pilot amelia earhart and her navigator, fred noonan, disappeared while attempting to fly around the world. some of her skeletal remains were actually found on a south pacific island in 1940 (the rest were carried off and eaten by crabs), along with a pocket knife, part of her plane's windshield, a cosmetics jar, and her plane's navigational system. her plane crashed, and she apparently lived awhile before dying of injuries from the crash or hunger or thirst. no sign of her navigator was found.

still not sure why anyone considers her disappearance a mystery.