By Tim Binnall
A group of Saipan residents who believe Amelia Earhart was held captive on the island by Japanese forces has reportedly rekindled their longstanding call for a monument recognizing the curious claim. The organization first made headlines nearly a decade ago when, in September of 2017, they proposed that a staggering 12-foot-tall statue of the famed aviatrix be built with government help. Over the next few years, the envisioned piece 'grew' to 18 feet tall, and controversy understandably swirled around the costly idea that seemingly stalled out around 2020 when the pandemic hit. However, a recent gathering of the group to celebrate Earhart's birthday sparked renewed talk of the proposed monument.
At the event, Marie Soledad Castro, who serves as the president of the group, made the case for Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, being captured by Japanese forces and imprisoned on Saipan. Specifically, she cited stories from several eyewitnesses who recalled seeing a "white lady dressed like a man" in the custody of authorities on the island in 1937. Castro posited that Earhart's unique appearance would have made her akin to "an apparition to locals in those days," and sightings of such an out-of-place individual would have been an "indelible and unforgettable" memory to those who spotted her.
Castro used her presentation to once again call for Saipan to produce a monument in recognition of the theory that Earhart was a reluctant resident of the island after she vanished during her attempt at circumnavigating the globe. Interestingly, local coverage of the gathering did not indicate whether the idea is still to build a giant statue or if the group has come up with something a little more feasible. Regardless, Castro argued that celebrating Earhart on the island is long overdue and that a monument would "establish a place in the Pacific for people to visit" in recognition of the pioneering pilot's mysterious fate somewhere in that region of the world, regardless of whether or not she truly wound up on Saipan.