Netflix Airing Michael Rockefeller Documentary

Netflix has announced the February 2015 release of Fraser C. Heston’s documentary “The Search for Michael Rockefeller.” The film was produced in 2011 and takes the stance that the 23-year-old son of former Vice President Nelson Rockefeller was killed and eaten by cannibals.

In 2007, according to the film’s website, Heston discovered a cache of lost footage shot by adventure-author Milt Machlin during his expedition to the cannibal coast of New Guinea in 1969, in search of answers to the mystery. “The film includes previously unreleased footage and eye-witness interviews, including some startling revelations, which shed light on the unsolved mystery of Michael’s disappearance.”

Michael Rockefeller was last seen on November 19, 1961 by Dutch anthropologist René Wassing. The two men were clinging to a 40-foot dugout canoe which had overturned on their trip to a local village on November 17th. This is where the details get screwy but the story goes that after more than 24 hours of waiting for their guides to return with help, Rockefeller thought they were drifting farther into open sea and told Wassing “I think I can make it.” He swam for shore and was never seen again. Despite an intensive search, no trace of him was ever found and he was presumed to have died from exposure, exhaustion, and/or drowning. At the time, Nelson Rockefeller was the Governor of New York State and the tragedy was a major news item. Theories involving sharks, crocodiles and cannibals soon sprang up. He was declared legally dead in 1964.

If you’re interested and don’t have Netflix or just want to see other documentaries, there are several items on youtube. There are also plenty of articles and books. Smithsonian.com has an excerpt from Carl Hoffman’s book “Savage Harvest.”

Milt Machlin wrote his own book “In Search of Michael Rockefeller” and Michael Rockefeller’s twin sister, Mary, wrote a book about coping with the loss of her brother, which was not meant to shed light on the disappearance but to help other twins coping with similar loss.

Fraser Heston, the film’s director and executive producer, is the son of actor Charlton Heston. Fraser played the infant Moses in The Ten Commandments (1956).