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Investigators Claim They've Discovered D.B. Cooper's Identity (rollingstone.com)
A team of former FBI investigators is claiming to have proof of the real identity of D.B. Cooper, the notorious airplane hijacker who has remained at large since he parachuted out of a Seattle-bound plane with $200,000 in November 1971. From a report: According to filmmaker and author Thomas Colbert -- who has led the independent investigation into the cold case for the last seven years -- the real Cooper is a 74-year-old Vietnam veteran named Robert Rackstraw. And the proof is hidden in a series of letters allegedly written by Cooper in the months after the hijacking and his disappearance. Rackstraw -- a former Special Forces paratrooper, explosives expert and pilot with about 22 different aliases -- was once a person of interest in the case, but was eliminated as a suspect by the FBI in 1979. His elimination was controversial amongst the investigating agents, and he remained, for many, the most viable suspect in what remains the only unsolved case of air piracy in the United States. In 2016, the FBI announced they were ending their investigation into the case.
Yeah, because Rolling Stone magazine has such a sterling history of conducting deep in depth investigations. Just ignore the fact that they had to pay about $1.65 million when they published a scandalous accusation of rape in a fraternity when the case against them collapsed due to serious credibility issues with the accuser.
The parachutes weren't on the commercial plane to start with; commercial passenger planes do not have parachutes because it is not realistic that people will parachute from them. At least not survive parachuting from them!
The parachutes came from a Seattle parachuting club, I think. They were put on the plane because Cooper demanded it. Among these chutes was one training chute with the reserve sewn shut. This was the one Cooper used for his jump. So a real parachute, just without a working reserve chute.
My main argument for that he survived is that if he didn't, the parachute would have been left laying about in the terrain, and could easily have been seen by searchers from planes. The area where he jumped did not have any snow, so a white parachute would likely have been visible. It is also not a totally uninhabited area, lots of farms and houses, so people (or their dogs) could easily have found him. But if he survived he could have removed evidence.
Another possibility, of course, is that he did die, someone found him and hid the body and evidence and pocketed the money.
Because he's made fools of the police, the FBI, and pretty much the entire media- for decades. Add to that the fact that he's become sort of a folk legend/hero and there is absolutely no chance of pardon.
If he was to come forward they would nail him to the wall for all to see, and then go after his family for the 200k adjusted for inflation with interest and tax evasion and everything else they can come up with.
If he lived, I expect he a doddering old mastermind at this point. I'm hoping his dying breath spills the beans while he flips them the bird.
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