How explorers found Amelia Earhart’s watery grave. Or did they?

After nearly 100 days at sea, the crew had given up. In 1935, she flew the aircraft alone from Honolulu to Oakland and a few months later by herself from Los Angeles to Mexico City and then to Newark, N.J. “She represents freedom, dreaming big, adventurousness, seeking out the unknown,” said Jane Mendelsohn, who captured the heroine’s complicated mystique in a novel, “I Was Amelia Earhart.” Earhart first earned her wings above the open fields of Los Angeles, wowing weekend crowds at airshows with her youth, her elegance and daring. Nine others, including a producer and camera operator, were Romeo’s crew for a documentary with the working title: “Why Not Us?” “Why can’t six random guys solve aviation’s greatest riddle?” said Romeo. If it were the Electra, there are certain features we would expect to see: big engines, straight wings, closer dimensions.” Those discrepancies can be explained, he said, “but the more discrepancies you have, the more explanation is required.” John Gregg, whose Signal Hill-based company has conducted underwater surveys for development projects off Australia and Africa, calls Deep Sea Vision’s work “credible.” He also argues that there’s more at stake than just finding the Electra. “Many people have wanted to be the first to know and solve the mystery,” said biographer Susan Butler, whose “East to the Dawn: The Life of Amelia Earhart” covers the breadth of her accomplishments.