Occasionally , starving people have resorted to cannibalism for survival necessity . Classical antiquity recorded numerous references to cannibalism during siege starvations . More recent well-documented examples include the '' Essex '' sinking in 1820 , the Donner Party in 1846 and 1847 , and the Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 . Some murderers , such as Albert Fish , Boone Helm , Andrei Chikatilo , and Jeffrey Dahmer , are known to have devoured their victims after killing them . Other individuals , such as artist Rick Gibson and journalist William Seabrook , have legally consumed human flesh out of curiosity , or to attract attention to themselves
Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571
Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571
List of incidents of cannibalism