It remains the only unsolved hijacking in U.S history.
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He showed her what appeared to be a wired-up explosive device in his briefcase, and demanded $200,000 and four parachutes.
A hijacked Northwest Airlines jetliner is seen in this Nov. 25, 1971 file photo as it sits on a runway for refueling at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Nov. 25, 1971, Seattle.
Former case agent Larry Carr questioned whether the sky pirate actually survived the plunge into southwest Washington near the state border with Oregon. So, hey, if you’ve been waiting to make a Facebook page, now’s the time, D.B., my dude!
The FBI said that after looking at all credible leads, enough is enough.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has reassigned the only agent working on the D.B. Cooper manhunt case to some other cases, effectively shutting down the decades old case. A team that included a paleontologist from Seattle’s Burke Museum announced that particles of pure titanium found in the hijacker’s clip-on tie suggest he worked in the chemical industry or at a company that manufactured titanium. Interestingly, the announcement comes just after the conclusion of a two-night special about Cooper on the History Channel, D.B.
A deceased World War II veteran and former paratrooper named Kenneth Christensen once suspected by his brother to be Cooper was also ruled out, as was Richard McCoy, who was confirmed to be with his family in Utah the day after the hijacking. No one even knows for sure who “Cooper” was. But on his deathbed, he made a much better confession, according to his wife.
A scientific illustrator at the University of Chicago posited that Cooper may have taken on the character from a French comic called “Dan Cooper,” which was about a test pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force, the Associated Press reports. At least he got the name right.
Initially, investigators believed Cooper must have been an experienced skydiver.
Plus, in 1980, a young boy found a rotting package full of $20 bills, $5,800 in all, that matched the ransom money serial numbers.
FBI Seattle spokesperson Ayn Dietrich-Williams said people in her office have different theories about what happened.
And while the agency is no longer actively investigating the case, the statement said it is still open to receiving new physical evidence related to the hijacker – specifically, the parachutes or the ransom money.
The story was originally published at 11:41 a.m.
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The FBI has ended its almost 45-year active investigation into the identity of skyjacker D.B. Cooper, who turned a $20 airplane ticket into a $200,000 ransom payoff and then parachuted into legend.
