by Dawn Hawkins

Created on: December 14, 2010

Amelia Earhart aspired to be the first woman to fly around the world. Her dreams came crashing down on July 2, 1937. The plane, along with Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, disappeared, never to be heard from again. There has been much speculation on the tragedy since the disappearance of Amelia Earhart. The discovery of a bone on a remote, uninhabited island may stop all the speculation of the disappearance and finally give the world the answers to this long time mystery. What happened to Amelia Earhart on that awful day?

The evidence found could be a human bone. That is an uncertainty as it may well be a turtle bone. DNA testing will begin to determine if it is indeed a human bone. The name of the island in which the bone was found is Nikumaroro. The island is a very small tropical island devoid of human life. Many who are interested in finding out the fate of Earhart believe that Nikumaroro was where Amelia met her fate. If the bone that is found is indeed a human bone rather than that of a turtle, the next step will be to find out if it is Amelia Earhart's bone or that of her navigator, Fred Noonan.

There have been 10 expeditions to Nikumaroro to search for evidence that the fated flight of Amelia Earhart did land or crash in that area. TIGHAR (The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery) have been investigating the Earhart mystery for approximately 22 years. Ric Gillespie, of the group, stated that "Evidence we have found on Nikumaroro is consistent with the hypothesis that Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, landed and eventually died there as castaways." This is of special significance because the skeletal remains of a cast away were found on the island in 1940. Forensic testing at the time suggested that the remains were most likely that of a white female between 5' 5" and 5' 9" tall. These clues suggest that these may have been the remains of Ms. Earhart. Gillespie believes there is a possibility that some remains were left behind when the skeleton was found in 1940, which is what he hopes is the case with the finger bone that was recently found. The 1940 skeleton was recovered without hand bones.

The skeletal remains from 1940 have been lost. That makes it impossible to determine whether they were, in fact, that of Earhart. Gillespie suggests that the plane landed on the island, or nearby and that is where Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan met their demise. There has been no news on the remains of Fred Noonan who was in flight with Earhart when the twin engine Lockheed Electra disappeared from the skies. What happened to Fred Noonan's remains is yet unknown. The newly found finger bone leaves hope that Amelia Earhart's mystery may soon be revealed though. At this point, it is still speculation.

This tiny bone fragment and the other skeletal remains aren't the only things that have been found on the island that suggests that Amelia Earhart may have died there. Other items found on the island through many explorations include make-up from the early twentieth century and a woman's compact mirror from the 1930's. Other evidence exists as well. As technology advances, so do the chances of piecing together one of the most fascinating mysteries of the twentieth century.

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