Editing Amelia Earhart (section)

===Search efforts===

Beginning approximately one hour after Earhart's last recorded message, ''Itasca'' undertook an unsuccessful search north and west of Howland Island based on initial assumptions about transmissions from the aircraft. The U.S. Navy joined the search and over about three days sent available resources to the search area near Howland Island.{{sfn|Goldstein|Dillon|1997|p=251}} Official search efforts lasted until July 19, 1937.{{sfn|Safford|2003|pp=61–62, 67–68}} At $4&nbsp;million (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|4|1937}}&nbsp;million in {{Inflation/year|US}}), the air-and-sea search by the U.S. Navy and [[United States Coast Guard|Coast Guard]] was the costliest and most intensive in U.S. history up to that time. Despite the unprecedented search, no physical evidence of Earhart, Noonan, or the Electra 10E was found.{{sfn|Goldstein|Dillon|1997|pp=245–254}}{{sfn|King|Jacobson|Burns|Spading|2001|pp=32–33}}

On the mornings of July 3 and July 6, 1937, an Oakland radio amateur was reported to have heard emergency transmissions, seemingly from Earhart.<ref name=radioupi>{{Cite web |date=July 6, 1937 |title=Amateur picks up message from Earhart |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1937/07/06/Amateur-picks-up-message-from-Earhart/3431821501408/ |access-date=2024-03-31 |work=[[United Press International]] |language=en}}</ref>{{efn|The reputed July 3 transmission was an SOS message in Earhart's voice, accompanied by her plane's call letters. The alleged July 6 message, heard on one of Earhart's bands, was in a faint voice and its gender was unidentifiable. It said, "Cannot hold out much longer". Putnam believed the messages to be authentic because they were within five minutes of the half hour, the expected interval of SOS messages.<ref name=radioupi/>}} In the days after their last confirmed transmissions, further transmissions purporting to be from Earhart were reported, many of which were determined to be hoaxes. The captain of {{USS|Colorado|BB-45|6}} later said: "There was no doubt many stations calling the Earhart plane on the plane's frequency, some by voice and others by signals. All of these added to the confusion and doubtfulness of the authenticity of the reports."{{sfn|Gillespie|2006|p=146}}

Immediately after the end of the official search, Putnam financed a private search by local authorities of nearby Pacific islands and waters. In late July 1937, Putnam chartered two small boats and, while he remained in the United States, directed a search of other islands.{{sfn|Goldstein|Dillon|1997|p=257}} Putnam acted to become the trustee of Earhart's estate so he could pay for the searches and related bills. In probate court in Los Angeles, Putnam asked to have the "[[declared death in absentia|declared death ''in absentia'']]" seven-year waiting period waived so he could manage Earhart's finances. As a result, Earhart was declared legally dead on January 5, 1939.{{sfn|Van Pelt|2005|p=205}}

In 2003 and 2006, [[David Jourdan]], through his company Nauticos, extensively searched a {{convert|1200|sqmi|km2|adj=on}} area north and west of Howland Island with deep-sea sonar devices. The searches cost $4.5&nbsp;million but did not find any wreckage. The search locations were derived from the line of position (157–337) broadcast by Earhart on July 2, 1937.<ref name="Hoversten" />

In 2024, Deep Sea Vision, a Charleston, South Carolina, company that operates [[unmanned underwater vehicle]]s, found via sonar what it said could be the remains of Earhart's airplane on the ocean floor.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Stephen |date=2024-01-29 |title=Amelia Earhart's long-lost plane possibly detected by sonar 16,000 feet underwater, exploration team claims |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/amelia-earhart-plane-possibly-detected-sonar-underwater-deep-sea-vision/ |work=CBS News |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Kim |first=Juliana |date=January 29, 2024 |title=Amelia Earhart's long-lost plane possibly spotted in the Pacific by exploration team |url=https://www.npr.org/2024/01/29/1227574179/amelia-earharts-lost-plane-howland-island |access-date=January 29, 2024 |work=[[NPR]]}}</ref> The object, which was {{cvt|16000|ft|km}} deep and about {{convert|100|mi|km|abbr=on}} from Howland Island, turned out to be a rock formation.<ref>{{Citation | vauthors=((Deep Sea Vision)) | year=2024 | title=Deep Sea Vision - Services | url= https://www.deepseavision.com/service-details | access-date=11 August 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/science/environment/an-adventurer-thought-he-found-amelia-earharts-plane-now-he-says-it-was-rock-466309d2?st=3GWrWb&reflink=article_copyURL_share|title=An Adventurer Thought He Found Amelia Earhart's Plane. Now He Says It Was a Rock|first=Nidhi|last=Subbaraman|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=November 5, 2024|accessdate=November 9, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-11-08/he-thought-hed-found-amelia-earharts-plane-it-was-a-pile-of-rocks|title=He thought he'd found Amelia Earhart's plane. It was a pile of rocks|first=Thomas|last=Curwen|work=Los Angeles Times|date=8 November 2024|accessdate=9 November 2024}}</ref>