WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.639 --> 00:00:05.480 Hello friends. In this episode, we'll be taking a look 2 00:00:05.519 --> 00:00:09.800 at ten celebrities for famous people that have gone missing 3 00:00:09.839 --> 00:00:13.800 and were never found. Now, inasmuch as celebrity or fame 4 00:00:13.880 --> 00:00:16.800 is not an easy commodity to measure, these stories are 5 00:00:16.800 --> 00:00:19.640 presented in a random order, so we feel that any 6 00:00:19.760 --> 00:00:23.039 one famous person is not necessarily more famous than another. 7 00:00:24.160 --> 00:00:31.519 Join us number ten. Ritchie Edwards, also known as Richie 8 00:00:31.519 --> 00:00:36.159 Maniac Richie, was born December twenty second, nineteen sixty seven 9 00:00:36.320 --> 00:00:39.759 in Cardiff, Wales. He's a guitarist for the band called 10 00:00:39.920 --> 00:00:44.119 Manic Street Preachers and was reported missing February first, nineteen 11 00:00:44.200 --> 00:00:48.840 ninety five at just twenty seven years old. Belonging to 12 00:00:48.880 --> 00:00:51.600 the so called twenty seven Club is not a membership 13 00:00:51.600 --> 00:00:54.200 most would be willing to complete the demands to get into. 14 00:00:55.039 --> 00:00:58.240 Famous musicians that have joined this exclusive club over the 15 00:00:58.320 --> 00:01:01.560 years are the likes of Janis Job, Jimmy Hendrix, Jim 16 00:01:01.600 --> 00:01:05.439 Morrison and Kurt Cobain, to name just a few. What 17 00:01:05.519 --> 00:01:07.760 do these people in this club have in common other 18 00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:11.000 than being famous musicians, They all died at the age 19 00:01:11.000 --> 00:01:14.319 of twenty seven now making the rock scene in the 20 00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:17.120 late eighties, Manic Street Preachers put a new spin on 21 00:01:17.159 --> 00:01:20.359 the commonplace rock and roll at the time. Not wanting 22 00:01:20.400 --> 00:01:22.560 to be linked to any one type of music, the 23 00:01:22.640 --> 00:01:25.439 guitar player and songwriter was cutting edge for the time. 24 00:01:25.959 --> 00:01:28.799 The music they were producing has been compared to the 25 00:01:28.879 --> 00:01:32.120 clash meets Guns n' Roses. According to one news article, 26 00:01:33.159 --> 00:01:35.239 Richie Edwards was seen as the leader of the group, 27 00:01:35.760 --> 00:01:37.920 but the truth is that it was he and the 28 00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:41.879 bass player Nicky Wire that shared the responsibilities with songwriting 29 00:01:42.079 --> 00:01:45.239 just the same, and other production ideas were also shared. 30 00:01:46.560 --> 00:01:50.560 Ritchie's charisma, intelligence, and artistic voice drew people in and 31 00:01:50.599 --> 00:01:54.599 made it easy to interview him. A seriously introverted person, 32 00:01:55.000 --> 00:01:57.359 Edwards was careful with his words and interviews and took 33 00:01:57.400 --> 00:02:00.760 that part of fame very seriously. It said that he 34 00:02:00.799 --> 00:02:04.400 wanted fame more than anything and was obsessed with image 35 00:02:04.439 --> 00:02:09.280 and notoriety and described as vein in many ways. Edwards 36 00:02:09.360 --> 00:02:13.800 was also a deeply introspective poet. Other band members remember 37 00:02:13.800 --> 00:02:16.800 their missing bandmate as someone who wanted to become an 38 00:02:16.840 --> 00:02:20.840 image for the discarded and disenfranchised while being adored and 39 00:02:20.960 --> 00:02:25.039 taken seriously. In fact, he was so serious that during 40 00:02:25.080 --> 00:02:27.960 an interview, after telling the reporter that the band was 41 00:02:27.960 --> 00:02:31.280 for real. Richie actually carved the number four and the 42 00:02:31.319 --> 00:02:35.039 word reel into his arm of the razorblade required eighteen 43 00:02:35.080 --> 00:02:39.120 stitches to tide it all up. The band would release 44 00:02:39.199 --> 00:02:42.680 three records before the mysterious disappearance of Richie Edwards, so 45 00:02:42.719 --> 00:02:44.759 they aspired to be the biggest band of the world. 46 00:02:45.680 --> 00:02:51.400 Generation Terrorist, the Holy Bible and Everything Must Go. Edward's 47 00:02:51.439 --> 00:02:54.319 disappeared between the days of February first and fourteenth of 48 00:02:54.400 --> 00:02:59.719 nineteen ninety five. His Vauxhall car was found near Severn Bridge, 49 00:03:00.199 --> 00:03:02.039 parked and looked as though it had been there for 50 00:03:02.120 --> 00:03:06.360 a few days. The spot is infamous for jumpers, and 51 00:03:06.479 --> 00:03:08.879 while it was said that Edward was really depressed, he 52 00:03:08.960 --> 00:03:11.599 seemed to be coping by drinking and reportedly had a 53 00:03:11.599 --> 00:03:16.360 prescription for Prozac. His family was reluctant to declare him 54 00:03:16.400 --> 00:03:19.639 deceased rather than missing. In two thousand and eight, his 55 00:03:19.680 --> 00:03:23.120 status was upgraded to missing presume dead, even though there 56 00:03:23.120 --> 00:03:26.039 were still reports of sightings of Edwards all around Asia. 57 00:03:27.159 --> 00:03:29.960 Arguably one of the greatest mysteries in rock and roll history, 58 00:03:30.520 --> 00:03:33.919 the disappearance of Richie Edwards at age twenty seven was 59 00:03:33.919 --> 00:03:36.439 something that his friend said he would do just establish 60 00:03:36.520 --> 00:03:39.560 himself as a cultural martyr, just as he wanted since 61 00:03:39.599 --> 00:03:46.800 his early teen years. Number nine James Anthony Sullivan, also 62 00:03:46.840 --> 00:03:50.800 known as Jim Sully, Sullivan or just Sully. He was 63 00:03:50.800 --> 00:03:55.439 born August thirteenth, nineteen forty Nebraska, played football in high school, 64 00:03:55.439 --> 00:03:58.759 and would marry the homecoming queen. He was the seventh 65 00:03:58.800 --> 00:04:01.120 son of a blue collar family. They would ultimately move 66 00:04:01.159 --> 00:04:04.840 across the country to San Diego, California, during wartime in 67 00:04:04.879 --> 00:04:09.240 World War Two. Having played guitar for band called Survivors, 68 00:04:09.639 --> 00:04:12.240 Once Soley got his hands on a guitar, he was hooked, 69 00:04:12.960 --> 00:04:16.439 owning his powerful gift of strum. The guitar Soley played 70 00:04:16.519 --> 00:04:18.240 was as much a part of him as his talented 71 00:04:18.279 --> 00:04:21.519 hands that played it. Having moved to California as a 72 00:04:21.560 --> 00:04:23.879 child afforded him the opportunities he would need to find 73 00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:27.959 others that shared his passion for music. Described as the 74 00:04:28.040 --> 00:04:30.639 kind of California character who seemed to have stepped straight 75 00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:34.160 out of Pinchon or DeLillo novel, Sully stood six foot 76 00:04:34.160 --> 00:04:39.319 two with a signature hannahbar mustache. Very charismatic and charming individual, 77 00:04:40.120 --> 00:04:43.360 His songs were steeped in mysterious vibes with the lonely 78 00:04:43.399 --> 00:04:45.639 moldies of days gone by crooners to the likes of 79 00:04:45.720 --> 00:04:50.279 Nick Drake and Graham Parsons. He had an impressive social 80 00:04:50.319 --> 00:04:52.879 circle that included Dennis Hoffer as well as other A 81 00:04:53.000 --> 00:04:56.079 list celebrities, and even made an uncredited appearance in the 82 00:04:56.079 --> 00:05:00.240 film Easy Rider. Sulvan also recorded his first record, called 83 00:05:00.360 --> 00:05:04.279 UFO in nineteen sixty nine on a small label in California. 84 00:05:05.160 --> 00:05:08.399 Aspiring to attract a bigger label for his music, Sully 85 00:05:08.439 --> 00:05:10.680 decided to leave his old life behind and start a 86 00:05:10.720 --> 00:05:15.079 new in Nashville, Tennessee. In nineteen seventy five, Sully would 87 00:05:15.160 --> 00:05:18.439 leave California on his way to Nashville after separating from 88 00:05:18.439 --> 00:05:22.600 his wife, Barbara, pursue a record deal. At the time, 89 00:05:22.759 --> 00:05:25.879 Barbara Salvin worked at Capitol Records, but none of the 90 00:05:25.920 --> 00:05:29.480 executives there were interested in her folkey singer husband at 91 00:05:29.519 --> 00:05:33.160 the time, but others did believe in Sully and that 92 00:05:33.319 --> 00:05:36.360 was the reason he was going to Nashville. Traveling along 93 00:05:36.399 --> 00:05:39.680 I forty, he made a stop in Santa Rosea, New Mexico, 94 00:05:40.279 --> 00:05:43.120 and drifted into the desert winds, never to be heard 95 00:05:43.160 --> 00:05:46.680 from again. Now, this scenario where many people have gone 96 00:05:46.720 --> 00:05:50.319 missing and few have been found. Santa Rose in New Mexico, 97 00:05:50.399 --> 00:05:53.480 particularly in the nineteen seventies, was a small town dependent 98 00:05:53.519 --> 00:05:57.199 on tourists and travelers alike. Around twenty eight hundred people 99 00:05:57.240 --> 00:06:00.519 called this place home, and it's surrounded by vast desert, 100 00:06:00.839 --> 00:06:04.759 desolation for miles around, not much more than a pit 101 00:06:04.879 --> 00:06:06.600 stopped in the middle of the desert, and just a 102 00:06:06.600 --> 00:06:09.360 few years prior to in the sixties, a major stop 103 00:06:09.439 --> 00:06:13.079 for travelers on the old Route sixty six, Santa Rosa 104 00:06:13.120 --> 00:06:16.199 became a mainstay stop for travelers, mainly for fuel and 105 00:06:16.279 --> 00:06:20.759 snacks after I forty cut through the small town. Sullivan 106 00:06:20.879 --> 00:06:23.079 was one of these travelers in nineteen seventy five when 107 00:06:23.079 --> 00:06:25.759 he stopped in Santa Rosa in is a gray vw van. 108 00:06:26.879 --> 00:06:29.279 March fifth of that year is when things took a 109 00:06:29.319 --> 00:06:32.439 turn for the Wars. After having been pulled over on 110 00:06:32.480 --> 00:06:36.879 suspicion of driving well intoxicated, Jim Sullivan stopped in Santa Rosa, 111 00:06:36.920 --> 00:06:40.120 New Mexico and rented a hotel room, which he never 112 00:06:40.199 --> 00:06:43.399 stayed in. He contacted his wife and had a very 113 00:06:43.399 --> 00:06:46.639 cryptic conversation with her. You wouldn't believe it if I 114 00:06:46.720 --> 00:06:51.000 told you, Sulvan has reported the saint as a strange wife. Jim, 115 00:06:51.120 --> 00:06:54.759 what's the matter? Is anything wrong? She asked here, if 116 00:06:54.800 --> 00:06:58.600 I just forget it, I'll call you from Nashville, but 117 00:06:58.920 --> 00:07:02.560 Sulivan would never make it. Days later, after no word 118 00:07:02.639 --> 00:07:06.959 from him, Barbara Sulvan called hospitals police departments along the route, 119 00:07:07.199 --> 00:07:09.519 so she tracked down a department that had made contact 120 00:07:09.560 --> 00:07:12.680 with him for the traffic stop. An officer is quoted 121 00:07:12.680 --> 00:07:15.480 as telling her that Sulivan isn't in jail, but if 122 00:07:15.480 --> 00:07:19.439 you ask me, that's where he belongs. Although he had 123 00:07:19.480 --> 00:07:23.120 passed a sobriety test and was let go. Selvan made 124 00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:25.519 his way to the Meson Hotel in Santa Rosa and 125 00:07:25.560 --> 00:07:28.120 rented a room, but it reported that during the search 126 00:07:28.160 --> 00:07:30.439 form the bed was still made and the room was 127 00:07:30.439 --> 00:07:33.800 as first ten as when it was rented out. March eighth, 128 00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:37.120 nineteen seventy five, Sulivan's Great VW was towed from a 129 00:07:37.199 --> 00:07:40.519 rough mesa studded area twenty four miles south of Santa Rosa, 130 00:07:40.959 --> 00:07:44.120 and all his belongings, including his prize twelve string guitar, 131 00:07:44.279 --> 00:07:48.519 were inside a cattle. Han Pete Senna worked for the 132 00:07:48.600 --> 00:07:51.279 ranch near the area where Sullivan's VW van was found, 133 00:07:51.480 --> 00:07:53.800 and had seen him that day and asked if he 134 00:07:53.839 --> 00:07:57.399 needed a ride. We thought he was some cowboy. Sina 135 00:07:57.480 --> 00:08:00.199 said he had a hand of bar mustache, just like 136 00:08:00.199 --> 00:08:04.079 a cattle hand. We knew Sullivan declined help and seen 137 00:08:04.120 --> 00:08:07.839 it was presumably the last person to see him. Friends 138 00:08:07.879 --> 00:08:11.279 and family immediately knew something was wrong, and one friend 139 00:08:11.319 --> 00:08:13.920 went as far as to say, I knew he wasn't 140 00:08:13.959 --> 00:08:18.000 coming back. Jim would never have left his guitar. After 141 00:08:18.079 --> 00:08:21.720 learning of the guitar being found inside the van, police 142 00:08:21.759 --> 00:08:24.439 continued to search for Jim Sullivan, but they never turned 143 00:08:24.519 --> 00:08:28.160 up any new clues as to his whereabouts. Sulivan's brothers 144 00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:30.399 would take up the cause and conduct their own searches, 145 00:08:30.800 --> 00:08:34.759 but nothing was ever found. There were several articles placed 146 00:08:34.759 --> 00:08:37.559 in newspapers asking for the public's help and finding the man. 147 00:08:38.720 --> 00:08:42.200 Rumors and speculations as to Sullivan's disappearance and the mysterious 148 00:08:42.200 --> 00:08:46.480 circumstances that surrounded the case fuelled rumors. Some say he 149 00:08:46.519 --> 00:08:49.360 was abducted by aliens, others claimed there were Maffia ties, 150 00:08:49.720 --> 00:08:52.440 and then some people think that he just walked away 151 00:08:52.440 --> 00:08:54.759 from his life. Those are just a few of the 152 00:08:54.840 --> 00:08:57.600 rumors that people told and retold for years to come. 153 00:08:58.679 --> 00:09:02.279 Sullivan's a strange wiy for accounts finding soulless in thinking 154 00:09:02.279 --> 00:09:05.200 he was abducted by aliens. It was a lot easier 155 00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:09.360 than the alternative, she was quoted as saying. In twenty nineteen, 156 00:09:09.679 --> 00:09:13.440 Matt Sullivan no relation heard the song Jerome off of 157 00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:16.799 Jim Salvan's UFO album and was transfixed by the folky, 158 00:09:16.879 --> 00:09:22.639 bluesy American sound. It wasn't even maybe, he says. Within 159 00:09:22.759 --> 00:09:25.759 the first thirty seconds of Jerome, I knew I wanted 160 00:09:25.799 --> 00:09:29.039 to record it and put it out. Matt Sullivan is 161 00:09:29.080 --> 00:09:31.639 the founder of Lights in the Attic, a small independent 162 00:09:31.720 --> 00:09:35.440 record label. Willing to know more about the artist, Matt 163 00:09:35.480 --> 00:09:38.720 and his filmmaker wife, Jennifer moz enlisted the help of 164 00:09:38.759 --> 00:09:42.240 a private detective and another musician to help investigate the 165 00:09:42.279 --> 00:09:47.000 late Sullivan's missing Santa Rosa hours and disappearance. They met 166 00:09:47.039 --> 00:09:49.240 and talked to a lot of people that had earlier 167 00:09:49.360 --> 00:09:52.320 spoken to Sullivan the day he went missing or had 168 00:09:52.320 --> 00:09:56.639 their own theories. We traced his last known whereabouts, We 169 00:09:56.720 --> 00:10:01.240 met his family. It was incredibly emotional that Sullivan said 170 00:10:02.600 --> 00:10:06.879 the re release of UFO in twenty ten, exponitentially outperformed 171 00:10:06.879 --> 00:10:09.759 the original release, and the same year was promoted on 172 00:10:09.840 --> 00:10:12.519 Coast to Coast am where people called in with their 173 00:10:12.559 --> 00:10:16.240 theories on the mysterious disappearance of the talented James Sully 174 00:10:16.360 --> 00:10:24.360 Sullivan number eight. Connie Converse born Elizabeth Eton Converse August fourth, 175 00:10:24.519 --> 00:10:28.120 nineteen twenty four in Laconia, New Hampshire. Connie was raised 176 00:10:28.120 --> 00:10:30.720 by religiously strict parents in a time that was difficult 177 00:10:30.720 --> 00:10:35.360 for women to break through into professional music careers. Converse 178 00:10:35.399 --> 00:10:37.960 would win a college scholarship, but would never even finish 179 00:10:38.080 --> 00:10:40.799 high school, choosing instead to pack up and move to 180 00:10:40.879 --> 00:10:44.799 New York. Being exposed to the counterculture of the Bohemians 181 00:10:44.840 --> 00:10:47.799 and the Beatnicks in the nineteen fifties, Converse started her 182 00:10:47.919 --> 00:10:51.679 music career in the exclusive Greenwich Village, New York scene. 183 00:10:51.759 --> 00:10:55.080 In nineteen seventy four, Connie Converse would go missing, and 184 00:10:55.159 --> 00:10:58.080 her disappearance would become as much of an enigma as 185 00:10:58.159 --> 00:11:02.080 much of her life was. In nineteen fifty four, a 186 00:11:02.120 --> 00:11:04.320 friend of Converse helped to record her first set of 187 00:11:04.320 --> 00:11:07.559 songs in the kitchen of their home. Working for printing 188 00:11:07.600 --> 00:11:10.799 firm at the time. Converse was passionate about her music 189 00:11:11.080 --> 00:11:14.600 and would later be attributed as the first modern singer songwriter, 190 00:11:15.799 --> 00:11:18.679 arguably some of the most hauntingly beautiful songs of the time. 191 00:11:18.919 --> 00:11:22.080 Her acoustic sound and sophistication of melodies were done with 192 00:11:22.320 --> 00:11:25.200 ease and set her apart from other folk performers in 193 00:11:25.240 --> 00:11:29.080 that era such as Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie. Not 194 00:11:29.240 --> 00:11:32.120 known as the strongest, focused or the best instrument player, 195 00:11:32.600 --> 00:11:36.320 Converse was, however, able to deliver an intimacy and depth 196 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:39.240 in her music that wouldn't be duplicated again for decades. 197 00:11:40.159 --> 00:11:44.519 She sang about arguing lovers, promiscuity, loneliness, and other life 198 00:11:44.559 --> 00:11:46.919 events that were taboo for a lady to even speak 199 00:11:46.960 --> 00:11:50.399 of in those times, let alone sing about. These songs 200 00:11:50.440 --> 00:11:54.559 came from somewhere deep within Converse, almost like she'd live them. 201 00:11:54.720 --> 00:11:58.000 Maybe she had. There was a hurt and vulnerability in 202 00:11:58.039 --> 00:12:00.440 her voice that came out through the words and catches 203 00:12:00.480 --> 00:12:03.679 the listener right in the feelings. The friend that helped 204 00:12:03.679 --> 00:12:06.519 her record her songs would later say, the more I 205 00:12:06.559 --> 00:12:10.000 thought about it, the songs were all about herself. After 206 00:12:10.120 --> 00:12:12.799 leaving music behind, Converse would go on to edit the 207 00:12:12.879 --> 00:12:16.960 Journal of Conflict Resolution, did amateur cartoon drawings, and was 208 00:12:17.000 --> 00:12:21.000 a very vocal political activist. After the recording of that 209 00:12:21.039 --> 00:12:23.360 first demo in the kitchen and trying to make it 210 00:12:23.440 --> 00:12:27.120 go over music career, Converse became depressed because the songs 211 00:12:27.120 --> 00:12:30.159 weren't being picked up by any producers or radio stations. 212 00:12:31.320 --> 00:12:33.399 This is where her life would take a major turn. 213 00:12:34.440 --> 00:12:37.639 To deal with the depression she was encountering, Converse would 214 00:12:37.679 --> 00:12:41.720 turn to drinking heavily. Her depression never receded and seemed 215 00:12:41.720 --> 00:12:47.159 to be relentless. Decades after recording her first song, Connie 216 00:12:47.159 --> 00:12:50.120 Converse would finally get the recognition and admiration for her 217 00:12:50.200 --> 00:12:53.080 music she so desperately saw it in the nineteen fifties. 218 00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:56.240 In two thousand and nine, a small New York label 219 00:12:56.279 --> 00:12:58.879 would come across their recordings and produce an album called 220 00:12:59.000 --> 00:13:03.559 How Sad, How Lonely. The music, considering when it was recorded, 221 00:13:03.679 --> 00:13:07.600 sounds eerily contemporary. David Hermann of Squirrel Thing Records set 222 00:13:07.639 --> 00:13:11.200 of Conversus music. He would go on to say, her 223 00:13:11.320 --> 00:13:14.720 voice is really compelling. Add that to the fact this 224 00:13:14.879 --> 00:13:18.279 was a woman writing singer songwriter style music in the 225 00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:21.720 mid fifties, before being a singer songwriter was even a thing, 226 00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:25.440 and before a female singer songwriter was something that people 227 00:13:25.440 --> 00:13:28.840 were used to. Add that, with the mystery of her disappearance, 228 00:13:29.240 --> 00:13:31.759 the whole thing leaves you with more questions than answers. 229 00:13:32.559 --> 00:13:35.559 There would also be a forty minute documentary by American 230 00:13:35.559 --> 00:13:40.000 filmmaker Andrea Cohns dedicated to the rediscovery of Connie Converse 231 00:13:40.039 --> 00:13:43.000 at the Censoria Film and Music Festival that was played 232 00:13:43.039 --> 00:13:47.120 on Connie Converse Tribute Night. Connie would also find a 233 00:13:47.120 --> 00:13:50.279 cult following decades after she gave up on her music career. 234 00:13:51.120 --> 00:13:53.480 People are still drawn to her folk style and her 235 00:13:53.519 --> 00:13:57.120 adult contemporary lyrics and sound. With the release of her 236 00:13:57.159 --> 00:14:00.480 songs and the documentary, Connie Converse finally some of the 237 00:14:00.519 --> 00:14:05.080 spotlights she envisioned so many decades ago. In the summer 238 00:14:05.120 --> 00:14:08.639 of nineteen seventy four, and just days before her fiftieth birthday, 239 00:14:09.000 --> 00:14:11.440 Connie Converse wrote friends and family to let them know 240 00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:14.120 her plans to leave her Michigan home and start fresh 241 00:14:14.159 --> 00:14:17.639 somewhere else. Her plans were only known to her as 242 00:14:17.639 --> 00:14:20.360 she packed her belongings at her VW beatle and drove 243 00:14:20.440 --> 00:14:23.360 off into the night. She hasn't been seen nor heard 244 00:14:23.399 --> 00:14:30.600 from since number seven. Scott Smith bassist for the rock 245 00:14:30.679 --> 00:14:35.240 band lover Boy Lover Boy. The band was wildly popular 246 00:14:35.279 --> 00:14:37.440 in the eighties, with some songs on their roster like 247 00:14:37.519 --> 00:14:39.840 Working for the Weekend, which went to number one in 248 00:14:39.919 --> 00:14:42.360 Canada and the US, Love and Every Minute of It 249 00:14:42.559 --> 00:14:45.159 number one in the US This Could Be the Night 250 00:14:45.679 --> 00:14:48.159 number one in the US, and when It's Over, which 251 00:14:48.159 --> 00:14:51.240 went to number one in the US. Collectively, they sold 252 00:14:51.279 --> 00:14:53.879 over twenty three million records and were not a one 253 00:14:53.960 --> 00:14:58.039 hit wonder. Lover Boy, originally named cover Boy by lead 254 00:14:58.120 --> 00:15:01.159 guitarist Paul Deane but later changed, was formed in Canada 255 00:15:01.200 --> 00:15:04.440 in nineteen seventy eight but toured the world over many times. 256 00:15:05.519 --> 00:15:08.000 Smith was the founding member of the band and bassist 257 00:15:08.039 --> 00:15:11.279 for the group for the entire time. Their debut was 258 00:15:11.320 --> 00:15:14.600 opening for the band Kiss in Vancouver, British Columbia, and 259 00:15:14.639 --> 00:15:18.240 they still sell out concerts to this day. In the 260 00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:21.120 year two thousand, Smith was on a boat found for 261 00:15:21.279 --> 00:15:24.519 Mexico from Vancouver, British Columbia, with two friends and his 262 00:15:24.559 --> 00:15:27.240 girlfriend when a storm started to stir the waves into 263 00:15:27.240 --> 00:15:30.080 twenty five foot swells that eventually knocked the boat onto 264 00:15:30.120 --> 00:15:32.720 the port side for the Golden Gate Bridge off the 265 00:15:32.759 --> 00:15:36.639 coast of Ocean Beach, California. Friend Bill Ellis, who was 266 00:15:36.639 --> 00:15:38.720 also on the boat, was down in the cabin changing 267 00:15:38.720 --> 00:15:41.000 into storm gear, and when he made his way back 268 00:15:41.039 --> 00:15:43.879 to the controls, Smith was missing, along with the boat's 269 00:15:43.919 --> 00:15:46.840 steering wheel. The remaining crew was able to get the 270 00:15:46.879 --> 00:15:49.679 boat upright eventually and come about to the area horse 271 00:15:49.679 --> 00:15:52.840 Smith was last seen. There was no sign of Smith 272 00:15:52.919 --> 00:15:55.320 nor any debris, even though they searched for an hour. 273 00:15:56.320 --> 00:15:58.960 The two friends were unharmed and the girlfriend was treated 274 00:15:58.960 --> 00:16:03.320 for hypothermia and released from a nearby hospital. The Coastguard 275 00:16:03.440 --> 00:16:06.360 was called and a search was started, but hampered by 276 00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:08.759 weather and a heavy fog that rolled into the area. 277 00:16:09.799 --> 00:16:12.399 One hundred and thirty three square miles. We searched, but 278 00:16:12.519 --> 00:16:16.039 no sign of Smith was ever found. A private search 279 00:16:16.080 --> 00:16:18.679 and rescue was also done, but they were also unable 280 00:16:18.720 --> 00:16:22.279 to recover anything from the wreckage and never located Smith's body. 281 00:16:23.360 --> 00:16:26.000 Experts weighing in on the missing person's case suggested that 282 00:16:26.039 --> 00:16:27.960 no one could survive in those waters for more than 283 00:16:27.960 --> 00:16:31.240 two and a half hours due to hypothermia and sharks. 284 00:16:31.440 --> 00:16:34.960 Scott Smith was just forty five years old. The band 285 00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:38.320 resumed touring a year after his disappearance in Smith's Memory. 286 00:16:40.559 --> 00:16:45.399 Number six. Oscar Zeta Acosta, also known as Doctor Gonzo. 287 00:16:46.519 --> 00:16:50.360 He was born April eighth, nineteen thirty five in El Faso, Texas. 288 00:16:50.799 --> 00:16:55.200 Acosta was an activist, lawyer, politician, novelist, and was Hunter S. 289 00:16:55.240 --> 00:16:58.240 Thompson's muse for his nineteen seventy two book Beer and 290 00:16:58.279 --> 00:17:03.240 Loathing in Las Vegas as the character Doctor Gonzo. Having 291 00:17:03.360 --> 00:17:06.400 made his mark defending the East Side thirteen, a staged 292 00:17:06.440 --> 00:17:10.440 high school walk out to protest education inequalities for Mexican Americans, 293 00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:13.880 which saw thirteen men charged with conspiracy for the planning 294 00:17:13.920 --> 00:17:16.599 of around twenty thousand students walking on their schools for 295 00:17:16.680 --> 00:17:20.759 the protest. A highly controversial figure but beloved in the 296 00:17:20.759 --> 00:17:24.319 Mexican American community, Aacosta would contact his son to let 297 00:17:24.400 --> 00:17:28.079 him know he was in Sineola, Mexico, right before he disappeared. 298 00:17:29.079 --> 00:17:32.839 He was never seen again. Having grown up in Texas, 299 00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:35.559 Acosta played football in high school and was president of 300 00:17:35.599 --> 00:17:40.079 his student body. After graduating, he departed for Panama, where 301 00:17:40.119 --> 00:17:42.319 he was in the United States Air Force and became 302 00:17:42.359 --> 00:17:46.599 a Baptist preacher. Deciding to return to the States, Acosta 303 00:17:46.720 --> 00:17:50.079 entered night school become a lawyer. This allowed him to 304 00:17:50.079 --> 00:17:53.359 become the lawyer for the Chicano Movement, helping immigrants from 305 00:17:53.359 --> 00:17:57.559 Mexico fight for civil rights. Being a lawyer also helped 306 00:17:57.599 --> 00:18:00.359 a run for Sheriff of Los Angeles with the promise 307 00:18:00.400 --> 00:18:04.039 of ultimate dissolution of the department. A Costa received over 308 00:18:04.079 --> 00:18:07.279 one hundred thousand votes, but needed a million or more 309 00:18:07.359 --> 00:18:11.400 to win. A close friend of Hunter S. Thompson, he 310 00:18:11.400 --> 00:18:14.160 would regularly accompany the writer to Las Vegas while Thompson 311 00:18:14.200 --> 00:18:17.319 was collecting information for his best selling book turned movie, 312 00:18:17.519 --> 00:18:21.119 Beer and Loathing and Last Vegas to Dust. Cover of 313 00:18:21.160 --> 00:18:23.279 the book would show a cost In Thompson sitting at 314 00:18:23.279 --> 00:18:26.640 the bar at Caesar's Palace, shot glasses, emptied their whiskey, 315 00:18:27.000 --> 00:18:30.480 and assault shaker of illicit substance at the ready. The 316 00:18:30.480 --> 00:18:32.720 book would portray a Costa as a three hundred pound 317 00:18:32.839 --> 00:18:35.599 drug addl Samowan, when in reality he was a two 318 00:18:35.680 --> 00:18:39.759 hundred pound Mexican American. This would be the only complaint 319 00:18:39.799 --> 00:18:41.799 he would have about how he was portrayed in the book. 320 00:18:43.000 --> 00:18:45.240 Many people knew that the Costa would often show up 321 00:18:45.279 --> 00:18:48.480 in court barefoot and high. Thompson would explain that his 322 00:18:48.559 --> 00:18:50.759 reasoning for the portrayal of his friend was to keep 323 00:18:50.759 --> 00:18:53.920 the lapd in court officials from harassing Acosta as he 324 00:18:54.039 --> 00:18:57.680 was a lawyer in the area. A documentary on the 325 00:18:57.720 --> 00:19:00.480 life of Oscar at Zada Costa was really call it 326 00:19:00.480 --> 00:19:02.640 The Rise and Follow of the Brown Buffalo and can 327 00:19:02.680 --> 00:19:07.599 be found here on YouTube. It follows Acosta's education activist 328 00:19:07.720 --> 00:19:10.200 rallies that he held his defense of the East LA 329 00:19:10.359 --> 00:19:13.240 thirteen is run for Sheriff, and his two book deal 330 00:19:13.319 --> 00:19:17.599 depicting his life in an autobiography. The book called Revolt 331 00:19:17.599 --> 00:19:20.119 of the Cockroach People follows his career as a lawyer 332 00:19:20.119 --> 00:19:23.519 and supporter of Mexican American civil rights. We are the 333 00:19:23.599 --> 00:19:27.119 janitors of the world. A Costas quoted as saying. He 334 00:19:27.160 --> 00:19:29.759 also gives his opinion on the militia type behaviors by 335 00:19:29.799 --> 00:19:34.599 police agencies on Americans and especially minorities. A Costa has 336 00:19:34.640 --> 00:19:37.119 strong views on this subject and said that they are 337 00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:39.960 not a policing agency any longer, they are a militia. 338 00:19:40.960 --> 00:19:42.960 These type quotes made him a legend in the minds 339 00:19:42.960 --> 00:19:45.960 of Mexican Americans as a Costa was fighting for their rights. 340 00:19:47.319 --> 00:19:49.279 During the making of The Rise and Fall of the 341 00:19:49.319 --> 00:19:52.519 Brown Buffalo, the producers were able to use rare footage 342 00:19:52.519 --> 00:19:56.400 and lines recorded before a Costa's disappearance in his own voice. 343 00:19:57.359 --> 00:19:59.799 This was an amazing accomplishment because other than Fear and 344 00:19:59.839 --> 00:20:03.079 Lawthing in Las Vegas, the Costa was rarely filmed in public. 345 00:20:05.799 --> 00:20:10.160 A Costa was married to Secoro Aguiniga, a paralegal, fulklorico 346 00:20:10.279 --> 00:20:13.400 dancer and also a chakana activist. She was able to 347 00:20:13.400 --> 00:20:15.519 introduce Acosta to many of the key figures in the 348 00:20:15.599 --> 00:20:19.200 Chicano movement. They had one son together that has kept 349 00:20:19.240 --> 00:20:22.279 his father's case alive for decades, never giving up hope 350 00:20:22.319 --> 00:20:25.480 of information that would lead to finding him. Very little 351 00:20:25.480 --> 00:20:29.440 details have been released on Acosta's disappearance in the forty 352 00:20:29.480 --> 00:20:33.119 four years plus. Since his disappearance, Oscar Zeta Costa has 353 00:20:33.160 --> 00:20:35.559 become an almost mythical legend due to the huge cult 354 00:20:35.640 --> 00:20:38.200 following for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, both the 355 00:20:38.200 --> 00:20:41.599 book and the movie. His missing person case is considered 356 00:20:41.640 --> 00:20:46.519 cold and has had no new leads in decades. Number 357 00:20:46.559 --> 00:20:51.359 five Michael Rockefeller. We will note here that Rockefeller is 358 00:20:51.440 --> 00:20:53.920 rumored to be the most total name in high society. 359 00:20:54.160 --> 00:20:55.920 There are a lot of people they claim to be 360 00:20:56.000 --> 00:20:59.400 Rockefellers that aren't, but Michael was the real deal. He 361 00:20:59.519 --> 00:21:03.079 was born into American royalty on May thirteenth, nineteen thirty eight, 362 00:21:03.400 --> 00:21:06.279 in New York, the father that would eventually become the 363 00:21:06.319 --> 00:21:11.759 New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller. In nineteen sixty one, seven 364 00:21:11.759 --> 00:21:14.920 months into a world tour, the catamaran Rockefeller was on 365 00:21:15.039 --> 00:21:17.279 overturned and he was thrown into the water after being 366 00:21:17.359 --> 00:21:20.240 hit by wave near osmod off the shores of New Guinea. 367 00:21:21.240 --> 00:21:23.720 He made it to shore, but was never seen again. 368 00:21:24.519 --> 00:21:28.319 Here's where the disappearance turned strange. At first, it was 369 00:21:28.359 --> 00:21:31.440 presumed that the famous Rockefeller drowned and was lost to 370 00:21:31.480 --> 00:21:35.920 the waters forever. However, conspiracies and wild accusations about local 371 00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:39.640 tribesmen living in cannibalistic colonies were accused of killing and 372 00:21:39.680 --> 00:21:42.839 consuming the twenty three year old. Now, while it's true 373 00:21:42.880 --> 00:21:45.079 that the area does have colonies that probably have never 374 00:21:45.119 --> 00:21:47.160 seen a piece of paper nor a light bulbman do 375 00:21:47.279 --> 00:21:51.319 practice cannibalism in some instances, that particular act is usually 376 00:21:51.359 --> 00:21:54.000 reserved for elders that have passed away in the tribes, 377 00:21:54.160 --> 00:21:57.240 and the members consumed the body to inherit specific traits, 378 00:21:57.640 --> 00:21:59.839 the wild spirits of, or even the soul of their 379 00:21:59.880 --> 00:22:03.359 deceased family member. In other words, it's done as means 380 00:22:03.400 --> 00:22:07.000 of ancestor worship, and they wouldn't need an outsider. The 381 00:22:07.079 --> 00:22:10.279 debate as to the young Rockefeller's fate is still debated 382 00:22:10.279 --> 00:22:13.839 to this day. At the time of Michael Rockefeller's disappearance, 383 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:16.519 there was no high society page in the newspaper to 384 00:22:16.559 --> 00:22:20.079 cover such stories. Years later, there was a documentary made 385 00:22:20.079 --> 00:22:24.759 from Netflix twenty fourteen, The Search for Michael Rockefeller. There 386 00:22:24.799 --> 00:22:27.960 was also a Broadway play, a rock song, a book, 387 00:22:28.160 --> 00:22:31.799 and a TV series in the nineteen eighties. The fact is, 388 00:22:32.160 --> 00:22:35.279 no one really knows what happened to Michael Rockefeller, and 389 00:22:35.359 --> 00:22:39.400 speculation on this strange case is boundary. Great whispers all 390 00:22:39.440 --> 00:22:42.400 the way from high society gatherings to magazine articles for 391 00:22:42.599 --> 00:22:50.039 years to come. Number four Barbara Newell Follet Barbara was 392 00:22:50.079 --> 00:22:53.400 a jazz age prodigy writer. She was born in nineteen 393 00:22:53.480 --> 00:22:56.960 fourteen in Hanover, New Hampshire. She was a high achiever 394 00:22:57.079 --> 00:23:00.400 from the start, having published her first novel, The House 395 00:23:00.440 --> 00:23:04.119 Without Windows of the tender age of twelve, she was 396 00:23:04.240 --> 00:23:08.240 destined to go far in life. The progeny of literary 397 00:23:08.319 --> 00:23:11.599 legacy Wilson Follett, who was a literary critic of Professor 398 00:23:11.720 --> 00:23:15.960 and Helen Thomas Fallett, famed children's author. She was homeschooled 399 00:23:15.960 --> 00:23:19.200 and showed great promise at a very young age, so 400 00:23:19.240 --> 00:23:22.359 also cureed her own language, she called fark Sue, which 401 00:23:22.359 --> 00:23:26.880