Photo may prove Japanese captured Amelia Earhart
Officials say there are no records that the aviator was in the country’s custody
A photograph discovered in the U.S. National Archives may add weight to the theory that Amelia Earhart survived a landing in the Marshall Islands and was taken captive by the Japanese.
The photo shows a picture of a woman who appears to be Amelia Earhart and a man that looks like her co-pilot, Fred Noonan, after their crash, according to History Channel special Amelia Earhart: The Lost Evidence, which airs Sunday.
The photo and other details that point to Earhart’s capture by the Japanese are detailed in the two-hour special.
The show features former FBI executive assistant director Shawn Henry as he investigates evidence supporting the theory that Earhart crash-landed in the Marshall Islands and eventually died in Japanese custody on the island of Saipan.
The photo likely was taken by someone who was spying on the Japanese for the U.S., according to the special.
The show highlights additional evidence, including plane parts found on the Marshall Islands that appear to be similar to those on the plane Earhart flew in 1937, and an eyewitness who claims to have seen Earhart and Noonan after they supposedly perished.
Japanese authorities told NBC that there are no records indicating that Earhart was in Japanese custody.
The photo shows a woman with short hair, much like Earhart’s cut, sitting on a dock with her back to the camera. A man, who looks like Noonan, is standing a short distance behind her.
Kent Gibson, a facial recognition expert, who studied the photo, said in the History Channel special that it’s “very convincing evidence” that the photo is of Noonan.
“The hairline is the most distinctive characteristic,” Gibson said. “It’s a very sharp receding hairline. The nose is very prominent.”