Mary Bowerman

USA TODAY Network

Researchers believe that new evidence supports the theory Amelia Earhart did not die in a plane crash, but as a castaway on a remote island.

Earhart was last heard from on July 2, 1937, as she tried to establish a record as the first woman to fly around the world.

The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) said in September that they found evidence that Earhart made more than 100 radio transmissions in the days after her plane went missing, news.com.au reported. The group believes the radio transmissions prove that Earhart landed her plane safely, and was thus able to use the radio to call for help.

TIGHAR said in a statement that new evidence shows partial skeletal remains found in 1940 on the island of Nikumaroro, which is located between Hawaii and Australia, could belong to Earhart.

According to the TIGHAR, the bones were analyzed in 1940, but a doctor concluded they belonged to a male and the bones were later lost.

In 1998, TIGHAR discovered files about the remains, including skeletal measurements, and researchers determined the bones were actually consistent with a female of Earhart’s height.

According to the group, anthropologist Richard Jantz recently noticed that the skeleton’s forearms were larger than normal, but Jantz was unable to decipher whether Earhart’s arms were similar in length.

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In order to compare the length of the Earhart's forearms with those of the remains, TIGHAR asked forensic examiner Jeff Glickman for help.

Glickman said he was able to determine Earhart’s forearm length by examining a historical photograph where at least one of her arms is largely visible.

He found that Earhart’s “humerus to radius ratio was 0.76 – virtually identical to the castaway’s,” TIGHAR said in a statement.

“The match does not, of course, prove that the castaway was Amelia Earhart, but it is a significant new data point that tips the scales further in that direction,” TIGHAR said in a statement.

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