Michael Rockefeller strayed from the path paved by his family’s empire. Born to future vice president Nelson Rockefeller and Mary Todhunter Rockefeller in May 1938, he didn’t follow in his Standard Oil great-grandfather John D. Rockefeller Sr.’s footsteps, nor his financier grandfather John D. Rockefeller Jr.’s banking ways.
Instead, the wealthy heir grew up in New York City, went on to study history and economics at Harvard University, and, following graduation, became enthralled by the arts.
That’s what led 23-year-old Michael to visit New Guinea in 1961. After working with a professor on the Harvard University Peabody Museum expedition to the Baliem Valley of New Guinea, he traveled to the Dutch-governed remote community of Asmat in May 1961 for the first time.
There, he began living among the group, trekking between villages, and collecting artifacts.
But, Michael wasn’t alone; he was joined by René Wassing, a government anthropologist, as well as the deputy director of the Dutch National Museum of Ethnology, Dr. Adrian A. Gerbrands.
And according to Michael’s sister, Mary, he was invigorated by their work. That’s why the group made plans to return to Asmat in the fall of 1961.
“In his letters home, he was completely thrilled about what he was doing. He felt very comfortable with the people. He would sit in the fields and talk to the children. He was fascinated by their culture and how their art sprang from everyday life. He bartered for art objects with tobacco and axes,” Mary detailed.
Yet, weeks later, things turned dire after their boat stalled on the Betsj River, and Michael ultimately vanished.
It was November 18, 1938, when Michael and the crew’s catamaran stalled, prompting two people to disembark and swim to shore in search of help. Michael and René remained on the boat, which soon capsized amidst treacherous currents.
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As they clung to the hull, Michael became worried the catamaran would drift out to sea from New Guinea’s southern coast. That’s why, the following morning of November 19, he took matters into his own hands.
The 23-year-old decided to swim to shore himself. First, he joined two jerrycans together to serve as a floatation device. Next, he supposedly told René, “I think I can make it,” before heading out for the swim, which was thought to be anywhere between three and 10 miles long.
Tragically, Michael was never seen again. A Dutch warship later rescued René while he was approximately 22 miles away from the shore, but the Rockefeller heir himself was not found.
His family heavily invested in the search, causing planes, helicopters, and ships to begin combing the Asmat region. Meanwhile, Michael’s father, Nelson, and sister, Mary, also traveled to New Guinea on a private Boeing 707 the very next day. Still, all the scouring led to nothing.
“We were there about 10 days. I accepted that Father and the Dutch officials felt that it was time to call the search off. The prevailing thought was that he had drowned. In a seaplane over the dense jungle coastline, I realized how unbelievably difficult it was to make it to shore,” Mary recalled.
As news of Michael’s disappearance and so-called drowning death spread, though, so did a variety of rumors. Media outlets began to speculate that perhaps he’d been eaten by sharks or intentionally escaped the tethers of his wealthy family to live out his life in the jungle.
However, the most sensational tales actually involved murder and cannibalism.
It’s crucial to note that, in 1954, “headhunting,” or killing humans and beheading them, had been outlawed in Asmat. But despite the practice being illegal, it allegedly still happened on rare occasions.
This is what led many researchers, including National Geographic reporter Carl Hoffman, to theorize that Michael had met a more grisly fate.
Hoffman penned the 2014 book “Savage Harvest: A Tale of Cannibals, Colonialism, and Michael Rockefeller’s Tragic Quest for Primitive Art,” in which he began connecting suspicious dots in the case.
First, he discovered Dutch government reports that implied it was possible Michael had been killed, despite the evidence being inconclusive.
Thereafter, Hoffman set out for New Guinea and actually tried to speak with Otsjanep village members, who seemed wary of talking to him.
Thankfully, he’d brought a guide and translator, Amates, whose conversations with villagers revealed they were scared since an American tourist had been murdered there years prior. Hoffman also alleged to have heard the same tale from other sources, including Hubertus von Peij, a Dutch Catholic priest.
In 2012, the priest supposedly told him that multiple villagers confessed to killing Michael, and as for why, it was apparently to get revenge following a Dutch raid.
The raid in question had occurred three years before Michael’s visit to Asmat, when a massacre broke out between two tribes: the Otsjanep and the Omadesep.
Dozens of men were killed, and the Dutch colonial government, which had recently gained island control, attempted to end the violence by disarming the Otsjanep. Nonetheless, supposed cultural misunderstandings led to the Otsjanep being fired on by the Dutch themselves.
It’s been said that Michael was speared, killed, and beheaded in retribution. Then, his brain was eaten, his bones were turned into tools like daggers and fishing spears, and his blood was drained to be used in rituals.
But while Hoffman heard of the gruesome story from many villagers, no one ever actually came forward and admitted to participating in the slaying. And to this day, it remains a mystery what truly happened to Michael.
The Dutch government has denied that there ever was a killing. And aside from hearsay, there’s not much to prove otherwise.
“There have been many tales over the years about his disappearance… all about mainly one story: that he made it to shore and was killed and cannibalized. New archival research makes it clear that the Dutch government didn’t want cannibalism talked about,” Mary noted.
“Nobody knows what happened to Michael, and that leaves our family in a terrible place of not knowing.”
By Katharina Buczek
Katharina Buczek graduated from Stony Brook University with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Digital Arts. Specializing in... More about Katharina Buczek
