedishboy who disappeared on 16 April 1967 while going for a walk.In November 1982, a human skull was found on a small island 6 km away that was identified as belonging to Larsson.The disappearance attracted a lot of media coverage at the time and many theories as to what happened have been put forward.Thomas Quickhas confessed to the crime,but has since recanted all his confessions.
• Joan Robinson Hill(38) was a Texas socialite who died in 1969. At first ruled to have died ofinfluenzafollowing a brief hospitalization on 19 March,suspicions were aroused when her body was released to the funeral home and embalmed before a legally required autopsy could be carried out. Despite the compromised evidence, three autopsies, all with their own irregularities, were performedand her husband John eventually became the only person indicted by a Texas grand jury for murder by omission, or failing to take proper action in the face of a life-threatening situation. The first attempt to prosecute him ended in a mistrial in 1972; he was murdered before he could be retried and the gunman who was suspected of his murder died in a police shootout. Two other alleged accomplices were later convicted.
• Edward Mutesa(45), who wasKabakaof theKingdom of BugandainUganda,died on 21 November 1969from alcohol poisoning, in his London flat. He may have committed suicide or been poisoned by someone.
• Katherine Walsh(23), American actress who died inLondon,England on 7 October 1970 while she was at a party at her home. While it is known that she died from barbiturate poisoning and alcohol, it is unknown whether it was a suicide or accident.

Mustafa Zaididied of unknown causes on 12 October 1970

• Mustafa Zaidi(40),PakistaniUrdupoet from India who died inKarachifrom unknown reasons on 12 October 1970.The case has never been solved.
• Ronald Hughes(35), an American attorney who disappeared while on a camping trip in November 1970. He had been representingLeslie Van Houtenin the Tate–LaBianca murder trial. His body was found in March 1971, but his cause of death could not be determined.
• TheIsdal Womanwas a partially charred unidentified corpse found on 29 November 1970, hidden off ahikingtrail nearBergen, Norway.The official conclusion that her death was asuicidehas not been widely accepted, since some believed she was murdered.Her identity remains unknown and is considered one of Norway's most profound mysteries. The case has been the subject of intense speculation for many years.Multiple investigations point to the possibility that she was aspy.
• Michael O'Sullivan(37), anAmericanman who had a brief, but successful acting career,was found dead at his apartment inSan Francisco, California,on 24 July 1971 with a bottle of sleeping pills next to him from what may have been a death by suicide.
• Giangiacomo Feltrinelli(45), who had during the 1950s published the smuggled manuscript ofBoris Pasternak's novelDoctor Zhivago,but later became a left-wing militant during Italy'sYears of Lead,was found dead at the base of a power-line transmission tower outsideSegrate,near his nativeMilan,on 15 March 1972.It was believed that he had died when a bomb he was attempting to plant on the tower went off, and later testimony by other members of theRed Brigadessupported this. However, the death was always viewed suspiciously, and in the 2010s forensic reports surfaced that suggested he had been tied to the tower before the bomb went off, with various intelligence agencies inside and outside of Italy suspected of responsibility.
• Gia Scala(38) was an American model and actress fromLiverpool,Lancashire,England who on 30 April 1972 was found dead in her house in theHollywood Hills.Her cause of death remains undetermined.
• Nigel Green(47) was acharacter actorwho was born in South Africa, and was raised inLondon,England, who died inBrighton,Sussexon 15 May 1972after taking too many sleeping pills. It is unknown if this was a suicide or not.
• Amaryllis Garnettwas an English actress and diarist who appeared in various productions in the 1960s, with her most notable appearance being Judith of Balbec from the original 1966 version ofA Choice of Kings.With the onset of the 1970s, however, she fell into a deep depression, and on 6 May 1973 she was found drowned in theChelseariver. Whether her drowning was accidental or a suicide remains unclear.
• Kafundanga Chingunjiserved as the firstchief of staffin the government ofUNITA,pro-Westernrebels, during theAngolan Civil War.Officially, Chingunji died fromcerebral malariain January 1974 on Angola's border withZambia.His wife and others who saw his body say someone poisoned Chingunji. Rumors later allegedJonas Savimbi,the head of UNITA, ordered his assassination.It is unknown for sure what the exact circumstances of the death are.
• Karen Silkwood(28), a nuclear power whistleblower, died in a car accident on 13 November 1974, while driving to a meeting with aNew York Timesreporter inOklahoma City.Whether that accident involved another vehicle, whose driver may have deliberately run her off the road, or resulted from her own fatigue, remains a matter of debate.
• Aman Andom(50) was an Ethiopian military figure and was the actinghead of state of Ethiopiawho died on 23 November 1974.Sources say that he committed suicide, while others say that he was killed by political rivals among the coup leadership, possibly includingMengistu Haile Mariam.

1975–1989

• Sandra Mozarowsky(18), Spanish female teenage actress who on 14 September 1977 inMadrid,Spain fell to her death from her balcony.It is unknown if she committed suicide or if she fell by mistake.
• Manon Dubé(10), was a Canadian girl fromQuebecwho vanished while sledding with friends in Massawippi on 27 January 1978. Her body was found on 24 March 1978, but the exact cause of death was never determined.
• Marcia Moore(50), a writer onyogaandastrology,disappeared near her home in theSeattle, Washingtonarea during the winter of 1979.In 1981 her skeletal remains were found in nearby woods. It has been presumed in the absence of any evidence that would more conclusively establish a cause of death that she died ofhypothermiawhile wandering the woods under the influence ofketamine,a drug whose use she had promoted. However, true-crime writerAnn Rule,a friend, says what appeared to be a bullet hole was found in her jawbone, although authorities said it could just as easily have been a result of the bone decaying during the cold winters. Officially the cause of Moore's death remains undetermined.
• Marin Preda(57) was aRomaniandirector ofCartea Româneascăpublishing house who wrote novels about wars that had ended. Preda was found dead on 16 May 1980 atMogoșoaia Palacefromasphyxiation.
• Gustav Wagner,former deputy commander of theSobibor extermination camp,died 3 October 1980 in Brazil. His death was officially ruled as a suicide by self-inflicted knife wounds. Sobibor survivorStanisław Szmajznerhad identified Wagner shortly before.
• Douglas Crofut(38) was an American radiographer who died of bothradiation poisoningandradiation burnson 27 July 1981 inTulsa, Oklahoma.The event is thought to have been either a suicide or murder, but this remains uncertain.

Natalie Wood.Her husband has been named as aperson of interestin her death

• On 29 November 1981, actressNatalie Wood(43), who was a passenger on the yacht owned by her and her husbandRobert Wagner,was found drowned nearSanta Catalina Island,California. Two other people were on board the Wagners' yacht at the time: actorChristopher Walkenand Dennis Davern, a longtime employee of the Wagners who served as skipper of the yacht. While drowning has always been accepted as the direct cause of her death, the circumstances under which she went into the water have never been clear. After reopening the investigation in 2012 the coroner changed the cause of death from "accident" to "undetermined" based on cuts and bruises on her body that may or may not have been suffered before her death.In 2018 Wagner was identified as aperson of interest.
• Don Kemp(34–35) was a New York advertising executive who disappeared under mysterious circumstances inWyomingin 1982, where he had planned to begin a new life. His remains were discovered in 1986, but the circumstances surrounding his death, and whether or not it was homicidal, remain unclear.
• Eduardo Frei Montalva(71), who was president ofChilefrom 1964 to 1970, died on 22 January 1982.As of 2005, his death is being investigated because of allegations that he was poisoned.
• The cause of death of the baby born to Joanne Hayes in Ireland's 1984Kerry Babies casewas never established.
• Radomir Radović(32–33), a Yugoslav civil engineering technician and trade unionist who advocated for an independent trade union in the country, was found dead at his villa inOrašacon 30 April 1984. While the ruling party claimed that he had died bysuicide,this claim was disputed by fellow intellectuals, and his true cause of death remains unclear.
• 25-year old Japanese office worker Kenji Iwamura purportedly died during the 1984–1990SOS incident.
• TheYOGTZE caserefers to the death of unemployed German food engineer Günther Stoll (34) on 26 October 1984. Stoll died under strange and largely unknown circumstances after leaving behind the cryptic message "YOGTZE."
• Samora Machel(53), aMozambicanpolitician, military commander, and revolutionary, was killed on 19 October 1986during a mysterious plane crash close to theMozambican-South African border.
• Cam Lyman(54–55) was a multimillionairedog breederfromWestwood, Massachusettswho disappeared in the summer of 1987. In December 1997 his body was found in aseptic tankon his estate inHopkinton, Rhode Islandby the new owners of the house.Lyman's death remains a mystery.
• On 11 October 1987,West GermanChristian Democratic UnionpoliticianUwe Barschel(43) was found dead and fully clothed in a filled bathtub in his room at the HotelBeau-RivageinGeneva,Switzerland.Lorazepamand other drugs were found in his system. The circumstances of his death remain unclear and controversial, with suicide or murder both considered possible explanations and the case still being investigated.
• Pakistani presidentMuhammad Zia-ul-Haq(64), the country's longest-serving leader, and 30 others, including the country's top military leaders and the U.S. ambassador, were killed in an17 August 1988 plane crash.Whether it was an accident or foul play, the result of sabotage or a shootdown, is a matter of debate.American investigators came to the former conclusion, while their Pakistani counterparts produced a report reaching the latter. Theories as to responsibility if it were an act of malice have put the blame on a number of domestic and foreign actors.
• On 8 June 1989, Canadian nurseCindy James(44) was found dead of a multiple-drug overdose in the yard of an abandoned house in theVancouversuburb ofRichmond,hogtied and with a nylon stocking around her neck.During the seven years leading up to her death, she had made approximately 100 reports to police of incidents of stalking, harassment, vandalism, and physical attacks.Despite significant investigation, authorities could find no evidence pointing to an assailant, and it was suspected that James had fabricated the incidents herself, culminating in an elaborate staged suicide.The cause of death was found to be a drug overdose due to the extraordinarily high levels ofmorphine,diazepamand other drugs found in her system, but exactly how that came about could not be determined.
• Said S. Bedair(40) was anEgyptianscientist inelectrical,electronicandmicrowave engineeringand acolonelin theEgyptian army.He died on 14 July 1989 inAlexandriaof unclear circumstances, though his wife thinks it might have been a suicide.

1990–1999

• Donna Marie Prudhomme(34) disappeared fromNassau Bay, Texas,in July 1991 and was found dead on 8 September 1991.Her cause of death is unknown.
• Berlin police were called to aLichtenbergapartment on the night of 3 December 1991 after neighbors complained of loud arguments, barking dogs and a parade of men coming and going. Inside they found the body ofBeate Ulbricht(47), adopted daughter ofWalter Ulbricht,the first Communist leader ofEast Germany,by then defunct. Visible facial injuries suggested a death by blunt force trauma, but whether that had resulted from an accident or foul play has never been determined. She had recently given a series of interviews about her family life in which she recalled her mother,Lotte,as harsh and unloving, in contrast to her late father; Lotte was unsurprised when a reporter informed her of Beate's death. The unsolved stabbing death two years later of a man thought to be Beate's lover in her last years may be connected.
• A skull fragment found in a wooded area ofBaldwin, Pennsylvania,in 1992 turned out to be that ofMichael Rosenblum(25), of nearbyPittsburgh,who had not been seen since 14 February 1980, near where the bone was found.While the cause of death could not be determined, circumstantial evidence accumulated over the years suggested that Baldwin's police department had covered up its own officers' involvement in Rosenblum's disappearance; the chief was fired over the allegations and reinstated a short time later.
• The remains ofTimothy Wiltsey(5), ofSouth Amboy, New Jersey,were found in a muddy brook behind an office park in nearbyEdisonon 23 April 1992, almost a year after his mother, Michelle Lodzinski, had reported him missing from a carnival. Decomposition was too advanced to determine how Wiltsey had died. Suspicion accumulated around Lodzinski in later years owing to reports that she had changed her account of his disappearance several times shortly after reporting it, and her conviction for an attempt to stage her own kidnapping in 1994 followed by another conviction for theft several years later. In 2014 she was arrested for her son's murder and convicted after trial two years later, but thestate Supreme Courtvacated that conviction in 2021 for insufficient evidence.
• Marsha P. Johnson(46) was an American gay rights activist who on 6 July 1992 was found dead floating in theHudson RiverinNew York,New York.It is unknown whether she committed suicide or was murdered.
• Arnold Archambeau (20) and Ruby Bruguier (18)left a passenger behind in their overturned car following an accident before dawn on 12 December 1992 outsideLake Andes, South Dakota.They were never seen alive again; almost three months later their bodies were found near the accident site. Police do not believe they had been there during the intervening winter months as they were not found during several searches of the area. Autopsies attributed the deaths to hypothermia; however Bruguier's body was in a far more advanced stage of decomposition and other evidence at the scene has reinforced investigators' belief that the two died somewhere else and their bodies were moved there. The FBI investigated as well, due to the victims being Native Americans and the incident taking place on a reservation, but closed their file in 1999 having found insufficient evidence to believe a crime occurred.
• David Glenn Lewis(52) was found dead on 1 February 1993, the victim of ahit and run,shortly after he was seen wandering onWashington State Route 24inMoxee, Washington,just outsideYakima.Moxee is 1,600 mi (2,600 km) from his home inAmarillo, Texas;evidence conflicts as to whether he was there for the preceding two days or traveled from the city. At the time of his death he was wearing clothing his family said was not his. His body remained unidentified until 2004. The driver of the vehicle that struck him also remains unidentified, and since his presence in the Yakima area has not been explained, whether his death was an accident, suicide or foul play cannot be determined.

• Divya Bhartiwas an Indian actress known for her popularity in Bollywood films in early 90s. She was the first co-actress of successful actor Sharukh Khan. She accidentally fell from the 5th floor of her building on 5th April 1993 at the young age of 19. The mystery surrounding her death remained unsolved creating a number of conspiracy theories regarding her family, social life and husband Sajid Nadiadwala.

• Mansour Rashid El-Kikhiawas a Libyan politician and human rights activist known for his opposition to Muammar Gaddafi's regime. On 10 December 1993, he was kidnapped while on a diplomatic visit to Cairo, Egypt, allegedly by Mukhabarat operatives. His fate remained unclear until October 2012, when his body was found in a refrigerator in Tripoli, indicating that he had likely died while in custody.
• Zviad Gamsakhurdia(54), former president ofGeorgia,died on 31 December 1993 from circumstances that remain very unclear.It is known that he died in the village of Khibula in theSamegreloregion of western Georgia.
• On 27 April 1994,Lynne Frederick(39) was found dead by her mother in her West Los Angeles home. Foul play and suicide were ruled out and anautopsyfailed to determine the cause of death.Some in the media speculated she died from the effects ofalcoholism.Her remains were cremated atGolders Green Crematoriumin London, and her ashes were interred with those of her first husband,Peter Sellers.
• Oscar Gomez,American student and activist during the 1990s,who died under mysterious circumstances on 16 November 1994 inSanta Barbara, California,while he was protesting with his fellow students.
• Sonja Engelbrecht(19) was a young teenage woman who went missing on the night of 1995 April 10–11 inMunich,whose remains were first discovered on 23 November 2021.Her cause of death remains unknown.
• Caroline Byrne(24), an Australian model, was found at the bottom of a cliff atThe GapinSydneyon 8 June 1995. Her boyfriend at the time of her death was charged with killing her and was convicted, but was acquitted of the conviction in February 2012 as the decision was overturned.It is unclear to whether her death was amurderorsuicide.
• Carl Isaacs Jr.(21), formerly knownRock County John Doe,and also commonly referred asJohn Clinton Doe,was the name given to a now identified set of skeletal remains of a young adult white male found alongside Turtle Creek nearClinton, Rock County, Wisconsinon 26 November 1995.His death cause is also unknown.
• Green Bootsis the name given to theunidentified corpseof a climber that became a landmark on the main Northeast ridge route ofMount Everest.Though his identity has not been officially confirmed, he is believed to beTsewang Paljor,an Indian climber who died on Mount Everest in 1996.
• English actorBarry Evans(53) died on 9 February 1997. The police went to his house to inform him that they had recovered his stolen car, which was reported the day before, but he was found dead in his home. The coroner found a blow to Evans's head and also found high levels of alcohol in his system. A short will was found on a table next to his body and a spilt packet of aspirin tablets, bearing a pre-decimalisation price tag, indicating that the pack was at least 26 years old, was found on the floor, although the coroner concluded that he had not taken any of them. The cause of his death was never confirmed.
• ScreenwriterGary DeVore(55) leftSanta Fe, New Mexico,on 28 June 1997, for Hollywood to drop off his final draft of the script for a remake ofThe Big Steal,a 1950 film in part about a man who stages his own disappearance. He never arrived, and was considered missing for a year until his body was found in his car in theCalifornia Aqueduct.His hands were missing, and it did not appear from the position in which it was found that the car had gone into the waterway after an accident. No cause of death has been conclusively established.
• Ricky Reel(21), acomputer sciencestudent atBrunel University,was last seen alive in the early morning of 15 October; his body was recovered from theRiver Thamessix days later. Although theMetropolitan Policeinitially declared his deathaccidental,anopen verdictwas later returned. Speculation remains as to a racial motive behind his death.
• Theodore Sindikubwabo,interim president during theRwanda genocide,died in 1998. Cause of death is unknown, but it has been speculated that he died ofHIVor was killed byInterahamwehardliners.
• Patricia Lee Partinwas among four women who leftLos Angeles, California,and disappeared alongsideFlorinda Donnerin 1998; her remains were found in the desert sands ofDeath Valleyin 2003. Partin's cause of death remains unknown.
• Greek philosopherDimitris Liantinis(55) disappeared on 1 June 1998. In July 2005 human bones were found in the area of the mountain Taygetos; forensic examinations verified that it was the body of Liantinis. No lethal substances were found to identify the cause of death.
• Sani Abacha(54), military dictator of Nigeria, who died on 8 June 1998. There is a popular theory in Nigeria that he died after consuming a poisoned apple, but one of his confidants reported that after Arafat's visit and shaking hands
• Kevin Hjalmarsson(4), aSwedishboy who went missing, was found dead inArvikaon 16 August 1998.Though he was originally thought to have been murdered, it is now claimed by the police that he is thought to have died in an unknown accident.
• Bardhyl Çaushi(62–63), aKosovo Albanianactivist and human rights lawyer,was kidnapped in 1999 by Yugoslav forces and found dead in 2005 from reasons that could not be determined.
• William DaShawn Hamilton(6) was an American child whose skeletal remains were found near a cemetery near Atlanta, Georgia in 1999. His mother was convicted in 2024 of concealing his death. His cause of death is unknown.
• Yves Godard(43) was a French doctor who, along with his son and daughter, disappeared on a sailing trip in September 1999.A skull fragment belonging to his daughter Camille was foundin 2000; six years later bone fragments belonging to Godard were found in theEnglish Channel.No trace of his son or Godard's boat has ever been found. His wife, who did not go on the sailing trip and stayed at home, also disappeared at the same time. Investigators found traces of blood in the family home and in Godard's caravan, raising suspicion that Godard's wife was murdered. In 2012, the case was closed without charges. Prosecutors ruled out accidental death and believe that Godard probablymurdered his family before committing suicideat sea, but acknowledge that they are not certain of this.
• Hangthong Thammawattana(49), aThaibusinessman and politician, was found dead from a gunshot wound in the early hours of 6 September 1999 in his family's mansion.It is unknown if it was a suicide or murder.
• Jaryd Atadero(3) was an American boy who went missing on 2 October 1999 inColoradoin the Arapaho & Roosevelt National Forest. On 6 May 2003 some of his remains were discovered by two businessmen while they were hiking.Though there are different theories to how he died, the true cause is not known.

2000–2010

• Lolo Ferrari(37) was a French dancer, singer and film actress who also performed inpornographyand was known for her largesurgically enhanced breasts.Ferrari was found deceased on the morning of 5 March 2000 of causes which have never been determined.
• Erin Foster (18) and Jeremy Bechtel (17)were a teenage couple fromSparta, Tennesseewho disappeared on 3 April 2000, after leaving a party.In 2021, they were both found dead in a car underwater. What led up to the event is unknown.
• Rodney Marks(32), an Australianastrophysicist,died of a sudden illness on 12 May 2000 atAmundsen–Scott South Pole StationinAntarctica.It was not possible for his body to be flown toNew Zealandand autopsied until after the Antarctic winter ended six months later; the cause of death was found to have beenmethanolpoisoning. Suicide was ruled out, as he did not seem to have a motive and had readily sought treatment for his apparent illness, nor did an accidental overdose seem likely, either, as there was plenty of alcoholic drink available for consumption at the base should he have wanted it. The New Zealand police believed instead that the methanol had been "unknowingly" introduced into Marks' system but could not conclusively call the case a homicide. Further investigation has been frustrated by the refusal of American agencies to share their findings, the global dispersal of researchers and personnel at the base that winter, the 2006 disappearance of the doctor who treated Marks, and the loss of any possible crime-scene evidence during the winter after Marks' death.
• Soad Hosny(58) was an actress fromCairo,Egypt,who died inLondonafter she mysteriously fell from the balcony of her friend's apartment on 21 June 2001.
• On 11 August 2001, Irish musicianPaul Cunniffe(40), formerly of the bandsBlaze Xand theSaw Doctors,died in a fall in the London neighborhood ofWhitechapel.The circumstances that led to the fall, however, or even exactly where it occurred, remain unknown. His is one of several deaths among friends and acquaintances ofPete Doherty.
• Daniel Nolan(14) was an English schoolboy who disappeared from theHampshireharbor town ofHamble-le-Riceafter a fishing expedition on 1 January 2002. Sections of Nolan's body were discovered inside two socks inSwanage,Dorset,on 15 May 2003. His cause of death is undetermined.
• Abu Nidal(65), Palestinian terrorist leader behind the 1985Rome and Vienna airport attacks,already suffering fromleukemia,was reported to have died from a gunshot wound inBaghdadon 16 August 2002.Iraq's government at the time claimed his death was a suicide; however,theFatah Revolutionary Council,which Nidal founded, claimed he was assassinated onSaddam Hussein's orders to prevent his possible capture during theAmerican invasion of Iraqthat began six months later.
• Jeremiah Duggan(22), a British student studying inParis,was found dead on a highway inWiesbaden,Germany, early on 27 March 2003. The initial investigation concluded he had committed suicide by running into traffic. However, his mother, noting that he had called her in great distress over his involvement with theLaRouche movement,who may have discovered that he was British and Jewish, within an hour of his death, never accepted that theory, and a later investigation found evidence that the accident may have been staged to cover an earlier beating. The case was reopened in 2012 after extensive litigation in England, resulting in a change of the cause of death to "unexplained", with the note that Duggan may have been involved in some sort of "altercation" beforehand.
• A human skull that was found offVanikoroin April 2003 was thought to have been that ofGaspard Duché de Vancy(35–36),who disappeared in 1788. Who it belonged to and death cause, are unknown.

Jürgen Möllemann.Suspicion remains Möllemann may have committed suicide as opposed to his death beingvia misadventure

• Jürgen Möllemann(57), GermanFree Democratic Partypolitician, died on 5 June 2003 in aparachutingincident atMarl-Lohmühle.His death was investigated by the Essen district attorney's office, which published a final report on 9 July 2003. While outside interference was ruled out, no definite verdict was reached on whether Möllemann committedsuicideor haddied via misadventure.Shortly before his death, Möllemann, a passionate and experienced skydiver, had been confronted with allegations he had been involved in illegal arms deals and evaded taxes on millions of euros he allegedly earned from these activities. To enable a full investigation on these charges, theBundestaglifted hisparliamentary immunityon 5 June 2003 at 12:28, 22 minutes before his death. The tax evasion charges were dropped after his death.
• Singer-songwriterElliott Smith(34) died of stab wounds inflicted in hisLos Angeleshome on 21 October 2003. His girlfriend claims she got out of the shower after an argument, having heard him scream, to find him with the knife sticking out of his chest, and found a short suicide note on aPost-Itshortly thereafter. While he did indeed have a history of depression and drug addiction, friends say he was actively working to finish an album at the time and seemed optimistic. The coroner found the stab wounds were inconsistent with a suicide attempt but could not say it was a homicide either; the cause of the stabbing remains undetermined and has not been further investigated.
• Jonathan Luna(38), an Assistant U.S. Attorney from Baltimore, was found dead of multiple stab wounds inflicted with his own penknife inDenver, Pennsylvania,on the morning of 4 December 2003 in a stream underneath his car, which had been driven there overnight from Baltimore. The FBI, which has jurisdiction over the possible murder of any U.S. federal employee, found that Luna had mounting financial problems and was facing an investigation over missing money at his office; they considered it a suicide or botched attempt at staging a kidnapping. However, theLancaster Countycoroner's office, pointing to evidence suggesting he had been abducted and someone else was driving for at least the final stage of his drive, ruled it a homicide and considers the case open.
• Lamduan Armitagewas a formerly unidentified woman whose body was discovered in 2004 on the mountainPen-y-ghentinYorkshire,England,leading her to become known as theLady of the Hills.She was found to have originally come from somewhere inSouth-East Asia,but despite an international police investigation, the identity of the woman, and how she arrived at the location remained a mystery until 2019.The woman was identified in March 2019 through DNA testing.Her cause of death remains unknown.
• Alonzo Brooks(23), American man who went missing fromLa Cygne, Kansas,on 3 April 2004 and was found dead on 1 May 2004.After the pathologists did anautopsythey have not yet been able to tell the cause of his death.
• The coroner investigating the death ofRichard Lancelyn Green(51), a BritishArthur Conan Doylescholar who was foundgarrottedwith a shoelace on his bed in his home on 27 March 2004,returned an open verdict. Many of his friends and family suspected homicide as he had complained of someone following him in his efforts to stop the auction of a cache of Doyle's personal papers that he believed to have been wrongfully acquired. However, despite suicide by garrotte being unusual and difficult, some investigators believed that he had followed the example of one of Doyle'sSherlock Holmesstories in which a woman stages her suicide to look like a murder.
• John Garang(60), Sudanese politician and former rebelrevolutionaryleader, died on 30 July 2005 inNew Cush,Sudanin a suspicious helicopter crash.
• Barbara Precht's(69) body was found on 29 November 2006 in Cincinnati, Ohio. She remained unidentified until November 2014. Her husband was later located and is considered a person of interest in her death, which has unknown circumstances.
• Joyce Carol Vincent(38) was found dead in her London flat in January 2006, two years after she had died, by which time the body had decomposed so much as to make identifying a cause of death impossible; her story was profiled in the 2011 documentaryDreams of a Life.
• Rey Rivera(32), American writer, was working forStansberry and Associates,went missing from his house on 16 May 2006 and was found dead onBelvedere Hotelon 24 May 2006, inMount Vernon, BaltimoreEven though theBaltimore Police Departmenthas claimed that his death was most likely to be asuicide,this has not been proven to be the case.
• Bob Woolmer(58),Pakistan's nationalcricketcoach, was found dead in his hotel room on 18 March 2007, after losing in theCricket World Cup 2007in the West Indies. Investigators at first ruled the death a suicide,but the jury that heard the inquest returned an open verdict.
• The body ofCorryn Rayney(44) was found in thePerthsuburb ofKings Park, Western Australiaa week after her 7 August 2007 disappearance; her husband Lloyd was charged in her murder even though a cause of death had not been determined.A judge acquitted him at his 2012 trial, finding the largely circumstantial case was further compromised by police misconduct. The verdict was upheld on appeal the following year; Rayney and his lawyers have called for two known sex criminals to be investigated as well.
• TheSalish Sea human foot discoveriesare the severed feet found from 20 August 2007 to 1 January 2019 that are known to belong to peoplewho are thought to be dead. The circumstances behind these events remain unclear.
• Tony Harris(36), Americanbasketballplayer who had played in multiple countries, disappeared fromBrasília,Brazil on 4 November 2007 and was found dead on 18 November 2007.There are different ideas about why he died, yet the true cause of his death is unknown.
• AfterOphélie Bretnacher(22), a French exchange student, left aBudapestnightclub to return to her apartment early 2 December 2008, security cameras recorded her walking through the streets in that direction; it was the last time she was seen alive. Her handbag was found later on theSzéchenyi Chain Bridgeover theDanube,which she had been recorded crossing. Two months later, her body was found washed up on the river island ofCsepel,within the city but upstream from the bridge. Hungarian authorities were unable to determine the cause of death and closed the case in 2014.
• American professional wrestlerSteven James Bisson(32), who went by the ring name of "Steve Bradley", was found dead on 4 December 2008 inManchester, New Hampshire,in a parking lot across the street from a pro wrestling school where he once operated. Bradley's cause of death is undetermined,as theautopsycould not reveal what he died from, so his death remains a mystery.
• ThePeter Bergmann caseis an unsolved mystery pertaining to the death of an unidentified man inCounty Sligo,Ireland, whose naked body was found on a beach; the autopsy found no signs of drowning or foul play and thus the cause of death remains undetermined. From 12 to 16 June 2009, a man using the alias "Peter Bergmann" visited the coastal seaport town ofSligoin northwest Ireland. He used this alias to check into the Sligo City Hotel, where he stayed during the majority of his visit. He was described by hotel staff and tenants as having a heavy German accent. Despite conducting a five-month investigation into the death of "Peter Bergmann", theGarda Síochánahave never been able to identify the man or develop any leads in the case.
• Skeletal remains found in a dry creek bed in California'sMalibu Canyonon 9 August 2010, turned out to be those ofMitrice Richardson(25). She had last been seen on the night of 16 September 2009 in the backyard of a former local television news anchor after being arrested for marijuana possession and failure to pay the bill at a local restaurant where she had been acting strangely, behavior that investigating officers did not believe was caused by alcohol or drugs. The coroner has said her death did not appear to be a homicide, but the body was too decayed to determine the exact cause of death.
• TheJamison familydisappeared mysteriously on 8 October 2009 fromRed Oak, Oklahomaand were all later found dead after four years in November 2013.Their death causes could not be determined.

2010–2019

• On 23 August 2010, the partially decomposed body ofGareth Williams(32), a Welsh mathematician who worked for British intelligenceGCHQ,but who was seconded toMI6at the time of his death, was found in a padlocked bag in the bathroom of asafe housein the London neighbourhood ofPimlico.It was determined he had been dead for about a week. Due to the nature of his work, the investigation had to withhold details of it and some other aspects from any material made public; his family and friends allege that theMetropolitan Policecompromised and mishandled key forensic evidence in the early stages of their response. An initial investigation by the coroner's office concluded that the death was a homicide; a later re-investigation by the police claimed that it was instead an accident.

Rajiv Dixit.Dixit died of a heart attack on 30 November 2010.

• Rajiv Dixit(43), an Indianpublic speakerandsocial activist,died on 30 November 2010 inBhilai,Chhattisgarh,of a heart attack. It is claimed that Dixit refused to undergo emergency medical treatment, and died shortly thereafter. Noautopsywas ever conducted.
• Anneka Di Lorenzo(58) was a film star and a nude model who worked inCaliforniawho was found dead in January 2011 after having drowned in the sea offCamp Pendleton.It is unknown whether or not her death was either a murder or suicide.
• British citizenLee Bradley Brown(39) was arrested byDubai policewhile on holiday there 6 April 2011 and charged with assault after an incident between him and a hotel maid; accounts of the circumstances differ. Held without bail, he died in custody six days later after, police claimed, being beaten by cellmates; later they said he had "thrown himself on the ground repeatedly." An autopsy, however, found instead that Brown had, under the influence ofhashish,choked on his own vomit. British officials who were allowed to examine the body disputed that conclusion, saying they saw no evidence of choking orblunt force trauma;Dubai authorities have declined repeated requests to share evidence such as CCTV footage from the original incident and the police station that might clarify matters. A coroner's inquest in the UK that considered only the autopsy report and the diplomats' reports returned an open verdict.
• Anjuman Shehzadi(33–34), Pakistani film and stage actress,was found dead inLahoreunder mysterious circumstanceson 15 May 2011. Her death remains unsolved.
• Maddy Scott(20) was a Canadian woman who disappeared on 28 May 2011 fromVanderhoof, British Columbiaand was found dead on 27 May 2023.Her cause of death is unknown.
• Tom J. Anderson(35), formerly known by his birth name "Ahmad Rezaee", was a businessman and the eldest son of Iranian Major GeneralMohsen Rezaee.On 12 November 2011, he was found dead in the Gloria Hotel, located inDubai Media City,where he was staying. There are different theories about how he died, yet the cause of his death remains unknown.
• Stephen Corrigan(48) was anIrishman who disappeared on 22 November 2011;on 9 April 2020 some remains of his skeleton were found inRathmines, Dublin.Corrigan's death cause is unknown.
• Arkadiusz Sojka(32), was a football playerstrikerfrom Poland who went missing in June 2012 fromPrzesieka,and was found dead in October 2012. His cause of death is not known.
• Candice Cohen-Ahnine(35), a French Jewish woman who successfully fought a legal battle against Saudi princeSattam bin Khalid Al Saudover their illegitimate daughter, fell to her death inParison August 16, 2012. Her death is considered suspicious in nature due to the circumstances.
• ExiledRussian oligarchBoris Berezovsky(67) was found dead in his home nearAscot, Berkshireon 23 March 2013. At first glance he had hanged himself; he had recently lost what remained of his fortune, and some other close friends had unexpectedly died, which had left him despondent. The police soon ruled the case a suicide, but at the inquest, Berezovsky's daughter, who believes her father was murdered at the behest of theRussian government,introduced a report by a German pathologist that cast enough doubt for the coroner to return an open verdict.
• Zsolt Erőss(45), aHungarianhigh-altitude mountaineer,disappeared on 21 May 2013 while he was climbingKangchenjunga.Erőss' body was found in 2014,and his death cause is unknown.
• The decomposing remains of Canadian journalistDave Walker(57) were found inCambodia'sAngkortemple complex on 1 May 2014,ending a search that began shortly after he failed to return to his hotel's guest house on the night of 14 February. While the medical examiner concluded that he had died weeks earlier, the cause of Walker's death could not be determined.
• Bone fragments found along the Rio Culebra nearBoquete,Panama,in late June 2014 were matched toLisanne Froon, 22, and Kris Kremers, 21,ofAmersfoort,the Netherlands. The two had last been seen alive on 1 April when they went for a hike on the popular El Pianista trail. After unsuccessful initial searches a backpack belonging to the women was turned in by a local. It contained their phones, a Canon camera and personal effects. After two months small fraction of their remains was found as well. The women's cell phones showed that they had repeatedly attempted to contact emergency numbers shortly after taking pictures of themselves at theContinental Divide.Those calls had continued over several days, and Froon's camera contained 90 photographs taken in the night of 8 April, seven days after their disappearance. Most of the photos showed the jungle in the dark, but some of them contained rock formations, and small pieces of paper and other items in close-up and one contained the back of Kremers's head. It was impossible to determine from the remains that were found exactly how they had died. Local officials believe the women suffered an accidental injury shortly after getting lost in a network of trails in the region'scloud forestsand got lost in the wilderness aroundVolcán Barú;however, Panamanian lawyers for their families have pointed to failings of the investigation and suggested both women could have met with foul play.
• On 27 June 2014, the body ofAndrew Sadek(20) was recovered from theRed RivernearBreckenridge, Minnesota,with a small-caliber gunshot wound and a backpack full of rocks. He had last been seen by a security camera leaving his dorm atNorth Dakota State College of ScienceinWahpetonaround 2 a.m. on 1 May. At the time of his disappearance he had been working as aconfidential informantfor local police as a result of his own arrest for selling marijuana on campus, which could otherwise have resulted in a long prison sentence. It has not been determined yet whether his death was suicide or murder. LikeRachel Hoffman's death, the case has been used as an example of the mishandling of youthful CIs by police.
• Gennadiy Tsypkalov(43) was a political and military figure of the unrecognizedLuhansk People's Republic(LPR). According to officials of theLuhansk People's Republic,Tsypkalov had committedsuicideon 17 May 2014,yet according to some of Tsypkalov's colleagues whomIgor Plotnitskydismissed, the leadership of LPR murdered Tsypkalov.His true death cause is unknown.
• Lennon Lacywas a student who went to West Bladen High School located inBladenboro, North Carolinawho was found dead in the center of a mobile home community hanging from the frame of a swing seton 29 August 2014. It is unclear whether he committedsuicideor was murdered.
• John Sheridan(72), formerlyNew Jersey's Transportation Commissioner,was found dead in hisSkillmanhome along with his wife Joyce on the morning of 28 September 2014. The bodies were in an upstairs bedroom where a fire had been set; they were found with multiple stab wounds. An original ruling ofmurder-suicidewas changed to undetermined in 2017 after a court challenge by the couple's sons, motivated by complaints of mishandled evidence and some evidence suggesting the couple had been attacked by an intruder. The sons called for the investigation to be reopened,which the state attorney general did in 2022.
• TheUnnao dead bodies row,discovered on 14 January 2015, were the remains of over one hundred unidentified dead bodies found floating in theRiver GangesinUnnao districtlocated in the Indian state ofUttar Pradesh.The cause behind their deaths is unknown.
• Alberto Nisman(51), an Argentine federal prosecutor, was found dead in his apartment with a single gunshot wound to the head on 18 January 2015. He had been investigating the 1994AMIA bombing,Argentina's deadliest terror attack, and had publicly accused PresidentCristina Kirchnerand other high officials close to her of covering up for suspects in the case for foreign-policy reasons; he was scheduled to present these allegations to Congress the next day. While some of the circumstances of his death are consistent with an early statement that he committed suicide, friends and relatives say that he was eagerly looking ahead to his appearance before Congress and did not seem depressed or despondent at all. Kirchner has suggested the country's intelligence services were behind the killing, since he was about to expose their attempts to bring her down, and called for them to be dismantled. The case remains under investigation.
• Canserbero(26), a Venezuelan hip hop artist and songwriter, was found dead from an apparent fall in front of his apartment complex inMaracayon January 20, 2015. Several hypotheses have been proposed as to what led to his death.
• Kayla Mueller(26), an Americanhuman rightsactivist andhumanitarian aidworker who had been taken captive by theIslamic Statein August 2013 inAleppo,Syria,where she was helpingDoctors Without Borders,was reported to have died in a Jordanian air strike during theSyrian Civil WarinRaqqaon 6 February 2015. Her death was confirmed by thePentagon,but the circumstances could not be established by the US. The Pentagon agreed the building she supposedly died in according to ISIS was hit in the bombings, but disputed that Mueller or any other civilian had been inside at the time. The site had been bombed by the coalition twice before, and was targeted again because ISIS soldiers sometimes return to bombed sites, thinking the coalition would not bomb those sites again, according to Pentagon spokesmanJohn Kirby.AfterAbu Bakr al-Baghdadi's death in October 2019, new speculations arose that Al-Baghdadi may have had her executed.
• Josh Greenberg(29), co-founder of the music-streaming serviceGrooveshark,which had shut down a few months earlier after settling several copyright-infringement suits brought by major music companies, was found dead in his bed by his girlfriend on 29 July 2015 at their apartment inGainesville, Florida.The autopsy could not establish a cause of death; investigators have said that suicide or foul play are unlikely.
• Vladimir Cvijan,Serbian lawyer and politician, former MP (2012–2014) and legal advisor and General Secretary ofPresident of Serbia(2004–2010). High-ranked member of rulingSNSofAleksandar Vučić,from 2010 to 2014, and later dissident. He disappeared in 2017, allegedly fleeing to theUnited States,however, in March 2021 Serbian media published a document in which the Public Prosecutor of the Higher Public Prosecutors Office in Belgrade states that the Prosecutor's Office issued an order ordering the payment of costs to the Institute for Forensic Medicine of theFaculty of Medicine,University of Belgradefor theautopsyof Vladimir Cvijan's body on 20 November 2018 inBelgrade, Serbia.The cause, circumstances and exact date of his death are still unknown.

Valery Bolotov.Leader of theLuhansk People's Republic.His body was discovered on 27 January 2017

• Valery Bolotov(46) was aUkrainianmilitant leader known for his involvement in theDonbass Warineastern Ukraine,and as the leader of the unrecognizedLuhansk People's Republic.Bolotov was found dead on 27 January 2017 in his own home inMoscow,Russia. The preliminary results of clinical tests showed anacute heart failureas reason for death.Poisoninglater was suspected.The causes of his death are currently being investigated and are not currently known.
• Otto Warmbier(22) was an American college student who was arrested and detained inNorth Koreasince January 2016, on charges that he had attempted to steal a propaganda poster. During his imprisonment, he suffered an unspecified injury which caused him to go into a coma, from which he died on 19 June 2017.

• Sean Suiter(43) was a homicide detective working inBaltimore Citywho died on 16 November 2017. It is not known whether it was self-inflicted or not.
• Rogelio Martinez(36), an agent of theUnited States Border Patrol,died on 19 November 2017 inCulberson County, Texaswhile on duty. His cause of death is thought to be murder, but this remains uncertain owing to a lack of evidence. A four-month investigation was conducted by the FBI into his death cause, but the results were inconclusive.
• Sridevi(54) was an Indian actress. Sridevi passed away on 24th February 2018 after she was found drowning in her bathtub by her husband in theEmirates Hotelof Dubai. Her mysterious accidental death on a foreign land led to number of conspiracy theories remaining unsolved.
• Computer hackerAdrian Lamo(37) was found dead 14 March 2018 on a pile of sheets in the guest bedroom of theWichita, Kansas,home of a couple he had been living with. After three months of investigating, the county coroner was unable to identify a cause of death. While there are some alternative theories suggesting his death had something to do with his controversial involvement in the criminal cases againstChelsea ManningandJulian Assange,the most likely theory is the possible adverse interactions of some of the medicines found near him withkratom,which he often used.
• Hong Kong teenagerChan Yin-lam,who participated in the2019 Hong Kong protests,was found dead and naked in the harbour off Tseung Kwan O on 22 September 2019. This sparked conspiracy theories in pro-protest circles, notably the online platformLIHKGthat Chan had been killed by the police.On 11 September 2020, a coroner's inquest jury ruled that the cause of death could not be determined.
• Yolanda Klug(26), German woman who disappeared inLeipzigon 25 September 2019and whose disappearance has been linked toScientology.A walker discovered her bones on 25 February 2023 in the "Rödel" forest area nearFreyburg.The cause of death is unclear.
• Marc Bennett(52), a British citizen working forQatar Airways,was found hanged in hisDohahotel room on 24 December 2019. Authorities there ruled it suicide, a finding Bennett's friend and family disputed as he had been actively making plans for his future at a new job with aSaudicompany. The airline might have been upset by this since Qatar and Saudi Arabia do not have good relations; a couple of months earlier, after he had let them know that he was leaving, dissatisfied, he was arrested and charged with possessing stolen documents from the company. During the month, he was held he said he was tortured. TheWest SussexCoroner's Office reinvestigated the death and found that foul play "could not be ruled out".

2020s

• Ana Lucrecia Taglioretti(24) was a blind female Paraguayan violinist and prodigy who had performed at events for charitable causes. She was found dead on 9 January 2020 in her apartment inAsunción,Paraguay, by her mother during a welfare check. Her cause of death is unknown.
• Facundo Astudillo Castro(22–23) was anArgentineman who disappeared on 30 April 2020 during theCOVID-19 pandemicafter he was stopped by thepoliceinMayor Buratovich,Buenos Aires.Castro was found dead on 15 August 2020.Though Castro's death was revealed to be caused bydrowning,it could not be determined if it was a result of homicide, suicide, or an accident.
• Esther Dingley(37) was an English hiker and blogger who disappeared while going on a solo trip through thePyrenees.Partial remains were found in July 2021, and later confirmed to be Dingley's following aDNA examination.Her cause of death is currently unknown.
• John Snorri Sigurjónsson(48),Juan Pablo Mohr Prieto(37), andAli Sadpara(45), three high-altitude mountaineers, went missing while climbing theBottleneckarea of Pakistan'sK2mountain on 5 February 2021. The three men's bodies were found on 26 July of that year, but cause of death could not be determined.
• Melissa Caddick(49) was an Australian financial advisor who vanished on 12 November 2020, amid allegations that she was running aPonzi scheme.Her partial remains were found floating in the ocean in February 2021, but cause of death is yet to be established.
• James Dean(35), English footballer and champion kickboxer who disappeared in the area ofOswaldtwistleon 5 May 2021. His body was found four days later. While authorities have said that the case is not treated as a homicide, no cause of death has been determined.The police announced his death was not being treated as suspicious.
• Kristina Đukić(21) was aSerbianlivestreamerandYouTuberwho was found dead inBelgrade,Serbia on 8 December 2021from causes that have yet to be determined.
• Leah Croucher(19), British teenager was reported missing on 15 February 2019 inMilton Keynes,Buckinghamshire,England. She was confirmed deceased on 21 October 2022 following the official identification of her remains. The prime suspect in her death is convicted sex offender Neil Maxwell, who was found dead two months after Croucher's disappearance.
• Aguil Chut-Deng(55), also known as "Aguil Chut-Deng Acouth" and "Aguil de'Chut Deng", was aSouth Sudaneseactivist and revolutionary who was found dead on 26 April 2022 in a wooded area inBrisbaneafter being reported missing a day earlier.Her cause of death is not yet known.
• Dan Rapoport(52), Latvian-born American businessman, fell to his death from a building in Washington, D.C., on 14 August 2022. The cause of the fall has not been officially determined. Speculation has considered the possibilities of both suicide and homicide, the latter possibly by either aggrieved business connections or the Russian government, of whom Rapoport had become increasingly critical.
• Tom Marsh(60–61), a highly-regarded astrophysicist and astronomer who went missing on 16 September 2022 at theLa Silla Observatoryin Chile, was found dead on 10 November 2022 in theAtacama Desert.His cause of death is unknown.
• Julian Sands(65), English actor who went missing in January 2023in theSan Gabriel Mountainsnortheast of Los Angeles, while he was hiking. Sands' remains were found in June,but due to the condition of the body his cause of death could not be established.
• Émile Soleil(2), disappeared on 8 July 2023 in the French commune ofLe Vernet, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence.No trace of him was found until March 2024, when his skull was found by a hiker. His cause of death could not be determined.
• Elinés Olivero(22), Venezuelan female military officer who died inTumeremo,Venezuela on 1 October 2023,either by suicide or was murdered.
• Ross McDonnell(44) was an Irish photographer, cinematographer, and film director, who went missing inNew York City, New Yorkon 4 November 2023 and whose partial remains were found on 17 November 2023.His cause of death is unknown, but local authorities believe his body was dismembered by sharp rocks.

Date of death disputed

• According to contemporary sources, German alchemist and astrologerJohann Georg Faustwas killed in an explosion in either 1540 or 1541. It was assumed that Faust had been killed in an alchemical accident. However, the nature of this accident is unknown and Faust's body was said to have been "grievously mutilated", leading to suggestions of foul play and even ofSatanicinvolvement.
• Raoul Wallenberg(34), a Swedish diplomat who worked inBudapest,Hungary,was most likely executed in the Soviet Union in or around 1947 after being captured by the Red Army in 1945. His death is dated by Soviet authorities as 16 July 1947,but this is disputed, and the case remains unsolved.
• In 1948, a German court ruled that the case ofHans Kammler(43), an engineer andSScommander who oversaw many Nazi construction projects, includingconcentration campsand, later, theV-2missile program, died on 9 May 1945 of what was later claimed to be suicide by cyanide poisoning.Some other accounts, however, have him being killed by his own side to prevent his capture during an attack byCzech resistance fighters;others suggest those accounts of his death were put out to cover his surrender to theU.S. Army,in whose custody he supposedly hanged himself two years later.

See also

• Cold case (criminology)
• Forensic science
• List of kidnappings
• List of unsolved murders in the United Kingdom
• Lists of unsolved murders
• Lists of people by cause of death
• Lists of people who disappeared
• Unidentified decedent

External links

Media related toUnsolved deathsat Wikimedia Commons