D.B. COOPER

INTRODUCTION

-----------------------

The United States has a host of famous unsolved disappearances known throughout the world. From children to adults to whole communities, disappearances baffle investigators as they typically leave behind little to no clues. But very few, if any of these incidents, involve individuals jumping out of an airplane while eluding the FBI for nearly five decades. That is the fate of D.B. Cooper, an enigmatic figure who continues to influence crime communities in the United States.

OCCURRENCE

---------------------

On November 24th, 1971, an unidentified man, who went by the name Dan Cooper, had purchased a one-way ticket on Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305 from Portland to Seattle. The man was described as being around his 40s and wearing a business suit with a black tie. Prior to takeoff, he had ordered bourbon and soda, a detail that would later help determine suspects in the case.

About 10 minutes after takeoff, Cooper handed a note to flight attendant Florence Schaffner. Schaffner initially assumed the note was Cooper’s phone number and placed the note in her pocket. However, Cooper saw this and then told Schaffner that he had a bomb on him and that she must open the note. The contents of the note remain unknown, but Schaffner stated that the note did mention that Cooper had a bomb in his suitcase. Cooper asked Schaffner to sit next to him, and she complied. He then opened his suitcase and revealed the bomb to Schaffner: a mirage of red cylinders and wires. After this, he asked the Schaffner to convey his ransom request to the pilots as follows: $200000 in $20 bills, two front and two back parachutes, and a refueling tank in Seattle. Schaffner sent his requests to the pilot, and at this point, Cooper had put on a pair of dark sunglasses which are depicted on infamous drawings of him. The pilots notified federal authorities about the hijacking and ransom requests. The airlines president at the time authorized the payment, and Seattle officials hastily prepared the requests. Throughout the entire ordeal, flight attendants described Cooper as very calm, composed, and intelligent.

Once the plane landed in Seattle, Cooper exchanged the passengers for his requests. He then ordered the plane to fly to Mexico City with additional requests such as that the plane must stay below 10000 feet, all window shades must be closed, and the plane must move at the minimum airspeed possible without stalling. There was also a refueling stop in Reno, Nevada. After the refueling and requests had been met, the plane took off again.

Sometime during the flight between Seattle and Reno, Cooper jumped off the airplane with two parachutes and the ransom money, never to be seen again.

Very little physical evidence has been found for the case. In the plane, Cooper’s tie was found with his DNA. Investigators also found his tie clip and cigarette butts on the plane. Two of the four parachutes Cooper demanded remained on the plane as well. After the initial hijacking, a little bit of physical evidence has come to light.

Scientists actually tested Cooper’s tie with electron microscopy and found that the tie contained rare elements and minerals such as titanium and cerium. These elements suggest that Cooper may have been an employee with Boeing, as it was one of the only companies at the time to employ the use of such materials, but these findings ultimately led nowhere.

In 1980, a child discovered portions of the ransom money tattered but still bounded with rubber bands. The FBI confirmed that these bills were in fact part of Cooper’s ransom. However, in the long run, these bills did not provide any new additional information about Cooper himself. The FBI did also release the serial numbers of the bills that were used by Cooper to the public, but other than that, no other ransom bills have been found.

THEORIES

---------------

An initial and obvious theory to most is that D.B. Cooper did not survive the fall. Cooper jumped out during nighttime, in a torrential rainstorm with high wind speeds, over a forested area. Cooper’s experience with skydiving makes this topic heavily debated, with some believing that he was a highly skilled paratrooper. However, evidence suggests that Cooper did not have any experience with skydiving. Of the two parachutes Cooper had with him when he jumped out the plane, one of them was a training parachute that was sewn shut and unusable. Officials also point out that no experienced skydiver would purposefully jump out of a plane with Cooper’s clothing during a rainstorm. However, Cooper’s body and parachutes have never been recovered, making some believe he is still alive.

Richard Floyd McCoy led a copycat hijacking that make some believe he is D.B. Cooper. McCoy hijacked a plane in Denver, and the hijacking bore striking similarities to that of Cooper’s. McCoy utilized a note stating that he had a bomb, the plane he hijacked was the same model that Cooper hijacked, he requested four parachutes just as Cooper had done, and he jumped out of the plane. In McCoy’s case however, he was detained and received a 45 year sentence. The FBI does not consider McCoy a suspect in the D.B. Cooper case though. Evidence suggests that Cooper was in Las Vegas on the day of Cooper’s hijacking. He was also spotted the day after Cooper's hijacking in Utah, celebrating Thanksgiving with his family. Furthermore, McCoy does not match the description the flight attendants gave of Cooper.

Most other suspects are either based on death-bed confessions, fabrications, or other air related crimes. The FBI investigated over 800 suspects and narrowed down the list to 24 primary suspects. Despite this, the FBI ended its active investigation of the case, citing the case as being one of the most exhaustive the agency has ever undertaken. And as a result, the fate of D.B. Cooper remains unsolved.

SOURCES

--------------

D.B. Cooper Hijacking (https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/db-cooper-hijacking)

D.B. Cooper (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._B._Cooper#Physical_evidence)

D.B. Cooper: Everything you need to know in 5 minutes (https://citizensleuths.com/db-cooper-what-you-need-to-know.html)

D.B. Cooper (https://www.crimemuseum.org/crime-library/cold-cases/d-b-cooper/)