3 days ago
Push To Declassify Amelia Earhart Files Gains Momentum In CNMI
, RNZ Pacific Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas correspondent
The decades-old mystery surrounding the fate of pioneering aviator Amelia Earhart may be one step closer to resolution.
This is after the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) delegate to the United States Congress, Kimberlyn King-Hinds, formally requesting President Donald Trump to declassify federal documents related to her disappearance.
"In my district, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the story of Amelia Earhart carries particular weight," King-Hinds wrote in her letter to Trump.
"A number of elderly residents still recall her presence in the Pacific, with some sharing credible, firsthand accounts of having seen her on the island of Saipan. These memories…continue to fuel interest in uncovering the full story of her fate."
Earhart vanished in 1937 during an attempt to circumnavigate the globe, sparking one of the most enduring mysteries in aviation history.
While the prevailing US narrative places her disappearance near Howland Island, oral histories in the CNMI have long suggested that she and navigator Fred Noonan may have been captured by Japanese forces and brought to Saipan.
Saipan Amelia Earhart Monument Association's Remi Sablan thanked King-Hinds for elevating the issue to the White House.
"A lot of people still here in Saipan don't believe that Amelia Earhart was here," Sablan said.
"But there were eyewitnesses when there was an investigation going on. And in court, they honour eyewitnesses. I don't know why we still have people that question our association…but let it rest."
King-Hinds assured Sablan and other advocates that she intends to keep pushing until any relevant records are released. "We are really excited about that," she told Sablan. "We will continue to follow up until you get that information, because I think it's important for everybody."
In her letter, the congresswoman urged Trump to apply the same transparency he previously championed when releasing government files on the assassinations of President John F Kennedy, Senator Robert F Kennedy, and Dr Martin Luther King Jr.
For Earhart, researchers and believers in the Saipan connection, a presidential declassification order could mark a turning point-potentially closing the book on one of the world's greatest unsolved mysteries, or adding an explosive new chapter.
