WA WA - D.B. Cooper Hijacking Mystery, 24 Nov 1971 #4

[Shampooedrug]

Cooper is a very common name. I have known numerous unrelated people with that surname, and if you live in the U.S., you probably have, too.

There is a Canadian comic book that features a test pilot named Dan Cooper—who often jumps out of planes with a parachute—and that seems like too strong of a coincidence not to be the actual inspiration for the name.

I know many people by the name of Cooper, no doubt. However that is besides the point. There is so much evidence that directly points to Smith being DB Cooper. It is a huge shame that he was not investigated when he was alive. He completely flew under the radar.

 

[Ozoner]

I know many people by the name of Cooper, no doubt. However that is besides the point. There is so much evidence that directly points to Smith being DB Cooper. It is a huge shame that he was not investigated when he was alive. He completely flew under the radar.

I'm familiar with the "evidence," but there's nothing meaningful. There's nothing placing him in the Pacific Northwest at the time of the hijacking, there's nothing indicating that he was capable of a violent crime, and there's nothing indicating that he enjoyed a large windfall in the years after the hijacking.

He resembles the Cooper sketches slightly, he knew someone named Ira Daniel Cooper, and he had experience as a parachutist. I hope that I'm never convicted of a crime on that sort of "evidence."

 

[Sonny Crockett]

First of all, I have not followed the D.B. Cooper case at all over the years, and didn't know much about this, until I saw the recent 4-par Netflix doc., D.B. Cooper: Where are you?. Prior to seeing the doc., all I knew about this case was: In the early '70's, a guy stole money & jumped out of an airplane, and hasn't been found since. I did also hear about some of the money (that he stole) being found on a riverbank the early '80's. And, that was it. Note that I have not seen any other docs., about the case, nor have I had a chance to read much of this thread.

So, it was extremely interesting/informative to see the doc. & realize all of the theories that people have had over the years, and also to see how many people have followed this case to the point of obsession. I did not know how much the case has permeated the public consciousness, but am also not surprised at all about this either.

My take on the case & the 4-part doc. - Part 1:

-One of the comments made about the $200,000 that D.B. Cooper stole is that it would be close to $1,000,000 (a million) in today's money. Not sure how true this is. I.e., I know that $200,000 was worth a lot more in 1971 than it is now, but $1,000,000?! I find that unlikely.

-Interesting that the guy who committed this crime wrote his name as "Dan Cooper", but it was inadvertently reported as "D.B. Cooper" early on. And, the name stuck since it sounded cooler/more interesting - LOL.

- I definitely do not think R.R. was D.B. Cooper. As many have said, he was only 28 when the crime occurred, and many who remembered seeing Cooper got the strong impression he was middle-aged (i.e., at least 40). Sure, maybe with make-up, etc. he could have disguised himself to look older. However - despite all of the research done to make R.R. "fit" into the theory that he was Cooper - I don't buy any of it (more about this in Part 2).

When R.R. was younger (based on some of the interviews he gave, that were shown in the doc.) - I think he wanted people to believe he was D.B. Cooper because of the "mystique" it afforded him. Plus, it was evident he enjoyed screwing with authority figures - so, he probably liked the fact that he left people scratching their heads wondering about this.

However, by 2013 when he was being hassled by the documentary makers (who insisted that he was Cooper) I believe he was tired of this. He was getting older, in poor health, and just wanted to be left alone. And, during these interview(s) he actually stated he wasn't Cooper - while sitting at the table outside the small diner/restaurant.

 

[Sonny Crockett]

Part 2: This is what I think happened to D.B. Cooper (or whatever his real name was, since the name he gave was obviously an alias):

I believe that when he jumped out of the plane in the parachute with the money, he died as a result of doing this; i.e., there are numerous ways that his jumping out of the plane could have directly led to his death:

-The chute could have failed to open properly, and he could have died as a result of landing hard on the ground.
-The chute could have gotten tangled up in a tree, and he may have not been able to get untangled & died as a result. After this, a storm could have blown him away.
-He could have landed in a large body of water with the chute, not been able to disentangle himself, and drowned as a result. Or, possibly he landed in a body of water that was very deep and/or had strong rapids, and drowned as he was trying to get to land.
-He could have fallen in a remote location, died, and still not have been found yet.
-He could have been on the ground & trying to escape with the money - and been fatally attacked by wild animal(s).

Just because no body/trace of him has been found means absolutely nothing. He would have landed in a remote/wilderness area, where - again - anything could have happened to the body. I.e., he could have been swept away by water/a severe storm, eaten by wild animal(s), etc.

-The money that was found in 1980 on the Columbia river bank in Vancouver - was obviously some of the money that was stolen in 1971 (due to serial #'s, etc.). I believe it naturally somehow ended up on the river bank due to finding it's way there after D.B. Cooper died. This could have been due to the wind blowing it there, it ending up there due to a natural & maybe catastrophic event (storm, river overflowing, etc.)

I don't believe the ridiculous "conspiracy theories" which theorized that:

- Years after the case, someone "planted" the money on the river-bank in 1980. Absurd. It's much more likely that it ended there naturally (as I postulate above), which explains the poor/aged condition of the money. I.e., this legitimately looked like it had been out in the elements/wilderness for years.

-That 1 or more people were working with Cooper and were waiting for him on the ground. And, when he landed they had a vehicle ready & they all got away with the money. What B.S. Note that there was no way for Cooper to know 100% where he was specifically going to land, so there is no way someone could have known where he was going to end up. Therefore, I don't see this happening. Going along with this: As far as communicating with alleged accomplice(es), this is unlikely because in 1971 there were no cell-phones. Maybe they could have communicated via walkie-talkies, but I don't know how reliable those were ATT.

Another reason I don't think Cooper had an accomplice is that I don't believe he would have wanted to split the $ with anyone. So, I believe he was working alone.

 

[OddOneOut]

Part 2: This is what I think happened to D.B. Cooper (or whatever his real name was, since the name he gave was obviously an alias):

I believe that when he jumped out of the plane in the parachute with the money, he died as a result of doing this; i.e., there are numerous ways that his jumping out of the plane could have directly led to his death:

-His chute could have failed to open properly, and he could have died as a result of this.
-He chute could have gotten tangled up in a tree, and he may have not been able to get untangled & died as a result. After this, a storm could have blown him away.
-He could have landed in a large body of water with the chute, not been able to disentangle himself, and drowned as a result. Or, possibly he landed in a body of water that was very deep and/or had strong rapids, and drowned as he was trying to get to land.
-He could have fallen in a remote location, died, and still not have been found yet.
-Whether or not he had a serious injury as a result of landing/falling, he could have been on the ground & trying to escape with the money - and been attacked by wild animal(s).

Just because no body/trace of him has been found means absolutely nothing. He would have landed in a remote/wilderness area, where - again - anything could have happened to the body. Again, he could have been swept away by water, eaten by wild animal(s), etc.

-The money that was found in 1980 on the Columbia river bank in Vancouver - was obviously some of the money that was stolen in 1971 (due to serial #'s, etc.). I believe it naturally somehow ended up on the river bank due to finding it's way there after D.B. Cooper died. This could have been due to to the wind blowing it there, a natural & maybe catastrophic event (storm, river overflowing, etc.)

I don't believe the ridiculous "conspiracy theories" that postulated:

- Years after the case, someone "planted" the money on the river-bank in 1980. Absurd. It's much more likely that it ended there naturally (as I postulate above), which explains the poor/aged condition of the money - which legitimately looked like it had been out in the elements/wilderness for years.

-That 1 or more people were working with Cooper and were waiting for him on the ground. And, when he landed they had a vehicle ready & they all got away with the money. What B.S. Note that there was no way for Cooper to know 100% where he was specifically going to land, so there is no way someone could have known where he was going to be. As far as communicating with an alleged accomplice, this is unlikely because in 1971 there were no cell-phones. Maybe they could have communicated via walkie-talkies, but I don't know how reliable those were ATT.

Another reason I don't think Cooper had an accomplice is that I don't believe he would have wanted to split the $ with anyone. So, I believe he was working alone.

He, also, could have died as a result of the high altitude. He could have easily been dead before he hit the ground. As for the money on the riverbank, I suspect it traveled downriver during one or more floods. In that case, the place to look for the rest of the money and Cooper's body would be upstream in or near the river.

 

[Sonny Crockett]

He, also, could have died as a result of the high altitude. He could have easily been dead before he hit the ground. As for the money on the riverbank, I suspect it traveled downriver during one or more floods. In that case, the place to look for the rest of the money and Cooper's body would be upstream in or near the river.

Agree completely with this - very good point. I'm glad I'm not the only one that believes that Cooper probably didn't survive this attempt to escape with the $.

 

[OddOneOut]

Agree completely with this - very good point. I'm glad I'm not the only one that believes that Cooper probably didn't survive this attempt to escape with the $

Since we don't know how far upstream or how the river's path has changed, it is possible that he is farther from the river than expected. There is a slim possibility that his body was found without any of the money, parachute, etc. and outside the search area. His remains could be in a potter's field somewhere or unidentified in a coroner's storage area. This is especially true if they only found skeletal remains.

 

[PuzzlinEvidence]

-One of the comments made about the $200,000 that D.B. Cooper stole is that it would be close to $1,000,000 (a million) in today's money. Not sure how true this is. I.e., I know that $200,000 was worth a lot more in 1971 than it is now, but $1,000,000?! I find that unlikely.

That part is pretty accurate, although it's actually worth more than $1m, it's closer to $1.45m in today's dollars ($200,000 in 1971 → 2022 | Inflation Calculator). That's basically just the effect of 50 years with an annual inflation rate averaging ~4%.

 

[Melquiades]

First of all, I have not followed the D.B. Cooper case at all over the years, and didn't know much about this, until I saw the recent 4-par Netflix doc., D.B. Cooper: Where are you?. Prior to seeing the doc., all I knew about this case was: In the early '70's, a guy stole money & jumped out of an airplane, and hasn't been found since. I did also hear about some of the money (that he stole) being found on a riverbank the early '80's. And, that was it. Note that I have not seen any other docs., about the case, nor have I had a chance to read much of this thread.

So, it was extremely interesting/informative to see the doc. & realize all of the theories that people have had over the years, and also to see how many people have followed this case to the point of obsession. I did not know how much the case has permeated the public consciousness, but am also not surprised at all about this either.

My take on the case & the 4-part doc. - Part 1:

-One of the comments made about the $200,000 that D.B. Cooper stole is that it would be close to $1,000,000 (a million) in today's money. Not sure how true this is. I.e., I know that $200,000 was worth a lot more in 1971 than it is now, but $1,000,000?! I find that unlikely.

-Interesting that the guy who committed this crime wrote his name as "Dan Cooper", but it was inadvertently reported as "D.B. Cooper" early on. And, the name stuck since it sounded cooler/more interesting - LOL.

- I definitely do not think R.R. was D.B. Cooper. As many have said, he was only 28 when the crime occurred, and many who remembered seeing Cooper got the strong impression he was middle-aged (i.e., at least 40). Sure, maybe with make-up, etc. he could have disguised himself to look older. However - despite all of the research done to make R.R. "fit" into the theory that he was Cooper - I don't buy any of it (more about this in Part 2).

When R.R. was younger (based on some of the interviews he gave, that were shown in the doc.) - I think he wanted people to believe he was D.B. Cooper because of the "mystique" it afforded him. Plus, it was evident he enjoyed screwing with authority figures - so, he probably liked the fact that he left people scratching their heads wondering about this.

However, by 2013 when he was being hassled by the documentary makers (who insisted that he was Cooper) I believe he was tired of this. He was getting older, in poor health, and just wanted to be left alone. And, during these interview(s) he actually stated he wasn't Cooper - while sitting at the table outside the small diner/restaurant.

That $200 000 is actually worth $1.4 million now, apparently.

Inflation Calculator | Find US Dollar's Value from 1913-2022

Easily calculate how the buying power of the US dollar has changed from 1913 to 2022. Get inflation rates and US inflation news.

www.usinflationcalculator.com

Inflation is higher than people perceive. This is the same effect whereby boomers claim that 'At your age, I was only earning $3/hour!' not realizing that $3/hour in 1971 is the same as $22/hour now.

Agreed on Rackstraw. Eyewitness identification is notoriously terrible, but moreso in situations where someone gets a 10-second glimpse of a bank robber. The stewardess sat with Cooper for hours and there's no way that Rackstraw - who looked young-ish for 29, if anything - could be mistaken for someone in his mid-40s. Even in the interview videos from 1979, he still probably wouldn't' get mistaken for mid-40s. Agreed also that he probably liked people to think he was Cooper when he was younger but then got sick of it.

The problem with the death theory is the lack of a missing person/identification. This doesn't appear to be someone who was living on the margins of society and this crime got huge publicity, so it would be surprising if no family/friends were able to match the witness sketches to their friend who disappeared mysteriously at this exact time.

Ted Braden seems a similar but more likely suspect than Rackstraw, to me, if Cooper lived.

 

[Sonny Crockett]

Thanks for the clarification re: the value of $200,000 in 1971 vs. today. In reading up on this, it does make sense.

However, I stand by my other opinion(s) in my previous posts.

I do believe that someone who vanished in the early '70's may never have been missed. There was no Internet in the 1970's & people were a lot less connected than they are now. It was also a lot easier to disappear then than it is now.

I believe that Cooper was someone who possibly/probably had no family/friends & may have even been unemployed for a long period prior to the crime. So, someone like this vanishing off the face of the earth probably didn't raise any eyebrows & maybe not many noticed this. Maybe he cleared out his bank account(s), moved out of his house/apartment, and if he did have a job - quit this right before the crime, etc. This would have made sense since - presumably - if he had survived he would have tried to start a new life somewhere (maybe even outside of the U.S.).

There have been some cases in the past where people have died in an apartment and haven't been found for years. I.e., not everyone who dies/disappears is missed.

Also, note that not everyone who did notice a family member/friend missing (and may have even suspected that the person was Cooper) would have wanted to report this - for whatever reason(s).

There is also no certainty that Cooper was American - so, he may have been from anywhere. The doc. theorized that he may have been Canadian. But, he may also have been from another country - other than the U.S. or Canada. Apparently he had a good command of the English language (re: interviews of those who remember speaking to him), but he may have learned this in a non-English speaking country. The point being, the theory has always been that Cooper was from the U.S. But, he easily may have been from somewhere else.

 

[Melquiades]

Thanks for the clarification re: the value of $200,000 in 1971 vs. today. In reading up on this, it does make sense.

However, I stand by my other opinion(s) in my previous posts.

I do believe that someone who vanished in the early '70's may never have been missed. There was no Internet in the 1970's & people were a lot less connected than they are now. I believe that Cooper was someone who possibly/probably had no family/friends & may have even been unemployed for a long period prior to the crime. So, someone like this vanishing off the face of the earth probably didn't raise any eyebrows & maybe not many noticed this. Maybe he cleared out his bank account(s), moved out of his house/apartment, and if he did have a job - quit this right before the crime, etc. This would have made sense since - presumably - if he had survived he would have tried to start a new life somewhere (maybe even outside of the U.S.).

Also, note that not everyone who did notice a family member/friend missing (and may have even suspected that the person was Cooper) would have wanted to report this - for whatever reason(s).

There have been some cases in the past where people have died in an apartment and haven't been found for years. I.e., not everyone who dies/disappears is missed.

There is also no certainty that Cooper was American - so, he may have been from anywhere. The doc. theorized that he may have been Canadian. But, he may also have been from another country - other than the U.S. or Canada. Apparently he had a good command of the English language (re: interviews of those who remember speaking to him), but he may have learned this in a non-English speaking country. The point being, the theory has always been that Cooper was from the U.S. But, he may have been from somewhere else.

For sure it's not impossible. But those who go unidentified/unreported missing tend to be living on the margins of society - people living in poverty, hitchhikers, drifters, people with substance abuse/mental health issues. Clean-cut, educated, well-spoken white males in their 40s, not as much. It certainly can happen - the Somerton Man case being the recent very obvious example of this - but it's fairly unusual.

I'm on the fence of whether he lived or died. I can see arguments for both. I'd agree that the death theory is under-investigated - the recent Netflix documentary barely even seemed to consider it.

On nationality, he's certainly American or Canadian. An accent from anywhere else would certainly have been detected. Even in Scandinavians with perfect technical English the accent is pretty apparent.

 

[Ozoner]

He, also, could have died as a result of the high altitude. He could have easily been dead before he hit the ground. As for the money on the riverbank, I suspect it traveled downriver during one or more floods. In that case, the place to look for the rest of the money and Cooper's body would be upstream in or near the river.

I don't disagree that D. B. Cooper could have died, but I'm not sure why you think he could have died from the altitude. He was no higher than 10,000 feet when he jumped. That's fairly low—not high enough to require supplemental oxygen.

Since we don't know how far upstream or how the river's path has changed, it is possible that he is farther from the river than expected. There is a slim possibility that his body was found without any of the money, parachute, etc. and outside the search area. His remains could be in a potter's field somewhere or unidentified in a coroner's storage area. This is especially true if they only found skeletal remains.

The money could have fallen from the plane before Cooper jumped or as he was jumping, in which case it would not have drifted as far as Cooper could have (assuming that he succeeded in opening his parachute).

 

[fridaybaker]

Just a note here regarding weather. It’s been stated in many places that the night of the jump was a “stormy” night. I’ve read, though, that this is inaccurate.

Also, He left on the final leg from SeaTac and I do remember that it wasn’t what anyone would consider “stormy” in Seattle, and the weather listed for back on that date in Seattle lists typical Seattle weather, which is 40’s and wet.

It’s thought that the actual jump was somewhere near Woodland, around 100 miles away. Weather data for Woodland for that date lists similar weather to Seattle, 40’s, wet, with 12-16 mph winds, considered “moderate” on the Beaufort Wind Scale. Again, typical for the area.

I sort of think that “non-northwesters” tend to think that rainy, mildly windy, 40-ish nighttime weather is stormy. (Not realizing, of course, that that’s daily weather in that part of the country.)

 

[OddOneOut]

I don't disagree that D. B. Cooper could have died, but I'm not sure why you think he could have died from the altitude. He was no higher than 10,000 feet when he jumped. That's fairly low—not high enough to require supplemental oxygen.

The money could have fallen from the plane before Cooper jumped or as he was jumping, in which case it would not have drifted as far as Cooper could have (assuming that he succeeded in opening his parachute).

I mentioned dying from the altitude because I remember discussions about it claiming he could not have survived. I don't have a link so this must be considered rumour.
Also, I believe temperatures and wind speed is very different at higher altitudes.

Hijacker and criminal mastermind D.B. Cooper parachutes out of plane

A hijacker who became known as D.B. Cooper parachutes from a Northwest Orient Airlines 727 into a raging thunderstorm over Washington State. He had $200,000 in

www.history.com

 

[JustinW]

Many sky diving experts say it was a jump that had a high likelihood of survival. Some have done similar jumps to varying degrees of identical conditions. Some say he more than likely died, the FBI for one.
They never found his body or a parachute. He was never caught later. So there’s no proof he lived or died. I would say either is possible.
I doubt he was attacked and eaten by wildlife. I’m from that general area. There’s things that could kill a man no problem(black bear,cougar), but attacks and even confrontations are very rare. And the conditions weren’t such that he would have easily froze to death. If he did, something would have likely been found by now.
I’ve listened to a lot of experts, and most of them believe he survived the jump. But there’s no real proof to support either idea. No proof is really the DB Cooper theme.

 

[Ozoner]

Many sky diving experts say it was a jump that had a high likelihood of survival. Some have done similar jumps to varying degrees of identical conditions. Some say he more than likely died, the FBI for one.
They never found his body or a parachute. He was never caught later. So there’s no proof he lived or died. I would say either is possible.
I doubt he was attacked and eaten by wildlife. I’m from that general area. There’s things that could kill a man no problem(black bear,cougar), but attacks and even confrontations are very rare. And the conditions weren’t such that he would have easily froze to death. If he did, something would have likely been found by now.
I’ve listened to a lot of experts, and most of them believe he survived the jump. But there’s no real proof to support either idea. No proof is really the DB Cooper theme.

We don't know how much experience he had with parachutes. If he knew how to open his main chute and was able to do so, then his chances of survival were good. If he had never jumped before, I don't like his chances.

 

[Shampooedrug]

I'm familiar with the "evidence," but there's nothing meaningful. There's nothing placing him in the Pacific Northwest at the time of the hijacking, there's nothing indicating that he was capable of a violent crime, and there's nothing indicating that he enjoyed a large windfall in the years after the hijacking.

He resembles the Cooper sketches slightly, he knew someone named Ira Daniel Cooper, and he had experience as a parachutist. I hope that I'm never convicted of a crime on that sort of "evidence."

Nothing meaningful? I'm curious, what's your suspect?

 

[Ozoner]

Nothing meaningful?

Correct—nothing meaningful or even close.

I'm curious, what's your suspect?

I don't have a suspect. I doubt whether anyone that has been suggested publicly was actually D. B. Cooper. You can make almost any candidate fit the known evidence if you try hard enough.

 

[JustinW]

We don't know how much experience he had with parachutes. If he knew how to open his main chute and was able to do so, then his chances of survival were good. If he had never jumped before, I don't like his chances.

I wouldn’t like his chances if he had never jumped before, either. You would have to be very desperate to make that be your first jump. It’s possible, but I would think it much more likely he had experience.

 

[JustinW]

Correct—nothing meaningful or even close.



I don't have a suspect. I doubt whether anyone that has been suggested publicly was actually D. B. Cooper. You can make almost any candidate fit the known evidence if you try hard enough.

I don’t have a suspect myself, either.
Of all the suspects I have heard of, there is no actual evidence any of them were DB Cooper.
The suspects seem to be picked from those who had a motive, the ability or allegedly confessed.
Motive-The motive appears to be someone who:
1)Needed the money badly
2)Had a bone to pick with the airlines
Either of those alone could lead you to thousands who somewhat fit the physical description.

Ability-This has driven a lot of people to pick suspects alone. If someone gets physically assaulted on the street and they say the person was good at hand to hand and might have been Asian, do you automatically consider Jackie Chan a suspect. He could look like the suspect to some degree maybe, and he has the skills to pull it off. Even though there is zero physical evidence even putting him in the area at the time of the crime? That is crazy to me. Ability is something you would use to vet out possible suspects that were discovered by actual evidence. Once again, how many thousands had the skills to pull it off?

Confessions: We know people confess falsely to being DB Cooper. How many people have confessed? How many could possibly be telling the truth? One. And it could be none.

It seems like suspects are almost picked at random from those who fit one of the above criteria. Then, someone makes every tiny piece of data work to make them the suspect. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great people take an interest and investigate. I just think being locked on a shaky suspect gets in the way of the real truth. Rule someone out and move on.
Dang, though, some of these suspects have lived amazing lives. Some of them the hijacking might not even be the most interesting part.

I mean zero disrespect to anyone or their opinions. Just my own.