It seemed like the solution to Elaine Travers’ financial problems, but a dog in desperate need of a bathroom break led her to it.
“I saw this road, so I went there and parked and he started running,” Travers said.
Travers, who is disabled and unable to walk long distances, said she called her adult son to come see what had upset her pet in a remote area of Heart’s Content, Newfoundland, Canada.
They discovered Amelia Earhart’s body. At least the remains of a statue that has been the talk of the town for months in the small town next to Harbor Grace.
“Oh my god,” Travers thought to himself.
The statue of Earhart, a Kansas native who vanished without a trace while flying over the Pacific Ocean in 1937, had its own mysterious disappearance.
The monument has stood proudly at Harbor Grace Park since 2007 thanks to a private donation from a prominent local family, as a memorial to Earhart’s first solo transatlantic flight, which began 75 years ago in one of Canada’s easternmost communities.
When the statue disappeared on the morning of April 24, town officials believed someone had likely stolen the metal to sell it for scrap, and put up a $25,000 reward for its discovery, collecting private donations.
Travers, who said she was going through a rough time, saw an opportunity in August when she stood a few miles from Harbor Grace and watched Earhart, cut into five pieces, intact.
“I called the mayor at the time and said, ‘I was wondering if the prize money was still available,'” Travers told CNN.
That was the case, but Travers said the mayor declined her offer to deliver the statue parts herself. A few days later, she was referred to a Royal Canadian Mounted Police investigator, who made it clear that she should not expect a quick check.
“The first thing she said was, ‘Do you want to talk to a lawyer? Because you could get arrested for this,'” Travers said, still shocked by the implication.
A statue of the famous aviator wearing a leather flight jacket and thigh-high lace-up boots stood proudly at Spirit of Harbor Grace Park, a roadside stop overlooking the bay. The park also features a retired World War II-era DC-3 airliner, which the town is named after.
The park is a visible representation of the community’s pride in its unique place in aviation history. Earhart’s voyage was one of 20 transatlantic flights attempted from the town’s idyllic airstrip.
The statue’s disappearance came as a shock to local residents and aviation enthusiasts around the world.
“We are heartbroken to share that someone, under cover of darkness, stole Amelia Earhart’s statue and one of the plaques commemorating her legacy,” Ninety-Nines, an international organization of female pilots, said in a Facebook post. “Who would do that?”
The only publicly available evidence of the theft is surveillance video from a gas station adjacent to the park.
In the video, distant headlights can be seen approaching the statue’s location, followed shortly after by the sound of screeching tires and a metallic sound. A minute later, the car sped off. A muffled voice can be heard, but the video is too dark to identify the person.
The statue’s discovery was a relief to town officials who were wondering whether they could afford to replace it.
“We are thrilled to welcome Amelia to Harbor Grace and appreciate the public’s cooperation in finding this iconic statue,” then-Mayor Don Coombs said in an RCMP news release.
However, Travers himself is not mentioned in multiple announcements about the statue. In a news release after the discovery, the town and RCMP cited only “tips from the public” that led the Mounties to the statue.
When Travers called to report the statue, she was advised not to move it and wait for law enforcement, a process that took several days.
“I was going back twice a day to see if she was still there,” Travers said, adding that she feared someone would discover Earhart’s statue and try to take it or claim the reward.
“So when I got the call on Aug. 8 to go to the RCMP building, yes, I was very relieved when the officers took her,” she said.
That sense of relief was short-lived when it was suggested that she might be a suspect. Travers was shocked, but thinks he understands the reason for the suspicions.
Her son, who was previously convicted of stealing copper, was with her when she found the statue. He has denied any involvement in the theft and declined to be interviewed or named by CNN.
“But he had nothing to do with it (the statue’s disappearance). He’s innocent and I’m innocent,” Travers said.
“We both passed a lie detector test saying we had nothing to do with the theft of the statue or knew anything about it, but I’m not there yet,” Travers said.
Ironically, Travers says her son’s records should prove he never removed the statue.
“He was in prison at the time,” Travers said. “They’re just saying he might have had someone else do it.”
She claims that the photos they took when they first discovered the Earhart statue show it surrounded by thick vegetation and surrounded by trees, which dispels the theory that the statue was planted there to be “found” for a reward.
Representatives for the RCMP and the Town of Harbor Grace declined to comment on the details of Travers’ account of what happened.
A Newfoundland and Labrador RCMP spokesperson told CNN: “To protect both the privacy of all involved and the integrity of this active police investigation, we are unable to provide further details at this time.”
Four months after the statue was recovered, communities along the state’s narrow Conception Bay celebrated its return. Local artists were then commissioned to reassemble and strengthen it in time for a rededication ceremony scheduled for next spring.
“Fortunately, the town’s insurance company covered the cost of repairing the statue and base, excluding the deductible,” the local government said in a statement.
Travers, on the other hand, received no winnings and has not faced criminal charges. Instead, rumors spread within the community, leaving her reputation tarnished.
“A lot of people are accusing me of things I haven’t done and posting all kinds of stuff about myself and my family, and that’s not right,” she said.
So far, Harbor Grace officials have said little about how they believe the statue was stolen in the first place, assuring that updates on the matter will be shared “as appropriate” while the investigation continues.
“At this time, the identity of the person responsible for the theft remains unknown,” RCMP said.
Harbor Grace City Councilor Christina Hahn noted that distributing the reward money was not a request from the town, and told CNN there was an “expectation” from those who donated that it would lead to arrests and convictions.
However, Travers disputes this, pointing to comments made regarding the initial compensation announcement.
“We had two options: information that would either lead to the arrest and conviction of the culprit, or the return of the statue. So we can’t go any further. We can’t give you any answers.”
Like the answers to Earhart’s mysterious final flight, Traverse’s story remains in limbo. At least until someone is found and prosecuted.
