The court’s ruling completely absolves TIGHAR and its Executive Director from any negligence or wrong-doing. Judge Skavdahl wrote: “No matter how convinced or sincere Plaintiff is in his subjective belief that Amelia Earhart’s airplane was or should have been discovered prior to the making of his donation, that belief and opinion is insufficient to create a genuine dispute of material fact.”

Unless Mr. Mellon chooses to appeal – which we sincerely hope he will not – the lawsuit is over. Of course, we still have a huge legal bill to pay and Wyoming law does not give us the option of seeking costs from the Plaintiff, so your contributions to the Legal Defense Fund are still needed and greatly appreciated.

For more than a year, this lawsuit has been a major distraction and a drain on TIGHAR resources. To what extent it has deterred potential donors from contributing toward the Niku VIII expedition is impossible to know, but it’s not the sort of thing that encourages philanthropy. Our focus now is to move forward with fundraising for the Niku VIII expedition. We have only about a month to find a major sponsor or we’ll have to postpone the expedition until next year. Click on the “1937 Fund” logo below to make a contribution towards the expedition.