WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A decades long mystery could soon become a closed case next month when Purdue researchers and the Archaeological Legacy Institute travel to identify what they say is part of Amelia Earhart's plane.

The pilot and her navigator, Fred Noonan, went missing in 1937 when they tried to complete the first flight around the world.

In July, Purdue Research Foundation and the Archaeological Legacy Institute announced they would join forces to locate the missing plane.

Earhart was an advisor and counselor starting in 1935 for the university before her disappearance.

The executive director of the Archaeological Legacy Institute, Richard Pettigrew, said he's highly confident this is the missing piece to the puzzle.

"It is a very complex project, so we have only five days to w

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