Salisbury man looks to solve Amelia Earhart mystery

SALISBURY, Md. – William Snavely, Jr. from Salisbury may be one step closer to solving one of the greatest mysteries of all time, the disappearance of aviator Amelia Earhart.

“I’d just like to see if we can solve the mystery,” said Snavely, Jr. the head researcher for Project Blue Angel.

For the past 13 years Snavely, Jr. has traveled across the Pacific Ocean to study a plane he believes took down Earhart and her navigator more than 80 years ago.

“We had a plane and we were the first to find a plane underwater and the first in 81 years to have a complete plane, but we then had to figure out how it would have possibly have gotten to that location,” said Snavely, Jr.

This explorer said his mission has not been easy.

He said it took years just for him to convince islanders to let his team explore their home Buka Island where legend has it something had fallen from the sky years ago.

“That’s the connection where the kid later saw a plane with the left wing on fire come out of the clouds and it shook him up so badly he went to a local priest on the island and wondered if it was the second coming,” said Snavely, Jr.

Snavely Jr. said the story helped them locate the plane as well as a glass nearby that looks like an aircraft light. But, he said they are racing against mother nature.

“We were surprised at how much the coral had taken over the area and made it very difficult,” said Snavely, Jr.

“That’s our biggest worry right now, and it’s a race with time to try to get the evidence out before the coral beats us to it,” said Snavely, Jr.

The explorer also said he hopes the plane matches the one Earhart flew because it could help bring more attention to the island where he said there are hundreds of people in need.

To learn more about Snavely, Jr. and his expedition, click here.