Into thin air: D.B. Cooper and other mystery vanishers

With the news that the FBI is again looking into the case of D. B. Cooper — a mystery hijacker who vanished after jumping from an airplane with a fortune in ransom money — public attention has refocused on a story that fuelled alternate theories for decades.

Instances where people have simply disappeared are not only traumatic for family and friends, and made all the more painful for the lack of closure, but are mysteries that can grab the attention of the public at large.

In many cases, rumours run rampant while the truth often does not come to light for years, if at all.

CBC News has compiled a list of some famous missing person cases.

D. B. Cooper

On Nov. 24, 1971, D. B. Cooper jumped from a cruising jet plane with $200,000 in cash and landed in the history books for decades to come.

Where his body actually touched down — and whether he survived at all — have never been determined.

The mystery began when a man identifying himself as Dan Cooper, but mistakenly referred to later as D. B. Cooper, hijacked a Northwest Orient flight from Portland, Ore., to Seattle, claiming he had a bomb.

When the plane landed at the Seatle-Tacoma International Airport, he released the passengers in exchange for $200,000 in cash and demanded to be flown to Mexico.

Cooper parachuted out of the airliner somewhere near the Oregon border, but no trace of him was ever found.

However, in August 2011, the FBI said they were investigating whether a man who died of natural causes a number of years ago was the infamous hijacker.

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

French novelist and aviation pioneer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry disappeared while on a reconnaissance mission during the Second World War.

The author of several books including The Little Prince took off in a Lockheed Lightning P-38 on July 31, 1944, from Corsica but never returned.

The wreckage of his plane, identified by its serial number, was pulled from the waters near the coast of Marseilles, France, in April 2004.

However, what happened to Saint-Exupéry has never been determined and investigators said they could not determine whether the P-38 was shot down or crashed because of mechanical problems.

In 2008, Horst Rippert, a former Luftwaffe pilot, claimed he downed the French author but said he could not prove conclusively since he did not see the pilot.

In an interview with Le Figaro magazine, the German pilot also said he hoped he hadn't shot down Saint-Exupéry.

"In our youth, at school, we had all read him. We loved his books," he said. "If I had known, I would not have opened fire. Not on him!"

Amelia Earhart

Amelia Earhart disappeared, along with navigator Fred Noonan, in July 1937 somewhere near Howland Island in the central Pacific.

The storied female aviator, who was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, was trying to circumnavigate the globe.

Her disappearance prompted a massive search-and-rescue operation, which cost $4 million, but yielded no results.

Neither the bodies of Earhart and Noonan nor the plane were ever found.

Earhart has been the subject of countless books and movies and has remained a familiar entry in the lexicon of pop culture.

In 2009, Hilary Swank starred as the intrepid adventurer for the biopic Amelia.

Earhart was officially declared dead in 1939.

Her legacy also continues with the Amelia Earhart Fellowship, a scholarship award distributed by Zonta International, which provides money to females studying aerospace science and engineering.

Jimmy Hoffa

The charismatic and controversial union leader hasn't been seen since July 30, 1975, after he went to restaurant in Detroit.

Hoffa might arguably be the most discussed and oft-speculated missing person case and most theories end with the former head of the Teamsters union encased in concrete.

The most famous of those say Hoffa is buried in Giants Stadium in New Jersey, possibly in the end zone or in the building's foundations.

The FBI searched a horse farm near Detroit in 2006 but found nothing.

Others have speculated that he simply skipped the country.

There is also no shortage of suspects either — from Mafia bosses to other union leaders — though police have never laid charges.

Glenn Miller

Jazz musician Glenn Miller vanished somewhere between England and France while flying in a plane on Dec. 15, 1944.

The American orchestral band leader was headed to Paris to play concerts for Allied troops.

Two years before, Miller had disbanded his Glenn Miller Orchestra to serve in the U.S. Army Air Force. Although he was too old for active service, he used his musical abilities to entertain troops and civilians.

Most theories have pointed to bad weather or possibly even a friendly fire incident as a cause of the crash, although neither his body nor the plane has ever been found.

The Glenn Miller Orchestra was reformed in 1956 and continues to play more than 67 years after the death of its namesake.

Richard John Bingham

Richard John Bingham, known as Lord Lucan, was last seen in November 1974, after his family's nanny was found bludgeoned to death in the Lucans' home in London, England.

Reports say he fled briefly to the house of friends, where he claimed he had happened upon an unknown assailant in his house.

However, an inquest jury found him guilty of the murder in 1975. Some theories say he mistook the nanny for his wife while others say he hired a contract killer who also attacked the wrong woman.

Lord Lucan has been spotted across the world but other reports say he committed suicide not long after fleeing London.

However, his body has never been found.

He was officially declared dead in 1999.

Madeleine McCann

Madeleine McCann, 3, disappeared from a vacation apartment in Praia da Luz, a town on Portugal's southern Algarve coast on May 3, 2007.

Her parents, two doctors from England, said they were eating dinner a short distance away from where Madeleine was sleeping in the apartment with her two-year-old twin siblings.

Her parents were initially suspects, along with another British man, but all have since been cleared.

The case captivated the British public and drew widespread international media attention but Madeleine has never been found.

In July 2008, Portugal's attorney general closed the investigation because police had been unable to find any useful information.

Her parents, along with several others, operate Leaving No Stone Unturned Ltd., a not-for-profit group dedicated to finding Madeleine.

Natalee Holloway

Natalee Holloway, 18, disappeared while on vacation in the Caribbean island of Aruba on May 30, 2005.

The American teenager was last seen leaving a bar with three men who were arrested soon after Holloway was reported missing but they were all subsequently released.

The same three were again arrested two years later and also released.

However, one of those men, Dutch national Joran van der Sloot, was arrested in 2010 for the murder of another woman, Stephany Flores, in Peru. He is awaiting trial.

A jawbone was found off the coast of Aruba in November 2010 but authorities said it did not belong to Holloway.

Holloway's mother, Beth Holloway hosts a television show that examines missing persons cases.

In an interview with CBS in May 2011, Holloway said she thinks her daughter is most likely dead.

Mariam Makhniashvili

Mariam Makhniashvili was last seen near Forest Hill Collegiate on Sept.14, 2009.

The then 17-year-old had walked to school with her brother George but both decided to enter through different doors.

Her backpack was found in midtown Toronto one month later.

Although RCMP in Alberta received reports that she had been seen in Alberta, the force later said there was no evidence to suggest Mariam had been in the province.