FBI Closes D.B. Cooper Investigation After 45 Years (oregonlive.com)

An anonymous reader writes: The Federal Bureau of Investigation says it is no longer investigating the unsolved mystery of D.B. Cooper. The bureau said Tuesday that it's "exhaustively reviewed all credible leads" during its 45-year investigation and has redirected those resources to other priorities. The investigation was of a man calling himself Dan Cooper (the media mistakenly called him D.B. Cooper and it stuck) who hijacked a Boeing 727 headed for Seattle after boarding at Portland International Airport on November 24, 1971. In Seattle, he claimed he had an explosive device and demanded parachutes and $200,000 in ransom money. After releasing the 36 passengers from the plane and receiving four parachutes and $200,000 in cash, Cooper ordered several of the crew members who were kept on board to fly to Mexico City. Shortly after returning to the air, Cooper jumped from the back of the plane and landed somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. No trace of Cooper was found, but several bundles of cash were found in 1980. The FBI says it has conducted searches, collected all available evidence and interviewed all identifiable witnesses, but none have resulted in identifying the hijacker.

Comments

How times change.

[Anonymous Coward]

Today you get a golden parachute and a couple of millions in cash after releasing 3600 workers. Without having to hijack a plane.

Inflation, I guess.

Re:How times change.

[Shark]

They probably linked some of the money to the Clinton Foundation and don't want to get in trouble.

Thanks for the concise summary

[guises]

I've heard the name D.B. Cooper a number of times before (on Newsradio, among other places) but had always thought that I was missing something about the story, since it just sounded like someone who stole some money. "What was the big deal?" I said to myself.

I appreciate the concise summary, since most times I've tried to look this up the articles just go on and on about it... "What was the big deal?" I would say as I read them, but this was the one question which they were apparently unwilling to answer. Turns out it wasn't a big deal, just a bunch of news fluff. Thanks for finally settling that for me.

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[phishybongwaters]

Wasn't a big deal? This guy potentially hijacked a plane, got 200 grand in cash then got away, 45 years later they have GIVEN UP TRYING TO FIND HIM. That's a bug deal in my books. A Very big deal. Anyhoo, it was Jimmy James, case closed

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[Anonymous Coward]

He also used a parachute to escape and had a lot of knowledge on how to actually open a commercial airlines doors IN FLIGHT.

From wikipedia:

The FBI task force believes that Cooper was a careful and shrewd planner. He demanded four parachutes to force the assumption that he might compel one or more hostages to jump with him, thus ensuring he would not be deliberately supplied with sabotaged equipment.[105] He chose a 727-100 aircraft because it was ideal for a bail-out escape, due not only to its aft airstair, but also the high, aftward placement of all three engines, which allowed a reasonably safe jump without risk of immediate incineration by jet exhaust. It had "single-point fueling" capability, a recent innovation that allowed all tanks to be refueled rapidly through a single fuel port. It also had the ability (unusual for a commercial jet airliner) to remain in slow, low-altitude flight without stalling; and Cooper knew how to control its air speed and altitude without entering the cockpit, where he could have been overpowered by the three pilots.[106] In addition, Cooper was familiar with important details, such as the appropriate flap setting of 15 degrees (which was unique to that aircraft), and the typical refueling time. He knew that the aft airstair could be lowered during flight—a fact never disclosed to civilian flight crews, since there was no situation on a passenger flight that would make it necessary—and that its operation, by a single switch in the rear of the cabin, could not be overridden from the cockpit.[107] He may even have known that the Central Intelligence Agency had been using 727s to drop agents and supplies behind enemy lines during the Vietnam War.[108]

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[Ihlosi]

This guy potentially hijacked a plane, got 200 grand in cash then got away, 45 years later they have GIVEN UP TRYING TO FIND HIM.

What's the statute of limitations on the crimes the guy allegedly committed?

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[AthanasiusKircher]

I appreciate the concise summary, since most times I've tried to look this up the articles just go on and on about it... "What was the big deal?" I would say as I read them, but this was the one question which they were apparently unwilling to answer. Turns out it wasn't a big deal, just a bunch of news fluff.

"Wasn't a big deal"??

A guy hijacks a plane under threat of an (apparent) bomb, takes over a million dollars in cash (in today's dollars) in exchange for hostages, and then parachutes out, and this "wasn't a big deal"?

Even if your standards of "big deal" are low enough that this wouldn't seem noteworthy, the case is also notable for the roughly 15 copycat hijackings it caused within the next year (also people extorting money on planes, requesting parachutes, etc.).

Ultimately, this case (and the copycats) led to the institution of universal luggage searching on flights, the first step down the slippery slope to voiding the 4th amendment as we've seen with the TSA in recent years. Arguably, these cursory searches (for bombs, other explosive devices, and major weapons) were necessary to prevent the nearly weekly hijackings that were going on. But if nothing else, this case is notable for a string of hijackings contributing to setting us on that path. (Note there were other high-profile incidents requesting passage to Cuba that also contributed to the new search policy, but weekly demands for million-dollar ransoms must have also made an impact.)

Also, obligatory xkcd.

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[swb]

It was always big from a "mystery" perspective, but the circumstances of his jump have always made it extremely unlikely that he survived -- jumping into -70F windchill air, into a wilderness area, at night, without anything more protective than a suit and raincoat.

The big mysteries seem to be identifying who he was and what happened to the body, parachute and the money. Some decayed packets of money were found, but that seems to lead more credence to the theory that the jump/landing/escape was a failure.

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[guruevi]

There is none because the FBI started prosecution so it wouldn't expire.

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[Anonymous Coward]

He bailed at 10000 feet so any wind chill would have been very brief and -70F is an exaggeration of the temperature extreme. This guy meticulously planned every step of this adventure so I doubt he didn't have several different bail out locations planned in advance. The small packet of money found years later could have also been left behind on purpose to keep searchers in a single location while giving himself more time to put more distance between him and the searchers.

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[RDW]

Some decayed packets of money were found, but that seems to lead more credence to the theory that the jump/landing/escape was a failure.

That's probably why he left them there, before continuing with the next phase of his escape plan...

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[CastrTroy]

Started prosecution on who? They don't even really know who he is.

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[ArchieBunker]

I think the argument is government resources would be of better use on crimes not approaching the half century mark.

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[Whorhay]

The statute of limitations isn't an escape clause for law breakers, it is meant as a means to prevent prosecutors from delaying prosecution unreasonably or using it as a kind of blackmail. It basically says, you knew about this for X amount of time and couldn't be bothered to do anything about it so the court can't take you seriously. In many cases the clock doesn't start ticking on the statute until someone is aware the crime was committed.

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[Zocalo]

Further, given the obviously meticulous planning, don't you think it likely he might also have considered what to wear during the jump and maximise the chances of a safe landing? He could quite easily have brought more appropriate clothing than what the crew and passengers saw him wearing and changed once he was alone in the cabin prior to the actual jump, taking everything else like his coat along for the ride to remove evidence - he even took back the note he passed the stewardess afterall. Still, given that none of the bank notes have ever been identified apart from those three bundles and there has been no plausible death bed confessions or similar, either he managed to pass them into circulation very carefully (a few at a time in overseas bureau de change, perhaps?) which seems unlikely, or he did indeed die in the attempt.

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[swb]

Assuming he survived the jump (using one of the oldest of the 4 parachutes he got) in what amounts to ordinary street clothes, how does he survive a hike out of the wilderness in November in a raincoat and loafers, likely at least pretty damp if not wet from atmospheric condensation? Even if he landed completely dry, you're talking a high risk of hypothermia dressed that way in November navigating miles of wilderness.

However well he planned it, there's no way he managed to hit a narrow drop zone where he might have staged survival gear -- his potential drop zone would have been miles wide jumping in the dark and without any decent navigational clues as to where to jump.

The larger mystery is why his body or chute were never found, but these seem more likely to be side effects of a potentially large search area than a successful landing and evasion.

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[Marxist Hacker 42]

5 years, but they got around that with a "John Doe" warrant.

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[Marxist Hacker 42]

This is an otaku. There are people downright obsessed over DB Cooper- and that makes it nerdy.

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[jittles]

It was always big from a "mystery" perspective, but the circumstances of his jump have always made it extremely unlikely that he survived -- jumping into -70F windchill air, into a wilderness area, at night, without anything more protective than a suit and raincoat.

The big mysteries seem to be identifying who he was and what happened to the body, parachute and the money. Some decayed packets of money were found, but that seems to lead more credence to the theory that the jump/landing/escape was a failure.

It's pretty damn cold when you sky dive. For all of a minute. In my experience, your adrenaline rushes to the point where you only feel the cold for a few seconds. Granted, I've only jumped during the day, but I warmed up rather quickly and actually feel that the ascent in an uninsulated fuselage is far more uncomfortable (cold) than the actual jump itself.

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[maroberts]

> The larger mystery is why his body or chute were never found,

Because bears shit in the woods (and eat dead things)

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[Paradise Pete]

it is meant as a means to prevent prosecutors from delaying prosecution unreasonably or using it as a kind of blackmail.

It's difficult to mount a proper defense years after the event. The Statute addresses that as well for all but the most serious of crimes.

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[magarity]

What's the statute of limitations on the crimes the guy allegedly committed?

Some person definitely committed the crimes; "allegedly" is only used when you have a particular person charged with, but not yet convicted of, said crimes.
I don't think there's a statute of limitations on hijacking a commercial flight.

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[magarity]

He also used a parachute to escape and had a lot of knowledge on how to actually open a commercial airlines doors IN FLIGHT.

All of this is why my theory is he was in cahoots with all but one of the rest of the flight crew that stayed on board. They chucked the odd man out the door and DB took his place.

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[dcw3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[dcw3]

> The larger mystery is why his body or chute were never found,

Because bears shit in the woods (and eat dead things)

I'm sure they like the taste of parachutes.

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[AmiMoJo]

Considering how meticulously he must have planned the whole thing I doubt he would have neglected to consider the jump, landing and subsequent escape. He had the foresight to request multiple parachutes (to prevent tampering, in case he forced one of the crew to use one), and to learn some quite specific things about how the aircraft operated and how to get the rear door to open with it flying at low speed and altitude.

It's possible something went wrong, but there is so little evidence that it's all just speculation at this point.

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[Anonymous Coward]

I've got a friend with 4000+ jumps under his belt, and he was part of an exhibition jump back in the 80's in which 100 skydivers recreated this jump (same height, velocity, equipment, but not at night). He tells me that the older equipment would actually be better for this type of jump into a forested region, because those old chutes had a much lower lateral velocity. He believes at night it would be survivable, but would carry the risk that the jumper wouldn't have great control over precisely where they came down if he had some specific location in mind to reach. He adds that the 100 jumpers, given dispersion and the time to get them all out the air stairs, were spread out over 15 miles.

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[Calydor]

What if he'd prepared a spotlight of some sort to aim for?

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[SuricouRaven]

But the area was searched thoroughly. No body found.

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[SuricouRaven]

Or had co-criminals on the ground, with a rented helicopter?

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[swb]

I'm not sure how he would have coordinated any potential landing zone with the actual location of the plane when he jumped. It probably would have required a skilled air navigator with access to VOR equipment in the 1970s to time a night jump correctly to have much hope of landing close to a planned target.

Just jumping out the back and hoping you had it timed right? He could be off by miles without knowing the plane's specific heading and airspeed. The heading might have been guessable if the plane was following known air routes, but would you be able to rely on that if your "flight" wasn't a regularly scheduled route? ATC may have advised a variation in case he really did have a bomb. And air speed may have varied as well, making distance calculation subject to substantial error even if the course was expected.

There have been practically successful parachute escape hijackings (ie, the hijacker manages to land safely) so it's not impossible, but the circumstances of DB Cooper's escape make it seem really unlikely he was able to pull it off.

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[Calydor]

TFS mentions he jumped shortly after takeoff, so the margin of error isn't too great. It would increase exponentially the longer they were in the air, true, but if he jumped, say, 15 minutes after takeoff the variation wouldn't be incredibly great - especially if he had a helper on the ground that could come pick him up.

Still, I'm sure the FBI have gone over all those theories in the past 45 years, this is just off the top of my head movie-plot thinking.

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[david_thornley]

I'd imagine the authorities were aware of the crime shortly after it was committed. There are crimes that come to light years after commission, but this isn't one of them.

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[Areyoukiddingme]

He also used a parachute to escape and had a lot of knowledge on how to actually open a commercial airlines doors IN FLIGHT.

From wikipedia: ...

Given all that, it's fairly obvious. D.B. Cooper was an ex-CIA agent arranging his own retirement. Guess the pension wasn't enough for his taste.

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[sethaw]

Here is Wikipedia's site for most of that:

Gunther, Max (1985). D. B. Cooper: What Really Happened. Chicago: Contemporary Books. ISBN 0-8092-5180-9. (Based on interviews with a woman known as "Clara", who claimed to have discovered an injured Cooper two days after the hijacking and lived with him until he died a decade later; considered a hoax by the FBI.)

There isn't any way to know how much aircraft knowledge he had or how much he planned without asking him. It looks like Wikipedia is using very questionable source about someone who claims to of known him and then cites it as fact.

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[bmk67]

Western Washington is not particularly cold in November - however, it is quite wet and death by hypothermia is a very real concern for people caught in the wild unprepared. Until a few years ago, I lived a handful of miles away from the hypothesized drop zone.

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[Bratch]

They started the prosecution against "John Doe," which was news to me when I watched the shows on the History Channel. They can match up the real person later and still prosecute him. I was hoping that the FBI would drop the case against John Doe, so that maybe the real culprit would come forward. One of the crime reporters thinks it was Rackstraw, now living in San Diego.

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[Tharkkun]

Here is Wikipedia's site for most of that: Gunther, Max (1985). D. B. Cooper: What Really Happened. Chicago: Contemporary Books. ISBN 0-8092-5180-9. (Based on interviews with a woman known as "Clara", who claimed to have discovered an injured Cooper two days after the hijacking and lived with him until he died a decade later; considered a hoax by the FBI.) There isn't any way to know how much aircraft knowledge he had or how much he planned without asking him. It looks like Wikipedia is using very questionable source about someone who claims to of known him and then cites it as fact.

Wikipedia should never be used as a source of truth. It's written by people with opinions.

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[Tharkkun]

Assuming he survived the jump (using one of the oldest of the 4 parachutes he got) in what amounts to ordinary street clothes, how does he survive a hike out of the wilderness in November in a raincoat and loafers, likely at least pretty damp if not wet from atmospheric condensation? Even if he landed completely dry, you're talking a high risk of hypothermia dressed that way in November navigating miles of wilderness.

However well he planned it, there's no way he managed to hit a narrow drop zone where he might have staged survival gear -- his potential drop zone would have been miles wide jumping in the dark and without any decent navigational clues as to where to jump.

The larger mystery is why his body or chute were never found, but these seem more likely to be side effects of a potentially large search area than a successful landing and evasion.

You never know whether he had supplies waiting for where he planned to parachute to. He could have easily have survival gear waiting for him.

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[k6mfw]

one thing I always wondered is why did he choose the worst rig to jump, the Navy NB-8. Too lazy to read the details but didn't they provide a Paracommander? Of course he would not know what is packed inside (I'm sure it wasn't laundry as they want to capture him alive), probably a T10 but at least grab a rig that is the more comfortable such as the B-4 container?

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[citylivin]

Even if he landed completely dry, you're talking a high risk of hypothermia dressed that way in November navigating miles of wilderness.

Around the seattle area, november might be +5 degrees, even could be as high as +10. It very rarely would drop below -5. And if it was a dry night, he would have no problem surviving i would think.

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[fj3k]

The FBI originally thought he jumped around Lake Merwin. That's where their search was conducted. The terrain in the drop-zone there is very rugged, and the chance of a bad landing is very likely.

The pilots later said that he jumped over the northern suburbs of Portland/Vancouver. They claimed that this is where they were when they felt the bump of the tail-door snapping back up after Cooper's weight was removed from it. The drop-zone here would be either urban, or (much more likely) farm land. Probably still a bit of a hike, but not as bad as 'wilderness'.

I think he must have survived. Granted, he took the worst parachute; but it was still a serviceable one. And given the drop-zone based on the pilots recollection, if he had perished someone surely must have found him by now.

The last reason is that if he had perished, either in the wilderness that the FBI was searching, or in a neglected bit of the later drop-zone, it is highly unlikely that the three bundles of money could have ended up where they did without someone moving them later. Firstly because (with the exception of Lacamas Creek) the watersheds don't move things that way (Clark County has a very good map of all its watersheds). Secondly, the flooding and dredging histories of the Columbia river make it unlikely that the money was in the water all that time.

That's just my 2 cents

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[LWATCDR]

Still? Maybe back in the 70s but today I doubt that most people know anything about it.

Re: Thanks for the concise summary

[Type44Q]

Do we know for a fact that he didn't bring his own 'chute? Those four additional chutes could have been a complete distraction...

Re: Thanks for the concise summary

[Type44Q]

It's the basis of the plot of the movie "Without a Paddle" so a few tens of millions of stoners, at least, are aware of D.B. Cooper... though them probably aren't aware that he's not just fiction...

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[davester666]

Of course, EVERYTHING written down is by a person with an opinion.

Hell, technically, the 10 commandments were written by someone "with an opinion".

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[Ihlosi]

In many cases the clock doesn't start ticking on the statute until someone is aware the crime was committed.

Well, at least in this case it was quite clear that a crime was committed, and when.

At least in criminal law, the statue of limitations is also meant to prevent law enforcement (and hence, taypayer-funded) resources from getting tied up by prosecuting crimes probably won't get solved or that are so far in the past and not serious enough to warrant decades-long prosecution.

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[SuricouRaven]

If I were in his place, and the FBI handed me non-matching parachutes, I'd assume that they assumed I'd want to use the best parachute of the bunch - so that one is quite possibly sabotaged and will fail to open. So I'd not use that one. I'd use one of the others.

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[SuricouRaven]

He was very familiar with the design of the plane - knowing about the door that could open in flight, flap configuration and minimum speed. This suggests that he had ties to aviation - so it's possible he was in contact with a skilled navigator. Might even be an insider, someone working at ATC.

Yes, he probably died from the jump. Probably. But not certainly. He might have had associates on the ground ready to search for him. So it's possible he escaped, and people do love a story of a daring criminal who beat the man and got away with the money. That's why heist movies are so popular.

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[twosat]

There was an episode of the "Tales of the Unexpected" TV series in 1981 that had a similar premise https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Tales Of The Unexpected: Hijack (Series 4 Episode 17)

Re:Thanks for the concise summary

[Marxist Hacker 42]

I was amazed too, but in honor of the FBI closing the case, History Channel brought us a new investigator with a new theory and a new suspect and 95 pieces of circumstantial evidence that he's spent his life collecting over the past 6 years. The FBI's answer to him? Unless you have found money or a parachute, we don't want to talk to you.

Re: Thanks for the concise summary

[LWATCDR]

Never heard about that movie. Well it is 12 years old and got under 20% on Rotten Tomatoes so their is probably a pretty good reason.

Re: Thanks for the concise summary

[Type44Q]

For a medicocre Hollywood flick, the plot contains some fairly-funny scenes and there are some really good lines; I consider imdb's rating of 5.9 to be a bit unfair... just be careful; there's a "sequel" (UK version of the film) that looks particularly shitty, though I haven't actually seen it.

He must be running for president or something

[TTL0]

actually he may be the smartest one of the lot

Re:He must be running for president or something

[SQLGuru]

But a million dollars and 40 some odd years could easily turn into a billion in value.

Legacy

[Richard_at_work]

This incident forced the FAA to issue a requirement to Boeing, Douglas and all US 727 and DC-9 operators to add a "Cooper vane" to the rear air stairs to prevent them being opened when the aircraft was moving.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

Re:Legacy

[jbmartin6]

Wikipedia mentions there were three hijackings which somehow used this door, but doesn't provide details on the other two other than it was in 1972.

Re:Legacy

[Solandri]

The copycat hijackings section of the main wiki article lists 5 people who also hijacked the plane and used this stairway to escape (4 727s, 1 DC-9). So yeah, I can see why the FAA required the Cooper vane be added.

Re:Good.

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't know about you, but a million bucks ($200k in todays dollars) and we send the loony to Mexico sounds like a pretty good deal to me compared to the value the FBI currently provides.

Even if they fertilize and home-grow the terrorists themselves like they normally do, create an international incident, then give them the cash and send them to some foreign sh&^-hole, it's probably a better value bang-for-buck wise than spending $8.3 billion on over-inflated salaries, gadgets and doo-dads. You could have a thousand bona-fide home-grown terrorist incidents, send them all off to wherever a million bucks richer, leave a billion in the budget to pay salaries, and save 6.3 billion.

For Christ sakes it's not like they are capable or willing to police their own, even when someone hires dozens of staff to participate in the chicken dance routine sanitizing electronic communications so some important figurehead despite their mailbox being routinely compromised, who's received tutelage and honorariums from important members of foreign countries one of whom just got one heck of a trade deal and material to build nukes, er, I mean nuke plants not nuke bombs, even decades of international saber rattling.

Oblig. XKCD...is wrong.

[Quinn_Inuit]

I know some people believe he resurfaced years later as an auteur, but I don't buy it. Everyone knows he really died fighting Sasquatch to protect a bunch of hot, shirtless young men.

No they haven't.

[samjam]

They think they found him and want to watch if his behaviour changes when they announce that they stopped looking for him.

So if the FBI are watching you, keep doing whatever you were doing, don't change ANYTHING right now, or they'll pounce.

If they want to solve it...

[Ecuador]

If they want to solve it, they just need to issue a pardon. I mean, other people steal millions via various (much less "direct") means and just hide for a few years for the statute of limitations and they are free (rich) men. For this guy, who I'd say really "worked" for it, they started prosecution in absentia so that he can be caught at any time in the future.
We don't care about the $200k he stole - in fact the cost of the investigation should have run up multiple times that - but the public wants to know if he made it! And whether it will be shot with IMAX cameras!

Re:If they want to solve it...

[Zontar_Thing_From_Ve]

If they want to solve it, they just need to issue a pardon.

Very unlikely to do the trick even if they did it. Given Cooper's estimated age at the time (mid 40s) he's most likely dead. In fact, I'd argue that the fact that the money was never recovered except for a small amount of decayed bills found around 1980 means that he didn't survive the jump. If Cooper did survive and is still alive, he'd be approximately 90 years old. Since the vast majority of the bills have never been found or spent, that might mean that he was too afraid of being caught to ever spend the money. I don't think an offer of a pardon or amnesty would get such a person to confess.

Related to some other posts - the statute of limitations issue came up in the 1970s for this case and it's considered that Cooper could still be prosecuted if there was enough evidence to do so. A grand jury issued an indictment against him in absentia that's still valid and would be the basis of any future prosecution.

Re:If they want to solve it...

[bmk67]

I'd argue that the fact that the money was never recovered except for a small amount of decayed bills found around 1980 means that he didn't survive the jump.
 

...or he didn't give a shit about the money. Or it was lost during the jump. Or one of a number of other possibilities.

Considering that the decayed bills were found 9 years after the hijacking *upstream* from where he is thought to have jumped, I'd say it's not a safe to assume he didn't survive. That's part of what makes this case such a mystery.

Re:If they want to solve it...

[k6mfw]

They missed a couple opportunities to get fingerprints. In Bernie Rhodes book, "DB Cooper: The Real McCoy" mentions Cooper offered one of the stewardess a bundle of dollars from the ransom money as a tip, she turned it down in disgust (crap, that could have had his fingerprints for FBI if she took it). And another from that book is when FBI began detailed inspection for prints, "oh he was reading magazines, his seat is 18C, just grab those and dust them" (crap, airliner people cleaned out the trash and stuff before FBI begun inspection).

Re:If they want to solve it...

[F.Ultra]

We don't know if they where ever spent. It's not like the FBI screen them all, there are probably billions of bills in circulation and US dollars can be used as payable currency in many countries.

Re: If they want to solve it...

[F.Ultra]

If they are too worn they do yes, I don't think that they register the serials on them though since we are talking about huge volumes here.

Just call Mulder and Scully

[Anonymous Coward]

The dude was probably picked up by an alien spacecraft as he was parachuting down to earth.

Re:Just call Mulder and Scully

[AC-x]

Nah, turns out it was Mothman this week

What "Unsolved"? It was Don Draper, right?

[Karl Cocknozzle]

I thought we had confirmation...

Re:Guy looks like Dennis Hopper

[sabbede]

I heard it was Adam West.

Re:First!

[greenfruitsalad]

you're not looking on the bright side of life.

Re:Perhaps it's a ruse?

[Joe_Dragon]

Charles Westmoreland

Re:Perhaps it's a ruse?

[tripleevenfall]

He'd be in his 70s or 80s now, even if he were still living

Best song about DB Cooper?

[jg6r]

My vote is Todd Snider
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxJUVgN8kG8

Already identified in 2011?

[trazom28]

There was this article from back in 2011 which a woman in Oregon claimed it was her Uncle, who had died in 1999. I don't know if it was ever proven or not.

Re:yawn

[TheCastro1689]

It coincides with a History Channel special about it.

Re:The good old times

[cayenne8]

From the Wikipedia article: "Cooper boarded the aircraft .. and took seat 18C in the rear of the passenger cabin. He lit a cigarette and ordered a bourbon and soda".

Yep, back in the good old days, when you had more freedom.

It isn't been that long since I've still seen planes with ashtrays on the arm rests....

Re: Perhaps it's a ruse?

[Anonymous Coward]

Of _course_ it's a ruse! That's why I'm staying hidden. My investment in IBM and AT&T stock wasn't as smart as I thought it would be, though, so I may be launching a Kickstarter soon.

Re:Dan Cooper

[goarilla]

Maybe it goes even further: http://assets.catawiki.nl/asse....
He took the name, the writers used his story as a source of inspiration. Or Maybe, just maybe Weinberg is Cooper ?

Re:Jimmy James

[PaperDragonFly]

Jimmy James? He's got two first names.

Re:Jimmy James

[PopeRatzo]

Speaker Ryan has announced that the House of Representatives will be conducting hearings into whether or not Hillary Clinton is in fact D.B. Cooper.

Easy.

[Anonymous Coward]

D.B. Cooper is Satoshi Nakamoto. Or the other way around.

Re:The good old times

[PPH]

Next, you'll tell me that he had a bag of peanuts as well.

It was me

[PPH]

And that's no mean feat considering I wasn't allowed to cross the street back then.

why else do you think he was never caught?

[Thud457]

age is no concern for a time traveller

Re:why else do you think he was never caught?

[UnknownSoldier]

You really don't understand the concept of Senescence nor cellular aging do you ? ;-)

Re:Good.

[dcw3]

Um, it's not just about the money. This was a hijacking, with the threat of killing people if "Cooper" wasn't paid. If he's ever caught, he should still do time.

Re:How much taxpayer money...

[Deadstick]

Not so much. It would have been closed long ago, but the agent in charge asked permission to keep it open on a no-government-resources basis. He published all the non-secret information he had and invited the public to look for clues, got lots of responses, and evaluated the data on his own time.

Re:It wasn't worth it really

[Deadstick]

There are plenty of drug lords and tinpot dictators who would get a chuckle out of that remark...

Re:The good old times

[operagost]

No, we mean that private businesses aren't allowed to let customers smoke if they want to.

Re:Jimmy James

[Darinbob]

He's missing a merchandising opportunity if he's not selling Jimmy James Jammies.

Re:Good.

[blackomegax]

Other than time, fuel, and the cost of a parachute, there were no victims though. Nobody was actually killed nor injured. Victimless crimes are hardly worth severe punishment (and no, a corporation can't be a victim)

Re:Perhaps it's a ruse?

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

Perhaps it's a ruse designed to make DB Cooper feel more inclined to make mistakes?

That's a distinct possibility. We still have a few months before the next season of Twin Peaks comes out...

Bear Food

[WheezyJoe]

Pacific Northwest. Night. Ursus arctos horribilis. Cooper is fossilized bear droppings. The moldy money was spit out 'cause it taste bad.

Re:Bear Food

[bmk67]

There are precisely zero grizzly bears in that area.

Re:Bear Food

[jittles]

Pacific Northwest. Night. Ursus arctos horribilis. Cooper is fossilized bear droppings. The moldy money was spit out 'cause it taste bad.

Except that, as the article you link states, there are only 10-20 brown bears in the region in present day, after decades of conservation work and the US government reintroducing the species to the area. He'd be more likely to die from failing to see a clear landing spot, breaking his leg and then starving to death.

Re:Bear Food

[SuricouRaven]

He planned every detail of the hijacking, so it seems unlikely he would fail to plan the escape as well. I'm speculating an accomplice on the ground. They could listen to the aircraft radio to determine when he jumped, or have him jump at an agreed-upon time - that'd get them an approximate location. Then a rented helicopter to search for the chute as soon as dawn broke. Or a truck and a flare gun - they launch, he heads for the flares. It explains why no parachute has ever been found.

Re:Good.

[Talderas]

The people who were taken hostage incurred a loss. They lost time that they could have been doing other productive things. They were also threatened, as is the very nature of hostage taking. For an action to be a victimless crime, the action would have to only impact yourself.

Re:Good.

[dcw3]

Other than time, fuel, and the cost of a parachute, there were no victims though. Nobody was actually killed nor injured. Victimless crimes are hardly worth severe punishment (and no, a corporation can't be a victim)

There are plenty of kidnap victims that would disagree with you. There's a reason that you can get life in prison for it, or death if you killed the person.

I did it

[k6mfw]

Jumped from a 727 at World FreeFall Convention in Quincy IL a few times during 1990s. They issued DB Cooper numbers with a certificate. Though not in order of who went out the back but in order of when 727 jump tickets were purchased. I got #54 in 1992, I also wore a black suit with thin black tie, sunglasses, wingtip shoes, and white socks. The "costume" got lots of laughs. When people ask, I answered, "sorry I lost the money but I put together a 4-way."

Unlike other jump planes, this was moving at 150 mph (flaps down) normally king airs and otters move about 90 or 100. So when hitting the air out the air stair you get instant control. Some jumpers of more skill exit into a track position and are able to rise just above level of the 727 tail.

One year Bernie Rhodes who wrote a book about Richard McCoy who did same as DB Cooper, same MO and jumped with $500K but caught few days later. I got his autograph and picture with him in my DB Cooper costume. Mentioned in this book was McCoy had problem with $500K, that's a lot of cash that has to be hidden someplace in or around his house (not as easy as you think). Of course I'm thinking $200K, $500K or even One Million Dollars is not a lot these days. The book was very compelling, Bernie Rhodes a DOJ probation officer at the time felt McCoy would have probably confessed he was DB, McCoy died shortly after when escaped from prison. Supposably Rhodes theory didn't hold up because FBI got evidence of a phone call made by McCoy from another city while DB hijacked his 727.

Bernie Rhodes also said many prisoners in captive would come forward confessing they were DB Cooper. Bernie would ask questions like what kind of tie clasp did they wear and other details not in the media. Huh, why would anyone confess to a serious crime like a skyjack. Bernie said many of these people were in prison for more serious crimes, skyjacking would be less punishment (I'm still confused how it can be less).

Also back in 1990s there was a downtown lounge (loud music and very crowded) called DB Cooper with a manniquen as DB hanging from the ceiling. Those were the days when we laughed about airplane hijackings.

Re:Jimmy James

[PopeRatzo]

It's a sad world we live in when someone feels compelled to just make jokes about a career criminal

Speaker Ryan's not all that bad. He's nowhere near as bad as one of his predecessors, Dennis Hastert, who was a literal child molestor.

Re:Jimmy James

[PopeRatzo]

You are making the world a worse place shilling for Hillary.

Fuck Hillary. I'm not voting for her.

I'm making the world a better place by ridiculing Trump and the Trumpkinder GOP.

Re:It wasn't worth it really

[Bratch]

It couldn't have been hard to get rid of money in the early 1970's. He could have easily spent it before they knew what city he was in. So many ways he could convert it.

Re:Jimmy James

[PopeRatzo]

A vote not for Trump is the same as a vote for Hillary.

So if I don't vote for either, is that the same as voting for both?

I'm not saying it's aliens...

[Henarchaga]

...But it was aliens.

Re:Jimmy James

[PopeRatzo]

As far as we know he was only a child molester early in life.

34 years old is not "early in life" And, he went on to become the longest-serving Republican Speaker of the House in history. By the way, have you heard of many serial child molesters who suddenly "cleanup their act" and stop victimizing kids?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/...

The FBI closed an investigation with no charges?

[santiago]

As soon as they heard, congressional Republicans have called for a committee to investigate if Hillary Clinton was D.B. Cooper.

Re: Jimmy James

[Type44Q]

Mod up!

Re: Jimmy James

[Type44Q]

By the way, have you heard of many serial child molesters who suddenly "cleanup their act" and stop victimizing kids?

I can think of at least one place: in the cemetery. At the Vatican. ;)

Re: Good.

[bronney]

More please. Barely 24 shades of grey.

Re: Jimmy James

[Anonymous Coward]

Being against Hillary is a Humanitarian bias, not a conservative bias.