Has the real D.B. Cooper finally been found?

The enigma that is D. B. Cooper will never cease to be a source of interest to the world. Make no mistake, the man is a criminal, but his ability to elude the authorities for more than fifty years has turned him into a legend in the eyes of many.

Cooper vanished into thin air along with the $200,000 but could the question of who the mysterious plane hijacker was finally be solved? After all this time we might finally have an answer as to D. B. Cooper’s real identity and no, it isn’t Tommy Wiseau. Interest in the case spiked when a pair of siblings from North Carolina claimed that they had some new evidence proving their late father was the man behind the myth. However, this might not mean anything — as with everything in this case, the truth isn’t exactly straightforward.

What new evidence is there?

In 2020, siblings Chanté and Rick McCoy III came forward claiming that their father, Richard McCoy Jr., was D. B. Cooper. They had supposedly been aware of this fact for a while but had waited until after their mother’s death to come forward. Their reason for doing so being that they didn’t want to implicate their mother, who they suspected was in on Richard’s plan.

But what physical proof is there to actually tie Mr. McCoy to the hijacking? Well the McCoy’s kids believe they found his parachute, the very one he used to escape the plane mid-air and disappear without a trace. But that could be any old parachute, right? It’s not an especially uncommon item for someone to own, especially considering McCoy was an avid skydiver.

The parachute was brought to aviation YouTuber Dan Gryder, who believes the siblings may be right about their father. According to him, “That rig is literally one in a billion.” Apparently it was a match for the parachute which was modified by skydiver Early Cossey and given to D. B. Cooper as part of the ransom back in 1971.

Of course, there is evidence that points to the contrary. In 1980, a small portion of what was confirmed to be Cooper’s money was found by the Columbia River. Some experts believe that Cooper died shortly after jumping out of the plane, but admit it’s possible he survived, particularly if he had a military background and wilderness training. In 1982 pieces of the parachute were supposedly found by a man named Blake Payne, but the details about his claim are somewhat sketchy. Does that suggest Cooper perished during his descent? Maybe.

What do we know about Richard McCoy Jr.

Let’s go back to the McCoy theory. The man was a skydiver, but he also served in the military. Of course, what he’s most well known for is committing a plane hijacking in 1972, during which he threatened crew and passenger with a grenade and demanded $500,000 before escaping by parachuting from the plane mid air — sounds awfully familiar, if you ask me.

Unlike Cooper, McCoy was arrested within 72 hours of his daring escape and sentenced to 45 years in prison. Not being done with his crazy crimes McCoy and two other inmates escaped by fashioning a fake firearm out of dental paste, and then commandeering a garbage truck to smash through the gates. The FBI caught up with him three months later when he returned home, a shootout ensued, and McCoy was shot dead in the firefight. If he was D. B. Cooper, any chance of getting him to confess is long since gone.

Is Richard the real deal?

Is he the real Cooper, or should I say the real McCoy? While the hijacker was a suspect in the D. B. Cooper case, there was never enough evidence it seems and the case was closed in 2016. Now with this new piece of info provided by his children, could it be worth looking into it once more? Of course, to confirm the real identity of the infamous hijacker could possibly require exhuming McCoy’s body, among other things, and the FBI has not publicly stated whether or not it intends to do so.