Amelia Earhart Died As a Castaway, Not Captured by the Japanese: Researchers

Bone-sniffing dogs have unearthed more questions about the fate of pioneering aviator.

July 10, 2017 9:13 am
Amelia Earhart stands June 14, 1928 in front of her bi-plane called "Friendship" in Newfoundland. Earhart (1898 - 1937) disappeared without trace over the Pacific Ocean in her attempt to fly around the world in 1937.
Amelia Earhart stands June 14, 1928 in front of her bi-plane called "Friendship" in Newfoundland. Earhart (1898 - 1937) disappeared without trace over the Pacific Ocean in her attempt to fly around the world in 1937. (Photo by Getty Images)
Getty Images

It’s National Geographic versus the History Channel in the ongoing race to uncover the truth behind Amelia Earhart’s mysterious disappearance and untimely death.

Last week, the History Channel released a National Archives photograph supporting the theory that Earhart and her navigator, Freed Noonan, were captured by the Japanese.

But before that now infamous photo was released, at the end of June, researchers on an expedition sponsored by The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) and the National Geographic Society brought bone-sniffing dogs to the remote Pacific island where Earhart and Noonan are believed by some to have died. They didn’t uncover any bones — it was a long shot, National Geographic reports — but four forensic dogs “alerted” researchers to one place where they detected the scene of human remains.

“The signals were clear: Someone — perhaps Earhart or her navigator, Fred Noonan — had died beneath the ren tree,” National Geographic reports.

For now, soil samples have been sent back to labs to try and find traces of human DNA, and the team concedes it’s unlikely to find definitive proof. But Ric Gillespie, one top researcher on the expedition, says that the world needs “smoking gun” proof like DNA or bones to put the mystery to rest — not murky photographs like the one released by the History Channel that may or may not show Earhart.

“This is something that’s going to be put out to millions of people,” Gillespie told The Washington Post. “I wish the History Channel would just air Ancient Aliens. It would be more credible.”

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