Pacific / Northern Marianas

CNMI group pushing for Earhart statue

16:49 pm on 18 September 2017

A group in the Northern Marianas wants a statue of Amelia Earhart built on Saipan to acknowledge what they say is the famous aviatrix's connection to the island.

An undated photo from the 1930s shows Amelia Earhart in Essonne, France. Photo: AFP

The group claims new information shows she spent her final days in the former Japanese territory.

To this end, the Amelia Earhart Committee has requested funding of $US150,000 from the local government to create a 3.8 metre high monument of Ms Earhart on Saipan.

The committee is basing its claim on an unsubstantiated report that Ms Earhart, who disappeared during her round the world flight in 1937, was held captive on Saipan.

An 80-year-old mystery seemed to get a new development earlier this month when experts released a photo they alleged showed Amelia Earhart alive in the Marshall Islands after her plane vanished on an around-the-world trip. Photo: Supplied