History

A West Texas Woman Heard Amelia Earhart’s Call for Help, Radioed From a Deserted Island

By  | 
Tony Maples Photography

 

Over eight decades following the disappearance of famed pilot Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan, a comprehensive study is believed to have pieced together their last remaining days. The latest research includes a west Texas woman’s account of hearing Earheart’s radio call for help.

The pair disappeared somewhere over the Pacific Ocean on July 2, 1937. The study takes into account 120 reports of individuals who claimed to hear her radioed distress signals. 57 accounts from around the world were found to be credible, including one from Mrs. Mabel Larremore of Amarillo, Texas.

Earhart’s Distress Calls Were Heard – Even Here in Texas: Why Wasn’t She Found?

Photo: Facebook/Amelia Earhart

The details of Earhart and Noonan’s traumatic last days can only be gleaned from the series of calls of distress that were heard around the world. The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, in a project which led by executive director Richard Gillespie, analyzed the final transmissions received over a period of seven days following the disappearance. Larremore’s account of the call she received is listed as follows: “On the first night of Amelia Earhart’s disappearance I heard her SOS loud and clear, not on the frequency but on the one President Roosevelt said she might use. Her message stated the plane was down on an uncharted island. Small, uninhabited. The plane was partially on land, part in water. She gave the latitude and longitude of her location. I listened to her for 30-45 minutes.… I heard her message around 2 A.M. daylight saving time from my home in Amarillo, Texas. She stated that her navigator Fred Noonan was seriously injured. Needed help immediately. She also had some injuries but not as serious as Mr. Noonan.” Why didn’t Larremore notify anyone until much later that she’d received this message? For the simple reason that she assumed the authorities had also heard the call and were already handling it.

Earhart’s Distress Calls Were Heard – Even Here in Texas: Why Wasn’t She Found?

Photo: Facebook/Amelia Earhart

For a long time, the accepted theory was that Earhart’s plane crashed and sank into the ocean. Though going against the grain, Larremore’s account of the distress call is in sync with others around the world. Each account of the calls suggests Earhart, together with an injured Noonan,  were stranded on a reef in the Pacific, possibly subjected to the tides, with no help or support in sight. The group’s detailed study reviewed each distress call comprehensively. In the week following the pilot’s disappearance, the heartbreaking messages were received by casual listeners at home as well as naval stations around the globe. Although actively participating in the search for the pair, the naval stations were never able to locate them. In fact, on July 2, just hours following their disappearance, one such station leading the search stated that it heard a voice which was thought to be Earhart’s. When the speaker was asked to confirm that was the case through a series of dashes, three of the stations heard the response, one of which confirmed the word ‘Earhart.’ Gillespie is hoping to remove any doubt with respect to what happened to Earhart and Noonan with the release of the study findings on Earhart’s birthday, which was July 24.