Case file · Anomaly hotspot
Disappearance of Ambrose Small
Toronto theatre magnate Ambrose Small sold his theatres for 1.7 million dollars on 2 December 1919, deposited a million, and was never seen again.
1919 CE · 43.65, -79.38 · status: unexplained
The account
Despite a years-long police search, he was never found. Staff at the Grand Theatre in London, Ontario, which he had owned, claim his ghost haunts it.
The researched reading
A wealthy theatre owner vanished on the day he became a millionaire. Murder is the leading explanation, with a staged departure the alternative.
| Explanation | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Secret human technology | 48% | Here this slot covers covert human action: a wealthy, widely disliked man who vanished the day a million dollars reached his account is a classic murder victim. His secretary John Doughty fled with Small’s bonds and was convicted of their theft, and suspicion also fell on his wife; no body was ever found. |
| A hoax or fabrication | 22% | A staged, voluntary disappearance to escape an unhappy marriage, with money he could reach, was a serious line of inquiry; no confirmed sighting of him ever surfaced. |
| Perception, memory or mind | 12% | The case drew psychics, rumours of bodies in theatre furnaces and “sightings” across North America, and later a ghost legend at the Grand Theatre in London, Ontario; the mystery is magnified by these stories. |
| Something known, misidentified | 8% | An ordinary accident or sudden death in a place where he was not recognised is possible, though unlikely for so prominent a man. |
| A known natural phenomenon | 6% | An accidental death, such as a fall into the frozen Toronto harbour, is possible. |
| A poorly understood natural phenomenon | 2% | No natural phenomenon is involved. |
| Genuinely anomalous | 2% | A rich man’s disappearance has ordinary explanations. |
Official position: Toronto police never solved the case; Small was declared legally dead in 1923, and the file was closed in 1960.