Modern Mysteries
DB Cooper case still remains unsolved 50 years on
By
T.K. RandallNovember 26, 2021 ·
3 comments
Will the DB Cooper mystery ever be solved ? Image Credit: PD / US Government
Although several clues have emerged over the decades, the identity of the hijacker continues to remain a mystery.
It remains one of the most intriguing and enduring plane hijackings in history - a true crime mystery that has been subject to a decades-long FBI investigation (described as the 'longest and most exhaustive investigation' in US history) and that has attracted the attention of amateur sleuths across the country who - even to this day - remain dedicated to solving the case once and for all.
The incident iself, which occurred on November 24th, 1971, began when a man, who identified himself as 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.
Some believe that Cooper had perished after jumping from the plane while others believe that he had survived and had used the stolen money to change his identity and disappear off the grid.
A few clues have turned up over the years, including some of the stolen money which was discovered quite by accident by a young boy along the Columbia River in Washington in February, 1980.
Cooper's black tie was also found on the airplane following the hijacking, however despite applying modern forensic techniques, investigators have been unable to identify who the man was.
There have been several leads and suspects over the years, including some put forward by amateur investigators, but to date Cooper has never been conclusively identified.
Given that even if he had survived the jump he is now quite likely to have succumbed to old age, taking the truth with him to the grave, it is possible we may never know for sure who he was and what happened to him after he leapt from the plane all those years ago.
Source:
Yahoo! News |
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