Cape Cod

University of New Haven Testing If Unearthed Bones Belong to Feared Pirate

The University of New Haven is helping determine whether human bones found in a Cape Cod shipwreck are those of the infamous pirate Samuel "Black Sam" Bellamy. 

The Whydah Pirate Museum in Yarmouth, Massachusetts, said archeologists uncovered the remains in the wreck last year, near what they believe to be Bellamy's pistol. 

They've enlisted forensic scientists from the University of New Haven to compare DNA from the bones to a DNA sample given by one of Bellamy's living descendants in the United Kingdom. 

The ship, Whydah Gally, went down in stormy seas off Wellfleet in 1717, killing nearly all its 150-person crew, including Bellamy, and leaving an estimated $120 million in ill-gotten riches at the bottom of the ocean. 

Barry Clifford, an explorer who owns the pirate museum, discovered the wreck in 1984.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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