The illustrious aviatress and her navigator were last seen on July 2 , 1937 , soaring into the sky above New Guinea . We know where they were headed — Howland Island , a bare mote in the ocean — but we do n’t live where they kick the bucket . There areplenty of theories , of course . Some people think Earhart was in reality a undercover agent who go into concealment after complete her final mission . Others think she was becharm .
But some of the most compelling evidence comes from Nikumaroro , an uninhabited atoll located about 1000 mile northwards of Fiji . The island is just 350 maritime mi southwestward of Howland Island . At humbled lunar time period , its disclose reef could have made a welcoming spot to land an ailing planer . Most significantly , we ’ve find bones there before ; the British government activity recovered 13 human bones there in 1940 .
Those bones have since been recede , as has the precise location of where they were discovered , but archeologist believe they get laid where to bump more .
Sothe International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery(TIGHAR ) is sending a new mission to the island , bolstered with some very peculiar expert . Berkeley , Piper , Marcy , and Kayle all trained as stay detection dogs by the Institute for Canine Forensics .
The dogs ’ occupation is to follow the scent of human bones , then alert their human counterpart , who will excavate in a full circle around the targeted area . It probably wo n’t be an promiscuous job . Heat , vegetation , and scavengers can all throw off the smell , and Nikumaroro is sweltering , dense with greenery , and crawl with ivory - crack coconut crabs .
That last thing might not be terrible . “ The crabs are our acquaintance , ” Hiebert state . It ’s possible that they witness the stiff themselves , then dragged them back to their tunnel . The sinister , hole-and-corner trap could actually help uphold the remains and their scent .
Hiebert and his co-worker at TIGHAR know it ’s a long shot . Thescent traillikely went moth-eaten ages ago , if the finger cymbals are even still there , if they ever were there at all .
“ But if the dogs are successful , ” Hiebert order , “ it will be the breakthrough of a life-time . ”
[ h / tNational Geographic News ]
