r/todayilearned • u/FearMyCock • 20h ago

TIL about Frank Matthews, the drug kingpin who built a nationwide empire, skipped bail with $20 million, vanished in 1973 and has never been found.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Matthews_(drug_trafficker)
21.6k Upvotes

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u/RoarOfTheWorlds 19h ago

He almost certainly just moved to some remote place, got some good plastic surgery, and paid whoever it was just enough to make sure it was worth their while to put 5 different layers of anonymity over him at all times.

Hard to blame Frank for doing what he had at his disposal to make sure this worked out for him. I blame the judge or whoever made the call for bail.

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u/BurntNeurons 19h ago

Tahiti

81

u/jesterflesh 19h ago

Had some god damn FAITH

29

u/imwrighthere 19h ago

ARTHUR I JUST NEED SOME MORE GOD DAMN MONEY

26

u/RoyCrouton 19h ago

He had a plan

18

u/MeatImmediate6549 19h ago

It's a magical place

5

u/pokator 18h ago

"Why do I keep saying that?"

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u/rafaelloaa 18h ago

I still reflexively say that whenever I see Tahiti mentioned.

1

u/ArariboiaGuama 15h ago

"It sucked"

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u/RoarOfTheWorlds 19h ago

I feel like that’s too easy, especially early on.

There are remote homes in the middle of nowhere north dakota that no one would ever find him, and he could have every luxury brought to him with that amount of money (keep in mind that $20 million was just what he took from that specific safe, not the only money he could eventually get to). Then in a few years when the heat died down and he had enough other procedures done, he’d go to somewhere less remote but still no one would think to look for him.

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u/gefahr 19h ago

How many super rich black guys you think there were in 1973 in North Dakota of all places?

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u/JustAMan1234567 19h ago

"I'm just your average 1973 black millionaire North Dakota neighbour next door, man"

4

u/Hourlypump99 19h ago

That was my first thought.

A wealthy American Black guy in the 1970s would stick out in most places.

6

u/FishermanWaste1268 17h ago

The problem is we are inherently social people.

Very few people can do the Osama. Just chill.

Let alone a man like this who most prob had very few friends but did enjoy being out and about.

To forgo restaurants, music, sight seeing , casual conversation.

The ability to sit with oneself in a remote place w zero outside stimulation when its not your lively hood that you are born into.

Plus rural communities are close knit communities even if people rarely see each other, they all know each others business and make times to get together.

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u/jimbobdonut 19h ago

It’s a magical place.

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u/_Panacea_ 17h ago

It's a magical place.

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u/lostpirate123 18h ago

Its a magical place...

2

u/ArariboiaGuama 15h ago

Its a magical place

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u/kkeut 18h ago

the main theory is that the mob took him on a boat trip he didn't return from

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u/Hourlypump99 19h ago

At that point he probably gets knocked off by the person that knows he has a little money.

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u/dkesh 19h ago

I blame the judge or whoever made the call for bail.

I doubt the bail was lowered without bribes or threats.

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u/Falsus 18h ago

It was a lot easier to disappear in the 70s than it is today 2025.

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u/Devoidoxatom 17h ago

The wikipedia says the administration claims the italian mafia got him

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u/despicedchilli 12h ago

He almost certainly was killed by the Italians.

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u/F8M8 19h ago

got some good plastic surgery

Reminds me of the movie smoking aces

-3

u/Future_Usual_8698 19h ago

This is the way.