[KARAH RUCKER]

HOPES THAT AMELIA EARHART’S LONG-LOST PLANE HAD BEEN FOUND WERE DASHED THIS WEEK.

RESEARCHERS SCANNING THE PACIFIC OCEAN FOR THE WRECKAGE THOUGHT THEY HAD FOUND IT LAST YEAR BUT UPON FURTHER INSPECTION — IT’S JUST A NATURAL ROCK FORMATION SHAPED LIKE A PLANE.

TONY ROMEO FUNDED THE 11 MILLION DOLLAR SEARCH WITH THE GROUP DEEP SEA VISION FOR EARHART’S DOOMED FLIGHT AND IN JANUARY CLAIMED TO HAVE FOUND SONAR EVIDENCE OF “WHAT APPEARS TO BE EARHART’S LOCKHEED 10-3 ELECTRA” PLANE.

THE IMAGES CAPTURED BY A SUBMERSIBLE WERE TAKEN 16-THOUSAND FEET BELOW THE OCEAN’S SURFACE 100 MILES OFF THE COAST OF HOWLAND ISLAND, ROUGHLY HALFWAY IN-BETWEEN HAWAII AND AUSTRALIA, WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN HER NEXT SCHEDULED STOP IN AN ATTEMPT TO BECOME THE FIRST WOMAN TO FLY AROUND THE GLOBE.

THE TEAM RETURNED TO THE SITE ONLY TO FIND THE LONG-ANTICIPATED DISCOVERY WAS JUST A PILE OF ROCKS.

DESPITE THE DISAPPOINTING SETBACK, THE RESEARCHERS VOWED TO SEARCH ON.

THE GROUP SAYS THEY’VE COVERED NEARLY 77-HUNDRED SQUARE MILES SO FAR IN THEIR EFFORTS TO FIND THE ILL-FATED PLANE, WHICH HAS BEEN THE SUBJECT OF CONSPIRACY THEORIES FOR DECADES.

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FOR STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS– I’M KARAH RUCKER.