An old Northwest mystery is being revisited

[bull]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080101/ap_on_re_us/looking_for_cooper

FBI makes new bid to find 1971 skyjacker

PORTLAND, Ore. - The FBI is making a new stab at identifying mysterious skyjacker Dan Cooper, who bailed out of an airliner in 1971 and vanished, releasing new details that it hopes will jog someone's memory. The man calling himself Dan Cooper, also known as D.B. Cooper, boarded a Northwest flight in Portland for a flight to Seattle on the night of Nov, 24, 1971, and commandeered the plane, claiming he had dynamite.

In Seattle, he demanded and got $200,000 and four parachutes and demanded to be flown to Mexico. Somewhere over southwestern Washington, he jumped out the plane's tail exit with two of the chutes.

On Monday, the FBI released drawings that it said probably are close to what Cooper looked like, along with a map of areas where Cooper might have landed.

"Who was Cooper? Did he survive the jump? We're providing new information and pictures and asking for your help in solving the case," the FBI said in a statement.

The FBI said that while Cooper was originally thought to have been an experienced jumper, it has since concluded that was wrong and that he almost certainly didn't survive the jump in the dark and rain. He hadn't specified a route for the plane to fly and had no way of knowing where he was when he went out the exit.

"Diving into the wilderness without a plan, without the right equipment, in such terrible conditions, he probably never even got his chute open," Seattle-based agent Larry Carr said.

He also didn't notice that his reserve chute was intended only for training and had been sewn shut.

Several people have claimed to be Cooper over the years but were dismissed on the basis of physical descriptions, parachuting experience and, later, by DNA evidence recovered in 2001 from the cheap tie the skyjacker left on the plane.

In 1980, a boy walking near the Columbia River found $5,800 of the stolen money, in tattered $20 bills.

"Maybe a hydrologist can use the latest technology to trace the $5,800 in ransom money found in 1980 to where Cooper landed upstream," Carr said. "Or maybe someone just remembers that odd uncle."

___

On the Net:

FBI on Cooper: http://www.fbi.gov/page2/dec07/dbcooper123107.html

[ITSA426]

I vaguely remembered when that happened and later went to work for Northwest Airlines.  It was still a conversation topic in later years around the shop.  The incident led to the "Cooper lock" that kept the 727 airstair door from being opened in flight.  It would be nice to see the case solved if only for the conversational value.

[1969chargerrtse]

I remember that stuff very well ( I was 15) and can't believe it was that long ago.  Personally, I would think the FBI can find much more important case's to work on.

[Shakey]

When will this go away?

How many people have claimed to be DB Cooper over the years?

[PocketThunder]

When will this go away?

How many people have claimed to be DB Cooper over the years?

I think he's a member here?... ? 

[bull]

When will this go away?

How many people have claimed to be DB Cooper over the years?

Several. The real one is probably a skeleton hanging from a pine tree north of Vancouver. That or he lives with the Bigfoots or he's Elvis' roommate down in Mexico.

[Brock Samson]

I bet not allot of folks here remember all the hijackings that were so prevalent at that time,.. or were even born then... 

here's an old TIME magazine article that recounts some of these,..

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,877869,00.html

[Shakey]

When will this go away?

How many people have claimed to be DB Cooper over the years?

Several. The real one is probably a skeleton hanging from a pine tree north of Vancouver. That or he lives with the Bigfoots or he's Elvis' roommate down in Mexico.

I like the skeleton theory.   

[Shakey]

I bet not allot of folks here remember all the hijackings that were so prevalent at that time,.. or were even born then... 

here's an old TIME magazine article that recounts some of these,..

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,877869,00.html

From the article:

May 30: Three Japanese terrorists disembarked at the Tel Aviv airport and submachine-gunned the crowd. Two gunmen were killed and one was arrested after they had killed 27 and wounded more than 70

Wonder what these two are doing today?   

June 2: Willie Roger Holder, 24, a Viet Nam veteran, and Catherine Mary Kerkow, 20, a student, seized a Western Airlines flight en route to Seattle. They collected $500,000 in ransom money and flew to Algeria via New York (where Holder released 36 hostages). The Algerian government granted them asylum, but returned the money.

I like how the President of the airline helped with the capture.   

April 9: Stanley Speck, 31, a Stanford graduate, boarded a PSA plane, claimed he had a pistol and a grenade, and demanded $500,000 and four parachutes. He was tricked by the pilot into leaving the plane to pick up flight charts, and captured by the FBI and the airline president.

Also, did you happen to read this story that was linked on the same page?  I think the airlines need to post stories like this in the terminal and on the airplanes so the bitchy whiny folks who like to complain about air travel can count their lucky stars and truly realize things have improved slightly over the past 30 + years.  Geeeesh!

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1074896,00.html?iid=sphere-inline-bottom

[Brock Samson]

April 9: Stanley Speck, 31, a Stanford graduate, boarded a PSA plane, claimed he had a pistol and a grenade, and demanded $500,000 and four parachutes. He was tricked by the pilot into leaving the plane to pick up flight charts, and captured by the FBI and the airline president.


BTW:
He was my math tutor... 

[Lowprofile]

Didn't they make a movie about this ? 

[Brock Samson]

yea, i really sucked at math and the teacher got the entire class above par..

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094027/

[Guns N Rotors]

D.B.Cooper was Richard Floyd McCoy.

http://www.fbi.gov/libref/historic/famcases/mccoy/mccoy.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_McCoy%2C_Jr.

[2Gunz]

Another waste of money.

Why spend millions to find a dead guy and some ratty old money?

[Rack]

"Diving into the wilderness without a plan, without the right equipment, in such terrible conditions, he probably never even got his chute open," Seattle-based agent Larry Carr said.

Yet his body (and parachute as far as I know) were never found.


Get over it, FBI, he beat you. Time to move on to something that matters and quit wasting tax payers money. We, the tax payers, don't give a crap about DB Cooper anymore. He took 200K... how much are you wasting to catch him?

[Ghoste]

I heard he used some of the money to buy a 1969 Mod Top Daytona.

[RD]

He also didn't notice that his reserve chute was intended only for training and had been sewn shut.

ya think that is why he took "TWO" parachutes with him? Maybe he saw the reserve was sewn shut, hence he deemed it necessary to take the other chute to make it into a reserve?

FBI people and their statements,.. just goes to show that know matter how much higher education you obtain, you cant fix stupid.