The son of former Vice President of the United States, Nelson Rockefeller, tragically went missing while on a trip to the Asmat region of Dutch New Guinea – now known as South Papua.
Michael was visiting the region to collect indigenous art and to learn about the local people. On November 17, 1961, he was travelling in a catamaran with Dutch anthropologist René Wassing and two local guides when their boat capsized several kilometres from the shore.
The guides swam for help, leaving Michael and René behind, but the 23-year-old eventually decided to set out by himself and look for assistance. He was last seen swimming away by René, and when the Dutchman was rescued the next day, there was no sign of Michael.
Naturally, theories cropped up that he had died of exposure, drowned, or had been attacked by a shark. Some even believe he may have made it to shore only to be killed and eaten by the local tribespeople as revenge for Dutch colonial soldiers killing five Asmat men in 1958.
Michael’s body was never found, and he was declared legally dead in 1964. While the cannibalism theory remains a popular one, his twin sister, Mary Rockefeller, refuted these claims and maintained the belief that he drowned at sea.
“Rumours and stories of Michael’s having made it to shore – of his having been found, captured, and killed by headhunting Asmat villagers – have persisted for more than forty years,” she wrote in her memoir, When Grief Calls Forth the Healing: A Memoir of Losing a Twin.
“All the evidence, based on the strong offshore currents, the high seasonal tides, and the turbulent outgoing waters, as well as the calculations that Michael was approximately ten miles from shore when he began to swim, supports the prevailing theory that he drowned before he was able to reach land.”
