Ep 189: D. B. Cooper Part 2

"Take this down. I want $200,000 by 5:00 p.m. in cash. Put it in a knapsack. I want two back parachutes and two front parachutes. When we land, I want a fuel truck ready to refuel. No funny stuff, or I'll do the job."

– “Dan Cooper” to Flight Attendant Florence Schaffner on November 24, 1971.

Description:

What makes the legend of D. B. Cooper so enduring is not so much the crime itself, but everything that happened after. Cooper's skyjacking was just one of many during a wave in the era. His method of escape was only somewhat novel. Although he seemed to know about some commercial jet aviation aspects, a few of his choices left authorities questioning his skills, rationale, and, therefore, his background. But what continues to capture the public's imagination is the mystery of his disappearance and speculation about his identity. The two pieces of verified evidence found outside the plane to date, a placard for the Airstairs and a few ransom money packets, raised more questions than provided answers about where he landed and if he survived the jump. Could a plan so daring and defiant have worked, or did cavalier confidence doom him? Part two of our series will continue with the investigation that triggered one of the most extensive manhunts in U.S. history and lead to the final mystery – just who was D. B. Cooper?

Some of the ransom $20 bills found by 8-year-old Brian Ingram on February 10, 1980, while vacationing with his family at Tina Bar on the Columbia River, downstream from Vancouver, WA

A police sketch artist’s composite of “Dan Cooper” from eye-witnesses like Flight Attendants Florence Schaffner and Tina Mucklow

The black J.C. Penney clip-on tie and Mother of Pearl tie clip Cooper wore during the skyjacking and removed before jumping. The FBI later recovered a DNA sample from it.

One of the parachutes left behind by Cooper and its canvas deployment bag. He jumped with two of the four provided, taking one that was used for instruction and had been sewn shut.

Cooper’s $20 plane ticket as FBI evidence. ©AP

The map used by the FBI to extrapolate a search area where Cooper may have landed

Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305 crew speak with reporters on Nov. 26, 1971. ©AP

Flight Attendant Florence Schaffner who initially received the note from Cooper. ©AP

Flight Attendant Tina Mucklow who remained on board with Cooper while he escaped. ©AP

A search of the area in 1976 where Cooper may have landed in. ©AP

Reference Links:

• “Sluggo’s Northwest 305 Hijacking Research Site” on the Wayback Machine internet archive

• The DB Cooper Forum website

• “All About DB Cooper” timeline

• “ D.B. Cooper: A Timeline” By Catherine Coreno at New York Magazine

• “It’s an Enigma – D. B. Cooper” article from the Wayback Machine internet archive

• “The Hunt for DB Cooper – looking for the Amboy chute” from The Mountain News – WA

• Flight Data, Chase Aircraft, and Sled Test from the DB Cooper Forum website

• “DB Cooper – Controversy continues concerning the flight path” from The Mountain News – WA

• The DB Cooper forum on dropzone.com

• Ariel, Washington

• “Murder at Old Cedar Creek Grist Mill, Woodland, Washington” on waymarking.com

• Microform, Microcopy, or Microrecord photographic technology

• “Scientist uncovers new, minuscule clues on DB Cooper ransom money found in Washington” – Tom Kaye and diatoms from King 5 News in Seattle

• Shemya, the small island in the Aleutian Islands archipelago southwest of Alaska

• “SHEMYA, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, AK, The “Black Pearl” of the Aleutians”

• “Operation Cottage,” a tactical maneuver during the Aleutian Islands campaign

• The D. B. Cooper entry on Wikipedia

• “D. B. Cooper Hijacking” entry from the FBI.gov website

• “D.B. Cooper Redux – Help Us Solve the Enduring Mystery” from the FBI.gov website

• "A reporter’s role in the notorious unsolved mystery of ‘D.B. Cooper’" from the Columbia Journalism Review

• PDF: “The incredible tale of DB Cooper and the most fascinating hijacking case in history” by Hugh Morris from The Telegraph

• “The Hunt for DB Cooper – Who’s Who in the DB Cooper investigation” by Brian A. Smith on The Mountain News – WA, Jan 27, 2013

• The D. B. Cooper entry from the CrimeMuseum.org website

• “New suspect in D.B. Cooper skyjacking case unearthed by Army data analyst; FBI stays mum” from The Oregonian

• “As new evidence upends D.B. Cooper case, the (un)usual suspects continue to fuel the legend” from The Oregonian

 

Location:

Tena Bar, or “Tina” Bar, a beachhead on the Washington State side of the Columbia River, where 8-year-old Brian Ingram was camping with his family on Sunday, February 10, 1980, when he found three packets of the ransom money. As Brian swept away the sand to make way for a campfire, he uncovered two stacks of 100 $20 dollar bills and a third packet of 90 $20 bills, totaling $5800 in all. This deteriorated stash of cash and an instruction placard for the aft Airstairs for a 727 are the only two confirmed pieces of evidence outside of the plane found to date.

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Related Books & Media:

Norjak: The Investigation of D.B. Cooper

By Himmelsbach, Ralph P

Buy on Amazon

D. B. Cooper: What Really Happened

By Max Gunther

Buy on Amazon

D.B. Cooper: The Real McCoy

By Rhodes, Bernie

Buy on Amazon

Skyjack: The Hunt for D. B. Cooper

By Gray, Geoffrey

Buy on Amazon

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CREDITS:

Episode 189: D. B. Cooper Part 2.  Produced by Scott Philbrook & Forrest Burgess; Audio Editing by Sarah Vorhees Wendel. Sound Design by Ryan McCullough; Tess Pfeifle, Producer, and Lead Researcher; Research Support from the astonishing League of Astonishing Researchers, a.k.a. The Astonishing Research Corps, or "A.R.C." for short. Copyright 2020 Astonishing Legends Productions, LLC. All Rights Reserved.