Modern Mysteries

Crime historian digs for DB Cooper evidence

By T.K. Randall
August 9, 2021 ·  20 comments

Did Cooper bury his parachute and briefcase ? Image Credit: PD / US Government Amateur crime historian Eric Ulis is conducting a two-day dig along Washington's Columbia River where he believes the mysterious hijacker known as DB Cooper may have buried some of the money he stole as well as his parachute and briefcase.

The hijacking occurred in 1971 when the mysterious man, who at the time went by the name Dan Cooper, boarded Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305 to travel from Portland to Seattle.

During the trip, Cooper called over one of the flight attendants and asked them to write out a note declaring that he had a bomb in his briefcase and that the plane was being hijacked.

When the aircraft stopped at Tacoma International Airport, he allowed the passengers to leave in exchange for four parachutes and the sum of $200,000 in cash.

After the plane had taken off again, Cooper strapped the bag of money to himself, put on one of the parachutes and jumped out somewhere between Seattle and Reno. No trace of him was ever found.$6,000 of the ransom money however was later discovered by a young boy in Washington in the same area that Ulis is now searching in the hope of finding further clues.

He believes that during their earlier investigation, the FBI had searched in the wrong area.

As things stand, however, the FBI considers the case closed and it is not looking to expend any more resources attempting to solve it.

If Ulis is going to get to the bottom of the mystery, therefore, he'll need to go it alone.

Source: AP News | Comments (20)

Tags: DB Cooper