So....D.B. Cooper....WTF?

[Baldanders]

Since we seem to be about to expose Blues as the Zodiac killer, I figured I'd help him keep his cover by putting the hive mind on another unsolved mystery. 🙄

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._B._Cooper

This is more fascinating than any unsolved murder to me. Nothing about it makes any sense.

I have no theories that make any sense, either. Time traveller?

I became more interested in the case after reading my favorite fictional lawman is supposedly named after him.

[NickA]

I don't have any theories either but I'm right there with you. It happened right around when I was born so I remember TV shows and the movie (The Pursuit of DB Cooper) from when I was a kid. Just one of those mysteries you grow up with that's always kind of rattling around in the back of your mind.

I did recently listen to this episode of the Meateater podcast with Steven Rinella where he talks to Buddy Levy, who has written a book about DB Cooper:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/meateater/...dest-id=243262
I don't recall the whole discussion but he did have a suspect that he considered most likely but not 100%.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

[FPS]

Didnt they just find strong evidence last year regarding one of the long time suspects who was an army intel guy who also had jump training?

[Borderland]

I remember when that happened. The legend lives on here. This cougar ( D B Cougar) in one of Seattle's largest parks was just about as strange. Nobody ever figured out how he got there but he got an escort when he left.

https://blog.seattlepi.com/thebigblo...en-d-b-cougar/

My guess is old DB went into a river. If he happened to hit the Columbia R. he was a casualty along with his money. That's a big river.

[Rex G]

Walter R. Reca is a likely candidate, among those mentioned in the Wikipedia article. Reca (born Peca) trusted one friend, to release a letter, and other information, after Reca’s death. An author named Koenig did research, including linguistic research, to confirm that the details matched the evidence, and wrote a book, which I have not yet acquired.

Reca was a member of a parachute team.

It is quite possible that the hijacker would have known that he would be unable to spend the money, for a very long time, if ever. The FBI photographed every one of the bills; the hijacker may have anticipated this, which would be why none of the money surfaced, until some of it was discovered, still bundled together, in the sand by a river.

Perhaps, the hijacker hoped to wait-out the statute of limitations, and then learned he was thwarted by a John Doe indictment, that extended the time during which he could be prosecuted.

Let’s keep in mind that it is in the nature, of some number of people, to confess to prominent crimes, or to claim that a friend or relative made a sensational death-bed confession. Conformation of such stories requires careful comparison with known facts.

[Casual Friday]

I went to high school with a kid who, along with his mother, believed his Uncle was DB Cooper.

Some of the memories from back then in the mid 90's are a bit hazy, but I remember one of the reasons was he used the alias Dan Cooper quite often prior to the hijacking. His mother had told him that shortly after the hijacking, her brother was seen with a broken leg and lots of scratches all over his body and claimed it was a offroad dirtbike accident.

I don't want to get any of his story incorrect, so I'm gonna send him a FB message and ask him to give me a refresher on the details and see if he'll allow me to post it here.

[Lester Polfus]

I live in DB Cooper country. I'm sitting here typing this not very fall from his projected drop zone and the original search area, and frankly I'm a little fascinated by it.

The fundamental thing that doesn't make sense to me is this:

The guy had enough knowledge to give directions to the aircrew to fly at specific altitudes and speeds, and lower the aft airstairs, strap on a parachute and then...

... parachuted into essentially unsurvivable country, in unsurvivable weather.

You have to see it up here to understand how rugged it is. There whole area is essentially steep, heavily forested drainages. Oh and he did it in November, when it's in the forties (at best) and rains constantly.

One theory is that he jumped over Merwin dam, because it would have been lit up. The only way that any of this makes sense to me is if he had some kind of way of navigating by parachute to a visible point where he had resources waiting for him.

Unless he was just a dumbass.

[Rex G]

I live in DB Cooper country. I'm sitting here typing this not very fall from his projected drop zone and the original search area, and frankly I'm a little fascinated by it.

The fundamental thing that doesn't make sense to me is this:

The guy had enough knowledge to give directions to the aircrew to fly at specific altitudes and speeds, and lower the aft airstairs, strap on a parachute and then...

... parachuted into essentially unsurvivable country, in unsurvivable weather.

You have to see it up here to understand how rugged it is. There whole area is essentially steep, heavily forested drainages. Oh and he did it in November, when it's in the forties (at best) and rains constantly.

One theory is that he jumped over Merwin dam, because it would have been lit up. The only way that any of this makes sense to me is if he had some kind of way of navigating by parachute to a visible point where he had resources waiting for him.

Unless he was just a dumbass.

Parts of the hijacker’s plan seemed to be so very-well-researched and meticulous, yet other parts leave one wondering, and scratching one’s head.

Support/resources waiting on the ground could have part of a detailed plan. The prospect of a share of $200K, in Seventies dollars, could have bought support.

I am not trying to say he was successful. The bills were known, by serial number, and did not appear in circulation, until that batch was discovered, years later.

[Lester Polfus]

Parts of the hijacker’s plan seemed to be so very-well-researched and meticulous, yet other parts leave one wondering, and scratching one’s head.

Support/resources waiting on the ground could have part of a detailed plan. The prospect of a share of $200K, in Seventies dollars, could have bought support.

I am not trying to say he was successful. The bills were known, by serial number, and did not appear in circulation, until that batch was discovered, years later.

It's a rabbit hole. In the absence of any real facts between the time the air crew left him alone in the back of the plane, until the bills were found at Tena Bar, you can fill in the blanks however you want.

There's a theory this guy was a spook, and had a way to get the money out of the country, which is why it never showed up again.

Sounds as good as any...

Even some of what was thought to be "known" back in the '70s is pretty suspect, like the exact flight path of the plane, and when he jumped. It all adds up to a pretty big search area.

[Borderland]

I live in DB Cooper country. I'm sitting here typing this not very fall from his projected drop zone and the original search area, and frankly I'm a little fascinated by it.

The fundamental thing that doesn't make sense to me is this:

The guy had enough knowledge to give directions to the aircrew to fly at specific altitudes and speeds, and lower the aft airstairs, strap on a parachute and then...

... parachuted into essentially unsurvivable country, in unsurvivable weather.

You have to see it up here to understand how rugged it is. There whole area is essentially steep, heavily forested drainages. Oh and he did it in November, when it's in the forties (at best) and rains constantly.

One theory is that he jumped over Merwin dam, because it would have been lit up. The only way that any of this makes sense to me is if he had some kind of way of navigating by parachute to a visible point where he had resources waiting for him.

Unless he was just a dumbass.

If you land on top of a mountain all you have to do is follow the watershed to get out. That's assuming of course you survive the jump. Piece of cake.

I'll go with the dumbass theory knowing what I know about the Cascade mountains and all.