The mysterious disappearance of US aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart has been baffling investigative officers and scientists for years, and now, a scientific study has shed new light on the decades-long mystery. A recent study conducted by Richard Jantz, a skeletal biology expert at the University of Tennessee reveals that the bones discovered in 1940 on the Pacific island of Nikumaroro were most likely the remains of Amelia Earhart.
The enigma continues
Amelia Earhart was the first female to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. It was in 1937 that Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan mysteriously disappeared over the central Pacific Ocean near Howland Island. After an intense search, bones were discovered in the island of Nikumaroro, but a forensic analysis conducted revealed that the bones belong to a male. In the course of time, the bones were lost, and the disappearance still asks a million questions.
But now, Richard Jantz is sensationally claiming that he has cracked the case, and the bones discovered in 1940 are 99 percent likely to be hers. Before the bones went missing, Dr David Winn Hoodless had taken its measurements.
Now, with the help of those measurements, Richard Jantz compared the bones with the probable dimensions of Earhart's and he finally came to the conclusion that the remains were of the Amelia.
"What I can say scientifically is that they are 99% likely to be her. We had the lengths of three bones that Hoodless reported lengths for. Then we realized there were some ways we could get more information about Amelia Earhart's dimensions that could be compared directly to the bones. We were able to measure her humerus length and her radius length from a photo that had a scaleable object in it" said Richard Jantz, Daily Mail reports.
The researcher added that his team was able to compare the three bone lengths from Nikumaroro island to Amelia Earhart which is a clear indication that the remnants were that of the missing aviator. Jantz also made it clear that forensic osteology was not advanced in those days, and it might be the reason why Hoodless wrongly assessed the sex of the bones recovered.
A solid theory convincing all
This is not the first time that clues regarding Amelia Earhart's disappearance were discovered from Nikumaroro. The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, an agency which has been investigating Amelia's disappearance said that they have found artifacts on the island which indicates that the aviator had landed there.
Richard Gillespie, the executive director of The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery said that Amelia might have crash-landed there, lived for some days as a castaway and later died.
Among the recovered remnants were ointments for treating freckles. Interestingly, Earhart had freckles, and she did not like it.
Other theories regarding Amelia's disappearance
A group of conspiracy theorists believes that Amelia Earhart was actually an American spy who was sent to Japan to gather information ahead of World War II. These people believe that both Amelia and Noonan were captured by the Japanese army. They claim that Noonan was beheaded soon, while Amelia died in 1939 due to dysentery.
A section of other people believes that Earhart and Noonan made it to Howland Island as planned, but were eaten by cruel cannibals.
