2003 Bones Search II
In the spring of 2003, TIGHAR sent Roger Kelley, a retired police office, and Marty Moleski, a Jesuit priest, to Fiji to follow up on various leads developed in the 1999 search for the bones that had been found on Nikumaroro in 1940. Although TIGHAR had also developed fresh ideas for avenues to explore through the [Earhart Forum, Kelley and Moleski's search failed to find any trace of the bones, sextant, box, shoe parts, and corks on brass chains that Gallagher had found on Niku and sent to Fiji.
TIGHAR field report
Fiji Bone Search II--Final Report (article on TIGHAR website)
Background
- Bones Chronology
- Tarawa file
- DNA tests
- Bones Analysis (1998)
- Bones I Article (1999)
- Bones II Article (2003)
Suspects
The WPHC closed the [Bones file|inquiry]] into the death of an unknown person on Niku in September of 1941. The last entry in the file reads, "Seen. P.A. ["put away"]." There is no mention in the file of what was done with the bones and other materials that Gallagher had collected.
| 1941-1976 | Western Pacific High Commission |
| 1941 | Sir Harry Luke, WPCH High Commissioner and Governor of Fiji (died 1969) |
| 1941 | Henry Harrison Vaskess (died 1969), Secretary of the WPHC |
| 1941 | David Winn Hoodless, MD (died ~1955), Fiji School of Medicine |
| 1941-1976 | Patrick "Paddy" MacDonald. errand boy in 1941 but later became Colonial Secretary. |
| 1940-1981 | Walter Lindsay Isaac Verrier, MD (died 1981) |
| 1950s | Kenneth J. Gilchrist, MD (died 1992) |
| 1968 | Gerard Denis Murphy, MD (died 2004?) |
Burials, Cremations, Police Evidence Warehouse
It is conceivable that someone decided to give the castaway of Nikumaroro a decent burial. Roger Kelley tested that idea by examining all of the burial and cremation records in Suva from 1937 to the present.
- Comment from Daniel Postellon
- Regarding "naming the bones and burying them". We named the (Saxon) skeletons we found during an archaeological dig in Winchester. The names usually had something to do with their characteristics. One that I fondly remember was "Ethelred Unbod" We only found the skull and a few vertebrae, the rest of the skeleton was destroyed when some Victorians dug a big hole on the site a century earlier. It might be worth looking for a "John Doe Gardner" or some similar creative name.
Roger Kelley's Reports--Fiji, 2003
Search of Hoodless House garage
When Kelley and Moleski were preparing for the trip to Fiji, we reviewed notes from [Bones I| the 1999 bones search, which seemed to suggest that there were boxes in the garage. Our interpretation of the note suggested the picture of boxes containing interesting papers and maybe even some old bones. In retrospect, it seems that they may have seen cardboard boxes flattened on the floor, perhaps to catch oil drips from a car parked there or else some other form of garbage. The garage does not have any hiding places where a box of bones could rest unmolested for sixty years or more.
Roger Kelley's report
At approximately 13:30 hrs, I located the Colonial War Memorial Hospital, Waimanu Road, Suva. Telephone 331-3444. I explored areas open to the public and took photographs of the exterior of the hospital and the hospital grounds.
I discovered sealed tunnels which lead into the hill under the Maternity Ward on Extension Street. The tunnels are sealed with concrete and have foliage and residue over and around the entrance. There is no evidence of the purpose the tunnels served or how deep into the hill the tunnels penetrate. I photographed the tunnel entrances and street scene.
I also located Hoodless House, on Brown Street, directly behind CWMH. Directly across the street from Hoodless House are two garages built into the side of the hill. The two garages are joined by a common center wall and are covered with a concrete pad, complete with old pillars and railings on top. There are chairs on top of the pad. Both garage doors were standing open when I approached, revealing their interiors and contents.
The garage on the right is clean and contains no material of any kind. Bare concrete from wall to wall. The garage on the left is empty with a small amount of trash and dirt on the floor. I checked the debris on the floor for any item which may aid in our investigation and found nothing. I did find one page from a newspaper dated July 16, 2002.
There were no objects or material of any apparent value in either garage.
I photographed the street scene, the front of Hoodless House, and the exterior and interior of the two garages.