Mass disappearances are by no means a new phenomenon.
The most well-known ones are the lost colony of Roanoke or the mysterious disappearance
of the Yuba County 5 and there are other mass disappearances out there that are just as
chilling.
5 - Anjikuni Lake Anjikuni Lake, sometimes known as Lake Angikuni
is in Nunavut (noo nuh voot), Canada and spans an incredible 197 sq miles.
The area is known for Caribou, trout, pike and Arctic Graylings and was once home to
a small village that found itself in the middle of an unexplained disappearance.
Fur Trapper Joe Labelle was making his way through the Canadian wilderness in November
of 1930, trudging through the harsh and unrelenting conditions and desperately seeking shelter.
That’s when he remembered that he had encountered a small Inuit village just off the Anjikuni
Lake earlier in his travels.
As Labelle approached the village he noticed that something wasn’t quite right, as the
grey skies began to darken he carried on through the village, looking for any sign of life.
As he continued into the village he found no one around, it had been completely deserted
but Labelle was unable to find any obvious reason as to why.
As he explored further he found empty huts with half-eaten meals still sitting on the
table and one hut had a fire that had slowed to a smoulder.
Everything in the village was intact, personal belongings were found in the huts and there
was no sign of a struggle.
The village looked like all of the residents had simply gotten up and walked away, leaving
all of their possessions behind.
The village’s dogs had also been left behind and upon closer inspection, Labelle found
that they had starved to death despite there being an abundance of food.
Not wanting to stick around in the village, Labelle walked to the nearest telegraph office
and sent a message to the RCMP urging them to investigate the mass disappearance of the
Anjikuni Village.
The next morning the RMCP arrived at Anjikuni Village and also discovered that all of the
graves were empty, the bodies had been removed and the headstones had been placed into neat
piles.
Undamaged kayaks were found on the banks of the river, along with food that had been hung
on lines to dry.
One trapper and his son reported seeing a cylindrical bullet-shaped object in the sky
that was headed for Angikuni Lake.
RCMP officers who were sent to investigate the village also reported seeing a bright
blue light pulsing in the distance before fading away.
The Officers commented that it was too bright and artificial to be the Northern Lights and
we are still unsure as to what exactly caused the bright blue lights.
The RCMP commented that the people of the Anjikuni Village had been missing for around
8 weeks by the time they were discovered by Joe Labelle.
They also said that they are still unsure of what exactly happened to the Anjikuni Village
and are no closer to solving the mysterious disappearance of the people that inhabited
Anjikuni Village.
4 - Suvla Bay (Missing Platoon) At that point in history World War I or the
Great War as it was known back then was one of the bloodiest conflicts in human history
claiming the lives of 20 million soldiers plus countless others.
On August 12th 1915 the Sandringham Company would make history and leave fellow soldiers
and historians scratching their heads.
Was this a case of a mysterious mass disappearance or something entirely different?
The Sandringham Company was established by King Edward VII in 1906 with the help of Frank
Beck, a land agent.
Beck worked closely with King Edward VII to establish the Sandringham Company of Volunteers.
This force was comprised of people from the Sandringham estate such as gardeners, farmers
and King Edward VII’s personal staff.
When King Edward VII passed in May 1910 his reign was transferred to King George V who
pleaded with Beck not to sign up for the war, however, Beck went against his wishes.
The company prepared themselves for combat and they were drafted into the Mediterranean
Expeditionary Force.
August 12th 1915 was the Sandringham Company’s first mission as a unit and Sir Horace Proctor-Beauchamp
ordered them to charge into the forest and attack the enemy Turkish forces.
When Sir Proctor-Beauchamp turned around to check on them, they had simply vanished into
thin air.
Bewildered, Sir Proctor-Beauchamp began a short investigation thinking that perhaps
all of them had been captured by the Turkish forces or had died in combat.
But he found nothing, he ordered his men to search the area, however the bodies of the
missing company were never found.
They were also never documented as prisoners of war by the enemy and had simply vanished
without a trace.
Sir Proctor-Beauchamp reported to his superiors saying “Among these ardent souls was part
of a fine company enlisted from the King’s Sandringham estates.
Nothing more was ever seen or heard of any of them.
They charged into the forest and were lost to sight and sound.
Not one of them ever came back.”
In 1965 Frederick Reichardt, a veteran, testified that the Sandringham Company’s mysterious
disappearance was linked with the supernatural.
His statement was supported by 3 other veterans who told newspapers that on August 12th 1915
there had been 8 ‘loaf shaped’ clouds hovering over the forest where the Sandringham
Company were launching their attack.
According to Reichardt, he watched the Sandringham Company march into one of these clouds and
that an hour later, the cloud mysteriously rose, taking the Sandringham Company with
it.
Historians were quick to debunk this theory and no further links to the supernatural have
ever been made in this case.
The Sandringham Company’s families were simply told that their loved ones had disappeared
and lived in the hope that they would one day return.
Over 100 years later, we still aren’t sure what happened to those men, making this one
of the oldest cases of an unsolved mass disappearance.
3 - Kaz II On April 18th 2007 in Queensland, Australia
a helicopter pilot came across a boat named the Kaz II drifting near the Great Barrier
Reef.
The helicopter pilot immediately noted that something was amiss and speculated that the
crew of the boat were possibly in danger as they had drifted so far out into the ocean.
In turn, the helicopter pilot alerted the maritime authorities in Queensland who began
their rescue effort of the Kaz II and its crew.
It wouldn’t be until April 20th 2007 that authorities were able to successfully locate
the Kaz II and upon boarding the boat, they were met with a disturbing scene.
The three crew members on board, 56-year-old Derek Batten, 69-year-old Peter Tunstead and
63-year-old James Tunstead were all missing but nothing else on the ship seemed out of
the ordinary.
Jon Hall who worked for the Queensland Emergency Management Office said “What they found
was a bit strange in that everything was normal; there was just no sign of the crew.”
The sail of the Kaz II had been shredded but other than that, the ship was in good condition.
When authorities boarded the ship the engine was still running and a half-empty cup of
coffee along with other valuables such as a laptop and clothing.
Nothing on the ship seemed out of the ordinary, there was no sign of a struggle and the men
had plenty of supplies to last them throughout their trip.
Radio and GPS systems were intact and no life jackets were missing from the boat.
The three men had simply vanished without a trace and investigators were left puzzled.
The three men had departed from Airlie Beach on April 15th 2007 and were intending to sail
to Townsville, Queensland before going on to other destinations.
The three men were by no means experienced sailors, having had minimal experience in
their newly acquired Kaz II.
Derek Batten had taken a sailing course but Peter and James had very little experience
on ships and were learning as they went.
Numerous searches were conducted by the Australian Search and Rescue as well as the Australian
Navy but despite their efforts, they were never able to locate the three men.
In August 2008, Michael Barnes, the Queensland State Coroner held an inquest into the mysterious
disappearance of the Kaz II crew.
Barnes concluded that the men were no longer alive and that they had been involved in some
sort of accident but was unable to definitively prove what happened to the men on that day.
Barnes stated that “I cannot be so definitive about the circumstances under which the event
occurred.”
He further proposed that the three men encountered trouble whilst trying to hoist up their rope,
causing them to fall overboard.
This is the official version of events, however, others are sceptical and believe that something
else came into play.
Until the bodies of the 3 men are found, it’s unlikely that we will ever know the truth.
2 - Dahlsjo 1965 The Dahlsjo (doll hoh) disappearance is regarded
as the only mass disappearance in Swedish history and despite occurring over 56 years
ago, it remains a heavily discussed case in Sweden to this day.
On July 29th 1965, Gay Karlsson, Jan Olof Dahlsjo and Kjell Ake Johansson mysteriously
vanished after last being seen driving a blue Volvo PV444 out of Gothenburg, Sweden.
From the start the details of this case are bizarre, none of the 3 men had a driving license
and the Volvo belonged to Dahlsjo’s brother, it has never been stated whether they had
his permission to use his car.
Another unsettling detail is that the 3 were headed for Asa which is just south of Gothenburg
to go on a camping trip.
However, sources have stated that the weather on July 29th 1965 was in no way suitable for
camping, with low temperatures and heavy downfall.
After July 29th 1965, the three men were never seen or heard from again.
The three men were reported missing individually and at different times.
It would take authorities months to make the connection between the cases and realise that
the three men had disappeared together, by which time valuable evidence had been lost.
Sources claim that the three men had been involved in petty crimes in the past, however,
had made an effort to set themselves on the straight and narrow in recent months, getting
themselves jobs at the local shipyard.
But investigators found no reason for the 3 men to disappear voluntarily, their wages
had not been collected before their disappearance and Johansson had recently had a baby, giving
him all the more reason to return home safely.
Coincidentally on July 29th 1965, there was another mysterious disappearance in Gothenburg.
18-year-old art student Hubner Hymme Lundqvist was last seen by his family on the morning
of the 29th at their summer home.
According to his family, Hymme was making his way to Gothenburg as he was interested
in connecting with local artists there.
They received a postcard that simply read “All is well - don’t worry” and that
was the last time they ever heard from him.
Swedish authorities have never conclusively said whether the two disappearances are connected,
however, it is a bizarre coincidence to have two bizarre disappearances on the same day
in the same city.
They say that bad things come in 3’s and July 29th 1965 was no exception, along with
the 2 mysterious disappearances Gothenburg was also the scene of a bank heist.
Two Hungarian refugees who had fled to Sweden following civil unrest in Hungary stormed
into a bank in Gamlestadstorget demanding that the teller hand over money.
Thankfully, a customer was able to wrestle with one of the robbers causing him to shoot
himself in the leg.
The two men, plus an accomplice were later captured and arrested after making away with
18,000 kroner.
Again, Swedish authorities have not commented on whether this incident is linked to the
mysterious disappearances, however, it is rather creepy that 3 major incidents happened
in Gothenburg on the same day.
There is also another bizarre twist in the Dahlsjo case.
When Gay Karlsson disappeared his sister went to his apartment to search for him, upon opening
the door she was greeted by an unfamiliar man.
This man was wearing a jumper that she had made for her brother and she also noticed
that the man was acting bizarrely.
He appeared stressed or panicked and told her that she should look for her brother in
the pub district before closing the door.
Since then there have been no updates in the Dahlsjo case, however, there have been a few
possible sightings.
In the late 1960s, two Swedish sailors came forward and reported that they had spoken
with a young man who told them that he was an art student, they reported seeing him in
Singapore and Australia.
These sightings are of course, unconfirmed and until further evidence is brought to light,
the only mass disappearance in Swedish history will remain unsolved.
1 - MV Joyita For over 66 years the fate of the MV Joyita
has been a mystery and even in 2021, we are still no closer to solving the bizarre mass
disappearance of its crew.
On October 3rd 1955 the MV Joyita left Samoa headed for Tokelau (tow kuh laow), a dependent
territory of New Zealand.
The ship was due to reach Tokelau on October 5th 1955 however it never arrived and soon
after a search and rescue team was assembled to find the ship.
For 6 days the search and rescue team searched a combined distance of 100,000 square miles
but found no sign of the missing cargo ship.
On October 12th 1955 the search efforts were abandoned and hope began to fade of ever finding
the ship or its crew.
That was until November 10th 1955 when the MV Joyita was found over 600 miles away in
Tuvalu, by Captain Gerald Douglas who was sailing from Fiji to Tuvalu.
As he was making his journey he came across the MV Joyita and made contact with the nearest
port, informing them that he had come across a badly damaged ship and that ship was the
missing MV Joyita.
The ship was tipped heavily into the water and was almost completely submerged.
It was also found that a cooling pipe had burst and began to slowly flood the boat with
experts later commenting that a cargo ship such as the MV Joyita was more than capable
of handling such flooding and would have remained afloat.
Captain Douglas set about recovering the ship in the hopes of saving any remaining crew
onboard.
However, there was no sign of the crew of the MV Joyita.
Despite searching the ship thoroughly, no crew members or their bodies were found.
It was also noted that 4 tons of cargo were missing from the ship and that the onboard
radio was tuned into 2182 kHz, a frequency that is used as an international marine distress
channel.
When the MV Joyita had set off on October 3rd 1955 it had been in a state of disrepair,
however, the official enquiry did not list this as a reason for the crew’s mysterious
disappearance.
Experts are still unsure as to what caused the crew of the MV Joyita to mysteriously
vanish and it is still a debated topic to this day.
Let us know in the comments what you think happened to
the MV Joyita.