Amelia Earhart’s Family Says Images Taken amid $11M Search for Missing Plane Is ‘Most Promising’ Lead
Deep Sea Vision recently announced it found “what appears to be Earhart’s Lockheed 10-E Electra” in the Pacific Ocean during a mission in September 2023
Courtesty Library of Congress/Getty
Amelia EarhartFamily members believe the sonar images showing the possible wreckage of Amelia Earhart's Lockheed 10-E Electra are some of the "most promising" pieces of evidence found in connection with the decades-old mystery
Deep Sea Vision recently announced it found what appeared to be Earhart’s plane in the Pacific Ocean during a mission in September 2023
The Scripps Institute and the Smithsonian reportedly support the belief that the wreckage could belong to Earhart's plane
The family of Amelia Earhart said they are excited that sonar images resembling a plane were taken near where the famed pilot was last seen.
On Jan. 27, Deep Sea Vision announced it found “what appears to be Earhart’s Lockheed 10-E Electra” in the Pacific Ocean during a mission in September 2023.
Deep Sea Vision also released images of the object it discovered, which appears to resemble the shape of a plane.
Bram Kleppner, Earhart’s great nephew, told FOX News Digital that Deep Sea Vision’s discovery is “the most promising lead that anyone has found in almost 87 years of searching.”
“There have been many, many searches, and really, not a single shred of evidence has ever turned up,” Kleppner explained. “I would say we have learned not to expect anything from these searches.”
However, this time is seemingly different than the rest. Kleppner said he and his brother “feel like this is more likely than anything that's come up” in the past.
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“The image they got does look like a plane, and it is in about the right place where Amelia would've crashed,” he added.
Kleppner learned about the search from his mother, who was contacted by Tony Romeo, the pilot and real estate investor who led the search, before the expedition, according to FOX News Digital. The two men spoke with each other before the mission, as well.
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Romero spent $11 million to fund the search, Today and The Wall Street Journal previously reported. It took 90 days for the 16-person crew to locate the possible wreckage.
Romeo sent Kleppner a text message about the discovery while on the boat.
The possible wreckage was captured via sonar imagery within 100 miles of Howland Island, where Earhart was expected to stop and refuel at one point during her journey around the world.
But until now, Kleppner said “no one” had found “a single scrap of real evidence” in 86 years.
The Scripps Institute and the Smithsonian were able to assess the evidence, and both support Romeo’s belief that the wreckage could be of Earhart’s plane, according to FOX News Digital.
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Kleppner lauded Romeo and his crew's efforts, adding that their discovery feels like “a more promising lead than anything we've seen to date.”
Now, he wants to help “rebalance the discussion a little bit” around his great aunt’s advocacy for women’s rights, a part of her legacy that some loved ones fear “is mostly forgotten.”
“The focus should extend beyond that one very last day [when Earhart disappeared], and focus on her life and legacy during all her days before July 2, 1937,” he told FOX News Digital.
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