Andrew Carnegie Whitfield

Andrew Carnegie Whitfield (1910 - presumably April 17, 1938), the nephew of wealthy steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, mysteriously disappeared shortly after he departed from Roosevelt Field on Long Island, New York on the morning of April 17, 1938.

Early life

Whitfield was a graduate of Princeton University and had been employed a business executive. An amateur pilot, Whitfield owned a small red and silver Taylor club monoplane which he occasionally flew (mostly for recreation). At the time of his disappearance, he had accumulated 200 hours of flying experience.

The disappearance

When Whitfield departed in his small silver and red Taylor Cub monoplane, he had planned to land at an airfield in Brentwood, New York (approximately 22 miles away). He was only supposed to be in the air for fifteen minutes, but Andrew never arrived as scheduled. One source reported that Whitfield's plane had been flying steadily--but then Whitfield "nosed his plane into a mild easterly wind, [and] disappeared from sight." [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,848917,00.html]

His plane had enough fuel for a 150-mile flight. Neither Whitfield nor his plane has ever been recovered.

Whitfield alias "Albert C. White"

After Andrew's disappearance was discovered, an investigation discovered that (on the same day he vanished) he had checked into a hotel in Garden City on Long Island under an alias he occasionally employed: "Albert C. White." Hotel records indicated that Whitfield/White had paid $4 in advance for the room and never checked out. When the hotel room was searched, it was discovered that his personal belongings (including his passport), clothing, cuff links engraved with his initials, two life insurance policies (in his name listing his wife, Elizabeth Halsey Whitfield, as the beneficiary), and several stock and bond certificates made out in Andrew's and Elizabeth's names, were all left behind in the hotel room. Phone records also indicated that he had called his home while his family was out looking for him, and a telephone operator reported that she heard him say over the phone, "Well, I am going to carry out my plan."

Police theorize suicide

After this information was uncovered, police theorized that Whitfield had committed suicide by deliberately flying his plane into the Atlantic Ocean--although no evidence to verify this theory has been found. A thorough search of the ocean surrounding Long Island was conducted; it turned up no signs of plane wreckage. At the time of Whitfield's disappearance, there was no evidence that he was having personal or business problems. Whitfield had married (the former Elizabeth Halsey) earlier that year, and had been planning to move to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (with his new wife) the same month that he disappeared.

ee also

* Andrew Carnegie
* Missing person
* List of people who have disappeared

External links

* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,848917,00.html "Time Magazine" article contemporary to the event May 2, 1938]
* [http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/w/whitfield_andrew.html Andrew Carnegie Whitfield at the Charley Project, a center for missing people]