Cannibalising Rockefeller

Michael Rockefeller, son of billionaire Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, surrounded by Asmat cannibals a few days before his disappearance on November 19, 1961.

It has not yet been determined exactly what happened to Michael Rockefeller. Many were inclined to believe that he could not have drowned in the river or been attacked by crocodiles. According to the most widespread version¹, Rockefeller was killed and eaten by the Asmat² people. According to Christian missionary Ian Smith, whose mission was located near the Asmat settlement, he saw that the natives were carrying the clothes of the missing explorer, moreover, they showed him bones that could have belonged to Michael.

1. Author Carl Hoffman, in his book Savage Harvest, presented evidence that Rockefeller was killed and eaten by people from Otsjanep village. ↩︎
2. The Asmat are an ethnic group of New Guinea, residing in the province of South Papua, Indonesia. The Asmat inhabit a region on the island’s southwestern coast bordering the Arafura Sea, with lands totalling approximately 18,000 km2 and consisting of mangrove, tidal swamp, freshwater swamp, and lowland rainforest. ↩︎