After a discussion at the grave site with Senior Examining Officer Manikaa Teuatabo, permission to excavate is granted and digging begins. Two divers, Van Hunn and Jerry Jurenka, inspect the lagoon passage and inshore reef area at high tide for any anomalous material. The results are negative. Search operations are extended northward along the Nutiran shore in the hope of finding something that better fits the description of a European style house. Late in the day, Chris Kennedy comes upon boards and sheets of corrugated metal.
Further investigation reveals the ruins of a structure incorporating wood framing and boards.
There are pipes, a faucet, and even a shower head. It seems quite likely that this was a European style house but it does not seem to be present in the 1953 aerial photos. Plantings of coconut and pandanus just inland from this location support the possibility that this structure is a relic of development in the later days of the settlement. That would conform to Ms. Taiki's time on the island in the late 1950s. The presence of zinc chromate corrosion inhibitor would appear to disqualify it as being from Earhart's aircraft.