Nicholas Joseph Begich Sr.[2][3] (born April 6, 1932 – disappeared October 16, 1972; declared dead December 29, 1972) was an American counselor, educator and politician.

His father, John Begich (né Begić), was born in Podlapača, Udbina, Croatia.

[7] Begich moved to Alaska after college, where he worked as a guidance counselor in the schools of Anchorage.

Begich also taught political science during parts of this period at the University of Alaska at Anchorage.

On October 16, 1972, Begich and House Majority Leader Hale Boggs (D-Louisiana), were two of the four men on board a twin-engine Cessna 310 when the airplane disappeared during a flight from Anchorage to Juneau.

In an enormous search effort, search and rescue aircraft of the United States Coast Guard, Navy, Army, Air Force, Civil Air Patrol and civilians were deployed to look for the four men and the missing Cessna 310.

The Cessna was required to carry an emergency locator transmitter (ELT) per Alaska state statute section 02.35.115, Downed Aircraft Transmitting Device.

The Alaska statute made reference to Federal Aviation Regulation 91.52, published on September 21, 1971, which mandated ELTs in aircraft such as this.

The report also notes that a witness saw an unidentified object in the pilot's briefcase that, except for color, resembled the portable ELT.

Since 2012 he has investigated the plane crash and subsequent events in an effort to determine the fate of the flight that carried Begich and Boggs.

The podcast, called Missing in Alaska, explored such conspiracy theories as that FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover or Detroit mobsters operating in Tucson had arranged for Hale Boggs to be assassinated.

The incumbent, Republican Ted Stevens, had been convicted of seven felonies, eight days before the 2008 election, after being caught up in the Alaska political corruption probe.