This was a good short book with interesting historical stories in it. My copy is torn to shreds so I can't say too much more. Enjoyable short read though. ( )

Only two of the ten cases were actually interesting, with an additional case somewhat so because it was related to one of those two cases. If the first chapter is to be believed it is quite extraordinary. The last chapter was the most sad, it being a parent's worst nightmare: a missing child case. It was the case of Johnny Gosch (one of the first missing children to be pictured on a milk carton) of which a documentary was recently made. ( )

This book is a collection of ten true crime stories about people from all over the United States of America who all have one thing in common. Each person disappeared without a trace, and was never seen again. The cases range from 1854 to 1982 and involve every kind of disappearance: from a farmer out working in his fields to a wealthy young socialite walking down the street.

These cases have stymied and frustrated hundreds of detectives, reporters and families - because these are stories without definite answers. A plethora of theories have cropped up over the years, but still no one can offer satisfactory explanations as to how a thirteen-year-old newspaper carrier, or an eccentric historian, or a highly-respected judge can just disappear and never be seen again. But we can, and perhaps always will wonder. And in ten unbelievable tales, we can find out who these people were, before they vanished - without a trace.

I must say that I really enjoyed reading this book. It was a relatively quick read for me and the cases included in the book were unusual enough to hold my attention completely. Most of the stories were totally new to me, although I think two or three of them are considered famous for remaining unsolved mysteries for as long as they have. I've always had a fascination with the unexpected and unexplained and this book is no exception. I give it an A+! and will certainly keep my eyes open for more from this author to read in the future. ( )

This book is a short collection of profiles of ten people who vanished without a trace. None of them have ever been found; four of them (Thomas Riha, Alice van Alstine, Michael Rockafeller, John Gosch) are the only ones not obviously deceased due to time factors. For the most part, the book focuses on the stories behind the disappearances and presents some of the theories offered. With two of them (Ambrose Bierce and Michael Rockafeller) it's pretty obvious both what happened and what the author thinks happened. With the other eight, there's no solution presented, and with most of them there probably will never be. There are some things left out of the profiles - John Gosch's case is mentioned without the disappearance of Eugene Martin (since the book was published in 1985, Marc Allen hadn't vanished yet). Alstine and Gosch were both tricky profiles - almost everyone in the book had been missing for two decades or more, but they're the only ones who had been missing less than ten years. It's sheer chance that they also were never found. It's worth reading by any missing persons' buff, and anyone interested in unsolved crimes.

The missing featured in this book are:

Orion Williamson
Ambrose Bierce
Dorothy Arnold (http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/a/arnold_dorothy.html)
Amelia Earhart
Thomas Riha
Alice van Alstine (http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/v/vanalstine_alice.html)
Michael Rockafeller
Charles Brancati
Joseph Crater (http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/crater_joseph.html)
John Gosch (http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/g/gosch_john.html)