What Went Missing in “Missing,” the Acclaimed Film on the Murder of an American in Chile

A new book reexamines the facts behind the deaths of Charles Horman and Frank Teruggi during the 1973 coup

Joyce and Charlie Horman in happier times, before he went missing during the U.S.-backed military coup in Chile. The full story of Horman’s involvement with Chile has never been told—until now. (Karen Tweedy-Holmes photo)

Editor’s Note: In 1982, a feature film based on events following a military coup in Chile debuted to critical acclaim and went on to dominate the Academy Awards. Missing, directed by Kostantinos Costa-Gavras, implicated the U.S. government in the disappearance and death of Horman, portrayed as a somewhat apolitical young American living in Chile during the government of Salvador Allende, the Chilean president overthrown in the U.S.-backed 1973 coup.  

The suspicion of U.S. involvement became a kind of official story of Horman’s death, as well as that of the other American who was executed, Frank Teruggi. Missing portrayed Horman as the man “who knew too much” who was killed because of something he learned in encounters with U.S. military officers in the port city of  Valparaiso.

But John Dinges, himself a young journalist in Chile during the coup and its violent aftermath, uncovered circumstances and facts of their cases that contradict the widely accepted version. In this excerpt from his new book,  Chile in Their Hearts: The Untold Story of Two Americans Who Went Missing After the Coup, Dinges  recasts Horman’s encounter with U.S. officers on September 11, 1973, the day of the coup….