Raoul Wallenberg

We've looked at individuals manipulating their own disappearances, but when global conflict erupts, the structures of society break down, and massive historical figures can be swallowed whole by the state or the battlefield.

There is perhaps no greater example of state-sponsored erasure than Raoul Wallenberg in 1945.

The sheer scale of what this man accomplished is staggering.

He was a Swedish diplomat stationed in Nazi-occupied Budapest.

It denies the living the closure required to heal.

And I think that beautifully and tragically ties all 20 of our threads together today.

We've examined the physics of a frozen carburetor bringing down Glenn Miller, the aerodynamic flaw that let DB Cooper jump into the night, the brutal forensic reality of Belle Gunness' fire, and the geopolitical erasure of Raoul Wallenberg.

Ultimately, the enduring fascination with these 20 historical figures isn't just about the mechanics of how they vanished.