Study says bones from Pacific island likely those of Amelia Earhart

Study says bones from Pacific island likely those of Amelia Earhart

Comparing measurements of the Nikumaroro bones and Earhart's, they concluded that she is the only documented person they may belong to.

Famed aviatrix Amelia Earhart pictured with her Lockheed Electra10E before her ill fated quest to fly around the world in this undated photograph. (Reuters pic)
Famed aviatrix Amelia Earhart pictured with her Lockheed Electra10E before her ill fated quest to fly around the world in this undated photograph. (Reuters pic)
NIKUMARORO:
Bones found on a remote Pacific island in 1940 were likely those of famed pilot Amelia Earhart, according to a new study.

If true, the findings would settle a long debate over the fate of Earhart, who vanished while attempting a round-the-world flight in 1937.

The new study re-examined measurements of several bones that were found on the Pacific island of Nikumaroro, but are now lost. The measurements led a scientist in 1940 to conclude that they belonged to a man, a finding reinforced by a 2015 study.

But University of Tennessee anthropologist Richard Jantz carried out a new analysis, published in the journal Forensic Anthropology, that “strongly supports the conclusion that the Nikumaroro bones belonged to Amelia Earhart.”

Using new techniques, Jantz compared estimates of Earhart’s bone lengths with the Nikumaroro bones and concluded in the study that “the only documented person to whom they may belong is Amelia Earhart.”

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