Most of the executives attended the meeting, but the company president was 'conspicuously absent'. [='conspicuous by his absence'; it was very noticeable that the company president was not there]
The soldier was 'absent without leave'. [='AWOL'; absent without having permission to be absent]
He made an 'absent' reply to her question as he continued to watch the TV.
(..) this is Mission Specialist Ryan Stone reporting from the ISS. All communications with Mission Commander Matthew Kowalski have been lost. Radio transmission absent. Visuals nonexistent. To confirm, I, Ryan Stone, am the sole survivor of STS-one-five-seven. What now? (..)2013 Gravity