The story of D. B. Cooper has to be one of the most infamous mysteries to come out of the U.S. – how does a man hijack a plane, demand $200,000 in ransom money, and then disappear into the night never to be seen again?
Although he is a criminal, it’s hard to deny that there’s a certain aura to this elusive man. He’s almost become an obsession for some, and you’ve got to respect the fact he was able to get away with such a crime without hurting anyone (at least a little). But what happened to Cooper after the hijacking? And more importantly, what happened to that money?
So, who was D. B. Cooper?
On Nov. 24, 1971, the day before Thanksgiving, a man, described as being in his mid-40s, boarded the Northwest Orient Airlines flight 305 leaving from Portland. The man’s name was Dan Cooper, although this was a fake name. Shortly after departing, Cooper flagged an air stewardess and handed her a note which he had written, where he claimed he had a bomb in his briefcase. He opened the case showing the air stewardess a mess of wires. So was it really a bomb, or just a bluff? Nobody knows.
Anyways, Cooper demanded $200,000 (about $1.2 million in today’s currency) and four parachutes. The plane landed in Seattle, where Cooper let the passengers off and was given what he asked for by the authorities. He kept several of the crew on board and instructed them to take off again and head towards Mexico City. On the way there, Cooper took everyone by surprise by jumping out of the plane with the money and a parachute somewhere between Seattle and Reno, Nevada. That was the last anyone saw of the mysterious man.
What happened to Cooper and was the money found?
For more than five decades, the speculation has been endless. The FBI was leading the investigation right up until 2016, but nobody was ever conclusively proven to have been the hijacker. Of course, there have been some suspects who fit the bill. Richard McCoy II was long thought to have been the real D. B. Cooper. In 1972, he hijacked a plane, threatening the crew and passengers with a grenade. He demanded $500,000 and four parachutes, using them to escape the same way Cooper had.
While many suspected McCoy, others thought that the hijacker had simply perished when he hit the ground. Retired FBI agent Larry Carr led the investigation for a while back in 2007 and has stated that he believes Cooper did not survive the fall. Some internet sleuths believe that Tommy Wiseau, famous for the masterpiece that is The Room, is actually the hijacker.
A breakthrough in 2020
McCoy was caught shortly after and sentenced to 45 years, though he barely served any time, as he escaped prison and was shot dead by FBI agents in 1974. Recently, retired pilot and skydiver, Dan Gryder, found a modified parachute belonging to McCoy. He is convinced it is the same parachute used by D. B. Cooper, “That rig is literally one in a billion.” McCoy’s children also believe that their father was the hijacker, although they kept quiet until 2020 so as not to implicate their mother who may have been complicit in McCoy’s plan. If it really was him, however, the money is likely long gone now.
In 1980, an eight-year-old boy stumbled upon $5,880 by the Columbia river, which the FBI confirmed was a part of the $200,000 that had been given to Cooper nine years prior. However, that was one of the last major breakthroughs. It also suggests that Cooper had either died or dropped the money, but whether he dropped all of it is unclear.
So far, it seems Cooper’s ransom money will never be found. While the McCoy lead is promising, it would involve a lot of investigating and possibly even exhuming the body. The FBI haven’t confirmed whether or not it will reopen the case, so for the time being, it will remain a mystery.