Latest news with #Earhart
Yahoo
7 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Maxine's on Shine owners seek 'angel' who pulled dog from their burning home
The Brief Fern Park woman credits mystery man with saving her, her dog, and family heirlooms from house fire. No injuries were reported, but the cause of the blaze is still under investigation. The search continues for the unidentified Good Samaritan. MAITLAND, Fla. - A Fern Park woman is searching for a mystery man she calls a hero after he helped her and her dog escape a house fire that damaged her home and a neighbor's early Sunday morning. What we know Early Sunday morning, a fire broke out between two homes on Lakewood Circle in Fern Park, damaging both structures. Maxine Earhart, the owner of Orlando's well-known restaurant Maxine's on Shine, was inside her home with her dog when a man she had never met began pounding on her door, urging her to flee. The man not only helped her evacuate safely but also retrieved a dresser containing family heirloom jewelry before disappearing. What we don't know The identity of the man remains a mystery. Officials have not confirmed what caused the fire, and there is no surveillance footage or confirmed leads to help identify the Good Samaritan. He is described only as tall and slender, with dirty blond hair, and possibly wearing an orange or green shirt. Witnesses believe he may have arrived in a white work truck, suggesting he could have been in the area for a job. The backstory Maxine Earhart and her husband run Maxine's on Shine, a restaurant known throughout Orlando. The couple now face the challenge of gutting and rebuilding their damaged home. Despite the loss, Earhart remains grateful that no one was hurt and is focusing her energy on finding the man who helped her. Big picture view The fire has sparked a community-wide appreciation for everyday heroism. Neighbors like Alyssa and Jordan Cobb, who called 911 and also tried to help, emphasize how quickly people stepped up in a moment of danger. The incident has highlighted the importance of community action and the role of anonymous heroes in emergency situations. What they're saying Maxine Earhart, who owns the popular Orlando restaurant Maxine's on Shine, says the unidentified man banged on her door to alert her as flames engulfed the side of her home on Lakewood Circle. She credits him not only with getting her out safely, but also with saving her dog — and a treasured family heirloom. "I there's a dent in my door from him, from bashing on it," Earhart said. "They weren't kidding. They were like, 'Get out of the house!'" Neighbors Alyssa and Jordan Cobb were driving nearby when they spotted smoke and called 911. As they rushed to the scene, they found Earhart inside with her dog — but they say another man was already there helping her escape. "I was just going to take the top drawer of my mother's jewelry out," Earhart recalled. "And he said, 'We'll take the whole thing.' Then he just picked it up and said, 'Get your dog, let's get out of here.'" Earhart said she plans to rebuild and continue working with her husband at their restaurant, but she hopes the unidentified Good Samaritan will come forward. "People keep saying, 'What if it was an angel?' Maybe he was," she said. "Come on down to Maxine's. We'd love to buy you a drink and dinner and thank you." STAY CONNECTED WITH FOX 35 ORLANDO: Download the FOX Local app for breaking news alerts, the latest news headlines Download the FOX 35 Storm Team Weather app for weather alerts & radar Sign up for FOX 35's daily newsletter for the latest morning headlines FOX Local:Stream FOX 35 newscasts, FOX 35 News+, Central Florida Eats on your smart TV The Source This story was written based on information shared by the Seminole County Fire Rescue and Maxine Earhart, co-owner of Maxine's on Shine.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Maitland woman wants to thank stranger who rescued her, dog from burning home
One of the owners of a Maitland home is looking for the man who helped get her and her dog out of their burning home after an explosion Sunday morning. The fire actually caught two homes on fire. The homeowners just happen to be the restaurant owners of Maxine's On Shine in downtown Orlando. Unfortunately, Maxine says she lost a lot of restaurant memorabilia and other things because her workroom suffered the most damage. Now that the ashes have settled, she wants to find the man who made sure she got out safely. It was a startling start to Maxine Earhart's Sunday morning. 'There was like a bashing like really loud, and my dog started barking, I jumped up, ran down the hallway, put on my bathrobe, and I could hear a man say is anyone in there,' said Earhart. A neighbor shared a video showing big flames and dark smoke between Maxine's house and her neighbors. 'I run outside, and I see 11foot flames and 50 foot billows of black smoke,' said Earhart. Earhart says she could feel the heat from the fire on her face after stepping outside. She noticed it hadn't reached her house yet, so she ran back inside to try to save what she could. 'I ran down my hallway to get a go back, yes I have a go bag cause I'm ready for hurricane season, I've lived in Florida a long time,' said Earhart. Right behind her, the man she never met before who was adamant about making sure she and her dog got out okay. 'He was like right on me, ma'am, you need to get out of the house. And I was like looking him and I remember saying I just one minute, I just need one minute,' said Earhart. In those final moments, he helped her carry out her mom's old jewelry box, then Earhart says he disappeared. Now, she wants to find him and thank him. 'I would tell him, please come to the restaurant, I want to buy you dinner,' said Earhart. Earhart says she's so optimistic because that's her outlook on life. She's happy no one got hurt. She's alive. Her dog's alive. They're planning a dinner to thank the firefighters in the coming days. Everything inside the house will have to be replaced. Bites & Bubbles in downtown Orlando is hosting a fundraiser Monday for Earhart's. A GoFundMe has also been made to help the Earharts. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Seminole fire damages two homes, one where owners of Maxine's on Shine live
After fires ravaged California earlier this year, someone jokingly asked Maxine Earhart what she'd grab if her house ever caught fire. Sunday morning, as flames engulfed part of her Fern Park home, the restauranteur who owns Maxine's on Shine ran to save what she said she would: her mother's 1950s costume jewelry. The fire, which started just after 11 a.m. Sunday, damaged about a third of Earhart's home, destroying her sewing studio, with decades of collected fabric, and years of restaurant memorabilia she and her husband stored at home. It also damaged a neighbor's house before it was put out by the Seminole County Fire Department and the Maitland Fire Department. The neighbors whose home also burned declined a request for an interview. Earhart and her husband, Kirt, opened their restaurant in 2012 near downtown Orlando. It is an eclectic neighborhood favorite and a Michelin-selected restaurant known for its Sunday brunches. Officials think the house fire started in one of the sheds at the back of the properties but aren't sure which one, said Doreen Overstreet, a spokesperson for the Seminole department. The fire department initially reported that the fire spread rapidly 'after an explosion' but officials no longer think that happened, Overstreet said. Instead of an explosion, they believe the fire may have started with a ruptured aerosol can, such as those that hold spray paint or hairspray, though the cause is still undetermined. When the fire first started, Earhart was in bed, about to head into her sewing studio, when she heard a loud banging at the door and a man yelling. 'I go, 'Who are you?' Because I'm thinking, I'm not opening the door to some strange guy bashing on my door,' she said. 'And he goes, 'Your house is on fire,' and I'm in the house so I go, 'No, it's not because I see no smoke. I see nothing.'' With her fire extinguisher in hand, she ran to her kitchen but saw no flames, so she ran out to her front yard and saw what looked like 10-foot-high flames and billows of black smoke. She realized the fire extinguisher wasn't going to cut it. Earhart calculated she had one minute to get out of her house and ran to get her mother's jewelry — one of the only things she said can't rebuy if lost. As she was pulling out the dresser drawer that contained the jewelry, a man came in — she doesn't know who he is — and said, 'We're taking the whole thing, get your dog, let's go.' While he lifted the dresser, the man who'd first alerted her to the fire came in with his wife, grabbed her still-packed luggage from a recent trip and ran out, leaving her with both hands free to grab more of her personal items. Barefoot and still dressed in her bathrobe, she said she grabbed two dresses and one of the 50-plus hats she owns and ran back out the door. Now, despite what was lost, Earhart said she is 'going for lemonade' and trying to make the best of the situation. She is thankful that no one was hurt and that she has remnants of a home — including her hats and closet. 'I thought we were gonna lose everything,' she said. Earhart and her husband, who was at the restaurant when the fire broke out, will have to live somewhere else for at least a month, she said, but they feel well supported by the community. In the day since the fire, customers have bought gift certificates from her restaurant, friends have planned fundraisers and neighbors have offered her insurance advice and consolation. 'I still have a shelter, I have a restaurant that gives me food, I have friends, family and I have my closet. So I'm feeling like I'm feeling lucky,' she said.
Epoch Times
10-05-2025
- General
- Epoch Times
What Really Happened to Amelia Earhart?
Amelia Earhart began her famous flight around the world on May 20, 1937. Departing from Oakland, California, in her Lockheed Electra, she traveled east across the United States. Her flight path took her south to South America, across the Atlantic Ocean to Africa, over Asia, and to Australia. On July 2, 1937, she left Lae, New Guinea. There were only three more stops to make. She would land at Howland Island to refuel before proceeding to Honolulu, Hawaii, and then back to Oakland. Out of a total of 28,595 miles, she ended up completing more than 24,000 miles, or 85 percent, of her journey. She was close to the finish line. But she never made it to Howland Island. American aviator Amelia Earhart smiles May 22, 1932 upon arriving in London, England having become the first woman to fly across the Atlantic alone. Getty Images Competing Theories What happened? The most commonly accepted explanation is that Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, ran out of fuel and crashed somewhere in the central Pacific Ocean. Other theories, however, suggest that she didn't die at all. Eyewitnesses say that a nurse matching Earhart's physical description popped up a few years later on Guadalcanal. Another story goes that she made her way back to the United States and lived out her days under an assumed identity. As biographer Doris L. Rich put it, 'No one has been able to prove beyond doubt how why, where, and when Amelia Earhart disappeared' The Japanese Capture Hypothesis The most provocative theory about Earhart's whereabouts asserts that the Japanese captured her during an espionage mission ordered by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. This was the assertion of journalist Adela Rogers St. Johns in her 1974 book 'Some Are Born Great.' According to St. Johns, Earhart's around-the-world flight was just a cover story to discover how far along the Japanese were in their plans to attack Pearl Harbor. Related Stories 11/2/2016 6/2/2013 St. Johns met with Earhart only a few minutes before she left Oakland on her final flight. 'Don't worry about me,' Earhart told St. Johns. It was the last thing she said before taking off. St. Johns was a friend of Earhart's. Knowing her as she did, she considered the statement strange. 'I knew this couldn't be just another flight,' St. Johns wrote. She thought Earhart seemed to be telling her, 'This one is different, but always remember: I know what I'm doing.' St. Johns' suspicions were confirmed when a Marine officer later showed her 'secret files of the United States Navy.' She claimed to have seen the orders from President Roosevelt 'with my own eyes.' St. Johns also claimed that the Navy has kept these files under lock and key. A counterargument to this hypothesis is that Earhart was too high-profile to ever carry out such a mission successfully. Her around-the-world flight was widely broadcasted, and the public was tracking her every move. Everywhere she landed journalists were greeting her. Earhart's celebrity status would have jeopardized the secrecy that a spy mission required. But is the Japanese capture theory so unbelievable? Earhart's great contemporary, the author and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, suffered a fatal crash several years after Earhart. He was on a reconnaissance mission over German-occupied France. His fame was no detriment to his spying. President Roosevelt, a friend of Earhart's, denied ever sending her on such a mission. It is a fact that politicians cover up government secrets all the time, and some 'conspiracy theories' end up being conspiracy facts in hindsight. Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan before their disappearance in 1937. Their fates are still unknown. Public Domain Numerous Eyewitness Accounts Other firsthand observers support St. Johns's Japanese capture theory. A New York Times article dated July 2, 1960 reported that, according to eyewitness accounts, Earthart and Noonan were taken prisoner on the island of Saipan. Natives of the island claimed seeing the famous pilot being held captive there before she was, apparently, executed. Thomas E. Devine, a U.S. Army postal sergeant, says he witnessed Earhart's Electra being burned on Saipan in July 1944, following the capture of the island by American forces. He argues the plane was destroyed on the orders of the U.S. Secretary of the Navy. Also during this time, a Marine, Pvt. Robert E. Wallack, discovered a locked safe in one of Saipan's administrative buildings. Inside it was a 'brown leather attaché case' containing maps, permits, and reports related to Earhart's final flight. Wallack turned the case over to a naval officer. Critics of this hypothesis point out that Saipan is geographically remote from Earhart's intended destination of Howland Island. How would she have gotten there? One theory is that Earhart and Noonan crash-landed in the Marshall Islands and were later transported to Saipan. Scraps of metal discovered on the Milli Atoll may offer a clue. The corroded metal could be part of Earhart's landing gear that broke off during the crash. Since the Japanese never made an official report of their capture, and the American Navy has supposedly covered theirs up, these eyewitness accounts are all we have to go on. While far from being proof, the sheer number of independent eyewitnesses make the hypothesis difficult to dismiss outright. George Palmer Putnam talks on the telephone with the White House asking for aid in the search effort for his missing wife, aviatrix Amelia Earhart, in Oakland, Ca., on July 2, 1937. Navy commander V.H. Ragsdale, Naval reserve, Oakland airport, stands by. Earhart disappeared during her flight over the Pacific. AP Photo The Castaway Hypothesis Another theory is that Earhart and Noonan overshot Howland Island and landed on the Nikumaroro Atoll, formerly Gardner Island. Although the island is uninhabited, a partial human skeleton was discovered there, along with a sextant box, skincare products, and a shoe matching Earhart's size. While the whereabouts of the bones are unknown, some of their measurements were recorded. Using a computer program, forensic anthropologists at the University of Tennessee compared the bone measurements to Earhart's known measurements. That included her height, shoe size, tailoring measurements. The program computed that the bones were more similar to Earhart than to 99 percent of other individuals. Among the skincare products were five fragments of a small glass jar. When reconstructed, it matched the size and shape of 'Dr. Berry's Freckle Ointment,' a brand dating from the 1930s. Earhart had freckles and disliked them. While the translucent glass the jar is made of doesn't match the opaque glass in other samples of that brand, the jar's interior contained traces of mercury, the active ingredient in the freckle ointment. Additionally, Earhart's last-known radio transmission was sent from the vicinity of Nikumaroro. Did Earhart and Noonan become castaways there and die from a lack of fresh water? Final Comments On each stage of her final flight, Earhart sent her letters, diary entries, and charts to her husband, G.P. Putnam. 'When I go,' said Earhart in her book 'Last Flight,' 'I'd like best to go in my plane. Quickly.' Hopefully she got her wish. It's painful to imagine Earhart awaiting execution in a prison camp or dying of thirst on a desert island. An aerial view of the island of Nikumaroro, which may be Amelia Earhart's final resting place. The "Seven Site" in the image is where human bones and evidence of habitation were found. Public Domain All things being equal, the simplest explanation tends to be the correct one. That's what Occam's Razor suggests, anyway. Running out of fuel remains the most likely scenario, and it's hard to dismiss the bone measurements and freckle cream. But the human mind will always be attracted to mystery. Simple explanations don't capture the imagination like an exciting theory about undertaking a spy mission. Until Earhart's physical bones are recovered for DNA analysis (likely never), conjectures will continue to swirl. What arts and culture topics would you like us to cover? Please email ideas or feedback to
Winnipeg Free Press
24-04-2025
- General
- Winnipeg Free Press
Amelia Earhart statue vanishes from Newfoundland park, leaving town and mayor shocked
ST. JOHN'S – A Newfoundland mayor says his community is shocked and devastated after a life-size statue of pioneering American aviator Amelia Earhart disappeared from a municipal park overnight. Don Coombs, mayor of Harbour Grace, N.L., says he got a call early this morning saying the cherished bronze statue commemorating Earhart's successful 1932 transatlantic flight was gone. Though he hasn't seen it yet himself, he says his staff saw surveillance video indicating two people were dropped off in the park just after midnight and were picked up nearly three hours later in a red SUV. Coombs says Earhart fans and flight enthusiasts from across the globe have been calling him to express their concern and condolences. Earhart took off from Harbour Grace on May 20, 1932, and landed about 15 hours later in Northern Ireland, becoming the first woman to fly alone across the Atlantic Ocean. During Elections Get campaign news, insight, analysis and commentary delivered to your inbox during Canada's 2025 election. The aviator vanished over the Pacific Ocean nearly five years later during an attempt to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the globe. This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 24, 2025.
