Bombshell DB Cooper evidence may finally solve 53-year-old hijacker mystery

The satellite is 1 measurement person to solving 1 of the top unsolved mysteries in US past – ‘DB Cooper’.

In 1971, a whiskey-drinking, JC Penny cervix tie-wearing and Raleigh cigarette-smoking antheral who called himself ‘Cooper’ hijacked a rider level from Oregon to Seattle.

From Seat 18C connected the Northwest Orient flight, helium told a formation attendant helium had a bomb. If they gave him $200,000 – the equivalent of astir $15,500,000 contiguous – helium would escaped the 36 passengers.

And conscionable that happened. He aboriginal threw connected a parachute and leapt from the near-empty level implicit Washington. His assemblage was ne'er found.

More than 5 decades later, later, the household of a hijacker suspected to beryllium Cooper discovered the parachute he utilized successful his heist.

Richard Floyd McCoy carried retired a akin hijacking and escaped by parachute little than 5 months aft the Cooper flight. However, the FBI ruled him retired arsenic a suspect for not matching witnesser descriptions.

But the household of the precocious McCoy person present handed implicit a modified subject surplus bailout rig to FBI investigators, amateur sleuth and YouTuber Dan Gryder said successful a video posted today,

Gryder archetypal contacted McCoy’s household successful 2020 earlier being welcomed to their North Carolina bureau 2 years aboriginal pursuing the decease of McCoy’s mother.

He uploaded footage of himself connected November 19 successful McCoy’s mother’s retention portion holding the parachute and rig.

‘We conscionable solved it,’ Gryder remarked. ‘Literally. This is the rig due to the fact that they cognize what rig helium utilized erstwhile helium jumped that night. They supplied him the rigs.’

Gryder added that each grounds he’s unearthed since October 2023 – including the parachute acceptable – has been handed to FBI. Officials person unofficially re-opened their probe of the hijacking, helium claimed.

The bureau ended its pursuit of Cooper successful 2016, referring to it arsenic 1 of the longest and astir exhaustive investigations successful its history. The case file is 40 feet long.

‘Although the FBI volition nary longer actively analyse this case, should circumstantial carnal grounds emerge—related specifically to the parachutes oregon the wealth taken by the hijacker—individuals with those materials are asked to interaction their section FBI tract office,’ the FBI said at the time.

Who was DB Cooper?

No 1 knows! But idiosyncratic mightiness – possibly you? Or if you are Cooper, driblet america an email.

He was, according to the FBI, a mild-mannered ‘nondescript’ antheral who appeared to beryllium successful his 40s.

Cooper would beryllium successful his 90s by now. Here’s hoping the $200,000 was spent connected food truthful helium lives longer.

‘DB Cooper’ astir apt isn’t his name. It was conscionable an alias helium gave erstwhile buying his $20 level ticket. It… besides wasn’t his existent alias, it was ‘Dan Cooper’ but a newsman misheard it.

‘Dan Cooper’ wore a achromatic suit, a achromatic formal garment and a achromatic JC Penny tie, which was recovered by detectives.

The passenger’s portion of prime was a bourbon and soda. Between sips, helium slipped a enactment to a formation attendant.

‘Miss, you’d amended look astatine that note,’ helium said. ‘I person a bomb.’ He clicked unfastened his briefcase to uncover what was perchance an explosive instrumentality mislaid wrong a messiness of wires.

The rider ordered the formation to onshore successful Seattle to let each the passengers off. Now equipped with a sack of dollar bills and 4 parachutes, helium and a skeleton unit took backmost disconnected and flew south.

A small portion later, the aviator clocked the cockpit informing lights were flashing – the rear suitcase had been opened. Cooper had jumped.

Neither the wealth nor Cooper ever turned up. Though, successful 1980, a lad recovered a bundle of rotting $20 bills on the Columbia River worthy $5,800 that matched the ransom wealth serial numbers.

If Cooper survived parachuting from the plane, helium would person fallen astir 10,000 feet successful subzero darkness. Officials judge helium fell conscionable adjacent the southwest tiny municipality of Ariel.

The FBI has immoderate 1,000 suspects of who Cooper is. They see Ted Braden, a maestro skydiver and felon; Kenneth Peter Christiansen, a paratrooper whose sister was convinced was Cooper and Lynn Doyle Cooper, a leather idiosyncratic whose niece is convinced is simply a suspect.

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