YARMOUTH, Mass. (WHDH) — Forensic scientists are working to identify bones found in Wellfleet to see if they belong to a famous pirate.
The skeletal remains were found back in November in the wreck of the Whydah Gally, a 100-foot pirate ship. The ship sank off the coast of Wellfleet in April 1717 during a storm. The wreck itself was discovered back in 1984.
Scientists managed to extract a leg bone from the remains and are now working to identify it. The captain of the Whydah was 28-year-old Samuel “Black Sam” Bellamy, one of 40 people onboard the Whydah whose bodies never washed ashore.
Investigators located Bellamy’s parish in England and found one of his descendants. Bellamy’s great-great-great-great-nephew is providing DNA samples.
If there is a match, the Whydah Pirate Museum said they will return the remains to Bellamy’s parish in England.
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