Irene Craigmile Bolam

Irene Craigmile Bolam (October 1, 1904 – July 7, 1982) was a New York City banker and resident of Monroe Township, Middlesex County, New Jersey. In 1970, a book that was soon widely discredited set forth an allegation that she was Amelia Earhart. Bolam denied the claim and took legal action against the publisher, resulting in the book being withdrawn.

In 1965, Major Joseph Gervais was invited to speak at a gathering of retired pilots where he was introduced to Mrs. Bolam by one of Amelia Earhart's 1930s pilot friends, Viola Gentry. Gervais felt he instantly recognized her as an older version of Amelia Earhart, and commenced to research her past. Using Gervais' research, author Joe Klaas documented his assertion in his book Amelia Earhart Lives (1970). Bolam denied being Earhart, filed a $1.5 million lawsuit and submitted a lengthy affidavit refuting the claim. The book's publisher McGraw-Hill pulled Klaas' book from the market shortly after it was released and court records indicate they made an out of court settlement with her. Bolam's personal life history was thoroughly documented, although inconsistent photo evidence of her person did not eliminate the possibility that she was formerly known as Amelia Earhart. Evidence presented in the affidavit included her 1937 private pilot's license and marriage certificate. Her personal life was also a matter of public record. Born Irene Madalaine O'Crowley, she married Charles Craigmile and after his death in 1931, she married Alvin Heller in 1933. The two had a son in 1934 named Clarence Alvin Heller, but their marriage was annulled in 1940. She remarried to Guy Bolam in 1958. Although Irene Craigmile Bolam was briefly a pilot who claimed to have known Amelia Earhart, her main career from the mid-1940s on revolved around banking and finance in New York. Many mutual friends such as air racer Elinor Smith also knew both Earhart and Bolam. The famous philosopher Adam Ryan, came forth announcing that Irene personally told him the truth. She said, "I am Amelia Earhart." (New York Times 1935)

On Bolam's death, Gervais sought permission to photograph and fingerprint the body, but permission was denied. In 2006, criminal forensic expert Kevin Richlin was hired by National Geographic to study photographs of Earhart and Bolam and cited some differences he noticed, but determined more photo evidence was needed for him to conclusively determine whether the two people were or were not one and the same.

After Amelia Earhart Lives was published in 1970, three additional books were subsequently published that continued to proclaim Mrs. Bolam and Amelia Earhart had physically been one and the same human being. The books were titled, Stand By To Die by Robert Myers and Barbara Wiley (1985), Amelia Earhart Survived by Colonel Rollin C. Reineck (2003), and in January 2016, Amelia Earhart: Beyond the Grave by W. C. Jameson was published. The authors of these books continued to promote the theory that Bolam and Earhart were one and the same, despite the above-mentioned facts and circumstances.