Bones found in Pacific in 1940 are ‘99% likely to be aviator Earhart’s’
HER fate has been one of the most enduring mysteries of the past 80 years: Amelia Earhart – who was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic – vanished over the Pacific during a 1937 mission to fly around the globe.
An investigation of bones found on a remote island may finally put an end to the puzzle over what happened to the pioneering aviator.
According to a leading forensic scientist, the bones almost certainly belonged to Earhart. She vanished during a flight from Papua New Guinea to Howland Island. She was 39 at the time and was declared dead two years later. Howland Island lies in the central Pacific about halfway between Hawaii and Papua New Guinea.
While it was widely assumed her remains were lost at sea, there have been numerous more colourful theories about the American’s fate – including that she became a castaway or was captured by the Japanese.
But Richard Jantz, an emeritus anthropology professor at the University of Tennessee, has said it is ‘99%’ certain that a skeleton found on the Pacific island of Nikumaroro in 1940 is that of Earhart. Nikumaroro is a coral atoll around 650km south of Howland Island.
Tests on the bones at the time concluded they belonged to ‘stocky male’ around 5ft 5in. But Professor Jantz argued that forensic techniques were not advanced enough and that the measurements closely match Earhart’s records.
The skeleton has since been lost but Dr Janz has compared their recorded measurements to the probable dimensions of Earhart’s, based on analysing photos where she appeared alongside objects that can be measured.
‘We were able to compare the three bone lengths from Nikumaroro island to Amelia Earhart,’ he said. ‘It’s unlikely that just a random person would be that similar. What I can say scientifically is that they are 99% likely to be her.’
Products from 1930s America were also found on the island when an exploration party stumbled across the bones in 1940, including fragments that match a bottle of women’s skin softener on sale in the late 1930s.
A knife was the same as one listed in Earhart’s plane’s inventory.
Attractive, independent Earhart had become a huge celebrity after a 1928 flight which made her the first woman to fly across the Atlantic and in the US, she was nicknamed Queen of Skies.
At the time of her disappearance, she has been trying to fly around the world with navigator Fred Noonan.
She was trying to reach Hawaii before making the final leg of the journey to California. But they are thought to crashed after running low on fuel and struggling with poor visibility.
‘99% likely to be her’