The Mysterious Disappearance Of The Worlds Third Most Richest Man
At the onset of the 20th century, Alfred Loewenstein had solidified his position as one of the globe's most influential financiers. His vast wealth stemmed from his role as a mediator between diverse industries and the financial sector. Additionally, he ventured into numerous European companies and played a pioneering role in developing the holding company model.
The narrative unfolds on the evening of July 4, 1928. Alfred and his staff embarked on a private aircraft at Croydon Airport, bound for his homeland of Belgium—a routine journey he undertook regularly. Beneath clear skies, the flight proceeded according to plan. However, the ordinary course of events took a peculiar turn when, somewhere over the English Channel, Loewenstein rose from his seat and entered the cramped lavatory at the rear of the cabin. This compartment featured two doors: an internal one, devoid of windows, separating it from the rest of the plane, and an external door serving as the sole point of entry and exit for the aircraft.
Alfred Loewenstein never made it out of this compartment, and that was the last time anyone had seen him alive.
Naturally, when Alfred didn't return to his seat, one of the employees went to check on him. Discovering the compartment empty, he promptly alerted the pilot, Donald Drew. Making an unusual choice, Drew opted to land on a deserted beach near Dunkirk instead of seeking out a nearby airfield. As the beach fell within French military jurisdiction, both the pilot and Loewenstein's employees were swiftly detained by authorities. Confounded by the situation, they could only speculate that their boss might have tragically fallen to his death after inadvertently opening the exit door.
The question of whether Loewenstein was actually dead was answered on July 19. A fishing boat spotted a decomposed corpse floating near the French coast. It was identified as the body of Alfred Loewenstein thanks to various clothing items. His widow Madeleine arranged a private autopsy to determine the cause of death. The examination found no signs that could indicate foul play or suicide. However, a small amount of alcohol was detected in his blood, which is odd considering Alfred never drank.
The strangest thing about how the whole incident was handled is that there was little effort to get to the bottom of what had happened. An official inquiry, in which no one was under oath, concluded that Loewenstein’s death was accidental. That conclusion was in great part based on the testimonies of Donald Drew (the pilot) and Robert Little ( the mechanic). Both men insisted that the exit door was easy to open and that it was entirely possible for Lowenstein to open it by accident. As we will see later, the veracity of this claim will come under intense scrutiny.
So was it just an unfortunate accident? This seems highly unlikely. As you would expect, the airplane exit door wasn’t as easy to open as the pilot and mechanic had claimed. In fact, numerous tests to check the door’s stability were conducted in the weeks following the incident Some even involved men from Accidents Branch of the British Air Ministry throwing themselves at the entry door at an altitude of 1,000 feet! The door withstood the weight with relative ease. The conclusion was clear and simple: No one could have fallen out of the plane by accident.
So...was it suicide? Once more, the evidence doesn't align. Loewenstein displayed no signs of depression and was actively strategizing for the future until the very day of the incident. Moreover, even if we entertain this possibility, the matter of the door remains unresolved. Alfred couldn't have manipulated it alone, even if he had intended self-harm.
This leads us to one inevitable deduction: Alfred Loewenstein was forced to leave the aircraft. If such was the case, then who orchestrated it? How was the door breached mid-flight? And who masterminded the scheme?
Given the erroneous statements that they gave to Belgian authorities, the two obvious suspects are Donald Drew and Robert Little. Author Williams Norris believes that both men were hired to kill Alfred. Drew, who died of stomach cancer a few years after the incident, seems to have lived a lavish life after this incident, which indicates that someone might have paid him a hefty sum of money for accomplishing the job.
Norris believes that the conspirators replaced the entry door with a rigged one that featured loose bolts and hinges. This would make opening it midflight and sending Alfred to his death a fairly simple task. As for the original door, it could have been placed in the small luggage compartment at the back. The two doors would then be switched upon landing. This would also explain the pilot’s strange decision to land on the beach rather than the nearby airfield. Clearly they couldn’t afford to have anyone witness the switch being made.
So who was behind the plot? Some likely suspects include:
Henri Dreyfus: A business rival and former associate of Alfred. Their feud escalated when Loewenstein discovered that Henri was a behind an exposé that circulated in the Belgian press a few months before the incident. As a consequence , Dreyfus was facing a libel suit. Did he turn to murder to avoid appearing in court for what could have been a ruinous lawsuit?
Albert Pam and Frederick Szarvasy: The two men were Alfred’s partners in International Holdings. On the surface, it doesn’t seem like they could have benefited from Loewenstein’s death. But a closer look at the paper trail reveals a different story. As a matter of fact, International Holdings stock soared in the weeks following the incident thanks to a mysterious $13 million profit that appeared out of nowhere. Williams Norris did some digging and discovered that this sum eerily matched a number of anonymous insurance policies that were taken out on Loewenstein’s life shortly before the incident.
Although Williams Norris conducted commendable work in assembling this case, numerous queries remain unresolved. Was the severely decomposed body discovered adrift in the channel truly that of Alfred Loewenstein? Why did both French and Belgian authorities abruptly conclude the investigation? And who held the insurance policies on Alfred's life?
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