1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,040 Hi everyone, this is Deb from Dying to be Found. 2 00:00:03,040 --> 00:00:12,340 Before we get started, I just wanted to say that episodes contain disturbing discussions on harmful acts and crimes against animals and or humankind. 3 00:00:12,340 --> 00:00:18,560 Recordings are not intended for young or sensitive audiences due to the content nature of this podcast. 4 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:33,560 Listener discretion is strongly advised. 5 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:35,320 Hi everyone, I'm Deb. 6 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:36,600 And I'm Beth. 7 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:46,860 And we want to welcome you back to Dying to be Found, a true crime podcast that is what I like to say left open to interpretation of our listeners. 8 00:00:46,860 --> 00:00:53,260 We have a variety of cases that we always talk about where someone is simply dying to be found. 9 00:00:53,260 --> 00:00:56,400 And speaking for myself, Beth, I'm not going to speak for you. 10 00:00:56,400 --> 00:01:00,460 Sometimes I'm dying to find out what happens in these storylines. 11 00:01:00,460 --> 00:01:01,660 Me too. 12 00:01:01,660 --> 00:01:03,160 I'm actually curious. 13 00:01:03,160 --> 00:01:10,560 I do keep my eye on Dateline and 2020 to see if there's any cases that we did with an update. 14 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:12,060 Have you found any? 15 00:01:12,060 --> 00:01:13,960 No. 16 00:01:13,960 --> 00:01:19,760 That's the cool thing. I think sometimes the older cases that we do, I had mentioned this before. 17 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:28,660 There's so many times where even if you wait 20, 30 years on the older cases, sometimes there is a lot more to be found. 18 00:01:28,660 --> 00:01:31,660 And actually, we're probably going to be touching on that in today's case. 19 00:01:31,660 --> 00:01:33,660 I'll talk to you about that in just a little bit. 20 00:01:33,660 --> 00:01:34,260 Okay. 21 00:01:34,260 --> 00:01:42,660 But before we get started, I wanted to give a shout out to a very special listener who suggested our storyline today, Beth. 22 00:01:42,660 --> 00:01:44,560 Wonderful. 23 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:49,560 Yeah, this might be one of the youngest listeners to date. 24 00:01:49,560 --> 00:01:53,260 And I'm told that he's about to turn nine years old. 25 00:01:53,260 --> 00:01:54,760 Get out. 26 00:01:54,760 --> 00:01:55,260 Yeah. 27 00:01:55,260 --> 00:01:57,760 So happy birthday to Cooper. 28 00:01:57,760 --> 00:02:01,760 He really seems to know a good storyline when he hears one. 29 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:10,460 If you are a new listener here, I want you to just know that some of our episodes are family friendly because sometimes we do documentary style 30 00:02:10,460 --> 00:02:14,060 or just kind of follow up on some mysterious cases. 31 00:02:14,060 --> 00:02:18,860 Today is no different because we do have a little bit of mystery mixed with history. 32 00:02:18,860 --> 00:02:22,360 And I actually like reporting these kind of cases, Beth. 33 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:23,660 I learn a lot from them. 34 00:02:23,660 --> 00:02:27,760 And to be honest, I haven't heard this case in a really long time. 35 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:30,260 So it was really kind of neat to look into it. 36 00:02:30,260 --> 00:02:37,360 Wouldn't you believe I watched something on TV not too, too long ago, just a couple months on Amelia Earhart. 37 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:38,460 Really? 38 00:02:38,460 --> 00:02:39,360 Yes. 39 00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:40,560 Was it a documentary? 40 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:42,060 I believe it was. 41 00:02:42,060 --> 00:02:42,560 Okay. 42 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:45,860 Well, we're going to do a little bit of a documentary style here today. 43 00:02:45,860 --> 00:02:50,060 But before we do, I wanted to give you just one more thing about Cooper. 44 00:02:50,060 --> 00:02:51,260 Yes, please. 45 00:02:51,260 --> 00:02:55,260 I want to say a couple months ago, we did a case on DB Cooper. 46 00:02:55,260 --> 00:02:58,960 Do you remember the man that jumped out of the airplane? 47 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:01,360 Cooper was named after him. 48 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:02,860 How cool is that? 49 00:03:02,860 --> 00:03:05,560 Oh, Cooper, you have a cool name. 50 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:06,460 Absolutely. 51 00:03:06,460 --> 00:03:09,660 So once again, Cooper, happy birthday to you. 52 00:03:09,660 --> 00:03:11,960 And I hope that you enjoy this. 53 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:18,260 Today, we are going to be talking about Amelia Earhart, who, according to Time Magazine, 54 00:03:18,260 --> 00:03:25,560 was the very first female aviator to fly a solo non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean. 55 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:29,560 So Beth, I always start off our episodes with a question. 56 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:33,860 And I want to know, do you remember your very first airplane flight? 57 00:03:33,860 --> 00:03:34,560 No. 58 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:37,360 Well, I do, but I remember being a little nervous. 59 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:38,660 Yes, yes. 60 00:03:38,660 --> 00:03:40,860 Do you know when my first flight was? 61 00:03:40,860 --> 00:03:41,460 When? 62 00:03:41,460 --> 00:03:45,060 When I flew to St. Louis, Missouri to become a flight attendant. 63 00:03:45,060 --> 00:03:46,960 Oh, that's so cool. 64 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:53,260 Yeah, it really was because I was so mesmerized with the fact that I was above the clouds. 65 00:03:53,260 --> 00:03:55,160 Like, how is that possible? 66 00:03:55,160 --> 00:03:56,760 I still question that. 67 00:03:56,760 --> 00:04:00,860 The whole concept of being on the airplane was really, really neat. 68 00:04:00,860 --> 00:04:02,960 I wonder if Cooper's ever been on an airplane. 69 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:04,360 I don't know, Cooper. 70 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:07,060 Right us. 71 00:04:07,060 --> 00:04:09,360 All right, so let me just give you a little bit of history. 72 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:17,660 And do you even know who was the very first person to put out or to manufacture a fully functional airplane? 73 00:04:17,660 --> 00:04:19,260 Do you remember who invented that? 74 00:04:19,260 --> 00:04:25,060 I want to say, believe it or not, Alexander Graham Bell has something to do with air flight. 75 00:04:25,060 --> 00:04:26,660 Does he really? 76 00:04:26,660 --> 00:04:29,160 Speaking of that, it's the Wright brothers. 77 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:32,460 Yes, it's Wilbur and Orville Wright. 78 00:04:32,460 --> 00:04:39,760 And they flew their first flight out of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina on December 17th, 1903. 79 00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:40,960 Wow. 80 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:42,860 Do you even know where Kitty Hawk is, Beth? 81 00:04:42,860 --> 00:04:44,260 No, I don't. 82 00:04:44,260 --> 00:04:47,160 It's in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. 83 00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:48,960 I have been there. 84 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:53,460 I have seen the area where the Wright brothers took off for the very first time. 85 00:04:53,460 --> 00:04:54,760 Oh, that's cool. 86 00:04:54,760 --> 00:04:55,360 Right. 87 00:04:55,360 --> 00:04:55,660 Okay. 88 00:04:55,660 --> 00:04:57,560 So obviously I like history. 89 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:01,260 So let me give you a little bit of history about Amelia. 90 00:05:01,260 --> 00:05:07,860 She was born on July 24th, 1897 in Atchison, Kansas. 91 00:05:07,860 --> 00:05:15,260 She grew up with a socially affluent background and really showed spirit and independence at a very young age. 92 00:05:15,260 --> 00:05:22,460 Amelia was a tomboy and became somewhat of a worldly young woman as she reached her 20s and such. 93 00:05:22,460 --> 00:05:24,360 So I'll get into that in just a minute. 94 00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:30,460 Now, at the age of 19, Amelia visited her sister in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 95 00:05:30,460 --> 00:05:32,960 Go Toronto. 96 00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:40,760 Where she decided to stay and become a nurse's aide to help care for wounded soldiers during World War II. 97 00:05:40,760 --> 00:05:43,460 Amelia eventually moved out to California. 98 00:05:43,460 --> 00:05:47,960 I believe her parents said something like it is time to come back here. 99 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:55,660 She moved out to California in 1920 by airplane, which happened to be her first flight ever riding in an aircraft. 100 00:05:55,660 --> 00:05:56,460 Cool. 101 00:05:56,460 --> 00:06:03,160 Around the age of 23, she really had a spark of excitement for aviation. 102 00:06:03,160 --> 00:06:08,860 Some of that, Beth, comes from an air show that she attended while she lived in Toronto. 103 00:06:08,860 --> 00:06:12,460 Do you remember going to those air shows with dad when we were growing up? 104 00:06:12,460 --> 00:06:13,560 Yes. 105 00:06:13,560 --> 00:06:15,960 Seriously, they were phenomenal. 106 00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:18,260 Now my granddaughters go to them. 107 00:06:18,260 --> 00:06:19,760 Oh, that is so neat. 108 00:06:19,760 --> 00:06:23,560 I will tell you, out, let's just go back up to Virginia here. 109 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:28,760 I've been to Virginia Beach and they always have the blue angels flying around. 110 00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:32,260 Even if you're on the beach, you could just hear them coming. 111 00:06:32,260 --> 00:06:35,060 They are past you as quick as they come up on you. 112 00:06:35,060 --> 00:06:36,160 It is really neat. 113 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:38,260 They're loud, but they're always in sync. 114 00:06:38,260 --> 00:06:41,960 You usually see at least two, maybe three flying at the same time. 115 00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:42,660 Cool. 116 00:06:42,660 --> 00:06:42,960 All right. 117 00:06:42,960 --> 00:06:46,360 So Amelia relocates to California. 118 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:49,960 And what do you think one of the very first things she does when she gets there? 119 00:06:49,960 --> 00:06:51,260 She left Toronto. 120 00:06:51,260 --> 00:06:53,660 She probably signed up for flight school. 121 00:06:53,660 --> 00:06:54,760 Absolutely. 122 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:55,960 Oh, get out. 123 00:06:55,960 --> 00:06:57,060 Yeah. 124 00:06:57,060 --> 00:06:58,960 She signed up for flying lessons. 125 00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:05,160 Only a year later, Beth, Amelia bought her very first aircraft with the help of her parents. 126 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:08,560 And a year after that, she received her pilot's license. 127 00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:09,660 Good for her. 128 00:07:09,660 --> 00:07:10,060 Yeah. 129 00:07:10,060 --> 00:07:13,060 I did not know that you watched a documentary on this. 130 00:07:13,060 --> 00:07:16,760 If you have anything more that you want to add to this, by all means. 131 00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:17,660 Okay. 132 00:07:17,660 --> 00:07:18,060 All right. 133 00:07:18,060 --> 00:07:27,360 Given her tomboy nature, Amelia cut her hair short and purchased a leather jacket to give off the persona of that as an aviator. 134 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:31,060 It was a sign of the times, you know, 1930s and all that. 135 00:07:31,060 --> 00:07:34,860 So it was really, if you ever see pictures of her, she's always wearing a leather jacket. 136 00:07:34,860 --> 00:07:35,460 Yeah. 137 00:07:35,460 --> 00:07:41,660 Amelia spent the next several years perfecting her aviation skills while moving around the United States. 138 00:07:41,660 --> 00:07:48,360 By 1928, women pilots were being recruited to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. 139 00:07:48,360 --> 00:07:51,760 And I think this is somewhat of a publicity stunt, Beth. 140 00:07:51,760 --> 00:07:54,860 Something like, hmm, I would compare that similar. 141 00:07:54,860 --> 00:08:00,660 You know how they always have those publicity stunts where people tightrope walk across Niagara Falls? 142 00:08:00,660 --> 00:08:01,360 Mm-hmm. 143 00:08:01,360 --> 00:08:01,860 Yeah. 144 00:08:01,860 --> 00:08:06,260 They had a publicity stunt where they wanted women to start joining in. 145 00:08:06,260 --> 00:08:14,260 Some speculate that Amelia was chosen to carry out this historical journey because she somewhat resembled Charles Lindbergh, 146 00:08:14,260 --> 00:08:20,360 who was the very first man to fly nonstop across the Atlantic just a year earlier. 147 00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:26,460 So I don't know, really, maybe their stature, their physique may have been similar. 148 00:08:26,460 --> 00:08:28,460 She had that pixie haircut. 149 00:08:28,460 --> 00:08:30,160 They both wore leather jackets. 150 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:35,560 I don't really know if you could do a comparison, but somebody saw a comparison between the two of them. 151 00:08:35,560 --> 00:08:36,460 Interesting. 152 00:08:36,460 --> 00:08:43,860 Well, on June 17th, 1928, Amelia began prepping for her very first solo flight. 153 00:08:43,860 --> 00:08:49,360 She flew out of Newfoundland, Canada as a passenger landing in Wales. 154 00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:54,860 Beth, she was doing a little bit of research, a little bit of homework before that actual flight. 155 00:08:54,860 --> 00:08:59,260 She wanted to assess things like time, distance, altitude, and things like that. 156 00:08:59,260 --> 00:09:01,160 She was just doing some homework along the way. 157 00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:06,060 Now, news media outlets immediately labeled Amelia as a celebrity. 158 00:09:06,060 --> 00:09:06,760 Okay. 159 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:08,960 Yeah, because that was a big thing back then. 160 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:12,360 I mean, Lindbergh, he was dubbed a celebrity as well, right? 161 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:13,260 Yes. 162 00:09:13,260 --> 00:09:24,260 Amelia went on to write a book or two about her experiences while continuing to set records by flying at higher altitudes than ever recorded before her. 163 00:09:24,260 --> 00:09:25,860 That's really cool. 164 00:09:25,860 --> 00:09:26,860 It is. 165 00:09:26,860 --> 00:09:32,260 I mean, I'm just wondering, I know what it's like when you're going up in the airplane and your ears pop. 166 00:09:32,260 --> 00:09:33,460 Oh, yeah. 167 00:09:33,460 --> 00:09:34,160 I don't know. 168 00:09:34,160 --> 00:09:36,360 There's just so much science to this. 169 00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:41,560 I can't even imagine what they would do to keep that from happening. 170 00:09:41,560 --> 00:09:55,260 Amelia flew at 18,415 feet or 5,613 meters in altitude, which I had to go look that up because in my mind, I'm not good with meters versus feet. 171 00:09:55,260 --> 00:09:56,960 Me neither. 172 00:09:56,960 --> 00:10:01,360 Does three and a half miles or five and a half kilometers sound a little bit more sensible? 173 00:10:01,360 --> 00:10:02,960 Whoo, that's high. 174 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:03,460 Yep. 175 00:10:03,460 --> 00:10:20,260 Well, four years later in May 1932, Amelia made her very first solo interatlantic flight, which also broke records when she flew from Newfoundland, Canada to Northern Ireland in 14 hours and 56 minutes. 176 00:10:20,260 --> 00:10:23,760 I can't even imagine sitting there all that time. 177 00:10:23,760 --> 00:10:24,460 Yeah. 178 00:10:24,460 --> 00:10:25,760 When does she sleep? 179 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:30,660 I mean, staying awake for that long, that's especially unheard of back then. 180 00:10:30,660 --> 00:10:31,460 Mm-hmm. 181 00:10:31,460 --> 00:10:32,960 Yeah, I kind of wonder that too. 182 00:10:32,960 --> 00:10:35,560 And I don't think they had autopilot at the time. 183 00:10:35,560 --> 00:10:39,660 But then again, I mean, why wouldn't they put another person in there with her? 184 00:10:39,660 --> 00:10:40,660 Exactly. 185 00:10:40,660 --> 00:10:45,560 I know they're solo flights, but for safety reasons, I think you should go in pairs, right? 186 00:10:45,560 --> 00:10:46,360 Mm-hmm. 187 00:10:46,360 --> 00:10:48,660 Maybe she's running on adrenaline. 188 00:10:48,660 --> 00:10:49,460 Likely. 189 00:10:49,460 --> 00:10:51,160 I would probably say likely. 190 00:10:51,160 --> 00:10:58,760 Well, she initially planned to land in Paris, France, but encountered some poor weather, plus some mechanical problems. 191 00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:08,860 Amelia continued to build up her aviation resume and made history by flying another solo flight between Hawaii and California in 1935. 192 00:11:08,860 --> 00:11:17,560 This flight path was 2,408 miles or 3,875 kilometers, which was her longest flight yet. 193 00:11:17,560 --> 00:11:21,360 This trip took 17 hours and 7 minutes. 194 00:11:21,360 --> 00:11:22,560 Wow. 195 00:11:22,560 --> 00:11:25,860 I mean, I guess I've stayed up for 17 hours before. 196 00:11:25,860 --> 00:11:27,760 It's not that big of a deal, is it? 197 00:11:27,760 --> 00:11:30,760 Well, considering I don't have a... 198 00:11:30,760 --> 00:11:31,960 Well, here's the deal. 199 00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:34,360 You sleep for eight hours a day, right? 200 00:11:34,360 --> 00:11:34,960 Yes. 201 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:39,660 And you still have what, another 16 hours of waking time, truly? 202 00:11:39,660 --> 00:11:42,060 Yes, now that makes sense. 203 00:11:42,060 --> 00:11:45,960 So she's probably working a double shift. 204 00:11:45,960 --> 00:11:54,560 Obviously, Amelia is working her way up to the famous trip that she had been planning. 205 00:11:54,560 --> 00:11:59,760 She continued to live her best life and build up her experience over many years, Beth. 206 00:11:59,760 --> 00:12:10,060 So this didn't really happen overnight, even though for the publicity stunt that they were trying to get out there to get women to do this flying, it didn't happen instantaneously. 207 00:12:10,060 --> 00:12:19,760 It actually took several years for her to build up the caliber and probably the knowledge in what she needed to do to make this flight successful. 208 00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:29,560 And what's really cool about it is that it seemed like the world was really behind Amelia and waiting patiently as she got better and better as a pilot. 209 00:12:29,560 --> 00:12:31,760 So she's perfecting her craft. 210 00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:45,960 On July 2nd, 1937, just before her 40th birthday, Amelia set out to fly the entire globe on a 29,000 mile or 47,000 kilometer journey. 211 00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:49,360 That is just... Wow. 212 00:12:49,360 --> 00:12:51,860 Yeah, well, don't think she's going to do this all in one stop. 213 00:12:51,860 --> 00:12:53,960 You know, she's going to have to stop for fuel, right? 214 00:12:53,960 --> 00:12:55,060 Oh, yes. 215 00:12:55,060 --> 00:12:56,160 I mean, it's kind of neat. 216 00:12:56,160 --> 00:13:01,060 It's like taking one leg and then flying to the next leg and things like that. 217 00:13:01,060 --> 00:13:07,060 Now, like I said, she slowly increased her distance and expertise over the years here. 218 00:13:07,060 --> 00:13:09,760 And it's only 1937, Beth. 219 00:13:09,760 --> 00:13:20,360 And in my opinion, that's still the infancy of aviation here because there's just so much going on, but they don't have the technology like we do today as far as aircrafts. 220 00:13:20,360 --> 00:13:22,760 No, they certainly didn't. 221 00:13:22,760 --> 00:13:25,760 Amelia was finally ready to take a trip around the world. 222 00:13:25,760 --> 00:13:39,060 She took along a navigator by the name of Fred Noonan, who helped guide Amelia's twin-engined Lockheed Electra, which Beth, I'm actually purposefully mentioning here because this is going to come into play in just a little bit. 223 00:13:39,060 --> 00:13:41,660 The twin engine or Lockheed Electra? 224 00:13:41,660 --> 00:13:42,760 All of the above. 225 00:13:42,760 --> 00:13:43,560 Okay. 226 00:13:43,560 --> 00:13:43,860 Yeah. 227 00:13:43,860 --> 00:13:45,460 You know what a twin engine is, right? 228 00:13:45,460 --> 00:13:49,460 It's got like the propellers on both sides where the wings are at. 229 00:13:49,460 --> 00:13:52,060 Oh, yes, yes. 230 00:13:52,060 --> 00:13:53,060 Now I do. 231 00:13:53,060 --> 00:14:01,160 Yeah, so that part is the twin engine and then I think the name of the airplane is a Lockheed or at least the manufacturer is Lockheed. 232 00:14:01,160 --> 00:14:03,660 And then of course, it's like a make it a model. 233 00:14:03,660 --> 00:14:05,060 The make would be Lockheed. 234 00:14:05,060 --> 00:14:06,660 The model is the Electra. 235 00:14:06,660 --> 00:14:07,460 Okay. 236 00:14:07,460 --> 00:14:09,960 So it's a twin-engine Lockheed Electra. 237 00:14:09,960 --> 00:14:19,060 Now, Amelia and Fred took off out of Miami, Florida and made a few refueling stops along the way, like I had mentioned that they would do. 238 00:14:19,060 --> 00:14:22,860 Their flight path led them from Miami to Central America. 239 00:14:22,860 --> 00:14:26,760 Then on to South America, Africa and New Guinea. 240 00:14:26,760 --> 00:14:36,760 And by the time Amelia and Fred flew to New Guinea, they had logged 22,000 miles or 35,000 kilometers in flight distance. 241 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:39,460 So that's a pretty long track. 242 00:14:39,460 --> 00:14:42,660 Very and I'm sure very tiring too. 243 00:14:42,660 --> 00:14:43,360 Mm-hmm. 244 00:14:43,360 --> 00:14:48,860 Yeah, because I couldn't really find how long all of this was taking. 245 00:14:48,860 --> 00:14:53,160 I mean, it's one thing knowing that she can fly up to 17 hours at one time. 246 00:14:53,160 --> 00:14:53,660 Mm-hmm. 247 00:14:53,660 --> 00:15:00,160 But really when I was researching this, all I could find was more so the distance, but not the time. 248 00:15:00,160 --> 00:15:01,160 Does that make sense? 249 00:15:01,160 --> 00:15:01,760 Yes. 250 00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:02,260 All right. 251 00:15:02,260 --> 00:15:10,760 The next leg on their trip was considered to be a little tricky because Amelia and Fred did not have aviation instruments like we do today. 252 00:15:10,760 --> 00:15:11,760 I had mentioned that. 253 00:15:11,760 --> 00:15:18,460 The only thing they had to rely on obviously was at that point in time, Beth, visual observations. 254 00:15:18,460 --> 00:15:25,960 Think about when you are in an airplane and you're just like looking over the horizon and just kind of picking up on whatever it is that you see. 255 00:15:25,960 --> 00:15:26,660 Mm-hmm. 256 00:15:26,660 --> 00:15:32,460 They didn't have instruments to tell them that they were getting close to land or anything like that. 257 00:15:32,460 --> 00:15:34,060 That's kind of scary, isn't it? 258 00:15:34,060 --> 00:15:38,760 Yes, because do you know what came to mind when I was looking that part up? 259 00:15:38,760 --> 00:15:39,460 No. 260 00:15:39,460 --> 00:15:42,160 Do you remember what happened to John F. Kennedy Jr.? 261 00:15:42,160 --> 00:15:42,960 Yes. 262 00:15:42,960 --> 00:15:44,660 That's pretty similar. 263 00:15:44,660 --> 00:15:53,460 I think what happened is in 1999, JFK Jr. was out on a flight and was doing that observation thing. 264 00:15:53,460 --> 00:15:57,460 He wasn't using instruments, but in his case, I think it was dark. 265 00:15:57,460 --> 00:15:59,660 Let's just say it did not work in his favor. 266 00:15:59,660 --> 00:16:00,360 No. 267 00:16:00,360 --> 00:16:05,460 And that's another story because we could honestly probably do a case on that one. 268 00:16:05,460 --> 00:16:16,260 Amelia and Fred planned to fly to Howland Island, a small coral atoll located between Australia and Hawaii for inquiring minds like me. 269 00:16:16,260 --> 00:16:19,060 Do you have any idea what a small atoll is? 270 00:16:19,060 --> 00:16:21,760 I wanted to ask you, but I didn't want to interrupt. 271 00:16:21,760 --> 00:16:22,160 Okay. 272 00:16:22,160 --> 00:16:29,560 I had to go look this one up, Beth, because it sounds interesting, but I had no idea what a coral atoll is. 273 00:16:29,560 --> 00:16:30,060 I don't know. 274 00:16:30,060 --> 00:16:33,560 You might want to go look this up while we're talking so you can get a visual. 275 00:16:33,560 --> 00:16:34,360 Okay. 276 00:16:34,360 --> 00:16:40,160 It's a coral ring that surrounds something like a small island, like a lagoon. 277 00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:42,060 Think about Gilligan's Island here, right? 278 00:16:42,060 --> 00:16:42,760 Yes. 279 00:16:42,760 --> 00:16:47,960 It's very small, which is why I would say, spoiler alert here, Beth, 280 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:53,260 experts believe that Amelia had difficulties locating this island by sight alone. 281 00:16:53,260 --> 00:16:54,960 I can imagine. 282 00:16:54,960 --> 00:16:55,660 Yeah. 283 00:16:55,660 --> 00:17:03,260 It was during this leg of her flight that Amelia Earhart communicated with the US Coast Guard that her aircraft was running out of fuel 284 00:17:03,260 --> 00:17:05,560 and she was flying north to south. 285 00:17:05,560 --> 00:17:13,260 So she didn't really have a big picture of the direction she was going, where she was at, anything like that. 286 00:17:13,260 --> 00:17:14,860 I just looked up the atoll. 287 00:17:14,860 --> 00:17:17,260 So she saw one? 288 00:17:17,260 --> 00:17:21,060 No, I think that she was having trouble finding it. 289 00:17:21,060 --> 00:17:22,760 Okay. 290 00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:25,360 It's possible that she found one. 291 00:17:25,360 --> 00:17:32,060 Not going to say it was the one that she was looking for, but it all kind of contributed to her demise, unfortunately. 292 00:17:32,060 --> 00:17:33,160 Oh dear. 293 00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:40,960 Amelia's last radio transmission took place at 8.43 a.m. on July 3rd, 1937. 294 00:17:40,960 --> 00:17:44,960 She and Fred Noonan were never seen nor heard from again. 295 00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:46,660 That's very sad. 296 00:17:46,660 --> 00:17:51,060 There's been lots of different rumors about what happened to her. 297 00:17:51,060 --> 00:17:51,960 Really? 298 00:17:51,960 --> 00:17:52,360 Yeah. 299 00:17:52,360 --> 00:17:59,160 They were saying that she was really living with, you know, the groups that live in the forests. 300 00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:01,660 They have face painting on them. 301 00:18:01,660 --> 00:18:02,260 Yeah. 302 00:18:02,260 --> 00:18:07,260 Well, one story is that she lived with a group like that. 303 00:18:07,260 --> 00:18:09,760 Oh, was that in the documentary? 304 00:18:09,760 --> 00:18:10,660 Yeah. 305 00:18:10,660 --> 00:18:11,260 Okay. 306 00:18:11,260 --> 00:18:17,660 Now I will tell you, I used several reputable resources, but truly for the time purposes, 307 00:18:17,660 --> 00:18:21,660 everything that I read just kind of fell into place in how I'm telling this story today, 308 00:18:21,660 --> 00:18:24,160 but I did not see any of that in my research. 309 00:18:24,160 --> 00:18:26,060 So that's an interesting theory. 310 00:18:26,060 --> 00:18:26,760 Yeah. 311 00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:28,460 I think it's far-fetched. 312 00:18:28,460 --> 00:18:33,360 Well, I mean, there's always theories to be had and stories to be told. 313 00:18:33,360 --> 00:18:36,060 So, especially when you have mysteries, you know. 314 00:18:36,060 --> 00:18:43,660 Scientists believe that Amelia may have gone down somewhere around 100 miles or 160 kilometers 315 00:18:43,660 --> 00:18:49,360 off of Howland Island where she was originally looking to land Beth. 316 00:18:49,360 --> 00:18:52,960 This would have been located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, 317 00:18:52,960 --> 00:18:59,760 around 1,650 miles or 2,650 kilometers southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii. 318 00:18:59,760 --> 00:19:00,460 Mm-hmm. 319 00:19:00,460 --> 00:19:00,760 Yeah. 320 00:19:00,760 --> 00:19:03,560 So I think that she was a little bit off course here. 321 00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:07,960 Like I said, I think that she was looking for that island to land on, 322 00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:09,860 but she was a little off course. 323 00:19:09,860 --> 00:19:13,960 So she may have landed on another atoll. 324 00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:17,560 I had no idea atolls were out there or how many are there. 325 00:19:17,560 --> 00:19:21,260 So if any of our listeners know that, definitely let us know. 326 00:19:21,260 --> 00:19:25,560 Yeah, when I looked it up, there were certainly a lot of choices to pick. 327 00:19:25,560 --> 00:19:26,360 Really? 328 00:19:26,360 --> 00:19:27,160 Huh. 329 00:19:27,160 --> 00:19:34,360 On January 5th, 1939, just 18 months after Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan disappeared, 330 00:19:34,360 --> 00:19:36,760 they were both declared legally dead. 331 00:19:36,760 --> 00:19:38,160 Now here's the kicker, Beth. 332 00:19:38,160 --> 00:19:46,360 After Amelia's sensationalized women's aviation accomplishments and even receiving celebrity status, 333 00:19:46,360 --> 00:19:53,560 Amelia only received one line of recognition in Time magazine when she was declared legally dead. 334 00:19:53,560 --> 00:19:54,360 What do you think of that? 335 00:19:54,360 --> 00:19:56,260 That's because she's a woman. 336 00:19:56,260 --> 00:19:58,660 I mean, and that was the Sun of the Times too. 337 00:19:58,660 --> 00:19:59,160 Yeah. 338 00:19:59,160 --> 00:20:00,860 We've come a long way for sure. 339 00:20:00,860 --> 00:20:01,660 Yes. 340 00:20:01,660 --> 00:20:05,960 Now I want to commemorate Amelia's accomplishments during her lifetime, 341 00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:09,960 which I can guarantee you, Beth, it's going to be a little bit more than one line. 342 00:20:09,960 --> 00:20:10,760 Good. 343 00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:16,160 I'm going to kind of give you just from the beginning a little recap on everything that she did. 344 00:20:16,160 --> 00:20:20,660 Amelia was born and raised in the Midwest and eventually moved to Canada 345 00:20:20,660 --> 00:20:23,860 when she was introduced to aviation at an air show. 346 00:20:23,860 --> 00:20:30,260 While in Toronto, Amelia worked as a nurse's aide, helping with the 1918 flu pandemic 347 00:20:30,260 --> 00:20:32,760 and caring for World War II veterans. 348 00:20:32,760 --> 00:20:37,960 Amelia eventually made her way to California where she began taking flying lessons 349 00:20:37,960 --> 00:20:42,160 and within two years, she acquired her first aircraft, 350 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:47,360 which by the way, I did not mention she named Canary because it was a very bright yellow color. 351 00:20:47,360 --> 00:20:48,060 Oh. 352 00:20:48,060 --> 00:20:51,360 And she obtained her professional pilot's license. 353 00:20:51,360 --> 00:20:52,460 That's great. 354 00:20:52,460 --> 00:20:53,360 It is. 355 00:20:53,360 --> 00:20:56,460 And two years isn't very long. 356 00:20:56,460 --> 00:20:57,560 It's really not. 357 00:20:57,560 --> 00:21:01,960 Amelia goes on to break records in altitude and distance flights 358 00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:05,360 all while going back to school to study health and medicine. 359 00:21:05,360 --> 00:21:08,660 She worked as a social worker in Boston, Massachusetts 360 00:21:08,660 --> 00:21:12,760 while continuing to log flight hours on her days off. 361 00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:17,860 Amelia often flew her plane to perform stunts to raise money for charity, 362 00:21:17,860 --> 00:21:22,660 likely inspired by that air show she attended in Toronto years earlier. 363 00:21:22,660 --> 00:21:25,360 Still moving on with her accomplishments here, 364 00:21:25,360 --> 00:21:30,960 a combination of all of her flights caught the attention of George Palmer Putnam, 365 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:33,560 who authored a book about Charles Lindbergh, 366 00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:38,660 that man who also flew his very first flight across the Atlantic Ocean. 367 00:21:38,660 --> 00:21:41,760 So Charles Lindbergh is the male version. 368 00:21:41,760 --> 00:21:45,560 Noting similarities between Lindbergh and Earhart's physique, 369 00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:50,260 Putnam invited Amelia to become the next Lady Lindbergh to, 370 00:21:50,260 --> 00:21:51,760 according to Time Magazine, 371 00:21:51,760 --> 00:21:56,660 replicate Charles Lindbergh's successful transatlantic flight a year earlier. 372 00:21:56,660 --> 00:21:59,260 So you got your male version, you got your female version. 373 00:21:59,260 --> 00:22:03,160 Something that I found noteworthy here is that Amelia and George Putnam 374 00:22:03,160 --> 00:22:06,360 eventually married while he worked as her publicist. 375 00:22:06,360 --> 00:22:10,660 Amelia took her fateful flight five years after her marriage. 376 00:22:10,660 --> 00:22:13,760 And I believe that obviously she kept her name the same. 377 00:22:13,760 --> 00:22:17,160 She did not change it to his like people did back in the day. 378 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:20,960 Well, that's great, especially for that time era. 379 00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:24,060 She's just pulling out all the stops. 380 00:22:24,060 --> 00:22:25,560 She sure is. 381 00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:27,060 Yeah, you got a point there. 382 00:22:27,060 --> 00:22:30,160 Before her disappearance, Amelia wrote two books, 383 00:22:30,160 --> 00:22:34,460 started her own fashion line and of course made history 384 00:22:34,460 --> 00:22:36,860 by becoming the very first woman, 385 00:22:36,860 --> 00:22:39,060 actually no, not just the very first woman, 386 00:22:39,060 --> 00:22:43,260 but the very first person to ever fly from Hawaii to California. 387 00:22:43,260 --> 00:22:48,260 Amelia was asked by Purdue University to run a career center for women, 388 00:22:48,260 --> 00:22:51,560 which broke that mold, Beth, during her era 389 00:22:51,560 --> 00:22:55,360 by encouraging women to do more than just become a housewife. 390 00:22:55,360 --> 00:22:56,460 I love it. 391 00:22:56,460 --> 00:22:58,360 Mm-hmm, strong. 392 00:22:58,360 --> 00:23:02,560 So I think this is where we might start seeing more women 393 00:23:02,560 --> 00:23:04,860 getting into engineering and the likes here, Beth. 394 00:23:04,860 --> 00:23:07,060 Have you ever seen that movie Hidden Figures? 395 00:23:07,060 --> 00:23:09,560 The title sounds familiar. What's it about? 396 00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:11,960 Oh my goodness, you have got to go see that. 397 00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:16,260 It's a story of some women who I'm going to say back in the 1950s, 398 00:23:16,260 --> 00:23:18,260 they made history with NASA. 399 00:23:18,260 --> 00:23:21,060 It's about the space program and how that came to be, 400 00:23:21,060 --> 00:23:24,560 but it is a true story about the women behind NASA. 401 00:23:24,560 --> 00:23:25,560 Really? 402 00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:26,860 Mm-hmm. 403 00:23:26,860 --> 00:23:28,760 All right, so here's the tough part. 404 00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:31,960 Amelia Earhart made a conscious decision, Beth, 405 00:23:31,960 --> 00:23:36,660 that this transcontinental flight was going to be her last publicity stunt. 406 00:23:36,660 --> 00:23:39,260 She planned to hang up her aviator jacket 407 00:23:39,260 --> 00:23:43,160 as far as breaking any more records after this flight was over. 408 00:23:43,160 --> 00:23:43,960 Can you imagine? 409 00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:44,660 Oh my. 410 00:23:44,660 --> 00:23:48,960 The purpose of Amelia's mission for this last flight around the world 411 00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:51,760 was to establish commercial air travel 412 00:23:51,760 --> 00:23:55,860 while studying human behaviors when faced with strain and fatigue. 413 00:23:55,860 --> 00:23:58,360 You had mentioned how tired she probably had to be 414 00:23:58,360 --> 00:24:00,460 when she was flying those 17 hours. 415 00:24:00,460 --> 00:24:01,360 Yes. 416 00:24:01,360 --> 00:24:03,460 But think about it though, she really is, 417 00:24:03,460 --> 00:24:06,660 she established commercial air travel. 418 00:24:06,660 --> 00:24:08,060 That's fantastic. 419 00:24:08,060 --> 00:24:11,660 You know, Charles Lindbergh, not to... 420 00:24:11,660 --> 00:24:12,560 Downsize him? 421 00:24:12,560 --> 00:24:14,260 Yes, not to downsize him. 422 00:24:14,260 --> 00:24:15,360 Overshadow him? 423 00:24:15,360 --> 00:24:21,860 Exactly, but look at Amelia and what she's done for the advancement. 424 00:24:21,860 --> 00:24:23,660 Oh, absolutely. 425 00:24:23,660 --> 00:24:29,360 On June 1st, 1937, Amelia began her last journey before her demise 426 00:24:29,360 --> 00:24:32,260 and truly, Beth, no pun intended here, 427 00:24:32,260 --> 00:24:35,660 she landed herself in the history books for the very last time. 428 00:24:35,660 --> 00:24:36,860 That's sad. 429 00:24:36,860 --> 00:24:38,160 Well, there you go. 430 00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:40,160 There's Amelia's accomplishments, 431 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:43,160 which got a little bit more than one line from me, 432 00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:45,160 so take that, Time Magazine. 433 00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:48,560 Yes, take that. 434 00:24:48,560 --> 00:24:49,660 But I will say this, 435 00:24:49,660 --> 00:24:54,260 I actually got a lot of information from Time Magazine for this episode today, 436 00:24:54,260 --> 00:24:57,860 but 80 years later, giving us her accomplishments. 437 00:24:57,860 --> 00:25:01,760 So I'm just trying to make a point that it doesn't matter who you are 438 00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:04,160 and how sensationalized you are, Beth, 439 00:25:04,160 --> 00:25:06,560 you can be disregarded at the same time. 440 00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:09,960 Yeah, Time Magazine is a good magazine and it's, you know, 441 00:25:09,960 --> 00:25:12,460 it's one that's dependable. 442 00:25:12,460 --> 00:25:17,960 After Amelia's last communication, a mass search and rescue did begin. 443 00:25:17,960 --> 00:25:20,860 Amelia's husband made a plea to the US Navy 444 00:25:20,860 --> 00:25:25,760 and then President Franklin D. Roosevelt to aid in Amelia's search. 445 00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:27,760 So the world was on the lookout for her. 446 00:25:27,760 --> 00:25:30,060 Everyone was on their game, Beth, 447 00:25:30,060 --> 00:25:34,460 because by the time Amelia's husband made that request, 448 00:25:34,460 --> 00:25:37,060 the search and rescue mission had already begun 449 00:25:37,060 --> 00:25:39,760 before that request even made it to the White House. 450 00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:43,760 The average cost for Amelia and Fred Noonan's search 451 00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:49,060 was estimated to be in the ballpark of $250,000 US dollars 452 00:25:49,060 --> 00:25:53,660 or $341,000 Canadian dollars or 203 pounds. 453 00:25:53,660 --> 00:25:56,060 And that was during that era. 454 00:25:56,060 --> 00:25:57,360 That's a lot of money. 455 00:25:57,360 --> 00:26:01,060 Truly it is, because the total cost of the search 456 00:26:01,060 --> 00:26:03,960 reached $4 million US dollars, 457 00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:08,960 5.4 Canadian dollars and 3.2 million pounds. 458 00:26:08,960 --> 00:26:10,560 My gosh. 459 00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:14,760 Mm-hmm. This was one of the most expensive search and rescue attempts 460 00:26:14,760 --> 00:26:16,260 ever made in US history. 461 00:26:16,260 --> 00:26:18,160 I mean, for good cause though, right? 462 00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:20,260 It is. It is, yes. 463 00:26:20,260 --> 00:26:23,560 Search plans were sent out to look for Amelia's aircraft. 464 00:26:23,560 --> 00:26:25,860 But again, Beth, in 1937, 465 00:26:25,860 --> 00:26:30,260 even military aircrafts did not possess aviation tools like they do today. 466 00:26:30,260 --> 00:26:34,760 Everyone relied highly on visual recognition of land and terrain, 467 00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:40,260 which I'm just thinking, honestly, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack. 468 00:26:40,260 --> 00:26:44,260 The military scanned more than 100,000 square miles 469 00:26:44,260 --> 00:26:49,260 or 161,000 square kilometers for the next two weeks to no avail. 470 00:26:49,260 --> 00:26:52,660 Experts analyzed Amelia's last known location, 471 00:26:52,660 --> 00:26:56,960 the navigation instruments that Fred Noonan brought on board for this flight, 472 00:26:56,960 --> 00:27:01,560 and concluded that there were several factors leading up to the pair's demise. 473 00:27:01,560 --> 00:27:05,260 Fred could have used celestial navigation. 474 00:27:05,260 --> 00:27:07,060 Had to go look that one up too, Beth. 475 00:27:07,060 --> 00:27:09,960 It's a timed measurement between distances. 476 00:27:09,960 --> 00:27:11,160 So here's an example. 477 00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:14,060 Do you know what the two second rule is when you're driving? 478 00:27:14,060 --> 00:27:14,660 No. 479 00:27:14,660 --> 00:27:19,960 Okay. So I want you to imagine there's a car in front of you going down the highway, 480 00:27:19,960 --> 00:27:23,860 and that car in front of you passes the speed limit sign. 481 00:27:23,860 --> 00:27:26,660 What you need to do as a driver, you need to, 482 00:27:26,660 --> 00:27:29,160 as they pass that speed limit sign, 483 00:27:29,160 --> 00:27:32,760 you just say to yourself, one Mississippi, two Mississippi. 484 00:27:32,760 --> 00:27:34,160 So that's two seconds, 485 00:27:34,160 --> 00:27:39,460 and you should not reach that same speed limit sign before you pass it. 486 00:27:39,460 --> 00:27:40,060 Oh. 487 00:27:40,060 --> 00:27:42,360 And truly though, if you think about the measurements there, 488 00:27:42,360 --> 00:27:44,960 that's kind of what celestial navigation is, 489 00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:46,960 is timed distances. 490 00:27:46,960 --> 00:27:50,860 That's kind of what Fred was relying on at the time. 491 00:27:50,860 --> 00:27:56,160 Fred would have been measuring time between passing something to navigate their location. 492 00:27:56,160 --> 00:27:58,360 He also had a compass, a map, 493 00:27:58,360 --> 00:28:04,160 the sun, and radio communications with the US Coast Guard that was anchored to Howland Island. 494 00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:07,460 But here is where some of the problems came in. 495 00:28:07,460 --> 00:28:14,260 Amelia and Fred likely made a fatal decision to leave radios behind when they made room for fuel. 496 00:28:14,260 --> 00:28:16,760 Oh, no. 497 00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:18,160 I know. 498 00:28:18,160 --> 00:28:23,560 Using the sun as one of their navigation tools was not 100% reliable, 499 00:28:23,560 --> 00:28:29,560 because, Beth, I'm sure that you've been in an airplane where it's really cloudy or overcast. 500 00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:30,760 For sure I did. 501 00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:34,060 So they couldn't really rely on the sun to help them around the globe. 502 00:28:34,060 --> 00:28:34,760 No. 503 00:28:34,760 --> 00:28:37,860 Fred was given two dozen powder bombs, 504 00:28:37,860 --> 00:28:42,460 which would have helped him to determine wind drifts while flying over the ocean, 505 00:28:42,460 --> 00:28:46,160 something that would prove to be very critical during this flight, 506 00:28:46,160 --> 00:28:51,160 because all 24 powder bombs were left behind in a warehouse 507 00:28:51,160 --> 00:28:56,260 and were never stored on board the aircraft before Noonan and Earhart departed. 508 00:28:56,260 --> 00:28:59,060 Well, that was a critical miscalculation. 509 00:28:59,060 --> 00:28:59,860 Mm-hmm. 510 00:28:59,860 --> 00:29:04,460 During their flight, and likely at one of their most critical moments, 511 00:29:04,460 --> 00:29:09,560 Amelia failed to turn on her transmitter signals to a specific frequency 512 00:29:09,560 --> 00:29:15,060 that would have helped the Coast Guard locate their aircraft in the event of an emergency. 513 00:29:15,060 --> 00:29:21,160 The reason she failed to do so was because Amelia believed this transmitter would not be useful 514 00:29:21,160 --> 00:29:23,460 and left it behind as well. 515 00:29:23,460 --> 00:29:25,460 Oh, my goodness. 516 00:29:25,460 --> 00:29:28,060 I mean, I guess she had some confidence there. 517 00:29:28,060 --> 00:29:32,360 Yeah, you can see that they would not have been missing 518 00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:36,760 had they at least done two of the items, you know? 519 00:29:36,760 --> 00:29:37,660 Yeah. 520 00:29:37,660 --> 00:29:41,360 Well, it sounds like Amelia and Fred just got a little bit turned around 521 00:29:41,360 --> 00:29:45,460 because they were not hitting that atoll like they were hoping to, 522 00:29:45,460 --> 00:29:48,760 and that's when they ended up getting into trouble. 523 00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:51,560 So, I'm actually going to go over just a brief theory here. 524 00:29:51,560 --> 00:29:53,960 It's not a lot. I couldn't really find a ton on this. 525 00:29:53,960 --> 00:29:56,860 So, if you have other theories you want to add, by all means, 526 00:29:56,860 --> 00:30:03,260 as of 2022, scientists believe that they may have found out exactly what happened 527 00:30:03,260 --> 00:30:07,360 to Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan during their fateful flight. 528 00:30:07,360 --> 00:30:11,860 At the time of Amelia's disappearance, her husband fully believed that Amelia 529 00:30:11,860 --> 00:30:17,660 would have made an emergency landing on land as opposed to going down into the ocean, 530 00:30:17,660 --> 00:30:24,560 and he believes that this is possible because Amelia was aiming for a coral atoll in the middle of the ocean. 531 00:30:24,560 --> 00:30:28,260 She did not crash into the ocean because the radio batteries, 532 00:30:28,260 --> 00:30:32,960 which were located underneath the wings, did not lose immediate communication 533 00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:35,860 like they would have if they were submerged in water. 534 00:30:35,860 --> 00:30:39,360 There's a lot of people who do believe that they did hit land, 535 00:30:39,360 --> 00:30:44,560 but I told you earlier to remember that Amelia was flying a twin-engine Lockheed Electra 536 00:30:44,560 --> 00:30:46,560 because it's really important here. 537 00:30:46,560 --> 00:30:50,760 Researchers from Penn State's Radiation Science and Engineering Center 538 00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:56,360 discovered metal panels from what appeared to be an aircraft similar to Amelia's 539 00:30:56,360 --> 00:31:00,660 near a remote coral atoll in the western Pacific Ocean. 540 00:31:00,660 --> 00:31:06,560 In 1991, the FBI confirmed that part of a twin-engine Lockheed Electra 541 00:31:06,560 --> 00:31:11,060 or something resembling one, they couldn't 100% be sure, 542 00:31:11,060 --> 00:31:15,360 but they found something resembling Amelia's aircraft. 543 00:31:15,360 --> 00:31:23,660 It was discovered on an atoll about 420 miles or 675 kilometers southeast of Howland Island, 544 00:31:23,660 --> 00:31:28,260 which is that atoll that Amelia seemed to be looking for when she disappeared. 545 00:31:28,260 --> 00:31:31,560 So again, she was a little bit off course. 546 00:31:31,560 --> 00:31:36,260 The panels had something comparable to a serial number etched into the metal, 547 00:31:36,260 --> 00:31:40,360 which doesn't quite identify any debris as Amelia's, 548 00:31:40,360 --> 00:31:43,660 although these researchers do believe it very well could be. 549 00:31:43,660 --> 00:31:49,560 The identification codes were too rusted and corroded from being submerged in salt water for so many years, 550 00:31:49,560 --> 00:31:53,160 but I want you to think of a sewing machine, Beth, 551 00:31:53,160 --> 00:31:58,260 and you know how the needle will just punch holes along the material as you go? 552 00:31:58,260 --> 00:31:59,160 Yes. 553 00:31:59,160 --> 00:32:02,260 If you were to take a look at Amelia Earhart's plane, 554 00:32:02,260 --> 00:32:08,960 you would see that there is a very distinct etching on the side of her airplane, kind of like that. 555 00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:09,660 Oh. 556 00:32:09,660 --> 00:32:14,460 And so the pieces of metal that scientists found had that same etching. 557 00:32:14,460 --> 00:32:15,860 I wonder what caused that. 558 00:32:15,860 --> 00:32:18,260 Would that be the plane coming apart? 559 00:32:18,260 --> 00:32:21,560 No, it would actually be part of the plane itself, like a pattern. 560 00:32:21,560 --> 00:32:23,260 Oh, okay. 561 00:32:23,260 --> 00:32:31,160 Yeah, like it was like distinctly patterned so that it just kind of gave the plane itself a unique identification. 562 00:32:31,160 --> 00:32:32,360 Okay. 563 00:32:32,360 --> 00:32:40,660 Human bones were also discovered in 1941 on that Atoll Lagoon where Amelia is to believe to have gone down. 564 00:32:40,660 --> 00:32:47,660 Back then, scientists could not fully determine who the bones belonged to, whether they were male or female. 565 00:32:47,660 --> 00:32:55,160 And remember, Amelia was traveling with Fred, so there was a possibility that it could have been either one of them. 566 00:32:55,160 --> 00:32:57,860 In the meantime, these bones have been lost, 567 00:32:57,860 --> 00:33:02,960 so DNA cannot be performed to determine if they ever belonged to Amelia or Fred. 568 00:33:02,960 --> 00:33:05,960 That's crazy that they were lost. 569 00:33:05,960 --> 00:33:09,760 I mean, that happens more than you know. 570 00:33:09,760 --> 00:33:12,660 Oh, I just can't imagine. 571 00:33:12,660 --> 00:33:17,760 You'd think that there would be very stringent rules and regulations. 572 00:33:17,760 --> 00:33:18,360 Mm-hmm. 573 00:33:18,360 --> 00:33:26,260 But think about how society changes over time and buildings get built and so things get moved. 574 00:33:26,260 --> 00:33:27,460 Yes. 575 00:33:27,460 --> 00:33:29,060 I know you've moved a time or two. 576 00:33:29,060 --> 00:33:31,160 Don't you lose things when you move? 577 00:33:31,160 --> 00:33:33,360 Probably. 578 00:33:33,360 --> 00:33:38,060 Seriously, I can tell you 100% when I moved to North Carolina several years ago. 579 00:33:38,060 --> 00:33:38,660 Holy cow. 580 00:33:38,660 --> 00:33:43,160 I could not find any of my canisters from the kitchen. 581 00:33:43,160 --> 00:33:44,460 Are you serious? 582 00:33:44,460 --> 00:33:45,060 I am. 583 00:33:45,060 --> 00:33:47,560 Wow. 584 00:33:47,560 --> 00:33:49,560 Who knows? 585 00:33:49,560 --> 00:33:49,960 All right. 586 00:33:49,960 --> 00:33:52,760 So here's what scientists believe may have happened. 587 00:33:52,760 --> 00:34:01,460 Amelia and Fred were unable to visually locate the atoll that they were looking for to safely land their aircraft as they were running out of fuel. 588 00:34:01,460 --> 00:34:08,360 The pair likely landed on a reef in the middle of the ocean where their aircraft got hung up and they had nowhere to go. 589 00:34:08,360 --> 00:34:19,360 Given the estimated location, Amelia and Fred would have encountered 120 degree temperatures at that time of year with no fresh water to keep them hydrated. 590 00:34:19,360 --> 00:34:20,560 So ultimately, Beth, 591 00:34:20,560 --> 00:34:24,960 Yeah, I didn't do a conversion like I normally do from Fahrenheit to Celsius. 592 00:34:24,960 --> 00:34:27,360 I'm going to assume that is Fahrenheit. 593 00:34:27,360 --> 00:34:29,860 That would be roughly 30. 594 00:34:29,860 --> 00:34:34,560 I'm going to say 35 degrees Celsius. 595 00:34:34,560 --> 00:34:34,860 Yeah. 596 00:34:34,860 --> 00:34:36,560 And then with no fresh water. 597 00:34:36,560 --> 00:34:37,360 Yeah. 598 00:34:37,360 --> 00:34:37,860 My gosh. 599 00:34:37,860 --> 00:34:40,960 They had everything going against them. 600 00:34:40,960 --> 00:34:48,560 Well, ultimately Amelia and Fred were doomed because there was no way to survive being trapped in that situation. 601 00:34:48,560 --> 00:34:55,460 And that's really the only theory that I could find on the mystery of Amelia Earhart's disappearance. 602 00:34:55,460 --> 00:34:58,360 So to this day, it remains just that. 603 00:34:58,360 --> 00:35:00,060 Wow, that was very interesting. 604 00:35:00,060 --> 00:35:03,760 Well, that is the story of Amelia Earhart, 605 00:35:03,760 --> 00:35:13,960 the world's first female aviator who lived a life of breaking aviation records and leading the way for what we know today as air travel. 606 00:35:13,960 --> 00:35:17,760 So thank you again, Cooper, for suggesting this storyline. 607 00:35:17,760 --> 00:35:22,160 We appreciate you and all of our listeners here on Dying to be Found. 608 00:35:22,160 --> 00:35:23,460 Yes, Cooper. 609 00:35:23,460 --> 00:35:25,760 Thank you for this suggestion. 610 00:35:25,760 --> 00:35:27,960 So Deb, do you have a teachable moment? 611 00:35:27,960 --> 00:35:31,560 I have a very, very brief teachable moment today, Beth. 612 00:35:31,560 --> 00:35:32,260 Okay. 613 00:35:32,260 --> 00:35:33,460 Pack accordingly. 614 00:35:33,460 --> 00:35:34,560 Don't skimp. 615 00:35:34,560 --> 00:35:37,860 This would mean for any means of travel that you're planning. 616 00:35:37,860 --> 00:35:41,760 But most importantly, if your travel plans are risky. 617 00:35:41,760 --> 00:35:47,160 Beth, we've had several episodes where we've talked about someone who was unprepared. 618 00:35:47,160 --> 00:35:51,560 There's just so many times that you just have to expect the unexpected. 619 00:35:51,560 --> 00:35:55,760 I am in no way discounting Amelia Earhart's expertise here. 620 00:35:55,760 --> 00:35:56,360 Yeah. 621 00:35:56,360 --> 00:36:00,960 But you have to expect the unexpected, which I don't know if you watch Big Brother, Beth. 622 00:36:00,960 --> 00:36:02,960 I'm not even referencing that right now. 623 00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:03,760 No. 624 00:36:03,760 --> 00:36:05,760 No? 625 00:36:05,760 --> 00:36:06,360 Okay. 626 00:36:06,360 --> 00:36:10,160 In the meantime, it's better to be overprepared than underprepared. 627 00:36:10,160 --> 00:36:16,660 And we can't just say, oh, we'll be fine because Beth, it's going to be that moment when we're not. 628 00:36:16,660 --> 00:36:17,660 Agreed. 629 00:36:17,660 --> 00:36:19,060 So that's my teachable moment. 630 00:36:19,060 --> 00:36:19,960 Good one. 631 00:36:19,960 --> 00:36:26,260 Very pertinent to the things that Amelia left behind. 632 00:36:26,260 --> 00:36:27,860 So thanks again, Deb. 633 00:36:27,860 --> 00:36:29,760 You did a very good story. 634 00:36:29,760 --> 00:36:34,360 And you know, I do love these older version stories. 635 00:36:34,360 --> 00:36:38,060 Oh, do I ever have a good one for you the next go round? 636 00:36:38,060 --> 00:36:39,360 You. 637 00:36:39,360 --> 00:36:40,160 Okay. 638 00:36:40,160 --> 00:36:41,360 I look forward to it. 639 00:36:41,360 --> 00:36:42,360 All right. 640 00:36:42,360 --> 00:36:49,360 Well, we would love to receive feedback from our listeners on this storyline or any of our other episodes. 641 00:36:49,360 --> 00:36:51,560 Be sure to DM us on Instagram. 642 00:36:51,560 --> 00:37:03,760 And if you have a storyline like Cooper that you would like to hear, be sure to click on our Linktree account found in our show notes where you can also find our social media web address and a little bit more. 643 00:37:03,760 --> 00:37:05,160 So be sure to check it out. 644 00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:06,060 Talk to you soon. 645 00:37:06,060 --> 00:37:07,860 And that's a wrap. 646 00:37:07,860 --> 00:37:08,860 That is a wrap. 647 00:37:08,860 --> 00:37:11,260 Thanks for listening to Dying to be Found. 648 00:37:11,260 --> 00:37:16,460 Before we go, we would love for you to leave a review on your favorite podcast platform. 649 00:37:16,460 --> 00:37:22,160 Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest at Dying to be Found. 650 00:37:22,160 --> 00:37:30,860 You can access our website, email, social media and storyline request form by clicking on our Linktree account found in our show notes. 651 00:37:30,860 --> 00:37:39,560 If you like our episodes, consider buying us a coffee at buymeacoffee.com slash Dying to be Found spelled just like you see it on our logo. 652 00:37:39,560 --> 00:37:43,960 Feel free to message us on Instagram and let us know how we're doing with that. 653 00:37:43,960 --> 00:37:48,360 Be sure to check us out every Thursday wherever you get your podcasts. 654 00:37:48,360 --> 00:37:50,260 We will talk to you all next week. 655 00:37:50,260 --> 00:38:10,660 Bye.