Amelia Earhart Mystery: Bones May Show Aviatrix Lived as Castaway on Pacific Island

(Dec. 17) -- The enduring mystery about what happened to Amelia Earhart may be a step closer to finally being solved: A group dedicated to discovering the aviator's fate says it has found three bone fragments that may belong to her.

If their identity is confirmed, the bones would appear to indicate that after disappearing during an attempted circumnavigation of the globe in 1937, Earhart may have survived for weeks as a castaway on a remote and uninhabited island in the South Pacific.

This photo shows a possible human finger bone in a research lab in Silver Spring, Md.

AP / TIGHAR

This bone, possibly from a human finger, was found by researchers on the island of Nikumaroro, in the South Pacific, and could help prove that Amelia Earhart died as a castaway after failing in her quest to circumnavigate the globe.

"We believe she was living there for a matter of weeks, maybe months," Ric Gillespie, the group's director, said today in a phone interview. "We found three bones, one that might be a neck or cervical bone, another that might be part of a finger and another that a crab crunched."

Gillespie said the bones could also be from a turtle, but they were found at what appeared to be a campsite and are likely human. And he said a British colonial officer also recorded finding skeletal remains on the island in 1940, when it was still uninhabited.

Earhart disappeared along with navigator Fred Noonan in 1937 and seemingly left no trace behind. Nikumaroro lies along the navigational line that Earhart reported just before she lost radio contact. But for years, it was widely assumed that the pair died after crashing in the vast stretch of ocean along their navigation route.

Gillespie, who just completed his 10th expedition to Nikumaroro, said his group also found what he called "circumstantial" evidence that Earhart, and possibly her navigator, died on the island, not at sea: glass bottles made in the United States in the 1930s that may have contained lotion and aftershave, and a compact case for women's makeup. A jackknife was also found at the site, an item that was listed on Earhart's manifest.

And what of Frank Noonan? "There's no sign of Fred, except that there was part of a man's shoe found in 1940," Gillespie said. "A woman can wear a man's shoe, but a man probably can't wear a woman's shoe. Amelia was apparently there. Fred may or may not have been there."

The lab results won't be available for weeks, and researchers want to confirm the findings at an independent lab. Until then, the mystery continues. But, Gillespie said, "When we find something that may bring us closer to the truth, it's a real high."