July 2, 1937, was the last time anyone heard from Amelia Earhart, and 70 years later the mystery of her disappearance still fascinates people. The official search for the aviator and her navigator, Fred Noonan, ended just a few weeks after they vanished over the Pacific Ocean while en route to tiny Howland Island on a trip around the world. But searchers have never given up in their quest to determine the facts of what happened after her last radio call. Next week, The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) will mount an expedition to a tiny Pacific island where they believe Earhart and Noonan might have been stranded. The TIGHAR team will fly to Fiji and then embark on a five-day journey by sea to the island of Nikumaroro. There they will excavate a site where they say they have found evidence in the past of a castaways’ camp site. “On July 24 well celebrate Amelias 110th birthday at the very spot where she may have passed her 40th,” according to the group. “The answers to the Earhart riddle are on Nikumaroro.”
