Having consulted a U.S. expert, Gillespie thinks the British were wrong. He'd like to find a tooth and then seek a DNA match with Earhart's niece, Kleppner, who lives in Vermont. But Kleppner says she will need convincing evidence before providing DNA.
Theory Challenged
Opponents of TIGHAR's theory argue that the only known runway within 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) was on Howland. If Earhart had extra fuel, wouldn't she have spent it searching for that runway?
Earhart had no reason to head so far southeast, they say, and if she had, subsequent survey crews or Nikumaroro's later inhabitants would have found evidence that she had been there.
Some also criticize Gillespie for claiming to have found Earhart after an earlier trip, when his team recovered a slab of airplane aluminum and the heel of a woman's shoe. The aluminum's rivets did not match the spacing on a standard Electra, and the heel was too big for Earhart's size-six feet.
Gillespie keeps those and other island artifacts in a back room of his house-turned-office. He has a rectangle of metal matching a part used inside an Electra and a Plexiglas chunk that could have been from a cabin window.
What he needs is something definitive, such as an engine part bearing Earhart's serial number. Or a DNA match.
"Some people don't want it solved," Gillespie said. "They'd rather have the mystery to play with than have it reduced to history."
"I've been convinced we got the right place for some time."
Copyright 2001 The Kansas City Star
What Happened to Amelia Earhart?
Theory 1: She plunged into the sea at the place where she made her last radio contact. Go>>
Theory 2: She had a contingency plan, and would have made sure she had enough fuel to find another runway. She made land, but died on an uninhabited island.
Theory 3: She somehow made it to the Marshall Islands where she was photographed sitting on a beach. She was arrested by the Japanese who may have executed her for being a spy. Or she may have returned to the United States after the war under a new name. Go>>
Return to the beginning of this series, the day Amelia Earhart disappeared; includes a sidebar about her life. Go>>
