What to know

Bones Found on Pacific Island Belong to Amelia Earhart

bones found on Nikumaroro island in the Pacific Ocean are believed to belong to pilot Amelia Earhart

Bones discovered on Nikumaroro island in the Pacific Ocean in 1940 are believed to belong to famed US pilot Amelia Earhart.

In 1928, Amelia Earhart became the first woman aviator to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, but took an even more famous flight in 1937.

While attempting a circumnavigational flight around the globe, in a Lockheed Model 10-E Electra, Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over the central Pacific Ocean near Howland Island.

Amelia Earhart standing in front of the Lockheed Electra in which she disappeared in July 29, 1937

Amelia Earhart standing in front of the Lockheed Electra in which she disappeared in July 29, 1937.

There have been several theories about what happened to her over the years, but scientists now believe they know where her last resting place at might have been.

According to a recent study published in Forensic Anthropology claims that bones found on a Pacific island in 1940 belongs to Earhart, suggesting she died as a castaway on the island.

Titled Amelia Earhart and the Nikumaroro Bones, the study claims that the bones are a 99 percent match, contradicting earlier reports.

The bones were found on the island of Nikumaroro, about 2,900km southwest of Hawaii, and were believed to belong to a man by a 1941 study.

The British team exploring the island in 1940 found a human skull, a woman’s shoe, a Navy navigation tool and a bottle of the herbal liqueur Benedictine – a drink Earhart favored.

While there were suspicions of the bones belonging to Amelia Earhart at the time, they were reported to belong to a man after analysis in Fiji.

Amelia Earhart in her Lockheed L- 10E Electra preparing for her circumnavigational flight around the globe, 1937

Amelia Earhart in her Lockheed L- 10E Electra preparing for her circumnavigational flight around the globe, 1937.

However, the new study claims that because forensic osteology, ot the study of bones, was still very basic, they probably reach the wrong conclusion.

Using a new software that is today popular among forensic anthropologists, the team used the data from 1942 to compared the bones to Earhart’s height and body stature.

The bones themselves have however been lost since then and can not be analyzed any further.

With the help of photographs, it was determined that Earhart is more similar to the Nikumaroro bones than 99% of individuals in a large reference sample.

You Might Also Like