Outside and the Travel Channel Present Gone Missing

Outside Magazine and the Travel Channel have co-produced an interesting looking television program called Gone Missing: Vanished in Papua New Guinea which documents the disappearance of Michael Rockefeller in New Guinea back in 1961.

Michael was the son of New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, and one of the heirs to the famous Rockefeller fortune. But at the age of 23, he set out to escape that legacy, and to carve a name for himself as an anthropologist, studying the indigenous tribes of the islands that make up New Guinea. On November 18th he set out on a small boat to collect some wood carvings for a New York museum when his boat lost power. The young man dove into the water and attempted to swim to shore, but was never seen again. At the time, he was in one of the more remote areas of the region.

Now, Outside investigative journalist Tim Sohn has gone to New Guinea to see if he can close the book on this mystery. He'll look at a number of possibilities that include Michael drowning before he reached the shore, getting eaten by sharks or crocs, surviving long enough to be killed by cannibals, or even living out the remainder of his days on the island.

The show, which serves as a pilot for a possible new series, will air on Sunday, November 2nd, at 10 PM Eastern/9 Central. Should be interesting.