Richard Jantz’s re-examination of bones purported to belong to legendary American pilot Amelia Earhart recently made waves around the country and the world.
Using several modern quantitative techniques, Jantz re-examined seven bone measurements conducted in 1940 by physician D. W. Hoodless. Hoodless had concluded that the bones belonged to a man. Jantz found that the bones have more similarity to Earhart than to 99 percent of individuals in a large reference sample. Jantz is professor emeritus of anthropology and director emeritus of UT’s Forensic Anthropology Center.
National and international media highlighted the study. They include Time, The Telegraph (UK), UK Daily Mail, IFL Science, Boston Herald, China Post, Inside Edition, NBC, Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard, National Geographic, Forensic Mag, Yahoo, National Public Radio, Bustle, ABC, CNET, Discover Mag, Newsweek, New York Post, the Economist, New York Daily News, Town & Country, Boston Globe, South China Morning Post, Popular Mechanics, Knoxville News Sentinel, WATE-TV Channel 6, and WVLT-TV Local 8 Now.
Additionally, Jantz’s research and the subsequent media coverage became the focus of a Twitter Moment, a collection of tweets and stories about a trending topic.
On what would be Amelia Earhart’s 121st birthday in July 2018, Richard Gillespie released a 30-page report that he believes verifies, and connects, these radio signals to her disappearance. Many of the media stories also mention Jantz’s bone measurement analysis that indicates that remains found on a remote island in the South Pacific were likely Earhart’s. Metro, July 20; Tech Times, July 26; Daily Mail, July 25; UPI, July 24; USA Today, July 24 (ran in 119 national outlets); Forensic Magazine, July 27
—
In July 2019, the deep-sea explorer who followed an underwater debris trail to discover the wreck of the Titanic is about to tackle one of the greatest mysteries in aviation history: Amelia Earhart’s disappearance.
Robert Ballard and a National Geographic expedition will search for her plane next month near a Pacific Ocean atoll known today as Nikumaroro that’s part of the Phoenix Islands.
A wave of coverage mentioned Jantz’s work identifying the remains of Earhart.
Daily Mail: Deep-Sea Explorer Who Found Titanic Takes on New Mission: find Amelia Earhart’s Plane
Metro: Explorer who found Titanic wreck to hunt for missing airwoman Amelia Earhart
Business Insider: Investigators are using new scientific techniques to unravel the mystery of what happened to vanished aviator Amelia Earhart, born 122 years ago today
ABC News: Robert Ballard of Titanic Fame Now Searching for Amelia Earhart Wreckage
(Also appeared in other outlets, including WUTQ-FM, ABC News Radio, and WCJS)