Donald Trump has said he will order his administration to declassify secret government records related to the 1937 disappearance of Amelia Earhart.
The story of the American aviation pioneer, who vanished while flying over the Pacific Ocean, has captivated millions, the US president wrote on social media on Friday.
Earhart's disappearance during an attempt to circumnavigate the globe spawned numerous theories - from a simple crash due to fuel exhaustion to more elaborate claims of Japanese capture or US government espionage.
While some FBI files and Navy search reports have been declassified over the decades, some records have remained inaccessible, fuelling speculation about a cover-up.
Earhart disappeared while trying to reach Howland Island, a remote, uninhabited coral island owned by the US, to refuel.
She had already flown eastward from Oakland, California to Lae in Papua New Guinea in her twin-engine Electra plane, before she and navigator Fred Noonan vanished somewhere over the Pacific.
The official explanation is that the plane suffered communication problems while the two struggled to find the island, and Earhart eventually crashed into the ocean when she ran out of fuel.
While this version of events is largely accepted, no physical evidence - such as debris - has ever been found to back it up.
Trump noted, Amelia made it almost three quarters around the world before she suddenly, and without notice, vanished, never to be seen again.\
The two prominent theories are that Earhart crash-landed on or near the then-Japanese Marshall Islands, or that she made it to Nikumaroro Island near Kiribati and died a castaway there.
Although no conclusive evidence supports these theories, the documents due to be released will cover all government records related to Earhart and her final trip.
Interest in her case remains strong 80 years on, with various research efforts continuing to investigate her final flight.
