Record-breaker Amelia Earhart, who vanished in 1937 while attempting a round-the-world voyage, may have died a castaway on a remote Pacific island, an expert said. Earhart, who in 1932 became the first person to fly across the Atlantic Ocean solo, vanished while trying to find Howland Island, 1,700 nautical miles southwest of Honolulu. But according to the NY Post, Ric Gillespie of The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) says that Earhart's real fate is more chilling: She died a castaway on a different Pacific island.

 Vanished: Amelia Earhart disappeared on July 2, 1937, while flying around the world. She had been trying to find Howland Island, near Honolulu, but got lost over the Pacific Ocean

Wings: Earhart was flying this Lockheed Electra when she disappeared. Many believe she and her navigator plunged into the Pacific, but some say she landed on Gardner Island

Earhart was four months into her 29,000-mile trip when she began to run low on fuel while trying to find Howland Island. She and her navigator, Fred Noonan, were last seen on radar on June 2. Then they disappeared. What happened to the pair is a mystery, but Gillespie believes they didn't plunge into the water.

In fact, he says, Earhart and Noonan landed, injured but alive, on Gardner Island, also known as Nikumaroro, around 400 miles southeast of Howland Island.

How does he know?

'People started hearing radio distress calls from the airplane and they were verified,' he told an audience at a talk in North Carolina on August 5.

From July 2 onward he says, more than 100 radio distress calls were made by Earhart and heard by people all over the world, from Texas to Australia.

Record-breaker Amelia Earhart, who vanished in 1937 while attempting a round-the-world voyage, may have died a castaway on a remote Pacific island, an expert said. Earhart, who in 1932 became the first person to fly across the Atlantic Ocean solo, vanished while trying to find Howland Island, 1,700 nautical miles southwest of Honolulu. But according to the NY Post, Ric Gillespie of The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) says that Earhart's real fate is more chilling: She died a castaway on a different Pacific island.

 Vanished: Amelia Earhart disappeared on July 2, 1937, while flying around the world. She had been trying to find Howland Island, near Honolulu, but got lost over the Pacific Ocean

Wings: Earhart was flying this Lockheed Electra when she disappeared. Many believe she and her navigator plunged into the Pacific, but some say she landed on Gardner Island

Earhart was four months into her 29,000-mile trip when she began to run low on fuel while trying to find Howland Island. She and her navigator, Fred Noonan, were last seen on radar on June 2. Then they disappeared. What happened to the pair is a mystery, but Gillespie believes they didn't plunge into the water.

In fact, he says, Earhart and Noonan landed, injured but alive, on Gardner Island, also known as Nikumaroro, around 400 miles southeast of Howland Island.

How does he know?

'People started hearing radio distress calls from the airplane and they were verified,' he told an audience at a talk in North Carolina on August 5.

From July 2 onward he says, more than 100 radio distress calls were made by Earhart and heard by people all over the world, from Texas to Australia.