By Steve Neavling
The Trump administration has directed FBI employees in Washington, D.C., and New York to scour their offices for any records related to the 1937 disappearance of aviator Amelia Earhart, an extraordinary request that law enforcement sources described as both unusual and urgent, CNN first reported.
Agents in both field offices received a “high importance” message Tuesday evening instructing them to “search any areas where papers or physical media records may be stored, to include both open or closed cases, for records responsive to Amelia Earhart.” The order came “per a priority request from the Executive Office of the President of the United States,” according to an internal message reviewed by CNN.
FBI staff were told to report back by Wednesday, making it a tight deadline made more difficult by the ongoing federal government shutdown, now in its seventh day.
Earhart was attempting to become the first woman to fly around the world when she vanished over the Pacific Ocean in 1937. After a massive 16-day search, she was declared lost at sea. Her disappearance has fueled fascination and conspiracy theories for decades.
Last month, President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that he was directing his administration to “declassify and release all government records” related to the case.
“Her disappearance, almost 90 years ago, has captivated millions,” Trump wrote. “I am ordering my Administration to declassify and release all Government Records related to Amelia Earhart, her final trip, and everything else about her.”
Earhart, who became the first female pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic, was one of the most celebrated figures of her time. Since her disappearance, theories have ranged from her dying in a crash at sea to being captured by the Japanese military.
As CNN reported last year, the U.S. government’s official position has long been that Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, crashed into the Pacific after running out of fuel.
Trump’s latest directive follows similar efforts during his presidency to declassify records tied to other historic mysteries, including the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
While it remains unclear why the White House made the request through the FBI rather than the National Archives, current and former officials said it reflects Trump’s personal fascination with unresolved historical cases — and his willingness to involve federal law enforcement in pursuing them.
