After two years, people grew worried, and search parties were sent out. They found an abandoned camp on Beechey Island and the graves of three men alongside it, all of which were members of the expedition. In 1859 — after Parliament had ceased their search efforts — Franklin’s wife dispatched a private search. On King William Island, the crew found a cairn with two messages inside — one good and one bad. The good one was dated May of 1847 and shared that the expedition was going well, and that they’d “wintered” on Beechey Island, as the search parties had discovered. The second, dated just two weeks after the first message, explained that 24 members of the expedition had died, including Franklin. It informed them that the rest of the crew would be heading south. Additionally, one more body was found.
It wasn’t until 2014 that more information was uncovered about the expedition. Finally, one of the ships — the Erebus — was found. It was in the Queen Maud Gulf, sunken in about 36 feet of water. Two years later, The Terror was found just south of King William Island. Even more confusing — the ships were in the wrong place. They were 60+ miles from where the letters said they’d be.
There’s still tons of mystery surrounding what exactly caused such a swift shift between the first and second letters, or why none of the 128 voyagers were ever heard from again. Inuit oral tradition suggests that the ships were caught in ice, and the men died slowly. Research from today suggests that many died from illness such as scurvy, and others resorted to cannibalism to survive.
You can read more about the expedition here.
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Source: https://www.buzzfeed.com/angelicaamartinez/true-crime-unsolved-mysteries-3