On the afternoon of November 24, 1971, a nondescript man calling himself Dan Cooper approached the counter of Northwest Orient Airlines in Portland, Oregon. He used cash to buy a one-way ticket on Flight #305, bound for Seattle, Washington. Cooper who was in his mid-40s was a quiet man dressed in a white shirt and black tie. He ordered a drink while waiting for his flight to departure and shortly after 3:00 p.m. he handed the stewardess a note saying that he had a bomb in his briefcase and he wanted her to sit with him.
Drawings of D.B. Cooper
Cooper then showed her a sneak peak of the mass of wires and sticks he had inside of a cheap case and told her to write down what he told her to. She then walked to the captain of the plane demanding 4 parachutes and $200,000 in twenty-dollar bills.
After the plane had landed in Seattle, the hijacker exchanged the passengers for the money and parachutes. While keeping crew members on board with him, Cooper and the plane took off and was set to land in Mexico City.
Between Seattle and Reno at around 8:00 p.m., Cooper jumped out of the plane with a parachute and the ransom money. The pilots landed the plane safely but Cooper disappeared and was never seen again.
The FBI opened an extensive investigation as soon as they learned about the crime mid flight. By the time 5 years had gone by there were more than 800 suspects in the case. There was 1 suspect by the name of Richard Floyd McCoy that was looked at more than others. He was arrested for a similar plane hijacking 5 months afters Coopers mission but was ruled out because he did not match the physical description of Cooper that was given by 2 flight attendants.
The black tie that Cooper had that he took off before jumping from the plane that helped with DNA evidence.
One of the big questions that’s asked is what if he didn’t survive the jump. After all, his parachute didn’t steer, his clothing was not appropriate for a good landing, and he jumped into a wooded area at night. In 1980, a boy found a package full of twenty-dollar bills ($5,800 total) that matched the ransom money serial numbers. It remains a mystery to this day as to who “Dan Cooper” is and what happened to him.
3 thoughts on “Cold Case Files: What Happened to D.B. Cooper?”
Ummmm? What??? I honestly love reading stuff like this because it really gets you thinking about what some of the possible outcomes could be. This story is super weird tho but also really interesting. Did he actually land that jump? Like you said, how do you survive without the right clothes on? So strange! I am so excited for these!
Great post! I wrote about this case last semester as well, and reading your post definitely gave me chills! I’m so curious as to what his motive was in the first place, and why he decided to jump out when he did. In my opinion, it was basically a suicide mission; how did he come to the conclusion that his suit and that un-steerable parachute was going to help him survive? The clue about the $20 bills found is super interesting but it’s so weird that nobody found his body after all these years.
I’m new to your blog and I absolutely love your choice. I love crime and debunking what goes on in the minds of criminals, so this blog is right up my ally. I just talked to my family about this specifically, I forget how it came up in conversation. I think it’s interesting because my family and I talked about how they interviewed a supposed suspect and he kind of admitted it but it is still a mystery. I think it’s super interesting and now since it’s past the statute of limitations, I’m surprised he hasn’t admitted it.
Ummmm? What??? I honestly love reading stuff like this because it really gets you thinking about what some of the possible outcomes could be. This story is super weird tho but also really interesting. Did he actually land that jump? Like you said, how do you survive without the right clothes on? So strange! I am so excited for these!
Great post! I wrote about this case last semester as well, and reading your post definitely gave me chills! I’m so curious as to what his motive was in the first place, and why he decided to jump out when he did. In my opinion, it was basically a suicide mission; how did he come to the conclusion that his suit and that un-steerable parachute was going to help him survive? The clue about the $20 bills found is super interesting but it’s so weird that nobody found his body after all these years.
I’m new to your blog and I absolutely love your choice. I love crime and debunking what goes on in the minds of criminals, so this blog is right up my ally. I just talked to my family about this specifically, I forget how it came up in conversation. I think it’s interesting because my family and I talked about how they interviewed a supposed suspect and he kind of admitted it but it is still a mystery. I think it’s super interesting and now since it’s past the statute of limitations, I’m surprised he hasn’t admitted it.