The mystery of D.B. Cooper dates back to November 1971, when a man whose real name remains unknown hijacked a plane bound from Portland to Seattle. As the plane flew in the direction of Reno, Nevada, Cooper did the unthinkable: He jumped out of the airplane with the money and disappeared into the Pacific Northwest night.
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However, the FBI said that in case any “specific physical evidence” emerges in the 45-year-old hijacking case, dubbed NORJAK investigation, they would investigate it.
The FBI describes Cooper as a “quiet man” in his mid-40s who wore a business suit with a black tie and white shirt. The FBI said Tuesday that it is no longer investigating the enduring mystery of the skyjacker, almost 45 years after he vanished out the back of a Boeing 727 into a freezing Northwest rain wearing a business suit, a parachute and a pack with $200,000 in cash.
After landing in Seattle, Cooper allowed 36 passengers to leave the plane in exchange for cash and several parachutes.
The FBI, decades after it had interviewed hundreds of people, pursued a new lead in 2011 when it compared DNA from a woman who claimed to be D.B. Cooper’s niece to the suspect’s tie.
Upon being handed the cash and parachutes, the hijacker known in the flight manifest as “Dan Cooper” departed with a few crew members for Mexico City, as he had demanded. All evidence will be preserved at the agency’s headquarter in Washington, but I will not process any more tips or clues unless somebody finds the parachute or the money.
Originally, FBI investigators thought Cooper must be have been an experienced skydiver, possibly with military experience, in order to potentially survive the jump, the Washington Post reports.
“We would’ve loved to have solved this, there’s no question about it”, said Special Agent in Charge Frank Montoya Jr. But of course, they would want us to believe that Cooper was dead, and not that they’d let him slip away, right?
He was never found, but a boy digging on a Columbia River beach in 1980 discovered three bundles of weathered $20 bills almost $6,000 in all.
At the time, the Seattle Times reported, Carr was renewing his plea for new information in the case, possibly with the help of technology.
“Every time the Federal Bureau of Investigation assesses additional tips for the NORJAK case, investigative resources and manpower are diverted from programs that more urgently need attention”, she said.
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The case sparked worldwide interest and spawned movies including “The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper”, starring Treat Williams as Cooper and “Bigfoot vs. D.B. Cooper”, with Eric Roberts.
