The Search continues....

Now that we're back Stateside, sifting through our copious notes and footage, a few tidbits have come to light.

Veteran Andrew Bryce met a Stevedore in Majuro who put the plane on the Kyoshu

Bilimon Amaron, the native of Jaluit who went aboard a Japanese ship to tend to Earhart's wounds - went on to become business partners with Jerry Kramer, the President of PII construction in Majuro, who has been doing business in that part of the world since 1961. He vouches for Amaron's veracity, and how he came to hear the many stories about Earhart's incarceration on Saipan and her subsequent execution there.

The ship that Bilimon Amaron went aboard to see Earhart and Noonan

Our interview with Major Rick Spooner, USMC retired, gives us a few tidbits as well.  He was there when Marines found a photo album in a military home on Saipan, and how his fellow Marines described it as a book filled with photos of Earhart and Noonan and other "white people."  He believes the book came from the Electra.  He also observed that the book was taken by Wallace Green, USMC, who turned it over to military intelligence.  This is a major revelation, as when Green became Commandant of the Marine Corps in the 1960's, and was asked about any information about Earhart being on Saipan, he was adamant that he knew nothing about her presence there.

Doug Bryce was stationed on Saipan, saw the Electra on Aslito 

Another piece of history - Spooner says that his troop of "about 100" had "returned to civilization" at Tanapag Harbor, where the Seaplane base was, and where all the materiel for the war effort was being loaded and offloaded.  He said the Marines had their C rations, and later that night said to him "Did you see the Electra?"  Major Spooner did not see it - but they described seeing it to him, amidst other airplane parts and pieces. They were adamant that it was Earhart's Electra.

Nabers guarded the Electra for 24 hours, then watched it burn

These Marines with Major Spooner saw the plane, or pieces of it at Tanapag Harbor, where they heard the airplane parts were destined to be "buried at sea" - If this occurred when Major Spooner says, in July of 44, that would have been just prior to the plane being buried.  It's possible that even after it was burned at Aslito field (witnessed by numerous soldiers, as reported here), it survived that torching (enough to be recognizable to battle weary troops) and was then deep sixed off the harbor.

Found Earhart's briefcase in a safe near the church

In the footage we have from the public talk at American Memorial Park, David Sablan mentions a phone call he had received the day previously from a Mr. Guerrero, who told him the story of when the Army Corps of Engineers was dredging Saipan Harbor (during the controversial dredging near the Sugar Dock as reported in the Saipan Tribune) one of the men, a "Mr. Mayer" claims that he pulled up from the harbor a wing of the Electra.

Oscar remembered his father saying they'd captured an
"American female pilot" and brought her to Jaluit in 1937

We are currently trying to locate Mr. Mayer - and appreciate any leads that anyone might have to do so.

He either served in Guam with the Army Corps of Engineers in the 1990's, and ultimately would have been under the Pacific Command in Hawaii.  The dredging began in the 1994 and continued for 6 years until the year 2000. His name may have been Mayer, or perhaps Meyer, or even Myers.

But one wonders what happened to the piece of an airplane he pulled up.  Where did it go?

Lotan Jack remembered a claim they'd shot her down.

All along this journey, we have stood by our maxim; if one person claims that they saw something, we look for a second person who may have seen or heard the same information.  That's how we have learned that the Electra came down at Mili, was taken to Jaluit, eventually to Saipan.  That Amelia and Fred were incarcerated, and Fred executed early on.  How Amelia was in a prison for up to 7 years, how more than one Chomorro saw her in prison, saw her transported on the back of a truck with two other downed US Pilots, and saw her, or heard of her execution.

Manny Muna tells the story of Jesus Salas, who was incarcerated between AE and Fred Noonan

And how the Electra was found at Aslito airfield, and was burned there by US Forces.  But now we are hearing for the first time that it may have then made a trip to the seaplane base near Tanapag harbor, Ponte Mucho, and may have been pushed into the ocean there.

Ms. Blas tells the story of seeing AE executed

We will continue to hunt for the truth no matter where it takes us.

Aslito when it was liberated in June 1944

Tanapag Harbor, where the plane may have ended up

  Thanks for staying tuned....

Public Talk about the interviews and conclusions made of the Earhart on Saipan research

Here in its unadulterated form (meaning there's an hour and change of footage) is the talk we gave at the American Pavilion on Saipan, sponsored by the NMI Humanities Council.


Apologies for any sound or picture issues, we just had the one camera set up for the shoot.  Paul Cooper on the left, Rich Martini in the middle, and Mike Harris on the right.  Enjoy!

The investigation continues...

The story continues on Saipan...

Connie Kaufer is a descendant of Mathilde Arriola.  For those familiar with Fred Goerner's book "Searching for Amelia" he interviewed Mathilde extensively.  She claimed she saw Amelia just after her arrival at a former hotel in Garapan, which functioned as a police office.  She was seen also by Josephine Blanco Akiyama, a Saipan resident who currently lives in San Mateo, California (we interviewed her brother John). 

Connie and Paul - photo by Robert Rustin

What makes this story compelling is that Mathilde told Father Arnold, the Catholic Priest that Goerner asked to continue interviews after he'd left, the story of this ring that AE supposedly gave to her.  She was very descriptive of it, saying it had a white gold band, with a white stone setting.  That ring was passed down among Mathilde's descendants, and in the 1960's it was reportedly lost in Chuuk. (formerly known at Truk).

However, according to Connie, it never left Saipan, and in fact was lost during a typhoon.  So we asked her if the property still existed - and it does.  Here it is:

Remains of the house where the ring once lived. Photo by Robert Rustin

But what have modern technology on our side - a ground penetrating radar unit, which can isolate just about any piece of metal within 20 feet.  So, with the permission of the family, Captain Cooper is going to get at trying to locate this ring.  It looks daunting - and it probably is - but worth a shot, don't you think?

Paul getting the details - Photo by Robert Rustin

Meanwhile, permits came in on some of our digging sites; here's our backhoe out at the old Aslito airfield.  When the US came in a took over the field, they renovated it extensively and changed the angle of the runway slightly - which allowed some of the old structures of the airfield to remain in their same position that can be verified on maps and photographs.  We've pinpointed a number of likely sites for where the Electra was burned and pushed off the runway - and here's a couple of them:

Directing the backhoe to the right spot - Photo by Robert Rustin

Some areas are dense jungle, while others are a combination of local rock and metal.

Digging it - photo by Robert Rustin

And finally, a word about David Sablan.  David is 82 years young, living history of Saipan.  He's been President of the Chamber of Commerce many times and knows pretty much everyone on the island.  And in fact, he's related to pretty much every native on the island.  He's been an invaluable resource.  His own story includes hiding in a cave up in the mountains with his family, and his father speaking enough English (one of only two on the island who did speak English) that saved them from being killed in their cave.  We've met many descendants who were also in that same cave during the war, and soon, we're going to return with Dave to that very cave.  But for now, we can't thank him enough.

David M Sablan, Connie Kaufter, and Captain Cooper - Robert Rustin photo

The plot thickens...

The dig continues.. day two

Digging continued into day two and word came in from HPO that our permits have been approved for our larger site near the airfield on Monday in Naftan point.

Things are falling into place.

We had an evening with a number of local residents who came down to here us talk about our journeys into this project - Captain Cooper spoke of his 17 years as a pilot for Southwest, Mike Harris told of his expeditions to find the Titanic, and now to find Earhart, and Rich talked about his bewilderment of why people have ignored eyewitness reports for so long.

Capt Cooper and Mike Harris

Dave Sablan, who met Mike Harris back in 1983 and who has been overwhelmingly helpful in this expedition, spoke passionately of how he is now convinced she was here.  He spoke of being a 12 year old boy and hearing a friend of his father say he was at the airfield in Alsito where he saw Earhart's Electra, and how the aviatrix and navigator Noonan had been taken by the Japanese.  It was not a story a 12 year old boy forgets.  Thank you David.

David M Sablan

We also spoke to Ray Bermudes - his first interview ever - where he recounted how his mother told him as a little boy that she was a nurse in the Japanese hospital because she spoke and could write Japanese.  She told him how she had seen and heard the story of Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan being brought to the hospital in 1937 to treat their wounds.  How she had been told not to tell anyone about it - and she had only told her family, which included a young Ray.  He had never thought to tell anyone the story until he read in the paper we were looking for second hand accounts as well.  Thank you Ray.

Ray Bermudes

Also in the audience tonight an audience member revealed that she was the granddaughter of the woman who had the ring that Amelia had given to her great aunt.  We had heard that the ring had been given by Amelia to Matilde Arriola, and Matilde gave it to her niece Trinidad.  Trinidad is the grandmother of these folks, and we are going to their old home tomorrow to dowse and use ground penetrating radar for the ring - which was reportedly lost during a rainstorm somewhere under the old house.  We'll let you know what we find.  

Half of the audience, sponsored by the Humanities Council

Thanks to all the folks who came out, to Scott Russell for putting the event together and his staff. It was a lot of fun and we hope everyone got new information to contemplate!

We will post the video of the event in a week or so - look to the right side of the page for the link!  Stay tuned!

Earhart mystery brings 3 to Saipan...

http://www.saipantribune.com/newsstory.aspx?newsID=125376&cat=1

Rich, Mike, David, Paul

SAIPAN TRIBUNE

LOCAL

Monday, February 18, 2013

Earhart mystery takes 3 to Saipan

By Haidee V. Eugenio

Reporter

Could a journey back to Saipan lead a group of experts to finally lay to rest the 76-year mystery of the disappearance of legendary aviatrix Amelia Earhart? That is what U.S.-based film director, producer, screenwriter, and freelance journalist Richard Martini, famed aircraft recovery lead investigator Michael Harris, and aircraft recovery specialist Capt. Paul H. Cooper are trying to answer in their ongoing research on Saipan.

The three are here to examine evidence whether Earhart, her co-pilot Fred Noonan, and their Lockheed Electra were on Saipan after they disappeared during their round-the-world flight in 1937.

Martini said there's over 200 islanders who claimed Earhart was here after 1937, and about a dozen U.S. Marines who claimed they found her plane on this U.S. island.

“Doesn't it make sense to follow the research to see if maybe she was here as opposed to where they have been looking in, in Nikumaroro, where there was no single eyewitness, where she was never in that direction?” Martini told Saipan Tribune in an interview on Friday afternoon.

Another group of experts is searching the Nikumaroro island, a tiny coral atoll some 300 miles southeast of Earhart’s target destination, Howland Island.

Martini said their mission on Saipan is two-fold.

“One is we're looking for the plane. But we're also talking to natives and people from here or anyone who has a story of what it was like during the war on Saipan and/or if they have any information that they heard secondhand or from anyone regarding Amelia Earhart's presence here or a European woman or someone they thought was American and we found at least a dozen people here who are giving us new testimony that's never been recorded before,” Martini said.

The group regularly uploads updates about their Saipan expedition on their website, earhartonsaipan.com.

For the group, or at least for Harris who found the first sonar in the Titanic, the Earhart project has been a 30-year journey and counting.

The public is encouraged to help in this project by providing information about Earhart's supposed presence on Saipan in 1937 and onwards.

During this trip, they said they have received help from multi-awarded businessman David Sablan Sr., Gov. Benigno R. Fitial, and other residents, including those who provided testimony to them claiming they saw Earhart.

The story about Saipan as Earhart's final resting place has been in circulation for decades. In 1966, for example, CBS correspondent Fred Goerner published a book claiming Earhart and Noonan were captured and executed when their aircraft crashed on Saipan while it was still under Japanese occupation."

<<there is also an article in "Mariana's Variety" but hasn't been posted online yet.. stay tuned>>