MATO GROSSO — 1925 · Missing Person
The Disappearance of Explorer Percy Fawcett in the Amazon
British artillery officer, surveyor and explorer Percy Fawcett believed that a lost ancient city, which he called 'Z', lay in the Amazon rainforest. On 20 April 1925 he set out from Cuiabá in Brazil with his eldest son and the son's friend. A letter to his wife from a spot known as 'Dead Horse Camp' on 29 May 1925, saying they were ready to enter unexplored territory, was the last word from the expedition. None of the three was ever heard from again. Over the following decades many search parties failed, and some searches themselves cost lives. Theories include killing by local peoples, disease or starvation, but their fate has never been established.
- Date
- 1925
- Place
- Upper Xingu region, Brazil, Mato Grosso, BR
- Category
- Missing Person
- Case Status
- Unsolved
- Coordinates
- -11.7200, -54.5800 ↗
Timeline of Events
- 20 April 1925The expedition left Cuiabá.
- 29 May 1925Fawcett's last letter was sent from 'Dead Horse Camp'.
- 1928The first major search expedition failed.
- 2009The book 'The Lost City of Z' revived interest in the case.
Sources
- The Guardian — Veil lifts on jungle mystery of the colonel who vanished theguardian.com ↗
- PBS Secrets of the Dead — Lost in the Amazon pbs.org ↗
- Wikipedia — Percy Fawcett en.wikipedia.org ↗
- The Guardian
- PBS
- Wikipedia
Source grade A: several independent sources, at least one an official record or reference work. If you spot a mistake or something missing, report it with "Suggest a correction" in the app.
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🕯️ This record was prepared with respect, in memory of those who lost their lives.