Nikumaroro-uninhabited tropical island is believed to be the island that researcher Ric Gillespie thinks Amelia Earhart an Fred Noonan crashed on and eventually died there. This was his tenth expendition to the island since 1989.
Gillespie is the executive director of The International Group for Historic Aircrarft Recovery (TIGHAR) stated the following, "There is evidence on the island suggesting that a castaway was there for weeks and possibly months.
Nikumaroro is a part of the island nation republic Kiribati.
"We noticed that the forest can be an excellent source of water for a castaway in an island where there is no fresh water. After heavy rain, you can easily collect water from the bowl-shaped hollows in the buka trees. We also found a campsite and nine fire features containing thousands of fish, turtle and bird bones. This might suggest that many meals took place there," Gillespie said.
I found this section to be most telling, (Quote) The site is densely vegetated with shrubs known as Scaevola frutescens,and may be where the castaways' last meals were consumed. Indeed, it is here that a partial skeleton of a castaway was found in 1940.
Recovered by British Colonial Service Officer Gerald Gallagher, human remains were described in a forensic report and attributed to an individual "more likely female than male," "more likely white than Polynesian or other Pacific Islander," "most likely between 5 feet 5 inches and 5 feet 9 inches in height." Unfortunately the bones have been lost.
Gillespie believes that many of the bones might have been carried off by crabs, suggesting an unmerciful end for Earhart. (end quote).
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Ref. "Amelia Earhart May Have Survived Months as Castaway" by By Rossella Lorenzi. June 25, 2010. (http://news.discovery.com/history/amelia-earhart-castaway-clues-island.html).
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