THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW YOU NEEDED TO KNOW

In 1977 Helen Brach disappeared and was never seen again. The wealthy widow and candy fortune heir may have met her end because of horse trade. No trace of Helen Brach has ever been found and no one ever took punishment for her possible murder. Helen Brach was born into humble circumstances in 1911. She married and divorced her high school sweetheart. She worked at a Palm Beach nightclub and met Frank Brach, heir to the Brach's candy company (shout out to bridge mix!) Frank sold the company in 1966 for $136 million. When Frank died in 1970 Helen netted a $160 million fortune. She gave money to animal charities, drove around in pink and lavender cars ( Brach  company colors) and partied with a suave con man 20 years her junior, Richard Bailey. Bailey sold Helen  Brach  bum racing horses for $98 million then tried to sell her more horses. Helen hired an appraiser who confirmed the horses were worthless. Helen planned to consult an attorney...

Movies are a part of human life, from a train going through a tunnel to ET making Elliott's bike fly. But not one indelible screen image could have occurred without Louis le Prince. But, would cinema be different if Louis le prince had not disappeared? The man who invented the first camera capable of motion capture boarded a train and never got off. No trace of Louis le Prince was ever found. Louis le Prince was born in Metz in 1841. His father was friends with  Louis Daguerre , inventor of photography.  Le Prince created a 16 lens camera that could capture motion - the first of its kind. In 1887 he built a single lens camera and took footage of a garden scene which became one of the earliest motion pictures. The Lumiere Brothers had begun working with moving pictures, and Thomas Edison was doing the same in America. In September of 1890 le Prince traveled to the U.S. to obtain a patent for his technology. He decided to visit his brother in France first. He boarded a train t...

The term folk music conjures a certain image : a smoky cafe, an earnest singer-songwriter with a guitar protesting with their lyrics. That is what folk music eventually became. Prior to that folk music was tragic tales of the workin' man - farmers and coal miners bemoaning their plight. Before that folk music consisted of artists covering ballads Scottish and Irish immigrants brought over from the old country. One woman changed folk music but is never heralded with a great who came after her. Connie Converse was called "the first singer songwriter" because she interjected her feelings into political statements rather than using her songs to tell others' tales of woe. In 1974 she packed her car, told her family goodbye, and never surfaced again.  Elizabeth Eaton Converse, born August 3, 1924 in Laconia, New Hampshire, grew up in a strict Baptist home. Her father, minister, and her mother, and accomplished musician, only allowed religious or classical music in the hous...

  On August 6, 1930 a man said goodbye to his dinner companions and turned off to head toward a Broadway theater. He'd purchased a ticket for a new show - Dancing Partner . This seems like an ordinary circumstance, but the man was Judge Joseph Force Crater, who remains missing 94 years later. Despite many searches and theories, no trace of Judge Crater has ever been uncovered after that night. Once declared "The Missingest Man In New York," few people remember this shocking missing person's case. Judge Crater was born in Easton Pennsylvania January 5, 1889. He graduated Columbia Law School in 1913 and began practicing law. He represented Stella Wheeler in her divorce case, and the two married in 1916. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, then Governor of New york, appointed Crater associate Justice of the New York Supreme Court in April of 1930. Crater had dealings with Tammany Hall, the New York City political institution corrupt since the Gilded Age. The simple facts of what ...

  We all know Aaron Burr, famous dueller. Hardly anyone knows the story of his daughter Theodosia Burr Alston. Theodosia, born June 21, 1873, was Burr's only child. Burr made sure Theodosia was better educated than others of her day - not just women. Theodosia had multiple tutors teaching her a variety of subjects. At 5 she wrote her father letters. At 10 she spoke Latin and French. Theo was seen as a prodigy. She was Burr's statement, to paraphrase Hamilton , that women "should be include(d) in the sequel." While Burr was in D.C. shaping the U.S., Theo was at home, caring for her ailing mother (also Theodosia.) After her mother died, Theo became mistress of the house. She saw to the daily running of the home, supervised staff, and entertained guests. In 1800 Burr was elected as Thomas Jefferson's Vice President.  Theo met Joseph Alston, a young man from South Carolina. They married and Theo moved to South Carolina, away from D.C. and her father. She and Joseph Al...

One of the 20th century's greatest minds vanished, never to be seen again. Ettore Majorana, Italian physicist, laid the ground work for most of what modern physicists study today. But on March 25th, 1938 he left home and never returned. Of course, theories abound, but none have been proven. Perhaps the weary man left society before his work quite possibly ended mankind. Ettore Majorana was born August 5, 1906 in Catania, Sicily. His father's brother was a physicist as well, perhaps influencing Majorana. As a boy Majorana was able to do large scale mathematic problems in his head. He entered Sapienza University in 1923 to study engineering, but changed his focus to physics. Enrico Fermi asked Majorana to work with him as  a specialist in Quantum Mechanics. In 1933 as a Nazi party ascended to power, Majorana traveled to Germany to work with Werner Heisenberg. He considered Heisenberg a friend and enjoyed their working together. He traveled to Copenhagen to work with Niells Bohr. ...

  Many different things have been popular over the years of human existence, but in the 1950s one breed of dog inspired a trend.  Poodle haircuts and poodle skirts decorated fashionable ladies.  Above all other dogs was a poodle named Masterpiece. But Masterpiece, a celebrity in his own right, disappeared. Not from public esteem like other celebrities but actually disappeared, never to be heard from again. Masterpiece inspired a mini mania in the 1950s, but is largely forgotten today. Alexis Pulaski, born 1895 in Russia, fled to the U.S. post Russian Revolution. He began breeding dogs in 1925, but began focusing on poodles exclusively in 1939. He took one pup, silver gray, named him Pulaski's Masterpiece, and entered him in dog shows. Masterpiece won the American Kennel Club trifecta : obedience, utility, and championship. Suddenly Masterpiece was a celebrity. Reporters would ask Masterpiece if he was a communist - Masterpiece would shake his head no - a red-blooded Ameri...

  A rambunctious Kansas girl took to the sky and soared above the rest. Her story has become legend due to its sad, mysterious ending. Amelia Earhart should be remembered as a true pioneer - showing the world that flying would become a common way to travel. Along the way she challenged gender roles, encouraged women to challenge themselves, and became a style icon. Amelia Earhart will never be forgotten. Born July 24, 1897 in Atchison, Kansas, Amelia Mary Earhart was raised to never be a girly girl. Her mother, also Amelia, encouraged Earhart and her sister Grace to wear bloomers instead of dresses. The sisters loved the outdoors and trouped around Atchison with a gang of kids getting dirty climbing trees. Amelia's father, an alcoholic, had trouble holding down a job. He moved the family to Des Moines, Iowa. It was there in 1907 Amelia saw an airplane for the first time. She was, however, too afraid to fly. Amelia graduated high school in 1916. She trained as a nurse's aide for...

A newly married couple sent out to make history on their honeymoon. Glen and Bessie Hyde wanted to float the rapids of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. Glen would send a time record, and Bessie would be the first woman float the rapids. But their ambition turned into mystery. The Hyded were never seen again after November 18 1928. Glen Hyde was an experienced rapids rider, and built the scow they would sail in. Bessie was a bohemian, having dabbled theater and poetry writing. The two met as passengers on a boat sailing to Los Angeles. Bessie had a husband, but by 1928 the two married - one day after Bessie's divorce was finalized. The honeymooners left Green River, Utah October 20, 1928. They wanted to reach Needles, California by early December. The pair were last seen November 18, 1928. They stopped in the Grand Canyon and hiked to fetch supplies. They met with photographer Emory Kolb who took pictures of Glenn and Bessie. When Kolb noted their lack of life jackets, t...

What image springs to mind when you hear the word author? (For me it's Grande Dame des Lettres Canadienne Margaret Atwood.) But would you picture a pre-teen from 1927? You should, given that Barbara Newhall Follett published two novels in her early teens. But Barbara Newhall Follett it is known more as a famous missing person, vanishing December 7 1939, never to be seen again. Barbara Newhall Follett was born in Hanover, New Hampshire on March 3, 1914. Her parents were Helen and Wilson Follett, both writers and literary critics. Wilson Follett taught English at Dartmouth, Brown, and Yale before accepting a job at Knopf Publishing in New York City. Helen educated Barbara at home and encouraged a love of all things literary. Barbara began typing letters to friends and family and even set up her own office, all by the age of four. She counted Beethoven, Strauss, and Wagner as her imaginary friends. By age 6 she'd written a 4,500 word story - The Life of the Spinning Wheel, the Roc...

Introducing Find Me Friday - The last Friday of each month I will discuss a famous disappearance.  Seek, but he may not always find...