The disappearance of Benjamin Bathurst

British diplomat Benjamin Bathurst vanished at Perleberg on 25 November 1809 while changing horses on the road between Berlin and Hamburg.

Sabine Baring-Gould, in Historic Oddities and Strange Events (1889), records that on 25 November 1809, about midday, Benjamin Bathurst got to Perleberg by post-horse on the road between Berlin and Hamburg. He stopped at the post-house for refreshments and ordered fresh horses for the next stage, to Lenzen. Futility Closet calls him a British diplomat.

Wikipedia says Bathurst left his room, and his servant Krause followed shortly after, only to find him missing from the carriage and nowhere to be found. Futility Closet tells it slightly differently: Bathurst was outside the inn, moved beyond the light while his portmanteau went onto the carriage, and was seen no more.

The Dictionary of National Biography says the only clue was a portion of his clothing found near Lützen, and that the prevailing idea was that French soldiers killed him for his despatches. Wikipedia adds that his valuable fur coat was found hidden in an outhouse belonging to a family named Schmidt. On 16 December 1809, two old women gathering in the woods near Quitzow, three miles north of Perleberg, found his pantaloons. The Dictionary of National Biography notes that he married Phillida Call in 1805 and had one daughter.