Wednesday near Ariel, Wash., according to authorities. The three airports are a few mill- utes flying time south of Ariel.
"A slight shift" in the bal- lance of the hijacked jetliner was reported as a prime factor in the reason for the search near Ariel, according to the FBI.
THE MOVEMENT was>so indefinite that the pilot could not identify it as the result of air turbulence or the exit from! the plane of the hijacker. But. -the hijacker never answered the crew's attempts to commu- nicate with him after that mo- ment.
The mental picture conjured up in the minds of auths itits is that of the hijacker standing on the rear steps of the afs- craft as it moved along at 210 miles an hour, 7,000 feet above the generally wooded area and stepping off into space at the precise moment the "slight shift" was noticed.
He weighed 170 to 175 pounds, according to the pas- sengers he released at Seattle, and that weight on the steps of the plane in the air would have been like the pressure on the far end of a lever.
THE AIRCRAFT flew near stalling speed from Seattle to: wird Reno and thus the pilot was extremely sensitive
THE AIRCRAFT flew near stalling speed from Seattle to: wird Reno and thus the pilot was extremely sensitive to itt attitudes.
The actual flight path, as confirmed by the Federal Aviation Administration, was along the airways known as Victor 23 as far as Red Bluff, Calif., then almost due east to Reno. From Seattle, the jet moved direct to a position over Mayfield, Wash., three miles southeast .of . Toledo, then passed over the Portland, Eu- gene and Medford radio navi- gation markers, thence to the Fort Jones, Calif., intersection west of Mt. Shasta to Red Bluff. There it turned toward Renp.
There were two Air Forde chase planes behind the jet as it left Seattle, but their pilots did not see the exit of the hi- jacker in the rainy darkness. It was believed unlikely that their radars would have picked up the parachute as 'it dropped.
THE REAR DOOR of the jet was closed when the plane left, Seattle, but after it was air- borne the hijacker, according to the crew, closed the door b . tween Himself the control'co " .
THE REAR DOOR of the jet was closed when the plane left, Seattle, but after it was air- borne the hijacker, according to the crew, closed the door b . tween Himself the control'co " . the door to ti L He then low 9 pushing the p' It was not ‹ hijacker instr fly the jet at
(Indicate paye, . newspaper, city and slate, J
THE OREGO! JOURNAL PORTLAND, OREGON
Date:
11/26/71, pg. 1
Edition:
Author: Editor: Title:
Character: or
Classi. . . .:
+gated
24.61
DB Cooper-23002 with its wheels extended and flaps down near 15 degrees"as was reported. But a spokes; man for the Boeing Co. said "It's about the only way they could have stayed in the an." The spokesman, John Wheel- r, said the hijacker "would tave to be familiar" with the 727 to give such instructions, if this was the case.
DENNIS LYSNE, a Northi west ticket clerk in Portland, said he sold a one-way econo -. my-class ticket to a man an -; swering the hijacker's descrip-, tion at 1:45 p.m. Wednesday, a. full hour before flight time. if "What flashes in my mind " faid Lynse, "is dark.
my-class ticket to a man an -; swering the hijacker's descrip-, tion at 1:45 p.m. Wednesday, a. full hour before flight time. if "What flashes in my mind " faid Lynse, "is dark. hair, a leasant voice -. nothing tto fall my attention to him. I asked whether he wanted to go first class or coach, one-way or round-trip.
. "He said 'one-way,' and by the time I finished writing the ticket he had a $20 bill ready to hand me. He didn't have any baggage, which isn't. unu- spal, and I couldn't see wheth. er he was carrying anything["
il THE FBI soon after the f- cking took charge of Lynses 0 bills, presumably for fin- prprintng.
2
""As far as I know," added Lynse, "I had never seen him "before.".
The FBI described the hi- jacker. as middle aged, "olive. skin, possibly a Latin, about 175 pounds, wearing a dark. suit.
FOG AND RAIN hampered the search in Clark and Coky- litz Counties Friday morning. Sheriff's deputies aboard hree helicopters went up riefly but were forced to cut short their first search from the air by low visibility.
Late in the morning, a limit- ed air search was resumed.
Sheriff's deputies aboard hree helicopters went up riefly but were forced to cut short their first search from the air by low visibility.
Late in the morning, a limit- ed air search was resumed.
DB Cooper-23003(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
SW Washington timberlands scene of hunt for hijacker
Potfee: "dacontinue Friday: an airi migls :jump wearing a new."imtested. and land search in the Lewis River main parachute and a reserve Chute which had been sewed: shut. area of Southwest Washington for a brazen hijacker who apparently para- Left behind in the 727 was a second untested back parachute and a; func- tional reserve chute, officials at Reno, Nev., reported. Thuted Wednesday night from .a jet flirliner with $200,000 in ransom money ind a briefcase allegedly containing Explosives.
Clark County, Wash., sheriff's dep- uties said the hijacker may have .jumped. from the commandeered. Northwest Airlines Boeing 727 jet at 8:13 . p.m. Wednesday into a rugged, timbered" five-mile-wide corridor be- ttween Ariel and View, southwest of Woodland, Wash.
The search, directed by a team of six FBI agents operating out of the Woodland.
Wednesday into a rugged, timbered" five-mile-wide corridor be- ttween Ariel and View, southwest of Woodland, Wash.
The search, directed by a team of six FBI agents operating out of the Woodland. Police Department,, was scheduled to begin at 7:30 a.m. Friday.
If the hijackers parachuted from the plane as officials believe, he made his
The black-suited hijacker reportedly boarded the "milk run " flight, which" originated in Washington, D.C .; y. in. Portland and took charge: while en route to. Seattle.
At Seattle-Tacoma International port, he released 36 -passengers, and two stewardesses in exchange for $200,000 in cash and four parachutes
"He' then ordered Pilot William Scott to fly southward to Reno with landing; gear and flaps down at an altitude of less than 10,000 feet.
On takeoff, the plane climbed to 6,000 feet, then to 7,000 feet at Kelso, Wash.U. and finally to 10,000 feet just north of Portland.
If official estimates prove correct, he made his jump about 7,000 feet.at 200 miles-per-hour into .subzero tempera- tures, clouds and winds the U.S. Weather Service said ranged from 20 to 40 knots .
subzero tempera- tures, clouds and winds the U.S. Weather Service said ranged from 20 to 40 knots ..
The parachute backpack on which the hijacker depended was a new rig. specially made for stunt fliers, not sky- divers, and had never been used.
"Yep, that's my chute," said Earl Cossey, president of Seattle Sky Sports, when the parachute and harness were fdescribed to him.
. Both backpacks supplied the hijacker were made by Cossey, but owned by Norman Hayden, a stunt pilot at Ren- ton Aviation Co.
(Indicate page, name of newspaper, city and state.}
THE OREGONIAN PORTLAND, OREGON
Date: 11/26/71, pg. 1 Edition:
Author:
Editor:
Title:
Character: or
Classification:
Submitting Office: Being Investigated
164-41 Jul!
DB Cooper-23004 Linn Emrick, a Sky Sports employe supplied the emergency, or chest, par achutes turned over to the hijacker .- "
According to both. Cossey and Em- rick, the hijacker could not have at- tached the reserve parachute to the chain parachute harness,
Emrick said he accidentally gave of- ficiais seeking the parachutes one good emergency chute
Cossey and Em- rick, the hijacker could not have at- tached the reserve parachute to the chain parachute harness,
Emrick said he accidentally gave of- ficiais seeking the parachutes one good emergency chute and one . practice chute which was sewed shut. The defective chute was missing from the aircraft when it landed in Reno 312 hours after leaving Seattle.
: Parachute experts in Seattle said it .would have been difficult for the hi- jacker to jump encumbered by the $200,000 and the briefcase : allegedly containing an explosive device a stew- ardess described.
Cossey said there was no way the hi- jacker could have held anything in 'his Hands since jumping at that speed would throw him out of control,
However, the jump. could have been made safely since the 727 is the only commercial airliner with a tail door which would permit a jumper to miss both engines and the tail section.
After the plane left Seattle, it flew south over Portland, Eugene and Med- ford, then to Red Bluff, Calif,, where it turned east toward Reno.
A Northwest Airlines official said the slow flight was burning so much fuel it was initially believed it would have to and at Medford.
A Northwest Airlines official said the slow flight was burning so much fuel it was initially believed it would have to and at Medford.
The FBI described the hijacker fas' "in his mid-40s," about 6-feet, 1 inth ;: 175 pounds, dark hair and a slim build. He wore a black suit and dark glasses.
In Seattle, FBI officials said ą com- posite drawing of the hijacker may be available Friday. 1
jAnd in Las Vegas, an FBI source silid the airliner had been dusted for fingerprints Thursday and they were en route to FBI headquarters in Wash- ington, D.C., for possible identification.
DB Cooper-23005(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
Accomplice may have picked up jet
skyjacker at backwoods landing strip
1
By DARYL LEMBKE LA Times Washington Post Service WOODLAND, Wash. - 4 light plane swept in out of the stormy night and circled 'over a crude airstrip in the hills 10 miles east of here.
The weather was rainy and Windy-no fit night for a joy- - riding pilot to be landing on the bumpy, unlighted hilltop airstrip near a wooded ra- vine.
Yet some nearby residents
say that 'a small plane, did land at.
weather was rainy and Windy-no fit night for a joy- - riding pilot to be landing on the bumpy, unlighted hilltop airstrip near a wooded ra- vine.
Yet some nearby residents
say that 'a small plane, did land at.a little after & p.m. Nov. 24, at the same time and in the same aren where a hijacker is believed to have parachuted from an airliner with $200,000 in $20 bills.
. The eyewitness accounts of the strange plane could ex -. plain how the hijacker .es- caped a three-day manhunt, or at least how he had plan- ned to escape if he survived the parachute jump .......... He could have had an ac- ' complice who flew in and waited for him, or there could have' been a third. party in a car' who picked
him up and brought him to the plane.
Adding credence to this ·theory is the fact that some- one in a car apparently trendezoused with a pilot et another, nearby airstrip the night before the Wjacking and went for what could have been a pre-hijack scout- ing flight in equally bad weather.
Those who say they Saw the Light plane on the night of the hijacking have been questioned several times by. FBI agents, who also fombed the wooded ravine Near the airstrip during the gnanhunt last weekend.
Those who say they Saw the Light plane on the night of the hijacking have been questioned several times by. FBI agents, who also fombed the wooded ravine Near the airstrip during the gnanhunt last weekend. Thi
(Indicate page, name of newspaper, city and state.)
18 THE OREGONIAN PORTLAND, OREGON
Date:
DECEMBER 3, 197
Edition:
Author:
Editor:
ART BUSHNELL
Title:
Character: Or
Classification: Submitting Office: Being Investigated
1604-1 / Sub.
SEARCHED
€
DB Cooper-23006FBI refused comment Thurs- day on the significance of phe reports about the smal! plane.
The airstrip is on prop!' erty owned by the McClel- Jan family. Mr. and Mrs. Robert M. Mcclellan Jr. live in a new house at the south end of the airstrip. McOlellan formerly owned a plane but sold it. His par- ents live in an older house a little farther from . the landing field.
Deer hunters and others flying fight planes . fre- quently set down on the strip, which is surrounded
by foot high " weeds, but seldom at night in a main- storm. .
A: flight recorder in the commandeered Northwest Orient 727 indicated that the hijacker opened the rear door of the plane at 8:13 p.
A: flight recorder in the commandeered Northwest Orient 727 indicated that the hijacker opened the rear door of the plane at 8:13 p.m.
Mr. and Mrs. Emil Neiger, who live just down the road from the Mcclellan airstrip, said that a little after 8 p.m., .they saw what seemed to them a puzzling sight, con- sidering the severity of the storm.
"We were gone for a while and came home about 8 , o'clock," said Mrs. Nieger ..
"I was washing the dishes when both of us saw this plane swoop down low. We thought it was going to land and it put its landing lights on. Then we thought it took off again."
Two miles down the road to the west, Mrs. Frank Distel- ano saw something that made an impression on her about 8:30 p.m.
'I was home afde :a
¡plane. It was raining and the vind was blowing. I thought What's he doing out here: this time of night?' It was; Weird to me because we) don't see many planes at night here."
Plane seen
, Mrs. Melvin Andersen, who resides just across the road from the north end of the Mcclellan landing strip, said she heard a plane land there and saw lights indicating that it was turning around.
Melvin Andersen, who resides just across the road from the north end of the Mcclellan landing strip, said she heard a plane land there and saw lights indicating that it was turning around.
. "He was parked an hour or so and then it left," she said ..
Opinion on what happened
to the hijacker is divided in Woodland, population 1,650, but interest in the subject runs high because the FBI used an office in the attrac- tive new city hall here as a command post.
. "We had more newsmen here than ever before in Woodland's long history," said Bob Reed, editor and publisher of the Lewis R .. . r News.
"Woodland is the gate. to great camping and ing country in the sun. WVe got a half a milli: Jers worth of publicits that hitachi
DB Cooper-23007Hijacked crew cemonded final say
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
By MILES GREEN af The Oregonian. staff "No funny stuff," said the middleaged hijacker. with what appeared to a dynamite bomb in his briefcase.
And, the crew of the Northwest Airlines Boeing 727 jetliner indicated the same message to authorities as the plane headed for Seat- : tle.
And, the crew of the Northwest Airlines Boeing 727 jetliner indicated the same message to authorities as the plane headed for Seat- : tle.
William Rataczak, first of- ficer of the plane hijacked last Wesneday between Port- fland and Seattle, recalled Monday that he insisted that the crew of the plane be giv- en the final say before there was any intervention or at- tempt to disregard the h jacker's demands. His cont- ments came during a teljl- phone interview from his home in Burnsville, a suburb of Minneapolis-St. Paul; Minn.
This insistence was based at least partly on his aware- ness of an earlier hijacking of a private plane in which three persons died after the" FBI rushed the plane as it was refueling in Florida.
"I said when, and if, we wanted assistance we would call for it and I asked that there be no outside interven- tion or interference unless asked for," said Rataczak,
As fat as he knows, this ret quest was followed, added the first officer, as he lauded all those who worked to help assure the safety of the pas- sengers and the crew.
that there be no outside interven- tion or interference unless asked for," said Rataczak,
As fat as he knows, this ret quest was followed, added the first officer, as he lauded all those who worked to help assure the safety of the pas- sengers and the crew.
" Hijacker confident
While the crew cautioned against unrequested inter- vention from outside authori- ties, it worked to gain and maintain the confidence of the hijacker, he added. ,
Once the hijacker had made his demands known, almost all communication with him was through one of the stewardesses, Tina ` Mucklow, Rataczak" said. The three crew members who were in the cockpit ney- er sav. the hijacker, he said.
The nacker ordered Miss Muckle to sit beside him mother -stewardess, Flores : Schaffner, took his reque .s for ransont to the cockpi: of the plane ...
Rat yak said the hijacker appearu to be "as rational as Marcone could be who
1
WILLIAM RATACZAK
would do something like that." Because the hijacke . did not appear to be emo tional, the crew felt that could keep the situation ( han] if it went along with his requests, he added.
-
Food requested
He said when Miss Muck- low told the hijacker the crew had been on duty.
did not appear to be emo tional, the crew felt that could keep the situation ( han] if it went along with his requests, he added.
-
Food requested
He said when Miss Muck- low told the hijacker the crew had been on duty. for. some time, and might be- come tired during the trip south, the hijacker said he had some benzedrine which they could take if they need- ed it. The hijacker also made sure there was food. put on the plane so the crew could eat, added Rataczak.
He also reported the crew did not have any indication the man had left the plane it any certain time, and wiis "pleasantly surprised" when it found that he was not on board when the plane landed in Reno.
He said the captain at-
"tempted "to communicate with the hijacker via the public address system as the plane approached" Reno. "He said .William Scott, pl lot of the plane, said over the public address system thay the plane could land with the rear stairway down (as it was after it had been low- ered . by the hijacker), but there might be damage to the stairway which would make it impossible for. the- plane to take off again. He said the message was given in case the hijacker "was aboard, and wanted!
the- plane to take off again. He said the message was given in case the hijacker "was aboard, and wanted! assist- ance in raising the stairway. "When we didn't get any answer, we decided to land- anyway, ; But,:{up ; until we shut the engines down we as: sumed that he was still with. us .: We were' pleasantly sur prised when we examined the aft (rear) cabin-"and' found that , he was not there," said Rataczak
He reported that all mem- bers of the crew expect to resume their regular duty in December, as scheduled, but they will. not by flying to- gether.
Flight crews change every month, he explained, and the trip during which they were hijacked was the last in No- vember for the crew.
He said the hijacked flight was during the first day of what would have been four-day trip together as a crew.
"We were looking forward to flying next from Seattle to Miami for some sunshine, said Rataczak.
The passenger who board- ed in Portland using , the name D.B: . Cooper, changed all that, though. He was · headed south, but not to Mi- ami - at least not directly - and he was to provide an, 'experience
He was · headed south, but not to Mi- ami - at least not directly - and he was to provide an, 'experience for the crew that they had discussed, but hadi ·heged would never happen, Rataczak said.
* "Of course we have talked about the possibility of this happening, and have dis cussed the procedures to be' followed if it does. But, each situation is unique. Our oplys hope is that it never happens again, to anyone," said Ra- tacznk.
(Indicate page, name of newspaper, city and state.)
THE OREGONIAN PORTLAND, OREGON
11/30/71, pg. 8 Date:
Edition: Author:
Editor:
Title:
Character; OF
Classification:
Submitting Office: Being Investigated
164-41 Sur.
SEARCHED
SERIALIZED
DFC ,
FBI-POR:
1
DB Cooper-23008(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
Canny skyjacker
Authorities who have been trying to find a trace of the skyjacking parachutist for the past. several days in the Clark County, Wash.,. foot- hills admit that this was no ordinary aircraft pirate of the type that has made Cuba a stop on far too many flights in recent years.
foot- hills admit that this was no ordinary aircraft pirate of the type that has made Cuba a stop on far too many flights in recent years.
He was canny enough to know that a Boeing 727 was one of the few commercial planes from which a person could bail out without danger of colliding with engines or flaps. He obviously! knew something about parachutes, as well.
He evidently was convinced that no one would endanger the lives of passengers and crew by trying to subdue him after he had shown a stew- ardess a real or simulated bomb shortly after, the Northwest Airlines plane took off from Port-, land International Airport. He appeared equally certain that the $200,000 in cash he ordered would be produced in Seattle, along with the, parachutes.
The perpetrator of one of skyjacking's mos bizarre incidents had planned his crime with uf- most thoroughness. Therefore, it is quite proba- ble that he did not jump into the black night over Clark County, as surmised; but stayed with the plane a bit longer.
A light went on in the cockpit when the rear door of the plane was opened and the ladder descended, soon after the pirate and
A light went on in the cockpit when the rear door of the plane was opened and the ladder descended, soon after the pirate and crew ex- changed their last words over the intercom. This is the basis for the search in Southwest Washington. But a man bold enough to stagi such a crime and to parachute from a jetliner at 200 miles an hour in darkness and bad weather might well have staged the bail-out to confuse the authorities and to have jumped later.
He may have been foiled in the end by the elements. He may be dangling from a tree somewhere in the Oregon mountains, the $200,- 400 of no use to him,
Whatever the answer may prove to be to the questions raised by the skyjacking, the man' who committed it cannot be regarded as a Rob- in Hood. Some people are said to sympathize with the fugitive, holding him in esteem for his boldness and his victory, temporarily at least over the system and its technology. This is akili to the folklore of earlier years when bank rob bers and gangsters sometimes won public admi- ration.
This is akili to the folklore of earlier years when bank rob bers and gangsters sometimes won public admi- ration. The parachuting skyjacker is-or was- a criminal who endangered his fellowmen in a bizarre effort to enrich himself.
(Indicate page, name of newspaper, city and state.)
THE OREGONIAN PORTLAND, OREGON
Date: 11/30/71, pg. 20 Edition: Author: Editor; Title:
Character: or
Classification:
Submitting Office: Being Investigated
164-41 Sill
SEARCHED
SERIALIZED
DB Cooper-23009F)-36-(ftov. 7-27-76)
TRANSMIT VIA:
PRECEDENCE:
CLASSIFICATION: Teletype TOP SECRET Facsimile Airtel Immediate Priority Routine SECRET CONFIDENTIAL EFTO CLEAR
Date
5/25/78

TO	: DIRECTOR, FBI (164-2111)	SUB B
FROM	: SAC, SEATTLE (164-81) (P)	Sve C

SUBJECT:
NORJAK (A)
00: SEATTLE
In order that the office of origin in this important matter be fully aware of what information
DIRECTOR, FBI (164-2111)	SUB B
FROM	: SAC, SEATTLE (164-81) (P)	Sve C

SUBJECT:
NORJAK (A)
00: SEATTLE
In order that the office of origin in this important matter be fully aware of what information has been released to the press by the Portland Division, the following lead is being set out:
LEAD :
PORTLAND
Will forward to Seattle a copy of all press releases as well as all newspaper clippings contained in Portland's NORJAK file.
ARMED & DANGEROUS

2 - Bureau 2 - Portland (164-41)	Sul B
3 - Seattle

BNN/1jt (7)
RUN
W	164-81-7943
Searched	N

Ceriolized Indexed,
Approved:
Transmitted
(Number)
(Time)
DB Cooper-23010
Per
Q1 : 1937 00 - 225-539
b6 b7C
Afec
Filed
FBIFD-350 (Rev. 7-16-63)
(Mount Clipping In Space Below)
$1,000 Reward Før A 'D. B.' Twenty
PORTLAND, Ore. - (UPI) - $1,000 for a $20 bill: - that's the offer made yesterday by the Oregon Journal.
' Twenty
PORTLAND, Ore. - (UPI) - $1,000 for a $20 bill: - that's the offer made yesterday by the Oregon Journal.
'The Journal announced it will give a $1,000 reward for the first $20 bill recovered from the loot collected two years ago by D. B. Cooper, and still missing parachuting airplane hijacker.
The Journal said it was making the offer in accordance with an FBI statement that obtaining any of the $200,000 extorted from Northwest Orient, Airlines would aid its investigation.
A passenger listed as Dan Cooper boarded a Northwest Boeing 727 jetliner here Thanksgiving Eve 1971, hijacked the craft, forcing Northwest to give him the $200,000 in $20 bills at Seattle, then ordered the plane crew to fly to Reno, Nev.
¥
Wien the plane landed at Reno, Cooper, later labeled D. B. Cooper, was not aboard. The flight crew and FBI believe he parachuted from the plane over Southwestern Washington.
No trace of either Cooper or the money ever has been found and officers admit they are baffled." Many believe he was killed when he parachuted and that his body and the money may someday be found in the rugged
" Many believe he was killed when he parachuted and that his body and the money may someday be found in the rugged mountains north of Portland by some hunter or hiker. 1
The Journal said it made its offer in belief that if any of the money from the extortion is in circulation its readers may turn up one of, the bills.
The paper ran a list of some' of the seri numbers and said it would publish more later.
DB Cooper-23011
SUE B
(Indicate page, name of newspaper, city and state.)
p.A5 Seattle Post- Intelligencer Seattle, Wash.
Date:
11/23/73
Edition:
Final
Author:
Editor:
Dick Lyall
Title:
NORJAK
Character: or
Classification:
164-81
Submitting Office
Seattle Being Investigated
COPY SENT TO BUREAU 164-81-SulB
SEARCHED INDEXED SERIALIZED CE, FILED Lt M
NOV 27 1973
FBI-SEATTLE
NPetto, Press 11-24-74
Skyjacker, $200,000 Elude 3-Year Search
By B. J. MCFARLAND
PORTLAND, Ore. (UPI) - What happened to D. B. Cooper, history's first and only successful parachuting sky bandit?
Where is he and where did he slash the cash?
Cooper, history's first and only successful parachuting sky bandit?
Where is he and where did he slash the cash?
Three years ago on Thanksgiv- Ing Eve Cooper boarded a North- west Orient Airlines flight in Port- landi for a short hop to Seattle.
The plane wasn't off the ground five minutes when it all started ..
Cooper, threatening to sel'off an explosive, demanded and got $200,- 000 in $20 bills delivered, along with three parachutes, to the plane in Seattle.
After allowing the passengers to. get off, he ordered the crew to fly the 727 to Reno, following a course down western Washington and Ore- gon .before cutting across the mountains. Somewhere en route he bailed out the tail exit.
No trace of Cooper or the money- ever was found.
It set off a chain of similar sky-
jackings that changed the face of air travel.
But only Cooper beat the law at taking the money and jumping. The . law still is looking for him.
"The case is an active one, not only here but throughout the United States," said Julius Mattson, agent in charge of the Portland FBI of- fice.
"The case is an active one, not only here but throughout the United States," said Julius Mattson, agent in charge of the Portland FBI of- fice.
· "We're still getting leads," he said, "but not quite as heavy as we were. The case still is in the public , mind and when the public thinks of it, it also thinks of us.
"There really has been no sub- stantive development: The work : now is mostly eliminating possibil- ities, proving or disproving tips.
"Not one of the $20 bills has turned tip."
Cooper apparently strapped the money to his body for the jump. A theory that he may have fallen into Lake Merwin east of Woodland in southwest Washington about 30 miles north of Portland could not be proved following an exhaustive search by the FBI and Army troops from Ft. Lewis, Wash .:
Sub- B
Pittsburgh Press 11/24/74
164-81-Suk B
SEARCHED INDEXED SPECIALIZED FILED 120
DEC 2 1974 FBI-SEALILE
DB Cooper-230120
16-E-Press Register
Mobite, Sunday, Nov. H4, 1974
164-87- Ob B
SEARCHED .... ...... IMIEXED SERIALINTO O 2.
JAN 16 1978
FBI - SEATIL.
5
THE UNAILING SEARCH - A helicopter takes aff from search headquarters at Woodland, Wash.
JAN 16 1978
FBI - SEATIL.
5
THE UNAILING SEARCH - A helicopter takes aff from search headquarters at Woodland, Wash., to scour the atoa highjacker Dan Cooper might have parachuted into-two days before, Nov. 24, 1971. Exhaustive searches at the time brought no results. The flow of
clues, hints and tips from the publi: Bax slowed to a trickle now, and after checking out more than 1,000 Suspects the FBI says it knows little more about Cooper than on thestormy night he disappeared.
SKYDIVER INTO OBSCURITY - This is an artist's composite drawing of the hijacker known as Dan Cooper who leapt into history on Nov. 24, 1971. He parachuted from an airliner somehwere over southwest Washington state with $200,000 in $20 bills and there's been no sign of him since - although for a time he did live on as a folk hero of sorts. (Mobile Press Register AP Newsfeatures Photo)
,
DB Cooper-23013
f
Thanksgiving eve skyjacker still mystery
EDITOR'S NOTE - There's almost » chance that Dan Cooper, who prachuted from an alrilner with 200,000 strapped to his body, Is still five.
(Mobile Press Register AP Newsfeatures Photo)
,
DB Cooper-23013
f
Thanksgiving eve skyjacker still mystery
EDITOR'S NOTE - There's almost » chance that Dan Cooper, who prachuted from an alrilner with 200,000 strapped to his body, Is still five. But if he is, the statute of limi -. ations for his skyjack runs out Thanksgiving eve.
By JOE FRAZIER Associated-Press-Writer ----
PORTLAND, Cre. (AP) - A mis- rably wet, windy, cold Thanksgiving we in 1971.
Passengers waked at the Northwest Jrient Airlines tounter at Portland
on board and the jet, with only the crew and Cooper aboard, headed for Reno on Cooper's orders.
Then somewhere over southwest Washington, Cooper, with the 21 pounds of money strapped to him, bailed out.
He hasn't been heard from since.
If he's alive, and that's a big "if," the five-year statute of limitations runs out this Thanksgiving eve, Nov. 24.
Or does it?
"We're going ahead on the assump- tion that the statute .doesn't apply,
Cooper picked some of the roughest country in the Packis Sart wust.
He took two of the byr pirachules with him when he jarrey. One was a smiall, emergency chule of the type used by, stunt flyers.
He took two of the byr pirachules with him when he jarrey. One was a smiall, emergency chule of the type used by, stunt flyers. Under- ideal conditions, someone Who knew what he was doing might Erek an ankle or leg with it.
The other was a Irath chute used Tone
for demonstrations, The popis had been: sown shut. I' wouldn't have. opened.
The next night the Herr.cnacted the skyjacking usit. ; he, samo pland, crew, fuel load, speed fand aturtude.
It has been searched and re- parched in vain.
What would it take to find Cooper's remains, assuming they are there? 'I'd say it might take 5,000 men five Tea's. I mean, how do you search a factberry thicket higher than your head"
Loggers who work in the area agree wat oyotes, mountain lons or wild hes would make quick work of a pdy. Hier five years, they say, you night Ind a scrap or two of bone, if ttat,
Neverlicless, for a while Cooper yas a foh hero of sorte
There were imitators. Around the world, there were more than a dozen skyjacking attempts patterned after Cooper's.
or two of bone, if ttat,
Neverlicless, for a while Cooper yas a foh hero of sorte
There were imitators. Around the world, there were more than a dozen skyjacking attempts patterned after Cooper's. Cooper is the only one not known to have failed.
With increased airport security and modification of the Boeing 727 so the rear door wouldn't open in flight, the fad stopped.
The flow of clues, hints, and tips from the public about Dan Cooper has slowed to a trickle now. After check- ing out more than 1,000 suspects, the FBI says it knows little more about Cooper than it did on that stormy might wikan ha laant into history
highway flares. The bomb was red. Dynamite isn't. If the crew members had realized that, they might have called his bluff at the time. Himmelsbach said. "He's lucky he got as far as he did with a plan like that."
Even if the statute holds up, Ci gr will have problems.
The Internal Revenue Service com. putes his tax debt, including penalties and interest, at atout 3198.00). And the Globe Indemnity d'o , which had to pay $180044 to the aabre, may want to talk fo h. ">letter from
b6 b7C
with attached article dates 2/7/78
DB Cooper-23014Q
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16
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+ THE UNAILING SEARCH
">letter from
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DB Cooper-23014Q
JAR
16
8
+ THE UNAILING SEARCH - A helicopter takes off from search headquarters at Woodland, Wash,, to scour the area highjacker Dan Cooper might bave parachuted into two days before, Nov. 24, 1971. Exhaustive searches at the time brought no results. The flow of
clues, hints and tips from the publi tas slowed to a trickle now, and after checking out more than 1,00G suspects the FBI says it knows little more about Cooper than on the stormy night he disappeared.
SKYDIVER INTO OBSCURITY - This is an artist's composite drawing of the hijacker known as Dan Cooper who least into history on Nov. 24, 1971. He parachuted from an airliner somehwere over southwest Washington state will $200,003 it $25 billy and there's been no sign of him since - although for a time he did live on as a folk hero of sorts, (Mobile Press Register AP Newsfeatures Photo)
Thanksgiving eve skyjacker still mystery
EDITOR'S NOTE -- There's almost ø chance that Dan Cooper, who prachuled from an airliner with 200,000 strapped to his body, is still live.
Register AP Newsfeatures Photo)
Thanksgiving eve skyjacker still mystery
EDITOR'S NOTE -- There's almost ø chance that Dan Cooper, who prachuled from an airliner with 200,000 strapped to his body, is still live. But if he is, the statute of limi .. otions for his skyjack runs out Thanksgiving eve.
By JOE FRAZIER Associated Press Writer PORTLAND. Cre. (AP) - A mis- rably wet, windy, cold Thanksgiving ve in 1971.
Passengers waited at the Northwest Isient Airlines counter at Portland international Airport to book space on highl 105 to Seatle.
Many thought ahead to family tunions, turkey dnners, long relaxed onversations and perhaps a traditional game o bridge or Monopo- plater.
But one didn't.
Dan Cooper paidcash for his ticket, en. clutching a p.per sack, boarded e Bocing 727 for tie 30-minute flight.
A few minutes afer the plane nosed 'o the storm, he nade his move. He tard the stewardess what he said at & dinamite bomb and demanded w parachutes, $00,000 in $20 bills, 4 v. (sany slut."
ad te passengers but Cooper got & # Watde, unavare that anything &
f+ try and parachutes were put
on board and the jet, with only the crew and Cooper aboard, headed for Reno on Cooper's orders.
"
ad te passengers but Cooper got & # Watde, unavare that anything &
f+ try and parachutes were put
on board and the jet, with only the crew and Cooper aboard, headed for Reno on Cooper's orders.
Then somewhere over southwest Washington, Cooper, with the 21 pounds of money strapped to him, bailed out.
He hasn't been heard from since.
If he's alive, and that's a big "if." the five-year stalute of limitations runs out this Thanksgiving eve, Nov. 24.
Or does it?
"We're going ahead on the assump- tion' that the statute doesn't apply, because when he did what he did, capital punishment was a possibility, There's no statute on capital crimes," says FBI agent Ralph Himmelsbach.
Anyway, he says, chances are good that Cooper is dead.
"Not one of the 10.000 bills has. shown up, and we know the serial number of every one of them," he said, And Cooper apparently knew nothing about skydiving.
In a business suit and street shoes, he jumped from the rear door of a jet going 197 m.p.h. at 10,000 feet. At that elevation il was seven below zero that night, with a wind chill factor of 69 below zero.
at 10,000 feet. At that elevation il was seven below zero that night, with a wind chill factor of 69 below zero.
The plane was in clouds. "Up looked like down to him. He had no visual reference. He couldn't have possibly known where he was."
Cooper picked same of the roughest country in the Pacific Northureist.
He took Iwo of the four-parachutes with him when he jumped. One was a small emergency chute of the type. used by , Stunt flyers. Under ideal conditions, someone who knew what he was doing might break an ankle or Jeg with it.
The other was a training chute used for demonstrations. The panels had been sewn shut. - It Wouldn't have opened.
The next night the FIT re-enacted the skyjacking using the same plane, crew, fuel load, speed and altitude. The test helped Flight Jenineers and meteorologists to compute the probable drop zone to be Fattrapezoidal area covering about 25 square miles.
It has been searched and re- parched in-vain.
What would it take to find Cooper's rehains, assuming they are There?
It has been searched and re- parched in-vain.
What would it take to find Cooper's rehains, assuming they are There?
'I'd say it might take 5,000 men five years, I mean, how do you search a blackberry thicket higher than your beach"
Loggers who work in the area agree that Oyoles, mountain lions or wild dogs would make quick work of' a lody. After five years, they say, you night fod a scrap or two of bone, if tiat.
Neverlicless, for a while Cooper vas a fol: hero of sorts.
He was nacho. He was daring, He lidn't hurlanybody, but he ripped off i big corpration. And he beat the ÚZZ.
There were imitators. Around the world, there were more than.a. dozen skyjacking attempts patterned after Cooper's, Cooper is the only one not known to have failed.
With increased airport security and modification of the Boeing 727 so the rear door wouldn't open in flight, the fad stopped.
The flow of clues, hints, and tips from the public about Dan Cooper has slowed to a trickle now. After check- ing out more than 1.000 suspects.
The flow of clues, hints, and tips from the public about Dan Cooper has slowed to a trickle now. After check- ing out more than 1.000 suspects. the FBI says it knows little more about Cooper than it did on that stormy night when he leapt into history.
Himmelsbach said the whole thing was probably pul together wits minimal planning and that the tomb was a bundle of relatively formirs:
highway flares, The bomb was red. Dynamite Isn't. If the crew members had realized that, they might have called his bluff at the time, Himmelsbach said. "He's tucky he got as far as he did with a plan like that."
Even if the statute holds up. Ct er will have problems.
The Internal Revenue Service com- pules his tax debt, including penalties and interest, at about 3:99.740. And the Globe Indemnity Co., which had to pay $180.000 to the achine, may want to talk to himss
So now. what"
"We have $- 4. fapt the possibility "" ". m .. never know. " i stewar nad I guess we can
A LITTLE AT A TIME When painting 2 cell- ing with solvent-thinned paint, never try to paint an area more than two feet wide, says the National Paint and Coatings Association.
" i stewar nad I guess we can
A LITTLE AT A TIME When painting 2 cell- ing with solvent-thinned paint, never try to paint an area more than two feet wide, says the National Paint and Coatings Association. The dry edges of your laps may mar the finish- ed effect.
EX
DB Cooper-23015Press Register -- 15-E
Moblie, Sunday, Nov. 14, 1974
Russian Tea, fashions highlight Mobile's first condominium tour:
Cold weather is here, and with it a chance to journey on Nov. 23, into the world of Dr. Zhivago via the Greater Mobile Concerts Inc. A Russian Tea and fashion show which will follow an innovation in the homes tour scene.
The organization's Women's Committee has planned a tour of four condominiums at Place LeVert. After guests havet inspected the residences of Mr. - and Mrs. David Martin, Carl Glass, Mrs. Palmer Gaillard and N'r. and Mrs. Thomas Mccown, at 101, 108, 103 and 110 Place Levert, respectively, another tour is in store.
The second tour, at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Prince, 3950 Old Shell Road, will include peeks at this turn-of-the-century home and will offer sartorial and gustatory treats in the Russian fashion.
Arthur Prince, 3950 Old Shell Road, will include peeks at this turn-of-the-century home and will offer sartorial and gustatory treats in the Russian fashion.
A fashion show which stars ethnic styles from D.H. Holmes and a sampling of- Russian pas- tries and tea will take place infor- mally at the Prince home.
Tickets must be purchased from Marsyl Dees, 2015 Pt. LeGere, Mobile 36605 on or before Nov. 20. The price is $3. .
Chairman of the committee is Mrs. Arthur Prince. Committee chairmen are: reception: Mrs. Gerald Applegate; fashion show: Mrs. Harold Parkman; baked goods: Mrs. John W. Nelson ;: · mailing: Mrs. A.H. Boyd; music: Mrs. William Henry Curtright ;: and treasurer: Mrs. A. LaMont Dees. Guide chairmen are, for the Gaillard home, Mrs. Keville Larsen; for the McCowan home, Mrs. Jeff Beard; for the Glass home, Mrs. William B. Patton;, for the Martin home, Mrs. A. Mitchell Cobb; and for the Prince home, Mrs. Thimothy String.
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D. B. Cooper :- 'Home free' next year, if he's alive
PORTLAND - (UPI) - Just one more year and D. B. Cooper will be home free - if he is alive.
The five-year statute of limitations then will run out on hijacking charges against Cooper, the nation's first parachuting skyjacker, who used a bomb threat to extort $200,000.
He vanished from a Northwest Airlines 727, with his loot wrapped in one of his parachutes, on Thanks- giving eve, 1971.
Did he survive the jump, or is his body at the bottom of a lalje, hung in a tree or scattered by animals? These are some of the mys- teriesafter four years of in- vestigation.
"WE HAVE RUN down literally thousands of leads, and eliminated hundreds of people as suspects," says a senior Federal Bureau of Investigation agent who has spent much time on the case. "My personal guess is that there is just a 50 per cent chance that he is still alive."
Cooper arrived at Port- : land International Airport that wet, squally night near- ly four years ago, paid cash
"
Cooper arrived at Port- : land International Airport that wet, squally night near- ly four years ago, paid cash for his flight from Portland to Seattle, and spent 50 min- utes in an airport waiting area before boarding, but not one fellow passenger re- members him.
Shortly after take-off, Cooper handed a note to a stewardess that said: "I have a bomb in my brief case."
The F.B.I. agent says the stewardess reported seeing wires, in Cooper's attache case, connected to eight red sticks of dynamite.
"Dynamite is not color- coded this way. She was de- scribing highway flares," the agent said.
THERE IS SOME doubt that Cooper was an experi- enced parachutist, says the agent, since when Cooper jumped he took the two worst choices of the four parachutes given him at the Seattle-Tacoma Airport. where he obtained the $200,000 in $20 bills.
A world-champion para- chutist was quoted as say- ing "no amount of money". could induce him to make; the jump Cooper did, from 10,000 feet into heavy rain clouds.
But the F.
could induce him to make; the jump Cooper did, from 10,000 feet into heavy rain clouds.
But the F.B.I. is positive Cooper came down about 12 miles north of Portland in an area four miles by six miles.
Despite aerial and ground searches, no clues to Coop- er's fate have ever been. found.
None of the 10,000 bills in ransom have shown up ei- ther, even though The Ore- gon Journal offered a $1,000 reward for the first $20 from the Cooper haul turned in to the Portland newspaper.
Serial numbers of all of the bills were taken before the- money was given to Cooper and were distributed by the F.B.I. 1
DB Cooper-23017
Sus 3
(Indicate page, name of
newspaper, city and state.)
p.ALO Seattle Times Seattle, Wash.

Date:	11/23/75
Edition:	Final
Author:
Editor:	Jim King
Title:

NORJAK
Character:
Or 164-81-SubB
Classification: Submitting OfficeSeattle Being Investigated
SEARCHED INDEXED
SERIALIZED
Kak FILED NOV 28 1975 FBI --
Jim King
Title:

NORJAK
Character:
Or 164-81-SubB
Classification: Submitting OfficeSeattle Being Investigated
SEARCHED INDEXED
SERIALIZED
Kak FILED NOV 28 1975 FBI -- SEATTLE
IN
b6 b7CFD-350 (Rev. 7-16-63)
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D. B. Cooper. Another Year And He's a 'Bye-jacker 9
Sus B
PORTLAND. Ore. (UPI) - Just one more year and D.B. Cooper will be home free.
Thanksgiving begins the 365 day countdown for Cooper-the nation's first and only successful para- chuting skyjacker-who used highway nares as a bomb threat to extort $200,000 from Northwest Airlines.
The statute of limita- tions on the hijacking charge against Cooper is five years. The phantom figure vanished after para- chuting from a Northwest Airlines 727 with his Aloot on Thanksgiving eve, 1971.
Whether he survived the jump or his body is down at the bottom of a deep lake, hung in a tree or bis remains scattered by ani-
mals are some of the in- triguing questions : left unanswered by the exten- sive investigation thus far, "It's a very much ac- · tive investigation," said a senior FBI agent who has spent many hours on the case.
hung in a tree or bis remains scattered by ani-
mals are some of the in- triguing questions : left unanswered by the exten- sive investigation thus far, "It's a very much ac- · tive investigation," said a senior FBI agent who has spent many hours on the case. "We have run down literally thousands of leads, and eliminated hundreds of people as sus- pects."
"My personal guess is that there is just a 50 per cent chance that he is still ' olive."
The sheer lack of distin- guishing characteristics about Cooper and his abil- ity to move unobtrusively before the hijacking has balked the FBI's intense efforts to determine how he arrived at Portland In-
ternational Airport that wet. squally night.
He paid cash- for his flight from Portland to Se- attle, then spent 50 min- utes in an airport waiting area before boarding with- out one fellow passenger remembering him.
Shortly after takeoff, Cooper handed a note to a stewardess that said, "I have a bomb In my brief case."
The FBI agent said the stewardess described what she thought was the bomb as wires attached in Cooper's attache case to eight sticks of dynamite, the/same red color as her uniform.
"Dynamite is not color coded this way.
"
The FBI agent said the stewardess described what she thought was the bomb as wires attached in Cooper's attache case to eight sticks of dynamite, the/same red color as her uniform.
"Dynamite is not color coded this way. She was describing highway flares," the agent said,
The agent said there was doubt Cooper was an ex- perienced parachutist since when he jumped he took the two worst possi- ble choices of the four parachutes given him at the Seattle-Tacoma Airport where he obtained the $200,000 in $20 bills.
He said the chest chute he took was one that was sewn together for use in a parachute-assembling class and could not even be used for jumping, and the back chute was much smaller than the large chute he cut up to wrap the money in and tie it to him.
A world champion para- chutists was quoted by the agent as saying “Do amount of money" could induce him to make the jump Cooper did.
Jumping from 10,000 feet into heavy rain clouds, there was no way Cooper could have known where he was coming down, ac- cording to the FBI man.
But the FBI is positive that . Cooper came down about 12 miles north of Portland in an area four miles by six miles.
But the FBI is positive that . Cooper came down about 12 miles north of Portland in an area four miles by six miles.
Despite aerial and ground searches, including ohe the next spring using soldiers from Ft. Lewis, Wash., no clues to Cooper's disappearance have ever been toung. f
None of the 10,000 bills im ransom have shown up ei- ther, even though the Orp- gon Journal offered a $1,000 reward for the first $20 from the Cooper haut turned in to the Portland newspaper.
DB Cooper-23018
(Indicate page, name of newspaper, city and state.)
p. A18 Seattle Post- Intelligencer Seattle, Wash.
Date:
11/23/75
Edition: Final
Author:
Editor: Jack Doughty Title: NORJAK
Character: of 164-81-SubB
Classification:
Submitting Office:
Seattle Being Investigated
SEARCHED
INDEXED
SERIALIZED
But FILED Fib
NOV 28 1975 FBI -SEATTLE
IN
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Latest on D.B.
D. B. Cooper, the legendary skyjacker, alive and well in Tacoma? That's the case according to a news story in the Oregon States- man in Salem, Ore.
Cooper, the legendary skyjacker, alive and well in Tacoma? That's the case according to a news story in the Oregon States- man in Salem, Ore. According to Al Torelli, quoted in the story, D. B. Cooper hijacked a Boeing 727 be- tween Portland COOPER and Seattle Nov. 24, 1971, and para- chuted with $200,000 into a farm field near Woodburn, Ore., and has hidden the money. FBI agent Ralph Himmelsbach, in charge of the case, discounted the story, and said "there is no reason what- soever to think that we are in er- ftor in deciding he jumped over La Center, Wash." None of the money .. has ever turned up and Cooper's real identity has never been dis- covered. 1.
(Iridicate page, name of newspaper, city and state.)
Seattle Post- Intelligencer

Date: Edition:	4/25/78 Final
Author:
Editor:
Title:

Character:	Dub B
or
Classification:	164-81
7874
Submitting Office:
Final
Author:
Editor:
Title:

Character:	Dub B
or
Classification:	164-81
7874
Submitting Office:	Seattle

 Being Investigated
SEARCHED
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APR 25 1978
FBI-SEATTLE
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Skyjacker link to King death doubted
PORTLAND - (UPI) - Was D.B. Cooper involved in the assas- Isination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr .?
The Oregon Journal. reported yesterday that C.B.S. is looking into the possibility.
"A spokesperson for the net- work confirmed that a prelimi- nary investigation into a possible story for the Mike Wallace seg- ment of the 60 Minutes show is under way, but it has not proceed- ed far enough for scheduling," the newspaper said.
The Federal Bureau of Investi- : gation said it doubted a link be- tween the skyjacker who disap- peared with $200,000 in ransom and the King assassination.
The Federal Bureau of Investi- : gation said it doubted a link be- tween the skyjacker who disap- peared with $200,000 in ransom and the King assassination.
The Journal said New West magazine reported that a televi- sion crew filmed interviews in Seattle, Hawaii and Los Angeles and reportedly found people who knew Cooper.
The Journal said the story had been traced to Dirk Summers, a free-lance writer in Los Angeles, who says he received "a five-fig- ute" advance for a "docu-dra- ma."
The Journal said Summers was a former C.B.S. producer, but the network's personnel . records did not Jist him as having been a staff employe.
Ralph Himmelsbach of the. F.B.I. said, "We are not excited about all this," then added: "We know some things about Cooper "that others would not or could not know except Cooper himself. We feel we are able to sift wheat from. chaff."
Himmelsbach said the story may be an example of "hterary, license" and "I hope they don't publish it as the truth."
(Indicate page, name of
newspaper, city and sinte.)
p. A5 Seattle Time Seattle, Wa.
"
Himmelsbach said the story may be an example of "hterary, license" and "I hope they don't publish it as the truth."
(Indicate page, name of
newspaper, city and sinte.)
p. A5 Seattle Time Seattle, Wa.
Date:
4/18/78
Edition:
Final
Title:
Character:
or
164-81
Classification:
Submitting Office:
Seattle
Lub 6
164-81-7873
COPY SENT TO DUREAU
9
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b6
b7C FBI/DOJ
DB Cooper-23020FD-350 (Rev. 10-19-77)
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Did D.B. Help To Kill King?
PORTLAND, Ore. (UPI) -Was history's first and only successful aerial hijacker, D. B. Cooper, involved in the assassination of Martin Luther King?
The Oregon Journal yesterday reported that CBS Television is looking into the possibility.
The Journal said, 'A spokesperson for the network confirmed Mon- day that a preliminary investigation into a possi- ble story for the Mike Wallace segment of 60 Minutes show is under way, but it has not pro- ceeded far enough for scheudling."
Cooper disappeared after hijacking a North- west Oreint Airlines plane Thanksgiving Ever in 1971 on a flight from Portland to Seattle, Where he picked up $200,000 in ransom, then parachuted into oblivion.
"
Cooper disappeared after hijacking a North- west Oreint Airlines plane Thanksgiving Ever in 1971 on a flight from Portland to Seattle, Where he picked up $200,000 in ransom, then parachuted into oblivion.
The Portland office of the FBI, which still is investigating the Cooper heist, said it doubted a link with Cooper and the King assassination. The FBI also has expressed doubts Cooper survived his jump and may be al- ive today.
(Indicate page, name of newspaper, city and state.]
p.A7 Seattle Post- Intelligender Seattle, Wa.
Date: 4/18/78 Edition: Final
Title:
DubB
Character:
or 164-81-7872
Classification: Submitting Office: Seattle
SEARCHED !: SERIALIZE APR 4: 1978
1 FB1/ DOJ
b6 b7C
DB Cooper-23021FD-350 (Rev. 7-16-63}
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1 WHAT'S NEW/ by William Arnold
D.D. Geeper
The word is out that the identity of the nation's most legendary sky bandit has finally been discovered. A CBS "60 Minutes" reporter was in town recently interviewing witnesses to the 1970 skyjack and has got some positive identifications. The story that has leaked out is that the mysterious Mr.
A CBS "60 Minutes" reporter was in town recently interviewing witnesses to the 1970 skyjack and has got some positive identifications. The story that has leaked out is that the mysterious Mr. Cooper was a Northwest native who died a year or so · ago of natural causes. Apparently a friend of the bandit tried to sell the story to a Hollywood producer, who in turn tipped CBS. Remember, you read it here first.
(Indicate page, name of
newspaper, city and state.).
Seattle Post- Intelligencer, Seattle, Wash. "Northwest Magazine"
Date:
4/9/78
Edition:
Sunday
Author:
William Arnold
Editor:
Title:
Character:
oct B
OF
Classification:
164-81-7871.
Submitting Office:
Deattle Being Investigated
SEARCHED
SERIALIZED K
INDEXED 0= I !! CD
APR 17 1978
FRI-SEATTLE
b6
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DB Cooper-23022b6 b7C
February 7/1978
B
Federal Bureau of Investigation West 920 Riverside Spokane, Washington
Dear Sirs:
I recently saw the artists picture which is enclosed.
b6 It bears a striking resemblence to a former Spokane
b7C
Attorney,
1 who is well known in Spokane legal circles.
b6
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Spokane.
and the newspaper
Yours very truly,
b6 b7C
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sub B 164-81-7792
SEARCHED
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SERIALIZED_13 --
and the newspaper
Yours very truly,
b6 b7C
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SEARCHED
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FILED
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FEB 1 4 1978
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DB Cooper-23023 America's parachute skyjacker
: By BARRIE WATTS
AN FBI man has sworn he will never stop trying to solve one of America's most baf- fling mysterics-where is sky pirate D.B. Cooper?
Cooper, whose real identity has never been discovered, is believed to have parachuted from a hi- jacked Northwest Airlines Boeing 727, $200,000 in ransom strapped to his body, as it flew over rugged terrain in Washington State on · Nov. 24, 1971.
. But. military jets tailing the plane did not see him bail out. He and the money vanished without trace despite a massive, comput- er-coordinated manhunt.
Even so, Ralph Himmelsbach, an FBI special agent who has worked doggedly on the case since the beginning, told THE STAR he will never give up the search.
"I dearly want to get him," he said. "Someone, somewhere, must know who Cooper really is.
so, Ralph Himmelsbach, an FBI special agent who has worked doggedly on the case since the beginning, told THE STAR he will never give up the search.
"I dearly want to get him," he said. "Someone, somewhere, must know who Cooper really is. Sooner or later a clue must come to the surface."
To Himmelsbach, the Cooper affair is the greatest unsolved puzzle in modern-day piracy. But he has no respect or admiration for the man who hijacked the Northwest flight between Port- land, Ore., and Seattle, Wash., on that fateful day.
The flight began like any other for stewardess Florence Shaffner. She was checking that passengers had fastened their seatbelts when a tall, dark-complected man with black hair and sunglasses and wearing a dark suit handed her a . note.
Thinking he was just looking for a date, she stuck the note in her pocket. Then he ordered: "Look at it-now!"
As she read the note her eyes widened in horror. It said simply: "I have a bomb in my briefcase."
Seeing the shock on her face, another stewardess, Tina Muck- low, hurried over. Cooper showed her what was in the briefcase -- two red cylinders wrapped in wir- ing. She obeyed immediately when he ordered her to sit beside him.
Cooper showed her what was in the briefcase -- two red cylinders wrapped in wir- ing. She obeyed immediately when he ordered her to sit beside him.
As the jetliner roared into the sky, Cooper calmly explained what he wanted, so calmly that none of the other passengers even knew they were being hijacked.
Cooper said he wanted $200,000 in cash and two parachutes wait- Ing for him when the plane reached Seattle. If the airline balked or the crew refused to cooperate, he would blow up the plane with everyone in it.
B
Sketches of -D.B. Coop- er made after the hijack show bim as ordi- nary-look- ing. At left, he is pic- & tured. in sunglasses fie wore dur- ing hijack.
their own initiative airline offi- cials decided to amass the ran- som in $20 bills. There would be 10,000 of them, and their serial numbers would be recorded.
As the plane finally circled over Seattle, pilot William Scott played middleman in the negotiations. None of the flight crew ever saw Cooper. His orders were relayed by stewardess Mucklow. Mean- while the bored passengers yawned at the delay .
His orders were relayed by stewardess Mucklow. Mean- while the bored passengers yawned at the delay .. . ....
After 90 minutes of circling, anxious officials on the ground re- ported that the money and the parachutes were ready. Ground controllers watched nervously as the jet's navigation lights traced endless circles in the sky. No one knew what D.B. Cooper was real- ly up to, or even if there actually was a bomb.
At 5:45 PM the jet landed and · a car rushed out to planeside car- rying the ransom and the para- chutes. As a stewardess carried the loot to Cooper in the back of the plane, the passengers began to sense that something was wrong.
But the stewardesses quickly disembarked the 42 puzzled pas- sengers. Now, only the flight crew and stewardess Mucklow re-
mained aboard with the hijacker.
· As Cooper had ordered, the plane was refueled for a flight to Mexico, with one stop in Reno. Then a technical problem devel. oped in the refueling truck. As time dragged by pilot Scott ra- diced ground control in a trem- bling voice.
oped in the refueling truck. As time dragged by pilot Scott ra- diced ground control in a trem- bling voice. The man in back, he said, was getting "awful nasty."
Finally, when the jet was ready to go, a Federal Aviation Admin- istration official chose that mo- ment to go aboard and call on the skyjacker to surrender.
Cooper looked at him bleakly and growled: "Let's get this show on the road." The FAA man left fast.
When the iet was back in the air, Cooper told Tina Mucklow to "go forward, pull the curtain and don't come back."
It was the last anyone ever saw of Cooper. From that moment un- til he vanished into limbo, he communicated with the crew by phone.
Three Air Force jet fighters lurked above and behind the plane, anticipating that Cooper might jump. Radar followed the plane from the ground. .
The jet lumbered at low speed as Cooper called the flight deck. -' He told Scott to open the jet's rear door. Scott did as he was told. From the rear exit, which extended beneath the tail, debar- kation stairs led below and away from the fuselage.
From the rear exit, which extended beneath the tail, debar- kation stairs led below and away from the fuselage. Cooper was going to walk into space.
. Intensely cold air rushed into the cabin as the rear door was lowered. The plane was becoming harder to handle. Ice was building up on the windshield and the wings.
For 20 minutes there wasn't a word from the back of the plane. Only the scream of the wind. Scott called Cooper on the phone: "Anything we can do for you?"
. Silence for a few seconds. "No," Cooper finally . replied calmly. At 8:00 PM the crew felt a slight shift in the plane's bal- ance. Cooper was gone.
For 18 days a small army of soldiers, police, FBI men and dogs searched the rugged coun- tryside where Cooper was be- lieved to have landed. They found nothing. To this day, no one knows who D.B. Cooper really was, or if he is still alive.
DB Cooper-23024rU-3DV TROV. 10-18-777
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
200 (Maybe D.B.) Jumpin At Cooper Caper Party
ARIEL, Wash. - (AP) - The little town of Ariel was jumping Saturday as more than 200 people showed up for buffalo stew, beer and
- (AP) - The little town of Ariel was jumping Saturday as more than 200 people showed up for buffalo stew, beer and conversa- tion in memory of sky- jacker Dan Cooper.
The second annual Cooper Caper celebration commemorates the near- legendary skyjacker who collected $200,000 in $20 bills and parachuted from a hijacked airliner flying over the dense forests of southwestern Washington near here.
In jumping from the plane the night before Thanksgiving six years lago, Cooper either es- caped with a duffle bag
full of money - or he died in, the rugged for- ests.
In either event, he captured the imagination of a great many Ameri- cans.
Cooper, who hasn't been heard from since his famous caper, was invited to share the fes- tivities at the Ariel Store and Tavern, where Ger- maine Tricola sponsors the festival.
. Mrs. Tricola said she didn't know whether Cooper came to the party. But plenty of others showed up.
"It's really jumping here," Mrs. Tricola said. "We've had a couple of
hundred, people come by during the day" to sam- : ple the stew.
Tricola said. "We've had a couple of
hundred, people come by during the day" to sam- : ple the stew.
The stew is a major drawing card. It contains 35 pounds of buffalo meat and a large pile of potatoes, carrots and on- ions. The stew sells for a dollar a bowl and refills are free.
Asked what happens at a Cooper Caper cele- bration, Mrs. Tricola said, : "Well, we have some buf- falo stew and we have a couple of beers and we visit with all our friends .; Then we have some more buffalo stew and a little more conversation." 1
A parachute club from Portland, about 60 miles south of Ariel, was sup- posed to parachute into .the community. The jumps were canceled because of inclement , weather ..
The celebration is staged by Mrs. Tricola, who owns the store and tavern, who is assisted by " such people as Dave But- terfield, a parttime resi- dent who serves as pub- licity chairman.
Besides remembering Cooper's skyjacking feat, the celebration is de signed to bring a touch of prosperity to the settle- ment of about 250 people.
Besides remembering Cooper's skyjacking feat, the celebration is de signed to bring a touch of prosperity to the settle- ment of about 250 people.
SUB B
(Indicate page, name of newspaper, city and state.)
p.A3 Seattle Post- Intelligencer Seattle, Wa.
Date: 11/27/77 Edition: Final
Title:
Character:
or 16-4-81
Classification:
Seattle
Submitting Office:
But B
164-81-7730
COPY SENT TO BUREAU
SEARCHED
INDEXED
SERIALIZED 2
FILED
2
6 1977
FBI-SEATTLE
FBI/O
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DB Cooper-23025 .-Sunday, Nov. 2/, 19// Vancouver, Wash.
The COLUMBIAN
Few drawn to Cooper Caper
By COLUMBIAN STAFF, AP
ARIEL - Skies were overcast and people almost as scarce as D.B Cooper, himself, as this community near Mount St. Helens held its second annual party in honor of the legendary skyjacker's disappearance Saturday.
Only a handful of people gathered around a steaming cauldron of buffalo stew at the Ariel Store and Tavern. And inside the tavern where another 30 .people were gathered, beer flowed more freely than talk of old D.B., who either pulled off one of the greatest swindles of the age off died trying.
people were gathered, beer flowed more freely than talk of old D.B., who either pulled off one of the greatest swindles of the age off died trying.
Cooper parachuted from a Northwest Airlines jet with 10,000 $20 bills somewhere near Ariel, 10 milles northeast of Woodland, on Thanksgiving
Eve in 1971.
Not one of the bills has turned up, and there has been no trace of the man who gave his name as Dan Cooper when he bought the ticket that carried him into legend.
The Cooper Caper, as it is called, is sponsored mainly by Vince and Germaine Tricola, owners of the Ariel Store and Tavern, with the assistance of such people as Dave Butterfield; publicity chairman and chief stew stirrer, and a few others.
The avowed purpose of the celebration, aside from commemorating the fete of skyjacker Cooper, is to bring a little prosperity to the settlement of about 250 people who in ordinary iffe do such things as work in a shingle mill.
As one resident put it: "We hope Cooper will show up and spend some of those $20 bills."
But Cooper did not show up Saturday and no one seemed particularly surprised.
As one resident put it: "We hope Cooper will show up and spend some of those $20 bills."
But Cooper did not show up Saturday and no one seemed particularly surprised.
"I've been looking, but I haven't seen him yet," Butterfield said, grinning as he stirred the stew. "We'd like him to show, but he probably won't. He's one of the few truly free men - if he's alive. I kinda think of him as being like Robin Hood."
Despite six years of sleuthing, the FBI sayl.it does not know who Cooper is - or was,
Some people think Cooper's bones may belin Lake Merwin, which is right next to Ariel, orlin the dense woods in the immediate area,
7
EEL SEATTLE
DFC 1
SERIALIZED A FILED 2
SEARCHED
164-81-7727
FBYTUOJ
1977
INDEXED
TV
Submitting Office: Seattle
or
Classification:
Character:
Title:
Edition:
Date:
11/27/77
164-81
Vancouver, Wash.
The Columbian
Page 21
newspaper, city and state.)
(Indicate page, name of
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DB Cooper-23026
FD-350 (Rev. 10-19-77)
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
Sur(Mount Clipping In Space Below)
D.B. Cooper's fate
P RESS-association reports on the hijacking of a Frontier Airlines jetliner in Nebraska re- 'ferred to the "successful hi-
Cooper's fate
P RESS-association reports on the hijacking of a Frontier Airlines jetliner in Nebraska re- 'ferred to the "successful hi- jacking" of a plane by "D.B. Cooper" after take-off from Seattle on Thanksgiving Eve, 1971.
We beg to take issue with our wire-service colleagues. There is no evidence that Cooper's ep- isode was successful.
True, Cooper bailed out over Southwest Washington and dis- appeared. True, the ransom funds he carried have never turned up.
But chances are, Cooper's re- mains and those of a torn para- chute will be found some day in the limbs of a tree in the track- less forests of Clark or Cowlitz County. The money will be there, too.
If Cooper had fallen into the hands of the law at the time of this misbegotten adventure, he imight have been out on parole jtoday. Probably that would have been a more "successful" outcome; for 'him- than - what really happened. 9
- Dwight Schear
SUBB
(Indicate page, name of
newspaper, city and state.)
p. ALO Seattle Times Seattle, Wa.

Date: 10/23/77
Edition:	Sunday
Author:
Date: 10/23/77
Edition:	Sunday
Author:
Editor:	James B. King
Title:
Character:	sub- 15
or	164-81-7770

Classification:
Submitting Office:
Seattle 
Being Investigated
COPY SENT TO BUREAU
SEARCHED
8 INDZVED,
HOY
19,7
SEATTLE IN
y
b6 b7C .T
DB Cooper-23027Sv _ 4
A
Gentlemen :
you may be interested in Checking what the associates of this gang were doing when a northwest air lines flave was hi-packed for $200 000.
b6 b7C
Sub B 164-81-7476 4 N
y
DB Cooper-23028b6 b7C
JOBBERY, SMUGGLING
Adventurer pleads guilty on 3 charges
1
William D. Cooper, a 46-year- old Willow River, Minn., adyen- turer who once tried to lead a snowmobile trip across the north pole to Moscow, has pleaded guilty to bank robbery, marijuana and money smuggling, and mak- ing illegal gun purchases.
He faces up to 24 years in fed- eral prison when sentenced with- in a month.
to lead a snowmobile trip across the north pole to Moscow, has pleaded guilty to bank robbery, marijuana and money smuggling, and mak- ing illegal gun purchases.
He faces up to 24 years in fed- eral prison when sentenced with- in a month.
Cooper pleaded guilty yesterday to three indictments before U.S. District Judge Joseph Alsop 'in St. Paul. He admitted smuggling marijuana across the Mexican bor- der, flying some of it across him- self. Subsequently, the marijuana. was transported to the Twin Cities, mostly by automobile,
He also pleaded guilty to taking more than $100,000 into Mexico without reporting it to customs officers and to buying two revolv- ers, illegal for a convicted felon.
Last week, he pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge' Miles Lord to being involved in the Jar
22, 1974, robbery of the Sturgeon Lake (Minn.) State Bank. Three others have been charged in that crime. None of the $4,960 taken in the robbery was recovered.
Cooper and a son are owner-op- erators of a hunting and fishing lodge in northwest Canada.
DB Cooper-23029PROCLAIM LIBERTY
USA 13g ALWAYS U
OUGHOUT ALL THELAND
22 APR 1977
ZIP CODE
b6 b7C
Federal Bureau OF INVESTIGATION Seattle, WASHINGTON.
DB Cooper-23029PROCLAIM LIBERTY
USA 13g ALWAYS U
OUGHOUT ALL THELAND
22 APR 1977
ZIP CODE
b6 b7C
Federal Bureau OF INVESTIGATION Seattle, WASHINGTON.
DB Cooper-23030OPTIONAL FORM NO. 10 JULY 1979 EDITION GSA FPMR (4: CFR) 101-11,6 UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT Memorandum
TO
:
SAC, SEATTLE (164-81)
DATE:
1/26/77
FROM
APIC, LOS ANGELES (164-497) (P) (13)
SUBJECT:
NORJAK
00: Seattle
Enclosed for the information of Seattle is a xerox copy of an item appearing in "Variety," a Hollywood, California, daily publication concerning a novel regarding D. B. COOPER by DARRELL BOB HOUSTON, represented by Avatar Productions, 4026 Evanston Avenue N., Seattle. The article appeared in the 12/3/76, issue.
2 - Seattle (Encl. 1) Reci nab 1 - Los Angeles crs/aml (3)
DubB 164-81-7341
5010-150
Buy U.S. Savings Bonds Regularly on the Payroll Savings Plan
N DB Cooper-23031FD-350 (Rev. 7-16-63)
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
Jury indicts 'D. B. Cooper'
PORTLAND - (AP) - On Thanksgiving Eve, 1971, a hijacker known as Dan Cooper parachuted from a Northwest Airlines 727 jet between Seattle and Portland.
Cooper'
PORTLAND - (AP) - On Thanksgiving Eve, 1971, a hijacker known as Dan Cooper parachuted from a Northwest Airlines 727 jet between Seattle and Portland.
He and the $200,000 he took with him haven't been heard from since.
Yesterday, hours before the nor- mal five-year statute of limitations. on the crime expired, a federal grand jury in Portland handed down an indictment against "John Doe, also known as Dan Cooper."
And, to add to the mystery, a pair of tattered, moss-stained pants have been found this fall high in a free near where . Cooper was be- ieved to have bailed out.
Jack Collins, first assistant Unit- fed States attorney in Portland, said
the attorney's office sought the in- dictment because the five-year stat- ute of limitations may apply in the case, but he said federal investiga- tors still have no idea what hap- pened to Cooper.
Orders to obtain the indictment came from Deputy Attorney Gerier- al Richard Thornburg, head of the criminal division of the Justice De- partment, Collins said.
One count charges Cooper with air piracy, the other accuses him of interstate commerce by extortion.
One count charges Cooper with air piracy, the other accuses him of interstate commerce by extortion.
Meanwhile, Federal Bureau of In- vestigation agents searched an area of thick vegetation in Clark County, Washington, after a farmer and a logger found a pair of tattered, moss-stained pants in. a tree near
Ivhere Cooper is believed to have bailed out.
Cooper was dressed in a business "suit and took two of the worst parar chutes aboard the plane with him. When he jumped, the wind chill fac- tor was 69 degrees below zero. ;
At least one of his two parachutes would not have opened, investiga- tors say, and the other, an emer- gency chute, would have given him a hard landing in the rugged ter- rain.
. If he didn't survive the jump, log- gers familiar with the area say coy- . otes, bears, cougars and wild dogs would have made quick work of his body. 1
Cooper also sometimes calledt himself D.B. Cooper, and he is pop ularly known by those initials.
J
5:0. 1
(Indicate page, name of newspaper, city and state.
Cooper, and he is pop ularly known by those initials.
J
5:0. 1
(Indicate page, name of newspaper, city and state.)
p.A5 Seattle Times Seattle, Wash.

Date:	11/25/76
Edition:	Final
Author:
Editor:	Jim King
Title:

NORJAC
Character: of
Classification:
164-81
Submitting Office:
Seattle Being Investigated
164-81-SUBE
SEARCHED INDEXES. SERIALIZEDOf FILED.26- 0
DEC 6 1976
E
b6 b7C
DB Cooper-23032(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
D. B. COOPER The parachuting skyjacker
LIVES in Derrell Sob Houston's dynamite novel
"King of the Midnight Blue" (Banned at all airports) New available as a film property Rep .: Avatar Productions 4026 Evanston Avc. N. Seattle, Washington 95103
Phone: (206)633-3973 (206) 282-0402
Sub B
(Indicate page, nune of newspaper, city and state.)
P-10 VARIETY
HOLLYW JUD,
0
Date:
12/3/76
Edition: Daily .
Author:
Editor:
Thomas M.
Seattle, Washington 95103
Phone: (206)633-3973 (206) 282-0402
Sub B
(Indicate page, nune of newspaper, city and state.)
P-10 VARIETY
HOLLYW JUD,
0
Date:
12/3/76
Edition: Daily .
Author:
Editor:
Thomas M. Pry
Title:
Character: or
Classification:
Submitting Office: Being Investigate !
Los Angeles
164-447 SubB 164-81-7340
COM DB Cooper-23033(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
Sky divers help celebrate hijacking
ARIEL, Wash. (AP) - Sky divers plummeted into an empty campground and souvenir sweatshirts sold briskly as the people of Ariel celebrated the fifth anniversary of sky-pirate Dan Cooper's mysterious parachute jump.
The "Cooper Caper," as the weekend festivity was dubbed, commemorated the skyjacking that gave this town of 400 persons its biggest claim to fame.
. It was a stormy night - Nov. 24, 1971 - when the. skyjacker who called himself Dan Cooper hijacked a Northwest Airlines 727, collected $200,000 and bailed out somewhere between Seattle and Reno.
Cooper never was found, Neither was the money. Of such stuff legends are made.
One man in the Ariel bar, where' Cooper af- ficionados congregated Saturday, swore he heard the airplane door slam shut that night.
One man in the Ariel bar, where' Cooper af- ficionados congregated Saturday, swore he heard the airplane door slam shut that night.
The FBI reportedly has followed that lead, like dozens of others, into a dead end.
Authorities theorized that Cooper jumped out around Ariel or Merwin Dam in southwestern Washington, about 30 miles north of Portland, Ore. That was excuse enough for Ariel to throw the Cooper bash this weekend.
As part of the festivities, six sky divers parachuted to earth outside Ariel Saturday. Their landing target, a big white cross marked on the ground, prompted one little girl to ask: "Daddy, Daddy, is that where D.B. Cooper landed?"
Sweatshirts bearing Cooper's name sold briskly at a stand in Ariel. Passersby thumbed through a book about the skyjack. A goat, whose real name is Fred, was tethered to a tree beneath a sign which reads "Cooper Reincarnated?"
A dummy hung from a parachute slung over the roof of the Ariel general store. Signs about towho asked, "Will the real D.B. Cooper step forward?"
DB Cooper-23034
J
(Indicate page, name of
newspaper, city and state.
Signs about towho asked, "Will the real D.B. Cooper step forward?"
DB Cooper-23034
J
(Indicate page, name of
newspaper, city and state.)
p.1 Spokesman Review Spokane, Wash.
Date:
11/29/76
Edition:
#199
Author:
Editor:
Title:
NORJAC
Character:
of
Classification : 164-81
Submitting Office: Seattle Being Investigated
164-81-SubB
ANCHED.
INDEXSO
10
DEC 6 1976
ATTLE
N
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F
b7CFD-350 (Rev. 7-16-63)
(Mount Clipping In Space Below)
Swi B
Cooper Caper' lacked only its guest of honor
ARIEL, Cowlitz County --- (AP) - The partygoers, who came from as far away as Phoe- nix, Anchorage and Hollywood, dined on buffalo stew, watched a commemorative sky jump and speculated on the whereabouts of the guest of honor.
The skyjacking legend, D.B. Cooper, was a no-show as the : people of this Southwestern Washington town put on a week- end shindig to celebrate the fifth anniversary of his. parachute jump into infamy.
"He would have been wel- come," said Germaine Tricola, proprietress of the general store and tavern. "But we looked at everybody's face who came in the door and we didn't see him.
"He would have been wel- come," said Germaine Tricola, proprietress of the general store and tavern. "But we looked at everybody's face who came in the door and we didn't see him."
On the night of November 24, 1971, a skyjacker calling himself Dan Cooper hijacked a North- west Airlines 727 on a flight from Portland. He collected $200,000 Fansom in Seattle and bailed out before the plane landed again at Reno.
Cooper and the money were never found but authorities spec- ulated he hit the silk above Mer- win Lake, close enough to Ariel to serve as an excuse for a party in the town of 400.
The "Cooper Caper," as the festivity was dubbed, featured skydivers plummeting, into a va -. cant campground, musicians,. Cooper sweatshirts and a goat named Fred tethered beneath 8 sign reading, "Cooper' Reincar- nated?" ... . visto.
Mrs. Tricola said her buffalo stew "went over real good" and estimated 700 to 800 participated in the celebration, a large crowd .. -for a community that boasts only a shake mill and a post office be- sides the store and tavern. .
.Cooper, who used the name "Dan" when he bought his tick- et, was indicted for air piracy by a federal grand jury in
Cooper, who used the name "Dan" when he bought his tick- et, was indicted for air piracy by a federal grand jury in Portland on Wednesday, just hours beforei the 5-year statute of limitations ran out. 2
8
DB Cooper-23035
(Indicate page, name of
newspaper, city and state.)
p.D15 Seattle Times Seattle, Wash.
Date:
11/29/76
Edition:
Final
Author:
Editor: Jim King
Title:
NORJAC
Character:
OF
Classification:
164-81
Submitting Office:Seattle Being Investigated
164-81-SubB
SEARCHLU.A INDEYER SERIALIZED: 14- FILED
DEC 6 1976
TLE b6
b7CA. One article dated 11/14/76 appearing in Sunday Oregonian " Alive or DEAD "
B. Seattle Times 11/25/16 Jung Indicts D.B. Cooper
DB Cooper-23036FD-350 (Rev. 7-16-53)
(Mount Clipping In Space Below)
Svg. B
D.B. Cooper still isn't out of the woods 5 years after skyjack
PORTLAND - (UPI): - D.B. Cooper, wherever you are, hear this:
The statute of limitations does not protect you or the $200,000 you ex- torted in the nation's only success- ful skyjacking for ransom.
Besides, if you do show up the In- ternal Revenue Service will be.
statute of limitations does not protect you or the $200,000 you ex- torted in the nation's only success- ful skyjacking for ransom.
Besides, if you do show up the In- ternal Revenue Service will be. waiting with a -tax bill for an amount greater than you extorted.
This may all be academic, howev- er, since the Federal Bureau of In- vestigation thinks Cooper is dead somewhere in the blackberry bush- es of a remote Southwestern Wash- ington area where he will never be found.
Cooper, the name used on a pas- senger list, became a modern-day legend when he. forced Northwest Airlines to hand over $200,000 by hi- jacking a Boeing 727 on Thanksgiv- Ing Eve five years ago.
. He extorted the money under threat of blowing up the plane afterl. it had taken off from Seattle-Taco mija-International Airport. Then hp Vanished by parachute.
The Federal Bureau of Investiga-
tion has kept the case on the active file, giving the impression the skyjacking fell under the statute of limitations. In other words, if Coop -. er was not caught and charged by. this Thanksgiving Eve, he was le. gally free.
But United States Attorney 'Sid- ney Lezak said that since Cooper is considered a fugitive the statute
But United States Attorney 'Sid- ney Lezak said that since Cooper is considered a fugitive the statute of limitations does not go into effect until authorities are aware of where Cooper is and are able to start pros- ecution.
.In addition, the, I.R.S. has esti- mated Cooper would owe $217,523 in taxes and penalties ' more than the original boodle -`plus a possi- ble $60,000 in civil penalty.
Some feel Cooper did not. live when he bailed out of the 727 near the Lewis River in Southwest Wash- ington. Agents said the blackberry bushes are so dense in the area where Cooper bailed out that it has been impossible to conduct an el- fective search, WE Ka
x
(Indicate page, name of newspaper, city and state.)
p.A4 Seattle Times Seattle, Wash.
Date:
11/21/76
Edition:
Final
Author:
Editor:
Jim King
Title:
NORJAK
Character: Or
Classification:
164-81-B
Submitting Office:
Seattle Being Investigated
CO Y SENT TO BUREAU
ACHED INDEXED SERIALIZED FILEDUAS 0
NOV 30 1976
TTLE
b6 b7C
DB Cooper-23037D-350 (Rev.
Or
Classification:
164-81-B
Submitting Office:
Seattle Being Investigated
CO Y SENT TO BUREAU
ACHED INDEXED SERIALIZED FILEDUAS 0
NOV 30 1976
TTLE
b6 b7C
DB Cooper-23037D-350 (Rev. 7-16-63)
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
Sus B
(Indicate page, name of
newspaper, city and state.)
The Columbian p,1
Vancouver, Wash.
Date:
11-25-76

Edition:	Home, evening
Author:	DAVID KERN
Editor!	KEN RYSTRON
Title:	Managing Ed.

Character;
164-81
or
Classification:
Submitting Office:
Seattle Being Investigated
164-11-SubB
INDEXED
FILED NOV 2 9 1975
N
b6 b7C
DB Cooper-23038A. Satle terna 11/21/26 Dateline-Portland " D.B. Cooper Still Don't out of the Woods ...
DB Cooper-23039FD-350 (Rev. 7-18-63]
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
Stolt photo by Rold Blackburn
FBI agents return to their cars after unsuccesful search: Wednesday.
Cooper' pants report awaited
By DAVID KERN Columbian Staff Writer
ARIEL - FBI agents are waiting for a crime laboratory report before deciding whether a pair of pants found by a rancher in the Green Mountain area of
Cooper' pants report awaited
By DAVID KERN Columbian Staff Writer
ARIEL - FBI agents are waiting for a crime laboratory report before deciding whether a pair of pants found by a rancher in the Green Mountain area of northern Clark County will be a good clue in the five-year-old case of skyjacker
John Reed, agent in charge of the FBI's Seattle office, said when he told agents in the crime laboratory in Washington, D.C .; that he would be sending them back a pair of dress. trousers which might be five years old they responded: "Geez, that's really far out but we'll kick it around."
Seven agents searched for 3 4% hours Wednesday for any clues in the area where rancher William Lynch found the trousers.
"Nothing." responded FBI agent John Pringle when he came out of the wooded area. And Reed said no more searches in the surroundings are scheduled.
"We should have a preliminary crime laboratory report by Friday or Monday," Reed said. He said that report might indicate where the laundry tag came from, whether the pants appeared to have weathered five years of the elements and other possible clues.
"There's a lot of leads that could come from one pair of pants," Reed said.
might indicate where the laundry tag came from, whether the pants appeared to have weathered five years of the elements and other possible clues.
"There's a lot of leads that could come from one pair of pants," Reed said. But, he admitted, "Nothing looks good right now.
'It was Nov. 25, 1971, that a man who identified
himself as Dan Cooper hijacked a. Northwest Orient Airlines 727 jetliner, gained a $200,000 ransom, and ordered the jet be flown from Seattle to Mexico with a refueling stop In Reco, Nev. He parachuted from the alrplane; clutching a briefcase full of the money in $20 billy, 'the. the plane was 36,minutes dut'of Seattle.
memy Asked If the found slacks could have the planted by correode wanting to play & practical; Joke ;: Reed sald: "The " pants are possible, evidence as far as I'm concerned. This fust hap- pens to be the fifth anniversary and these park came in."
Rancher Lawrence Shinn hardly noticed the three FBI cars which were parked only a stone's; throw from his barn off an abandoned logging road Wednesday.
Later, he poured a cup of coffee and sald, .yes, the case of Dan Cooper had created at least a ripple of interest in this mountain ranching community.
yes, the case of Dan Cooper had created at least a ripple of interest in this mountain ranching community.
"I've set here a million times and satd old Cooper is up in that timber," Shinn' said, pointing north from a table near a kitchen windown.
"To my knowledge, nobody has been ta that area - only by helicopters. The wind was really howling that night and the there was a driving rain," Shinn remembered.
"The helicopters were three or four abreast going back and forth," Sbinn added. Both Shinn and his wife, Maude, said Cooper
probably would have had a difficult time surviv- ing because of his fall and the weather that night: The wind was blowing at 30 to 55 miles per hour!
'I have my doubts that he survived because it was quite cold that night," Mrs. Shinn sald.
Cattle rancher William Lynch was reluctant to comment; on the trousers he found, He sald It? was up to the Authorities to determine if they belonged to Coupert
; Lynch spotted the slacks about 25 feet above the ground in a tree while hunting about, one month ago.
was up to the Authorities to determine if they belonged to Coupert
; Lynch spotted the slacks about 25 feet above the ground in a tree while hunting about, one month ago." After reading some stories about Cooper," he called, the . Clark County Sheriff's' Office to report his find.
Those slacks were resting crotch up in the tree so that some parts had green moss stains and large tears were in the thighs and knees.
The material seemed to be a double knit type, and the blue gray slacks are continental style.
Whether Cooper . could have worn them is. uncertain. The pants have & 36 inch watst and about a 33 inch inseam, according to Dick Dyer, FBI agent in Vancouver. Cooper was described as being about 170 pounds and about 5 feet 10. If those dimensions were accurate, the pants might have been too large to fit the famed skyjacker.
While the FBI waits for a crime laboratory report, folks in these parts may be stopping in at a party in Cooper's honor at the Ariel Store Saturday.
.
F
DB Cooper-23040(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
Deadline Indictment D. B. Cooper-A Race With Time
UPI, AP, P-I Staff
A federal grand jury in Portland yesterday, working against
Cooper-A Race With Time
UPI, AP, P-I Staff
A federal grand jury in Portland yesterday, working against time, in- dicted history's first parachute sky- jacker. D.B. Cooper, who five yeard ago jumped from a Northwest Orien jetliner with a $200,000 cash ranson and disappeared.
The indictment, returned in Port- land, listed a fictitious "John Doe also known as Dan Cooper," the lat-
ter a name that appeared on the skyjacker's airline ticket.
Cooper has never been found, but a Justice Department official said the indictment was obtained because of uncertainty over whether the five- year statute of limitations applied in the aerial' hijacking case.
The Post-Intelligencer has offered al $5,000 reward for information leading to Cooper's arrest and conviction. The offer expires on December 31, 1976.
Northwest Orient Airlines has said
it. will pay $25,000 for recovery of the entire ransom, or 15 per cent of any lesser amount recovered.
1
· Clutching the ransom, Cooper' ap- parently went out the rear exit of the plane on Thanksgiving Eve.
1
· Clutching the ransom, Cooper' ap- parently went out the rear exit of the plane on Thanksgiving Eve. 1971, near Lake Merwin between Kelso and Van couver in Southwest .Washington.
No established trace of the skyjack- er has ever been found. However, an FBI laboratory is examining a pair of tattered trousers discovered two
weeks ago by a hunter in the Mer- win area.
FBI spokesmen have said the gar- ments could be a hoax, timed for the fifth anniversary of Cooper's coup.
But seven FBI agents, equipped: with axes and shovels, searched more than three hours yesterday in the area where the pants were found hanging in a tree about 25 feet off the ground.
"We' searched and we didn't find anything else," said John Pringle, as-
sistant agent-in-charge of the Seattle FBI office. "There's no way anybody can say whether his body is in lhere.
"I have no idea whether "we're coming back," Pringle said. "The un dergrowth is extremely thick and it's been five years. You never know. We have to see what the lab says.
"The un dergrowth is extremely thick and it's been five years. You never know. We have to see what the lab says."
Ray Mathis, FBI. spokesman in Seattle, said there was no
reason to "play the pants discovery up or down . . . We check out all leads in this case." : "The lab tests will disclose whether or not the pants are five years; (ld, and if they aren't then there goes that lead," Mathis said. The FBI has investi- gated more than 800 feads in the Cooper ca- per. Its agents have re- ported they are still looking at about 15 per- sons in the case.
Sus B
(Indicate page, name of
newspaper, city and state.)
p.Al Seattle Post- Intelligencer Seattle, Wash.
Date:
11/25/76
Edition: Final
Author:
Editor:
Jack Doughty
Title:
₹ NORJAC
Character of
Classification:
164-81 - SubB
Submitting Office:
Seattle Being Investigated
COPY SENT TO BUREAU
SEARCHED.
INDEXED
SERIALIZEDAM FILED Con 0 8
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DB Cooper-23041Many people believe that the five year feder- al statute of limitations on Cooper ran out yes- terday, and that he can now emerge to spend the loot of 10,000 $20 bills.
INDEXED
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DB Cooper-23041Many people believe that the five year feder- al statute of limitations on Cooper ran out yes- terday, and that he can now emerge to spend the loot of 10,000 $20 bills.
The indictment . of Cooper was returned just hours before the statute of limitations ran out.
Justice Department of- fitials in Washington, D.C., noted that their at- tempt earlier this year to prosecute New Jersey
Teamster leader Antho- ny Provenzano for a 1961 kidnap-slaying was thrown out of court by a federal judge who ruled that the statute of limi- tation had expired a decade ago.
But Stan Pitkin, who recently resigned as U.S. Attorney for West- ern Washington, claims the case against Cooper is very much alive.
Pitkin argues that air piracy with threat of bodily harm is a capital offense. He says federal capital cases can re- main "active" forever, or until a suspect is brought to trial and guilt is decided.
Pitkin also claims there is a federal tax case to be made against Cooper - the $20 bills, their serial numbers carefully recorded, -have never been spent. The statute of limitations on tax cases is six years.
also claims there is a federal tax case to be made against Cooper - the $20 bills, their serial numbers carefully recorded, -have never been spent. The statute of limitations on tax cases is six years.
But while FBI agents combed nearby wood- lands, the tiny town of Ariel, near Lake Mer- win, planned a Saturday night party observing the fifth anniversary of Cooper's jump.
Mrs. Germaine Trico- la. owner of the Ariel Stbre, said she is spon- soring the party because " ... It's pretty quiet around here this time of year."
FBI AGENT Dick Dyer of Vancouver, Wash., left, and Sheriff Gene Cotton of Clark County examine a pair of pants found in a tree about 25 feet off the ground in southwest Washington, The pants might have been worn by history's first, and only successful, parachute skyjacker, D. B. Cooper. - AP Photo.
DB Cooper-23042n
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៛ Republie photos by Lue Koaton
Women's THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC Forum
(Section A) Page 14 O Monday, August 18, 1975
The Josephs believe .: polygamy is a life-style dictated by Scriptures; ideal for their large family
Content with their lifestyle; Carmen, Joan and Judy, from, left
Polygamist's wives' life-style
By CAROL SOWERS
Just two days after she
dictated by Scriptures; ideal for their large family
Content with their lifestyle; Carmen, Joan and Judy, from, left
Polygamist's wives' life-style
By CAROL SOWERS
Just two days after she met him, Judy Witherspoon married Alex Joseph.
"I would be hard pressed to tell you how it happened," she said, care- fully reaching for words. . "It was just a recognition of the things I'd been looking for in a man. I found them in him."
At least 12 other women -- maybe more - agree with Judy. For them, Alex Joseph, .39, the ponytailed polygamist of Glen Canyon City, Utah, offers a life -. style they had been searching for but unable to find until, as they chorused over- and over again - "until we met Alec". (their pet name for Joseph),
Joan, who married Joseph two and one-half years ago explained their attrac- tion to him simply, as if she had said it many times before:
"He has dignity, goodness; respectability. He is doing what he wants to do -". building and expanding God's world. Alec has so much more integrity that oth- er people can't comprehend it."
She said even the parents of some of his young wives are becoming reconciled to their way of life because, as Judy put it, "they
"
She said even the parents of some of his young wives are becoming reconciled to their way of life because, as Judy put it, "they know Alec is no mad man." "The publicity has helped," she added
Three of Joseph's wives, Judy, Joan and Carmen, were with their husband in. Peoria Friday following Joseph's preliminary hearing in which Judge John Snure determined he would have to face trial on charges of possessing a stolen helicop- ter.
In Utah, Joseph is also battling the Bureau of Land Management which claims he is illegally homesteading federal 1 and near Glen Canyon City, site of his ranch and two of his five homes.
Following Friday's hearing, Joseph and his wives gathered in the city park to talk about polygamy-a lifestyle they belle is dictated in the Scriptures and is glowing with a sense of freedom not found. in monogamous marriages.
- "It is the nature of a man to love several women," Joan said. "If women were free.of their rotten training they wouldn't be jealous of those other women."
The three young women agreed that because there are so many wives to han- die responsibility each of them is free to pursue
"
The three young women agreed that because there are so many wives to han- die responsibility each of them is free to pursue her own interests such as read- ing, law or art.
Joan, who met Joseph while she was attending a college in Missoula, Mont., and living with Carmen and Judy, said she is Joseph's sixth wife. :
She added with a smile, "We never court, but since people need a number we tell them 13."
Joan said she simply "ran away" to many Joseph.
. Before meeting Joseph she said, "I didn't want to submit to anyone less intel- ligent than I was. But I could see myself as his chattel property with no prob- at all."
"That's the disaster with so many monogamous marriages," Judy interjected, "women often marry men less intelligent than they are' and can't stand submit-, ting themselves to them."
She added she had quit dating in college because she was uninterested in the men she met there. .
Shortly after. Joan married Joseph, Carmen and Judy met him and be- came two more family members. The women said their marriages were per- formed in religious ceremonies they claim are modelled after those used in the
The women said their marriages were per- formed in religious ceremonies they claim are modelled after those used in the Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. These are not legal civil ceremonies: Joseph is an ex-communicated Mormon who says he has founded his own religion.
Deep at the root of that religion is polygamy which he claims was practiced by Biblical prophets including Abraham, Solonon and Jesus.
Joseph said he began practicing polygany five years ago when he decided that in order to follow the prophets' teachings he would have to mold his life af- ter theirs -wives and all.
He has no trouble blending the wills of allhis women.
"I have no obligation to get along with anybody," he said. "If I made it an obligation to get along with 13 girls, I'd never get anything else done."
"We're not hard to get along with," Carmen noted with a smile.
The three wives with Joseph Friday insisted their lives are enriched by their close relationship with their sister-wives, who are much more than friends.
The three wives with Joseph Friday insisted their lives are enriched by their close relationship with their sister-wives, who are much more than friends.
"We love our sister-wives and we love our husband's children," Jean said, quickly doing away with: any notion of jealousy.
Beyond building a seven-room "castle." as Joan described it, the Joseph wives' ultimate goal is to become mothers, Carnen said.
' Unworried about overpopulation or food shortages, the young wives said they rejoice over the fact that Joseph.can father 13 children a year, heeding the commandment, "Go forth and multiply."
Alex Joseph
Joan her face masked with disgust, said, "We think the ZPG (Zero Population Growth) movement is a subtle plot to make intelligent people extinct."
She said there are six children in the Joseph family now.
None of the three women with Joseph have had children by their husband but they said they are enthusiastic when another sister-wife becomes pregnant. Judy said she and Joan recently attended the birth of a Joseph child because their husband.
None of the three women with Joseph have had children by their husband but they said they are enthusiastic when another sister-wife becomes pregnant. Judy said she and Joan recently attended the birth of a Joseph child because their husband. was unable to be there.
Eventually, the wives said they hope to deliver their own children. at home.
Judy and Joan said responsibility for the children is shared'among the sister- wives who also operate their own school with the approval of the county school superintendent.
The wives also share the work in the family restaurant and health food busi- ness. They also plant gardens to help feed the fluctuating number of family and friends Joseph invites into their home.
The Joseph family fame has made them a tourist attraction in Glen Canyon City where the population is divided over their newfound notoriety. The family plans to make three movies in the future.
"When people meet us they like us," Carmen said, "but some people won't meet us. But when anything goes wrong, townspeople come running for Alec."
The wives especially seek his counsel, they said, praising him for "providing us plenty of opportunity to improve our shortcomings.
"
The wives especially seek his counsel, they said, praising him for "providing us plenty of opportunity to improve our shortcomings."
Asked if Joseph had any faults, the three giggled, cast knowing glances at each other and Joan finally said, "We don't focus on those things."
For them, a pleasant evening at home is listening to their husband "talk and teach," Joan said.
"We're a witty bunch, but Alec is wittier," Carmen added.
Jeseph, who rejoined the group after discussing legal matters with his attorney Mike Kimerer, defended his lifestyle, insisting it is any man's constitutional right to have more than one wife and a woman's privilege to marry whomever she pleases.
Lightly touching Judy on the shoulder he said. "If a young, intelligent woman like this can't marry anyone she likes, then someday the government might start telling you who you should marry."
DB Cooper-23043EMMETT WATSON
The Cowering Inferno
DARRELL HOUSTON, former staffer on The P-I who now sits on the foreign desk for the LA Times, bas polished off a novel about a Northwest folk hero, of sorts.
"
DB Cooper-23043EMMETT WATSON
The Cowering Inferno
DARRELL HOUSTON, former staffer on The P-I who now sits on the foreign desk for the LA Times, bas polished off a novel about a Northwest folk hero, of sorts. Book's title? "The Ballad of D . B. Skyjacker," which should tell you what it's about. Hous- ton has done considerable re- search on the D. B. Cooper skyjacking caper, spent three years writing the book- which is up for grabs among several interested publishers. Let it not be said that Darrell doesn't believe in his subject: "I'm determined to get 'D.B. Skyjacker' into print and into the American consciousness - a consciousness that's starved for a hero of the proportions of D. B. Cooper." . . . Art Skol- nik, the city conservator, is hard at work and let's say this for Art, he doesn't - pick on any midgets. He's trying to keep Uncle Fed from signing any leases for parking, or over- flow office space from the Federal Bldg. "Be- cause," says Art, "once this happens, that's one . fore excuse to tear down more old buildings in the neighborhood. The federal government, even if it is sitting on top of the Burke Bldg.
fore excuse to tear down more old buildings in the neighborhood. The federal government, even if it is sitting on top of the Burke Bldg., should be responsive to local policies." The Burke Bldg., as you know, was replaced by the big Federal Bldg.
IN THESE days when restaurants open and close like traveling circuses, it's nice to note a celebration this month. It's the 30th anniversary of Taylor's Landing in Mukilteo, right next to the Whidbey ferry dock.
The place is owned by Ed and Dick Taylor. the latter being a former State Rep. "In 30 years we've served everything from herring and ham- burgers to lobster tails and wine." says "Big Dick," who stands 6-8. Entertainer Glen Larson will help the festivities along starting Monday in the lounge. Oh, yes. I forgot. Ed is the "little" brother - he's only 6-5 ... . Al Rochester, the ex-councilman with a long nicmory, points out that Bing's brother, Larry Crosby, who died the other day, was a one-time advertising man here. Crosby worked out of the Botsford & Constantine offices in the Marion Bldg.
with a long nicmory, points out that Bing's brother, Larry Crosby, who died the other day, was a one-time advertising man here. Crosby worked out of the Botsford & Constantine offices in the Marion Bldg.
IN THE phone book. it's listed in the grand manner - Washington St. Univ. Alumni Center West, and try to guess where that is. Actually, it's located in business consultant Al Heglund's office, which is pretty grand itself. That would be rail- road magnate Jim Hill's palace car, at the Terry. Ave. Freight House complex .. An all-out Cougar booster, Heglund (his wife Helene is a WSU alum; their son, Mark, is a WSU senior) donated the office space several years ago, after complaining to WSU pres. Glenn Terrell about the alums feel- ing remote over here. So the office, really, is a Pullman "hot line," a direct hookup that now fields some 50 calls a week, "everything from basketball scores and Mother's Weekend querfes to real emergencies."
Seattle P.I.
164-81-SubB
SEARCHED INDEXED SERIALIZED. FILED
MAR 27 1975 FBI-SEATTLE
IN
DB Cooper-23044. A LOT OF wisecracks got flipped around about that trade fair seminar the Chamber of Commerce helped sponsor last December - Si- beria '75 -
A LOT OF wisecracks got flipped around about that trade fair seminar the Chamber of Commerce helped sponsor last December - Si- beria '75 - Opportunities for Washington State." Well, I'm delighted to report that the Chamber's newsletter is brightening this dull day with a dan- dy slip: "If you missed that great Soviet Trade Seminar held last December, you'll be pleased to hear that transcripts of the program are not (sic) available free (yes, free!) from the Chamber's Commerce'Department." Or is that really Infla- · tion Note .No. 3,483 in disguise? ... . Life's small ironies: a shoplifter was busy out at Knoll Lum- ber Co. in Kenmore the other day. What did he swipe? "Most of a home burglar alarm system," sighs Carl Knoll.
A NEW magazine, is cranking up .-- claimed to be the first nat'l mag ever published out of, Seattle, but I get the feeling our long-memoried old-timers are ready to strike. At any rate, "Young Athlete," a bimonthly, is being readied by Jim Rothaus, who says, "It will be printed in Illinois, distributed nationally out of New York, but published in Seattle.
At any rate, "Young Athlete," a bimonthly, is being readied by Jim Rothaus, who says, "It will be printed in Illinois, distributed nationally out of New York, but published in Seattle. Rothaus is a Queen Anne and UW grad, onetime assistant coach for the Continental Football League Rangers, also the Se- attle Ramblers, with whom he played for nine years. Rothaus has been a publisher's rep here for 21 years and plans to have Young Athlete out by June, "It's the first sports mag aimed at young people," he says, "and, if you're 43, a young ath- lete can be 35." Depressing, but true . . . And- Steve Palmer sigus us off today with that bumper sticker on an old Pontiac: "Don't Hit Me -- My Lawyer's in Jail."
DB Cooper-23045Skyjacker owes I.R.S. $218,635
PORTLAND - (AP) - Dan (D. B.) Cooper, the sky pirate who vanished somewhere be- tween Seattle and Reno in 1971, now owes the federal govern- ment more than the $200,000 he took with him.
The Internal Revenue Service says Cooper owes $218,635 in tax- es on the money he extorted. That's assuming he is alive, sin- gle and never filed a return on the money.
The Internal Revenue Service says Cooper owes $218,635 in tax- es on the money he extorted. That's assuming he is alive, sin- gle and never filed a return on the money.
The I.R.S. figures Cooper would be taxed $53,090 on the first $100,000 and $70,000 on the next $100,000. If he intended to cheat the government out of its share, the civil fraud penalty is 50 percent of the tax due, or $61,545.
Interest at 7 per cent a year is $34,000. Total: $218,635.
DB Cooper-23046
164-81-Sub 6FD-350 (Rev. 11-11-75)
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
Back Taxes Owed By D.B. Cooper
PORTLAND. Ore. -- (AP) - D. B. (Dan) Cooper, the sky pir- ate who vanished somewhere be- tween Seattle and Reno in 1971, now owes the federal government more than the $200,000 he took with him.
The Internal Revenue Service says Cooper owes $218,635 in tax- es on the money he extorted. That's assuming he's alive, sin- gle and never filed a return on the. money. .
The man who gave his name as Dan Cooper hijacked a North- west Orient Airliner at Portland, demanding $200,000. He parachut- ed out of the plane, unobserved, land was never seen again.
The man who gave his name as Dan Cooper hijacked a North- west Orient Airliner at Portland, demanding $200,000. He parachut- ed out of the plane, unobserved, land was never seen again.
The search eventually closed in on a wooded area .of southwest Washington. but no sign of Coop- er or the money ever has sur- faced.
The IRS figures Cooper would be taxed $53.090 on the first $100.000 and $70.000 on the next $100,000. If he intended to cheat the government out of its share, the civil fraud penalty is. 50 per cent of the tax due, or $61,545.
Interest at 7 per cent a year is another $34,000. Total: $218.635.
That, of course, doesn't inciude a Tate filing penalty of $30,771, and a late payment penalty of $7,300 per year.
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(Indicate page, name of newspaper, city and state .!
p.A3 Seattle Post- Intelligencer Seattle, Wash.

Date:	3/21/76
Edition: Final (Sunday )
Author:
Editor: Title:	Jack Doughty

NORJAK
Character:
or
SE 164-81
Classification:
Submitting Office: Seattle Being
Editor: Title:	Jack Doughty

NORJAK
Character:
or
SE 164-81
Classification:
Submitting Office: Seattle Being Investigated
164-81-SubB
COPY SENT TO BUREAL SEARCHED ...... INDEXED/ SERIALIZE Kar FREDS RL APR 8 1976
EATTLE
DB Cooper-23047(Mount Ely jing in: Spore Below):
Eit in jeu d. Gie, and ryhience that D.B. Cooper was hn cachn named Byron "Jack" Coffelt
raped. The l'el and various media might preferidas . he Is adly and cadets have spent considerable loved ones presi - inici the bettifume Investigating the Coffelt- A aper connection, yet his story day's feast.
Pack sult; t i'm het and thb:
og tt The "schwar Airlines
fedt Lol , Ad -? somos band. aud cart ta a t= p/n lejos meme es Tan Copain pet eesh fora
Seisde. Totalp ment parched the wrong the the rage came
L'Afermin . wer t! _ sofa De Stunned ph por hendes s slewerdom. a .ohis threatening to pkwwe ep the n'ing wihl, a hidden Somh if hen in't recolle $200.000 cash 'and Tner parachutes. The Mase wont is Saitle, where an FEI agent in myint the : ansom to the cabin deor ail banded ft to a stewardess, "Th b; is tra planie cont yived us Iwerd
The Mase wont is Saitle, where an FEI agent in myint the : ansom to the cabin deor ail banded ft to a stewardess, "Th b; is tra planie cont yived us Iwerd Gano, Nev., with its rar dear chan, as the hijacker bet listructed, D.B. Cooper jury. i into the night - and became a Irgend in American crime.
The massive manhunt that began the sext riny in the mountainous terrain tint Cooper jumped into was only the beginning. In the eight years sirve the famous Inci- dent, the Fol.r-I Bureau of Inves- Piget on luis aageaded thousands of man sours h thin down loads on sonin 200 suspec's. Vet, the official Gijoe ser Ttigo Thi that night and probably dat In the parachute lump - fourth His body; the chu .. s and the money were ticser NUL AR T' mld. wxallied
Ar page, name of

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Date:	12/16/79
Edition:	Sunday Litert
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12/16/79
Edition:	Sunday Litert
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164-81-81941
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DB Cooper-23048PD-3 0 (Rev. 7-16-63)
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
FBI on D. B. Cooper trail
By JANE SEABERRY WASHINGTON. (WP) .The, FBI is. investigating whether a suburban Virginia heavy equipment operator named Jerry H. Cooper is re- ally D. B. Cooper, the airline hijacker who . parachuted with '$200,000 ransom money. from a Northwest Orlent 727 jet on Thanksgiving eve, 1971, and was never seen again,
Acting on an anonymous tip; the FBI has questioned Jerry : Cooper's sister-in-law, Carol Wood, manager of the Oakton -Park Apartments in Fairfax City, ,Va., who later told her Brother-in-law that the FBI. suspected him ; of being the skyjacker.
Jerry . Cooper, 30, ; then called The Washington Post and met voluntarily with the FBI Monday in efforts to deny that he had anything to do with , the crime," even though he is an experienced, skydiver and strongly resem- bles
30, ; then called The Washington Post and met voluntarily with the FBI Monday in efforts to deny that he had anything to do with , the crime," even though he is an experienced, skydiver and strongly resem- bles witnesses' descriptions- of skyjacker D. B. Cooper.
Both Coopers are about six feet tall, weight about 180 pounds and have dark hair and dark complexions. After looking at an artist's sketch of missing skyjacker, Jerry Cooper - said Monday, "I do look an awful lot like him. It's kind of scary.
"Cooper, acknowledged that he was a skydiver for eight years 'before quitting about five years ago. He also said that he once worked as an. aircraft fueler and therefore
was . familiar operations of jets .:
with the
commercial
But he insisted the FBI was Investigating the wrong man. "My name is Jerry. I have a birth. . certificate,"" Cooper said. "If I was going to hijack a plane, I certainly wouldn't use my real name;
"All I need is for them (the. FBI) to show pictures to peo- ple that were on the flight and say,, "Yeah, that's him, that's him.
Cooper said he contacted the Post and the FBI because he couldn't sleep since hear- ing from his sister-in-law about the FBI's inquiry.
Cooper said he contacted the Post and the FBI because he couldn't sleep since hear- ing from his sister-in-law about the FBI's inquiry. "I was shocked; that's really the word for it," he said. "If they're going to lock me up, I feel everybody should know about it,
Cooper said, and the FBI confirmed, that the FBI received an anonymous tip last May from a caller who `said he was afraid of Cooper, that, Cooper was a dangerous person, that he had seen about $15,000 in . cash' in Cooper's apartment and that he believed Cooper was the skyjacker.
I. I had $15,000 I'd be out; fishing somewhere," Jerry Cooper said as he lit this third cigarette within: 20 minutes.' When told that hijacker D. B. Cooper was allegedly a chain smoker, he said, "Oh, no.'
Cooper said' he doesn't know who could have called authorities. "I probably have a few enemies, he added, ex-
plaining that he had been in- volved in a number of brawls and had been arrested for dis- orderly conduct several times in Fairfax County.
. Cooper, who said he hunts in Virginia every year around Thanksgiving, said he is not sure where he was at the time of the skyjacking.
Cooper, who said he hunts in Virginia every year around Thanksgiving, said he is not sure where he was at the time of the skyjacking. "I: was probably hunting. How many men do you know can say where they were four years ago?'
Mrs; Wood also said Cooper was - probably . hunting with relatives who have shot game that time of the year for 14 years.
When the FBI agent first questioned her, Mrs. Wood 'said, "I laughed and laughed. I couldn't control myself, It: was that funny."
After. more 'questioning, however, Mrs. Wood sald, "I got super scared. My brother, in-law is a super kind of a: guy. He's an Aquarian. He's- born under a rainbow. He's definitely no criminal
Michael, A. assistant special FBI agent in charge of the Alexandria, Va., office, said Monday "We received information indicat- ing he could possibly be D. B. Cooper.'
Morrow said he personally. is becoming more inclined to belleve Jerry Cooper Is not D. B. Cooper but that the, In- vestigation would continue. "We're just trying to ascer- tain if he is D. B. Cooper, Morrow sald.
Cooper but that the, In- vestigation would continue. "We're just trying to ascer- tain if he is D. B. Cooper, Morrow sald. "We're going to
DB Cooper-23049
Sur B
(Indicate page, name of newspaper, city and state.) 0,20 The Spokesman Review Spokane, W.
Morrow; Date: 9-9-25 Edition:
Author:
Editor:
Title: NORJAK
Character: OT 164-81
Classification:

Submitting Office:	b6
 Being Investigated	b7C

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164-81-Ausbdo. a." certain amount . Qf checking." D. B. Cooper, described by witnesses as a middle-aged man, hijacked a five stop flight from: Washington, D.C. to Seattle after boarding it at Portland, Ore, He collected $200,000 ransom in $20 bills! from .Northwest . Orlent Airlines ,. officials' . and parachuted from the planet near northwest Washington state after the 36 passengers, and two stewardesses had been released during a .
and parachuted from the planet near northwest Washington state after the 36 passengers, and two stewardesses had been released during a .stop earlier.
After getting the money Cooper had ordered the pilot to fly at an altitude of about. 10,000 and at about 200 miles per hour over the lowlands of western .Washington - and Oregon. When the plane land; ed at Reno, Nev., for refuel- ing, the hijacker and money were gone ...
The thickly wooded area where Cooper is belleved to have landed was scoured ,by. searchers and neither Cooper For the money was found Within 72 hours of Cooper's exploits, D. B. Cooper tee shirts bearing a picture of a suitcase. ""marked .. "$" parachuting, down from "the plane with legend, D. B. Cooper, where are you?". were marketed by a' Port- land, Ore,, manufacturer, 'A song about the hijacker was written, recorded., and. released within a week and became a favorite of Oregon and Washington. state top-40 listeners. ' Later, bumper sticks appeared, asking "Will the real D. B. Cooper please stand up?"
DB Cooper-23050" THE SkyJACKER who Got AWAY " "DB Comen, truther year .
B. Cooper please stand up?"
DB Cooper-23050" THE SkyJACKER who Got AWAY " "DB Comen, truther year ... he's bye- Inden " DB Cooper, Home From Next year "
DB Cooper-23051FD-350 (Rev. 10-19-77)
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
If hijacker had invested Art could've made Cooper rich
By LES BLUMENTHAL
SEATTLE - If Dan Cooper had invested the $200,000 he skyjacked eight years ago in Orien- tal rugs, apartment houses or Charles Russell paintings, he'd be a mil- lionaire today.
Maybe he is.
Authorities don't know if Cooper, history's first known skyjacker-for- money, is dead or alive. But they have found no trace of him since he dived out the back end of a Northwest Airlines 727 jetliner with a parachute and disappeared into the night over Southwestern Washington on Nov. 24, 1971.
If he lived and was shrewd he could have parlayed the 21 pounds of $20 bills into a fortune. The money was in a bag strapped to his chest.
Maybe the man who bought his ticket as "Dan Cooper" but was trans- formed in history as "D.
The money was in a bag strapped to his chest.
Maybe the man who bought his ticket as "Dan Cooper" but was trans- formed in history as "D.B. Cooper" put the money in stocks, bonds or foreign exchanges. Maybe he's sitting in an Acapulco condominium laughing.
Or as Steve Morris, a Seattle antique dealer said, "He's probably liv- ing in east Ballard (a Seattle neighborhood), paying for groceries with the $20 bills he got and wishing he had bought gold.
"There is really no end to the money he could have made‹ f he had in- visted in antiques," claims Morr 3, a member " die Appr. Ver Associa- -a of America.
could have tried real es- tate.
"That's where I would have put it," said John Teutsch Jr. of Rainier Mortgage Co.
Teutsch said Cooper could have used the money for a down pay- ment on a $1 million apartment building that would be worth $2 mil- lion today, even more if the units had been con- verted to condominiums.
"Eight years ago Seat- tle was just coming out of the Boeing crash. You could buy $20,000 to $25,000 houses all over the place.
"Eight years ago Seat- tle was just coming out of the Boeing crash. You could buy $20,000 to $25,000 houses all over the place. Those houses would be worth up to
$70,000 apiece now," said Teutsch.
Steven Haley of Fried- lander & Sons, a Seattle jewelry store, says Coop- er could have invested in a "traditional form of concentrating wealth" by buying diamonds ..
Diamonds are worth up to three times as much now as they were in 1971.
. "Nowadays, a five- carat stone costs about $50,000. Back then it cost about $15,000," said Ha- ley.
John Pringle, assistant special agent in.charge of the Seattle FBI office,
said Friday, "We don't have any more idea where he is now than when he pulled the job."
Pringle says it's possi- ble Cooper could have spent the money without anyone knowing, even though authorities had the serial numbers of the bills.'
While American citi- zens couldn't own gold in 1971, Cooper could have bought the precious met- al on the Swiss exchange for between $125 and $150 an ounce back then, said Haley. Gold now sells for over $390 lan ounce.
'
While American citi- zens couldn't own gold in 1971, Cooper could have bought the precious met- al on the Swiss exchange for between $125 and $150 an ounce back then, said Haley. Gold now sells for over $390 lan ounce.
ale page, name of paper, city and state.)
Page B8 The Oregonian Portland, Ore.
A $200,000 investment in Oriental rugs in 1971 would be worth $1.8 mil- lion now, said Morris. Antique American furni- ture has quadrupled in. price, antique silver is worth five times what it was in 1971, American paintings of the 19th and early 20th centuries are un tenfold.
"A Charles Russell painting worth $25,000 in 1971 would now be worth between $150,000 and $200,000," said Mor- ris.
If Cooper didn't have a taste for antiques, he
DB Cooper-23052
548 B"
Date: 11/04/79 Edition:
Title:
Character: 164-81 or
Classification: Submitting Office: . SE
SUB-B- 16-1-81-8176 9
FWI/DOJFD-350 (Rev. 10-19-77)
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
SuBB-
Hijack high jinks to mark Dan Cooper's 1971 leap
By LEVERETT RICHARDS ·cf The Oregonien steht
ARIEL, Wash. - They'll have another party Saturday in this hamlet 10 miles east of Woodland.
Below)
SuBB-
Hijack high jinks to mark Dan Cooper's 1971 leap
By LEVERETT RICHARDS ·cf The Oregonien steht
ARIEL, Wash. - They'll have another party Saturday in this hamlet 10 miles east of Woodland.
There will be loggers' stew and log- gers' brew and much to-do over the elusive guest of honor at the Ariel Store and Tavern, which will hold open house from noon to midnight or whenever.
"We don't know whether the guest of honor will show up or not, but we have broadcast invitations far and wide to Dan Cooper, wherever he is," said Laurel Fisher, who with her husband, David, own the emporium in this tiny timber town made famous by Cooper,. the first of the high-flying, high-finance hijackers.
Cooper made history eight years ago, on Thanksgiving Eve, Wednesday, Nov. 24, when he hijacked Northwest Airlines' flight 305 in Portland, bailed out at 8:10 p.m. that stormy night near Ariel - and vanished.
Not a trace of the man who gave the name of Cooper or any of the 10,000 $20 bills he carried has been found, de- spite a series of intensive searches by ground and air over the flight's route from \Seattle to Reno, during which Coopot is believed to have bailed out in freezing weather in a
carried has been found, de- spite a series of intensive searches by ground and air over the flight's route from \Seattle to Reno, during which Coopot is believed to have bailed out in freezing weather in a howling storm,
The FBI continues to get "Cooper calls," said Bill Williams, FBI spokes- man In Portland, The latest was a para- chute found Nov. 7 near the Kalama River Road, which proved to have no connection with the Cooper case.
But that doesn't discourage the sponsors of "Cooper Capers Day," which has been held since 1975.
"People will be dropping in all day, sitting around the wood stove or the 30-gallon stew pot, swapping lies and maybe buying a few of the 'Hijacker's Guide' book we have for sale or the T-shirts which say 'I was there, D.B. Cooper Day, '79,' " Mrs. Fisher said.
There will also be sky divers para- chuting into town about noon.
"Maybe Cooper will be among them, who knows?" Mrs. Fisher added.
b6 b7C
(Indicate page, name of newspaper, city and state.)
Page B4 The Oregonian Portland, Ore.
Date: 11/21/79 Edition:
Title:
Character: 161.21 or
Classification: Submitting Office: SF
SUBB
164-81-8175
0%
DB Cooper-23053
Fai/ DOJ PD-350 (Rev.
21 or
Classification: Submitting Office: SF
SUBB
164-81-8175
0%
DB Cooper-23053
Fai/ DOJ PD-350 (Rev. 10-19-77)
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
Possible D.B. Cooper clue found
KELSO - (AP) - A heavy" plastic placard from a Boeing 727, found by a hunter in a thickly . wooded area, could be a link to! the unsolved November 24, 1971,. D.B. Cooper skyjacking, authori- ties said today.
Cooper is thought to have para- chuted from a Northwest Airlines jet near Woodland, about 10 miles south of here, with $200,000 in $20 bills.
The placard is described as an }, emergency-warning notice of the type posted next to the rear exit,, "of 727s.
"There isn't any way that it could have come off a plane with- out the (rear) door being opened," said the Cowlitz County sheriff, Les Nelson. "We know that two days after Cooper jumped that the placard was missing off the plane.
"This is the first probable, tan- gible piece of evidence that has surfaced in the D.B. Cooper case," he added. "It's inconceiva- ble, it's one in a million, that any"
1
other plane could have lost it in) the area in which D.
"It's inconceiva- ble, it's one in a million, that any"
1
other plane could have lost it in) the area in which D.B. Cooper jumped."
The placard was found about "six flying minutes" from where Cooper is believed to have jumped, said Nelson. It was found last November by an elk "hunter, Carroll Hicks, of Kelso, near a Weyerhaeuser Co. logging road north of Ariel, said Nelson.
The Federal Bureau of Investi- agation and sheriff's detectives;, withheld information about the
find while trying to verify the pla: card's origin, he said.
The jet was en route to Seattle from Portland when Cooper hand- ed a stewardess a note saying he had a bomb. After picking up the ransom and two parachutes in Seattle, and allowing the passen- gers and two of three stewardess- Les to distumbark, Cooper ordered the plane to Reno. When the plane landed in Reno, the rear ramp iwas down, and the money, one parachute and Cooper were gone. +
(Indicate page, name of
newspaper, city and sinte.)
p.AL Seattle Times Seattle, Wa.
Date:
1/17/79
Edition:
Final
Title:
Character: OF SUB B Classification Sedutle Submitting Office:
Date:
1/17/79
Edition:
Final
Title:
Character: OF SUB B Classification Sedutle Submitting Office: 16-1-11-2048
OPY SENT TO BUREAU 4 b6 b7C
DB Cooper-23054
FBI/OOJorit is a mystery stery -- though ta tevesication bas turned at some evidence ste wing that wwwArms Cooper, inehiding two picenpete on the bijachod airplane who saw photos of Coffelt sud identified him as the hijacker.
The story alco has latriguing characters -- inducing caged bungling, FBI agents, a rich right- wing rechise who is the last living relative of Abraham Lincoln and the convicted assassin of Martin Luther King Jr. James Earl Ray.
urb of Jack Coffelt's life is shrouded in mystery, and that's undoubtedly the way he wanted ft This picture of his life tres pieced together from interviews with various knowledgeable sources, togleding four- nalies xod larmen.
Coffelt, vilio :was born in 1910, spent the first S) years of his life in and out of fails throughout the foidurst for a variety of minor critocs. In IM3, ho bit the big time; He received a Ityder sentence for irdervinte transportation of a molen atitemobile,
In IM3, ho bit the big time; He received a Ityder sentence for irdervinte transportation of a molen atitemobile, sad served time in Atlanta and Leavetiworth federal prisons. Over the years, luis cell mantes reportedly Included Col. Jack Titont, who vine convicted of sigaling the Hosse creen jewels during World War II; James Earl May, who is presently werving a life sontexce for billing Martin Luther King Jrt nad hennes Biown, Da Army chitter copyleted of carving taie ca ut assault charge.
. Sometime during these petran years, Cadfelt the the FBI apparently Tande contact. A source; who requested anonyinity, cys there is e letior the ned by J. Dogar Icover asking the priset worden fee istorrox- tidu about Coffeit, as well as cvijence that the agent & charge of the local FBI office Li Atlante w's Coffeit's sole vietor for five years.
Soms persons who have studied Coffelt's past sespret that he became an FEL informant in prison, pitheys secretly turning over information damaging to his cell mates Certain sources sod that Coffeit himself described bis days in the pen es c "revolving deor," claiming
past sespret that he became an FEL informant in prison, pitheys secretly turning over information damaging to his cell mates Certain sources sod that Coffeit himself described bis days in the pen es c "revolving deor," claiming that he would be let out for a few days o; wreaks at a time to carry out "a job" for the Bevorzugent.
"Che FUI refused to content on cay of this or on aty s-Wier aspect of Coffeit's life.
'a I635, after serving only sie years of its 13-year Echt: to, Coffel was paroled from Leaveaverth.
In the mid-80s, he began n mysterious tienelation with short Todd Lincoln Deerwith, the kat Evig relative of fibrebath Loco's.
"ekwith - Lincola't prost-presstin \ \t the chton of rich in Gestellt Warren, Beckwith, and te lies on a sprawling af2acre estate la Virgial. The Lad come from the Hlacol side of the fully: Backvith Inherited it from his mother, rio at quindi & Lite nou his father, Low en .
-Deckwith hed oni besa idle with his wealth, afix- fora anpegi incos,o from a lifetime trust f.it by his L. ther. We bes reportedly financed several right-wing Causes.
1. Coffelt became Berkwith's alde de camp and got control d' more than one Beckwith fireneed bank account.
Coffelt became Berkwith's alde de camp and got control d' more than one Beckwith fireneed bank account. But little che Is bnown nhout this mysterious relationshin, which Beckwith himself declines. to: clarify:
-Other bits and pieces have etcerged about this period of Coffelt's life:
O In 1974, Coffelt boasted to an old friend, former 
Atlanta ceil piate James Brown, that he had "helped till & aligger" io Miriaphis, Tonn. Then, ciborating slightly, be said that he bad been in "one of the white cars" that caused es simion around Memphis immedi- stely after Martin Titther Ring Jr. was assassinated in ;03.
: Jo 1073, Joiner E irl Ray was shown a picture of Coffeit by someone hwestigating the Coffolt Cooper connection, and reportedly identified his old prison mete - hut only after being shown Coffelt's death certificate. Rey geve no further information, accord- ing to a source close to the investigation ..
Coffelt all: getty carried a number of official cedentials: FBI. Department of Agriculture, passes for be White House and Pentagon, A college professor oported that he was
Department of Agriculture, passes for be White House and Pentagon, A college professor oported that he was riding in an automobile with Coffelt lo Washington, D.C., when Coffelt picked up Ion. Creighton Abratas, U.S. Army chief of staff thow Licensed) and took him to the Pentagon. This professor fas claimed that he sow Coffeit fiash FBI credentials.
Somethne around 1970, Deckwith fired Coffelt. It tas a bitter parting. In 1973, Bockwith settled a suit filed by Coffelt reportedly by giving his former aide a eu equal to $730 per month, retroactive to 1033 (The teltlement papers are sealed by court order.)
... Beckwith is still alive rt about to years of age. But he lives in seclusion, and has declined repeatedly to be Interviewed on bis relationship with Coffelt.
After the break with Beckwith, Coffeit spent the next couple of years in Washington, D.C., and, for brief porlods of time, in Lawrence, Kan. He held a string of crid jobs during this time and was described as being AI and drinking heavily during 1071.
He held a string of crid jobs during this time and was described as being AI and drinking heavily during 1071.
Some who hove investigated Coffelt theorize chat his deteriorated financial situation after his break with Chemiihemay have driven him to try the desperate Gif-ching ef. Flight 305.
21
DB Cooper-23055 Dieven Days after the Cooper WASching, Coffelt
"i a strong place of"circumstantial colores," bohus job is a surgical technician at c-on then raid Suminers. "We had a lab report confirming that Virginia by miffl. His supapier there, : wontn, told (the) cording ... wus froms a parachute and several years. Fources that Corfet bed difficulty vati ka and pl one old, No one has over ad; su me, but I'll be happy to take a Te detector tat chout where we found it, and how" fojurios which some believe he sustilted in the we dug it up. We were very careful uncovering it. I took soil ramples which I turned over to the lab so I would know something hadn't just been buricd there." parachute fume.
I took soil ramples which I turned over to the lab so I would know something hadn't just been buricd there." parachute fume. He worked at the heapkal through most of 1012, then. in June of 1073 he contacted his old coll znate. James Brown, for the first time in years.
.& your Teter, in May 1974. Coffelt told Brawn for The first time that he was D.B. Cooper and disclosed come details of the crime that, If true, presumably ouly the hijacker could have known. For eratifle, accord- fug to. Frown, Coffelt deserthed changing into boots before jamping and boosted of filing with one of the sewardistes. Coffelt akro said that he dropped the 0200,000 saurom during the porechute jump and bad trever recovered i.
Coffell tol Erowo that he wanted to go back into the. Cascades and look for the mail fortune, but be, Cooper.
needed beip. Brown agreed to accompany Him, and In July of that vary, the two men and Brown's muscular, 6-foot-plus, 17-year-old son, Dyron, boul a weeklong trek into the viountaios.
According to Brown, Coffelt wes then.
Brown agreed to accompany Him, and In July of that vary, the two men and Brown's muscular, 6-foot-plus, 17-year-old son, Dyron, boul a weeklong trek into the viountaios.
According to Brown, Coffelt wes then.co ff that ot one point ha nearly collapsed on a step grade. However, after a week to which they audic themselves -au Inconspleuous ss possible, they found no mone? bad quit.
SUB, to the day, Jantes Prown remains unchation fn Luis conviction that his ohl coll tante was t. J. Cesper. After the Cascades trip, Coffelt FUARI to Ilowali and died there bi June 1976. Brown, who chi hot learn about Coffelt's death for more than a year, tad written down everything Coffelt told Lim, and hojea writing a book" manuscript. Dut he knew he Headed bolp. preferably from a promoter familiar will. Hollywood whealing and dealing.
9 . . Brown found freelance producer Dirk Summers, who was is Los Vegas while producing a Kon Norton heavyweight title fight for CES Sports.
Summers caid In an Interview that he subse- quently bad Brown and his son take lie detector tests concerning the five weeks they spent with Coffelt "They passed with flying colora," Summera sild.
Summers caid In an Interview that he subse- quently bad Brown and his son take lie detector tests concerning the five weeks they spent with Coffelt "They passed with flying colora," Summera sild. "But All that mesut was that Brown believed Coffelt's story. I kept thinking, if this story is true, it's the story of the century.'
Summers began his own investigation, and be and Brown organized an expedition into the Cascades In. 1977, back to where Coffelt had taken Brown three years earlier. This time, thanks to a metal detector and energetic digging, the search party unearthed a solid piece of physical evidence a 11-Inch piece of cording that youed to be synthetic wylon of the type used in parachute shrouding - hod it wos Sito 7'yehield.
"The area where we found this was very primitive, remote wilderness," Summers explained. "This was Big Foot country. We had to lower ourselves town a cliff to get to the site. There was a dead tree that Jack (told Brown) stid be bit. And this enormous, twostory high rock with marlangt on it. "Xs" and. "Os" that Coffelt reid he had scratched lato the rock the night he landed there.
And this enormous, twostory high rock with marlangt on it. "Xs" and. "Os" that Coffelt reid he had scratched lato the rock the night he landed there. That was there we dug. You could even tee the barrow trenches, whive hits feet had bit the ground." Summers becaris a believer in the story, and he, too, Is still convinced that Jack Coffelt was .D.B.
In addition, Summers belleves thet the FBI has gone to great lengths to cover up and otherwise derall' the. 'race
Summers added be suspects that the FBI may have known all along that Coffelt was the hijacker, but didn't go-ofty bim because they knew he had stories to tell about his carlier cooperation with the agency.
22
DB Cooper-23056O
-Photo by Bill Douthit!
ymaker from Cooper's Caper Days two years ago. The yearly event in Ariel fetes D.B. Cooper's 197] disappearance
oper's 9 By Richard Spiro The Daily News
per SUB B
ys
el set to cheer acker's leap
ARIEL - Saturday will be Cooper's Caper Days once more in this community, where hi- jacker D.B. Cooper, burdened with $200,000, might have jumped from the rear door of a Boeing 727 on Nov.
leap
ARIEL - Saturday will be Cooper's Caper Days once more in this community, where hi- jacker D.B. Cooper, burdened with $200,000, might have jumped from the rear door of a Boeing 727 on Nov. 24, 1971.
David R. Butterfield, publicity chairman for this more or less prestigious event, plans to whomp up 30 gallons of loggers' stew outdoors near the Ariel Store and Tavern.
Rumors that he will not be allowed to prepare the stew inside the store because the effluvium would dangerously weaken the rafters is described by Butterfield as arrant nonsense.
There have been some changes since the celebration was first thrust upon the helpless populace. Dave and Laurel Fisher, one-time Californians, now own the store. And instead of buffalo stew, Butterfield has to make do with loggers' stew becatise the buffalo have all gone to that happy hunting ground.
No one knows where Cooper has gone, but there is more than a slight suspicion that he too is roaming that happy hunting ground, where the $200,000 he extorted from Northwest Orient Airlines will do him no good.
Butterfield notes that the celebration this year will be spiced up a bit because earlier a sign from the rear door of a Boeing
Butterfield notes that the celebration this year will be spiced up a bit because earlier a sign from the rear door of a Boeing 727 was found in the area. More recently an orange and white parachute turned up in a wooded area of the county. The FBI says it was not one used by Cooper.
The only hard and fast facts, however, are that neither Cooper - if indeed that is his name - nor the money has ever been found.
Meanwhile, back at the Ariel Store the pot. bellied stove will valiantly attempt to keep the place warm while theories as to the hijacker's fate circulate with the other hot air from the. stove.
SUB B Cooper may or may not be alive, but he lives, and apparently will continue to live among other legends of the great Northwest. 1621-81-8474
DB Cooper-23057FD-350 (Rev. 12-5-78)
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
After 8 years, D.B. Cooper hijacking remains a mystery
by CLYDE JABIN United Press International
11
PORTLAND - Thanksgiving time has special meaning for Ralph Himmelsbach, Federal Bureau of Investigation agent, especially this year.
Cooper hijacking remains a mystery
by CLYDE JABIN United Press International
11
PORTLAND - Thanksgiving time has special meaning for Ralph Himmelsbach, Federal Bureau of Investigation agent, especially this year.
It marks the eighth anniversary of his search for D.B. Cooper, who parachuted from a skyjacked jetliner to oblivion with $200,000 in $20 bills on Thanksgiving eve, 1971
Himmelsback has put in thousands of ;. hours, more than any other law-enforce -. ment official, trying to catch Cooper, and it will be his last Thanksgiving on the . case. He takes mandatory retirement next. September 30 after 281/2 years with the F.B.I.'
Cooper boarded a Northwest Orient Airlines Boeing 727 jetliner in Portland, took control of the aircraft by threatening to explode a "bomb" in. his briefcase, forced it to land in Seattle where he got
the ransom money, then parachuted into the. Southwest Washington wilderness. No trace of him. or the money ever was found .:
Himmelsbach says he will not retire frustrated if he does not solve the case.
"It hasn't been frustrating, it has been fascinating," he said. "It has been inter- esting every step of the way.
"It hasn't been frustrating, it has been fascinating," he said. "It has been inter- esting every step of the way.",
The F.B.I. approach also is directed against getting too emotionally tied up in a case, he said, since an agent then would not be as effective.
"I do not have an ax to grind," he said of Cooper.
Himmelsbach, who, spent Thanksgiv- ing eve, 1971, listening to the radio com- munications, recalls how the pilot men- tioned during the flight from Seattle that! he thought Cooper had jumped because of # "low pressure bump.". The agent said this bump, which also registered on the fight recorder at 8:11 p.m.,, occurred when the door in the tail of the plane
swung back partially shut after Cooper jumped.
Two F-106 fighter pilots from McCord! Air Force base were following the airliner. after it left Seattle en route to the Cooper4: ordered destination of Reno, Nev., but the fighter pilots did not see Cooper jump:
On Thanksgiving Day, Himmelsbach spent. two hours flying with a Civil Air Patrol pilot in a small aircraft, criss- crossing the densely forested area where it was computed that Cooper
two hours flying with a Civil Air Patrol pilot in a small aircraft, criss- crossing the densely forested area where it was computed that Cooper went down in the Lake Merwin region.
"We didn't see a thing," the agent said:
The next day, an Army unit from Fort Lewis was brought in to search the north- east Clark County area. The soldiers found nothing.
The only item that has ever turned up from the flight was the 727's rear door plastic plaque, apparently tom off by wind, found last January 12 miles north of where Cooper was believed to have jumped.
"Cooper had to have a stewardess put the door down during the flight," said Himmelsbach, adding that she then re- , turned to the pilot's cabin. "That was the. last time anyone saw him before he. jumped."
Himmelsbach said the F.B.I, has been able to pretty well determine what hap -: pened during the hijacking, but has no clues as to who Cooper actually is or how the skyjacker got to Portland Internation:" al Airport.
The agent thinks Cooper got the idea for the crime from a news report two weeks before about a hijacking attempt in Canada where the man was captured be- fore the plane
The agent thinks Cooper got the idea for the crime from a news report two weeks before about a hijacking attempt in Canada where the man was captured be- fore the plane got off the ground.
Himmelsbach said the F.B.I. continues work on the mystery.
"We've pledged to the public and to. ourselves to give everything a hard look,' the said.
Himmelsbach said not every "little detail" on the case has been made public
(Indiente page, name of newspaper, city and state.) p.Cll Seattle Times Seattle, Wa.
Date :: 11/22/79 Edition: Final
Title:
SUR P
Character: or Classification:
Submitting Office: Seattle
SUBB 164-81-8749
b6 b7C FRI/DOJ
DB Cooper-23058 for instance, the colors of the "two parachutes Cooper got from the airliner and used in leaving the plane with the money. He said this gives agents a "little edge" to eliminate the "phonies" who either attempt to pin the crime on: an acquaintance or to claim they did the skyjacking themselves.
Su :: The agent said that in addition to the official time on the case he has also flown over the area of the parachuting in his ownt plane or on other flights.
Su :: The agent said that in addition to the official time on the case he has also flown over the area of the parachuting in his ownt plane or on other flights.
" \ "I always look' to see if I can see something," Himmelsbach said.
Details of the hijacking have become as well known to residents' around Lake Merwin as the Indian legends of the area. For the past few years, a tavern at Ariel on the edge of the lake has held a Thanksgiving eve "D.B. Cooper party" for the hijacker - or anyone else who might want to drop in. 2
Thus far, the guest of honor has not showed up.
DB Cooper-23059FD-350 (Rev. 7-16-63)
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
Sus B SW C.
W.
The Daily Chronicle, 98531, Saturday, May 15, 1976
It was Dan Cooper
not D.B
By HAL-D. STEWARD Chronicle Staff Writer All this time you have thought the rst skyjacker to parachute - he did In Nov. 1973 northeast of Woodland to earth with his $200,000 foot was named D.B. Cooper. Not so. He was never known as D B. Cooper except In the public mind. He called himself simply Dan Cooper when he bought' his ticket , and boarded the plane at Portland en route to Seattle, where he .
He called himself simply Dan Cooper when he bought' his ticket , and boarded the plane at Portland en route to Seattle, where he .com- mandeered, the jet and. got his parachutes and money. It is as Dan Cooper that the FBI is still looking for him.
This is the kind of dispensable Information you'll find in a new book called "The Dictionary of Mis- Information" by Tom Burnam (Thomas Y. Crowell Co., New York). ¡The book puts us straight on a variety of esoteric mis-Information. most of which has been passed dowl to us as accurate for sever generations.
164-81-SubB
(Indicate page, name of newspaper, city and state.)
Page W-4 The Daily Chronicle Centralia, Washington
Date:
5/15/76
Edition:afternoon
Author:
HAL D. STEWARD
Editor:
ERIC HOXIT
Title: NORJAK
Character: CAR OF
Classification:
164-81
Submitting Office:
Seattle Being Investigated
OPY SENT TO BUREAU
SEARCHED INDEXED SERIALIZEDE KLI FILED LaK
MAY 2 0 1976
b6 b7C
ITLE
IN
DB Cooper-23060FD)-350 (Rev. 10-19-77)
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Old parachute wasn't from famed hijacker
Cowlitz County Sheriff Les Nelson says a
10-19-77)
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Old parachute wasn't from famed hijacker
Cowlitz County Sheriff Les Nelson says a parachute found in the Kalama River area last Wednesday was definitely not one used by. D.B. Cooper in the skyjacking of a Nor- thwest Orient Airlines jet on Nov. 24, 1971.
"We checked with the FBI Tues- day, and they say this is neither the type nor color of the chutes Cooper had," Nelson said.
The parachute turned over to the sheriff's office Monday had a small tag bearing the words "U.S. Air Force," he said, and appeared to be a drag chute.
It was discovered by a logger, Darrell G. Ray of 118 Red Row, Kelso, near the 6257 line off Kalama River Road.
The chute had been buried under vegetation, and appeared to have been in the woods for a long time, aus cording to the sheriff's office,
Bill Williams, an FBI spokesman in Portland, said the chute is not related to the skyjacking case, even though it was found in the general area where Cooper is believed to have left the plane.
The man using the name D.
time, aus cording to the sheriff's office,
Bill Williams, an FBI spokesman in Portland, said the chute is not related to the skyjacking case, even though it was found in the general area where Cooper is believed to have left the plane.
The man using the name D. B. Cooper boarded the jet bound from Portland to Seattle on Thanksgiving eve 1971. During the flight he threatened to blow up the plane with a bomb he claimed to have in a brief- case unless he was given ransom money.
After the aircraft landed in Seat- tle, he freed the passengers and was given $200,000 cash and four parachutes. He ordered the plane to fly to Reno, but opened the rear airstair over Southwest Washington, and bailed out.
No trace has been found of the sky- jacker, the ransom money or the parachutes.
(Indicate page, name of newspaper, city and state.)
Parte B? The Daily News Longview, "a.
Date:
11/14/79
Edition:
Title:

Character: or	SUB Ba
Classification: 164-81

Submitting Office: SE
64-81-84-5
NOV 1 4 1979
1
DB Cooper-23061 (Mount Clipping in Spoco Below)
1
No hunt set for skyjacker
1
See related story, Page 11.
164-81

Submitting Office: SE
64-81-84-5
NOV 1 4 1979
1
DB Cooper-23061 (Mount Clipping in Spoco Below)
1
No hunt set for skyjacker
1
See related story, Page 11. By COLUMBIAN STAFF, AP An FBI agent here said this morning that the piece of plastic decal found by a Kelso hunter last November could have dropped from any Boeing 727. not necessarily the one hijacker D.B. Cooper bailed out of Thanksgiving eve 1971.
John Gordon of the bureau's Vancouver office said. "There is no positive proof that the decal came from the Cooper plane."
An FBI spokesman in Seattle. speculated Thursday that the decal may have fallen off the Cooper plane when the craft was used for a re- enactment of the hijacking six weeks after it occurred.
"We noticed the decal was missing after that, but not before," the :spokesman said.
A spokesman added that the placards. used to give emergency directions for the rear door on 727s. have been known to fall off under normal conditions.
Earlier this week Cowlitz County
Sheriff Les Nelson disclosed the discovery of the decal last November by Carroll Hicks, a self-employed welder from Kelso who was elk hunting when he found the bit
Earlier this week Cowlitz County
Sheriff Les Nelson disclosed the discovery of the decal last November by Carroll Hicks, a self-employed welder from Kelso who was elk hunting when he found the bit of debris.
"It's one in a million that any other plane could have lost it in the area in which D.B. Cooper jumped." Nelson said.
But while the 10-inch square decal has stirred wide interest. Gordon expressed doubt it would help solve the mystery behind the case.
"It's interesting. but I don't think it will help us find Cooper," he said of the decal.
Gordon said the FBI has no plans to resume the search for Cooper and the $200.000 that left the airplane with him.
Cowlitz County officials have indicated they do not plan to search for. Cooper. either, but they did say they hope to encourage people lo "keep their eyes open." when they are in the area the decal was found, about 12 miles east of Kelso.
SUB- B SUB-9
G SUB
(Indicate page, naine of newspaper, city und state.)
p.1 Columbian Vancouver, Wa.
Date: 1/19/79
Edition:
Final
Title:
Character:
OF
164-81-
Classification:
Submitting Office:
Seattle
SUB B
COPY SENT ED HOREAU
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POI/DOJ
DB Cooper-23062N
FD-350 (Rev.
Date: 1/19/79
Edition:
Final
Title:
Character:
OF
164-81-
Classification:
Submitting Office:
Seattle
SUB B
COPY SENT ED HOREAU
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POI/DOJ
DB Cooper-23062N
FD-350 (Rev. 7-16-53)
(Mount Clipping In Spec .. nelow)
Where's D.B. Cooper? Journal Reward Aids Search
Have You Seen Him? HERE ARE artist's composite sketches of parachuting hijacker Dan Cooper who dis- appeared ; with. . $200,000 from Northwes: Orient Airlines jet Nov. 24, 1971, as it flew at his orders between Seattle, and Reno:/ 2.
B B
The FBI . is . still, looking for him. and money. The Journal is offering. $1,000 for first- $20 of that money to be turned in, if money matches serial numbers of any of 10,000 bills that vanished with Cooper, Some of serial numbers are, to be found on page
(Indicate page, name of newspaper, city and state.)
1 THE OREGON JOURNAL PORTLAND, OREGON
Date: November 27, 1973

Edition:
Author:	Rolla J. Crick
Editor:	Donald Sterling, J
Title:	NORJAK

Characters
Or
Bufile
Classification:
164 - 2111
Submitting Office:
Portland
Being
Donald Sterling, J
Title:	NORJAK

Characters
Or
Bufile
Classification:
164 - 2111
Submitting Office:
Portland
Being Investigated

SEARCHED.	INDEXED
SERIAL Cx FILED AZ
DEC 2 1 1973 Ał - SEATTLE

2

164-81-Sul B
DB Cooper-23063 FBI-SEATTLE JAN 7 1973
SERIALIZED.
164-81-SalaB
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DB Cooper-23066
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Please note. 1 JCPenney We know what you're looking for. DB Cooper-23067:. FD-350 (Rev. 12-5-78)
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
Northwest 727 hijacker
Cooper made a quantum leap into
FD-350 (Rev. 12-5-78)
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
Northwest 727 hijacker
Cooper made a quantum leap into mists
of mythology
By John Kerans
You can't tell a book by its cover. Nor a crook by the crime he's com-, mitted. But if you can't read the book, or you can't find the crook -- then surely some speculation's per- mitted.
Take the case of D. B. Cooper, who 71/2 years ago used a bomb threat to take command of a 727 jet, then par- achuted to freedom with $200,000 ex- torted from Northwest Airlines. No trace of Cooper was ever found. And since it's the only such unsolved crime in American history, you could say Cooper wrote the book on skyjacking. But. he took the book along the night he made his quantum leap. And that's where the specula- tion begins
The playwright
John Orlock began to wonder about D. B. Cooper a few weeks after the crime was committed. Orlock found a letter purportedly from Cooper re- printed in the New York Times and he clipped it out. Orlock still has that clipping, though it's yellowed .
Orlock found a letter purportedly from Cooper re- printed in the New York Times and he clipped it out. Orlock still has that clipping, though it's yellowed . with age.
(In the letter, "Cooper" said in part that he had only 14 months to live and that "I knew from the start that I wouldn't be caught.")
"I read it and got the feeling of a man who finally decided to do some- thing with his life. There was a great sadness and a great courage here," says Orlock, his fingertips touching the clipping ..
"If this was indeed the case, that he was dying-and I am sure that he is tjow dead-then there was a certain justice here. It was a haunting piece of writing. Most importantly, I could feel a 'personality' emerging."
(Indicate page, none of newspaper, city and state.J 12G, 200 TRIBUNE Mpls. MN
Date:
21-8-79
ixlition:
Sunday
Title: D. B. COOPER
Character: or Classification: 164-73 Submitting Office: MINNEAPOLIS
Suk B-
DB Cooper-23068
Lub B FBI00J
164-81-8100 Legend of a hijacker comes to Cricket Theater
By Mike Steele Staff Writer.
On Thanksgiving Eve 1971, a mild- mannered man using the name D.
or Classification: 164-73 Submitting Office: MINNEAPOLIS
Suk B-
DB Cooper-23068
Lub B FBI00J
164-81-8100 Legend of a hijacker comes to Cricket Theater
By Mike Steele Staff Writer.
On Thanksgiving Eve 1971, a mild- mannered man using the name D.B .. Cooper hijacked a Northwest Air- Iines 727 and, somewhere south of Seattle, parachuted. out clutching $200,000 in $20 bills. He hasn't been seen since.
It was a great mystery and Cooper became something-of a folk hero. Songs were- written about his daz- zling escapade and D.B. Cooper took his place alongside Robin Hood, Jean Lafitte and all three musko- teers.
[Almost overlooked during the epi- sode, however, was a letter received by several newspapers a month.after the bejacking. It was written by pero Claimed to be Cooper Ine letter Sald, "Lam no modera day Robin Hood Unfortunately: I-do have only 14 months to "live.""He took the money, he wrote, "to gain a few fast grains of peace of mind."
One who didn't overlook the letter was playwright John Orlock. "I was fascinated by that letter," explained the 33-year-old writer, "especially a part where he wrote about living a life of agony, turmoil, hate and more hate.
"I was fascinated by that letter," explained the 33-year-old writer, "especially a part where he wrote about living a life of agony, turmoil, hate and more hate. It was a beautiful piece of writ- Ing. straightforward and simple, the kind of letter. a D.B. Cooper would have written. Let's face it, the hijack- Ing was one of the great acts of imagination of our time, the idea df taking the money and leaving ule airplane up there.
"I clipped that letter and put it in my files for a few years. I was thinking about It during that time, however, and it kept coming out in my mind as a musical, a small cabaret musical. Then five years ago we performed a - rough draft of it in a workshop at (Penn State where I was teaching. fit Jonty had five songs and only two or three of those original scenes remain today."
But he has worked-and reworked since, and-last year _. "The-D.B. Coo- per Project" was done in a:reading during- the Cricket Theater's late» night works-in-progress series. It worked well enough that the Cricket is presenting it on its main stage be- ginning Friday through May 5, under Lou Salerni's direction.
It worked well enough that the Cricket is presenting it on its main stage be- ginning Friday through May 5, under Lou Salerni's direction.
The play; like most of Orlock's to date, will be a comic drama. It won't be the big, metaphorical statement he'll be after but, as he put it, "just people in a situation, a look at what happens when interesting characters are placed in a situation that will knock them around, I never start a blay saying. 'I want to say this.' It's deadly. What really makes me cringe is when a playwright uses the title of the play as a metaphor In the play, you know, here comes the. Streetcar Named Desire. I look for character. and let metaphors find themselves through them."
Orlock's characters tend to be based on historical fact, then shot throughi with the writer's Imagination. Itis "Indulgences in the Louisville Har- em," one of last year's bits at the:
-
DB Cooper-23070
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164-81-8099Fohn Orlock
Cricket, featured a mesmerist from the International Institute of Science and Populism. The mesmerist, it turned out, was mute and had to be accompanied by a friend who said all his words for him
The mesmerist, it turned out, was mute and had to be accompanied by a friend who said all his words for him though the . ideas behind the words, we were as- sured, were the mesmerist's.
He has also written plays about a man who played the organ in a Bos- ton subway station and about the Golden Girl, the first female baton twirler to march with a college marching band. His latest play, re- cently given in the Cricket's works- In-progress series, "Revolution of the ¡Heavenly Orbs," is about a 12th-cen- fury French cathedral builder.
if there's one thing that typifies Or-
lock's plays to date it is the way he begins with logical, historical situa- tions and lets those situations zoom through logic right off the wall, often into surprisingly tender emotions.
"The humor is so important," said Orlock, "in terms of holding an audi- ence. If you can make them laugh they'll follow you anywhere, right through logic into areas you could never get them to follow you normal- ly. You simply can't bore an audi- ence and move them too.
If you can make them laugh they'll follow you anywhere, right through logic into areas you could never get them to follow you normal- ly. You simply can't bore an audi- ence and move them too. I'm learn- ing that more and more, how to hold an audience and how I can turn that .back in on itself or. into a different Jevel:"
He pulls-his_comedy from _many -styles:"I've been watching- Abbott and Costello lately," he said. "It's just absolutely primal, basic materi- al, beautifully built. The 'Who's on First?' sketch is to comedy what Bach is to music. I also watch old television series, like Sgt. Bilko. It was well written formally and just needs a content injection. And I love Moliere.
"What I'm after is situational com- edy, the kind that builds from char- acters to the point where the audi- ence finally says 'Oh, no, he isn't really going to do that!' It takes a bit more time to build those situations as opposed to just joke humor, but it's so much richer."
Orlock also wrote the HI songs in this, his first musical. In fact, in the
DB Cooper-23071Camille Gifford and Don Amendolia in the Cricket Theater's product tion of "The D.
In fact, in the
DB Cooper-23071Camille Gifford and Don Amendolia in the Cricket Theater's product tion of "The D. B. Cooper Project."
DB Cooper-23072best tradition of musical theater, had just completed the final one uveek or so before opening.
a
1
"I have a background in piano,". he - said, "but I haven't composed much. I did do some small film scores and . some commercial work, but not much. The one song last year in 'Louisville Harem' was my first the- ater song. I don't think I can really describe my style. I look for theater music, songs that are scenes in them- selves. I like a lot of early Kurt Weill music-but I'm still exploring. This piece is scored; for two pianos. harm- and either percussion or strings.Not. Sure yet. T. had a tuba in there first owl when the warp cabrel. dropped it. The harp was an amazing- instrument, perfect, ethereal flying music."
Orlock is a native of Philadelphia and has taught at both Penn State and Boston University. He set out to become an actor and director but about nine years ago took a playwrit- Ing course that showed him to be a writer of some skill.
He set out to become an actor and director but about nine years ago took a playwrit- Ing course that showed him to be a writer of some skill. He soon won a Shubert Playwriting award to study at Penn State, where he wrote his first full-length play.
"I felt the great satisfaction of hear- ing an audience respond," he said, "and found out how nice that could be. I wrote only off and on for a while but I was getting more and more reinforcement and finally in ate 1973, when I began. 'D.B. Cool per,' I made the commitment to playwriting
je came to Minneapolis In 1975 be cause he was tired of teaching and Had heard the theater scene was promising. He and his wife loaded un a U-Haul and breezed into Minneap- olis on Labor Day. He spent the first year selling calculators at . Dayton's: by day, teaching theater at the Guild of Performing Arts at night. He wrote and directed a few shows there and finally, a year ago, was named a playwright-in-residence at the Playwrights' Lab.
"It is a very, very useful program," he. said .- "I'm- still involved- with it.
He wrote and directed a few shows there and finally, a year ago, was named a playwright-in-residence at the Playwrights' Lab.
"It is a very, very useful program," he. said .- "I'm- still involved- with it. It'san-opportunity to take-good: ac- tors anda director and say=JA !! ight, To-like-to-present this work. And then work on it-and see how it. plays. Out of the Lab work I can hear the piece, rewrite it and work it out. I still like to work this way. Thl Cricket's works-in-progress series has worked out the same way. It's : very nice way to bring a play along."
Starting next fall, Orlock .will be- come the Cricket's literary manager in charge of reading new, scripts, helping with play selection and, of course, writing.
"Above all," he said, "it, will.be a. steady salary. I'll phase out most of my teaching and be able to concen- trate on professional theater. In fact, until they asked me to take that posi- tion I had seriously thought about go -- ing back to college teaching. just to put bread on the table. I wasn't too, happy with those prospects. Belleve me, it feels much better to be in the theater.
just to put bread on the table. I wasn't too, happy with those prospects. Belleve me, it feels much better to be in the theater."
DB Cooper-23073" FD-350 (Rev. 12-5-78)
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
Undicute page, name of newspaper, city and state.) 3C STAR Mpls. MN
Date:
4-16-79
Edition:
Evening
Title:
D.B. COOPER
Character:
10
Classification:
Submitting Office:
MINNEAPOLIS
The Cricket's 'D.B. Cooper' is leap into rare experience
Jane Murray and Don Amendolia in 'D.B. Cooper'
DB Cooper-23074
Such B 164-81-8093
FBI/DOJ(D)-350 (\v. 10-19-77)
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
D.B.'s card? Feds think not
A heavy plastic placard found in a heavily forest- ed area of southwest Washington could have dropped off any passing Boeing 727, not necessari- ly the plane skyjacked by the legendary ,D. B. Coo- per, officials 'acknowl- edge.
The FBI says the pla- card could have dropped. from a plane during a re- enactment of the incident six weeks after the 1971 hijacking.
Ray Mathis, FBI spokesman in Seattle, told The Associated Press yesterday the hijacked plane was used in a simu- ation of the hijacking, ind, "we noticed
Ray Mathis, FBI spokesman in Seattle, told The Associated Press yesterday the hijacked plane was used in a simu- ation of the hijacking, ind, "we noticed the decal was missing after that, but not before."
"Those placards have been known to fall off on the runway," added a Boe- ing. spokesman.
It was disclosed Wednesday that an elk hunter found the notice last November about 12 miles east of Kelso. The discovery was,kept quiet while FBI and Cowlitz County sheriff's detec- tives tried to verify the placard's origin. .
A person identifying himself as D. B. Cooper hijacked a Northwest Orient plane Thanksgiv- ing eve on a flight be- tween Portland and Seattle. He . received $200,000 and jumped from the plane. Neither Cooper nor the money has) been seen since.
SuB.R.
(Indicate paige, name of newspaper, city and stale.}
p. A14 News Tribune Tacoma, Wa.
Date: 1/19/79
Edition: Final
Title:
Character:
Or
164.81
Classification:
Submitting Office: Seattle
164-81-SubB
5
!! 0 FEB 231270 b6 b7C
V
FOI/ DOJ
DB Cooper-23077 to the store. Last year, a professional parachutist from Portland and two of his students came right down.
0 FEB 231270 b6 b7C
V
FOI/ DOJ
DB Cooper-23077 to the store. Last year, a professional parachutist from Portland and two of his students came right down. think that's what Cooper did.
"He was a man who liked a chal- lenge .. A loner. I don't think he need- ed the money. Maybe he didn't have anything to do on Thanksgiving."
If this is where D. B. Cooper landed with the $200,000 ransom, then he fell in with good company. A long time ago, before reforestation pro- grams, the loggers had a slogan.
Simply put, it read: "Get yours and get out."
Thepsychiatrist
David Hubbard cursed the idea -of a musicat about D. B. Cooper When he. learned of it.
"I'm of the opinion that this type of thing doesn't need to be perpetuated. Cooper represented no ideals and no ; values. He's not a folk hero. He was a man acting selfishly. The number of people who can be harmed by men who think they'll be immortal- ized is innumerable."
In 1971, Hubbard wrote a book called "The Skyjacker." It's the only psychiatric study of the "skyjacking personality," and it's based on doz- ens of interviews with men who com- mitted the crime.
" It's the only psychiatric study of the "skyjacking personality," and it's based on doz- ens of interviews with men who com- mitted the crime.
Hubbard's premise .is that we . are bound together by twofold gravity. One pari is physical-which holds us to earth. Another is emotional- which holds us to each other. Sky- jacking, he concludes, is a defiance Jof both realities.
Hubbard also believes in "muta- tions." One man commits the crime; another emulates it. Cooper-he points out-was not the first to get to- gether parachutes, bombs and dis- guises. A Canadian tried the same trick in Calgary three weeks before. Hubbard assumes Cooper read about it and tried to go the Canadian one better. He did-the Canadian was caught and Cooper was not.
'Cooper created nothing," says. Hub- bard_ He was an Imitalive.creature. like all the rest who followed.
There certainly were plenty to fol- low-though none succeeded. Even- tually; - the back stairs on 727 jets were modified to lock in flight. And that was the end of that.
"I took the notorious and made it commonplace," says Hubbard.
Even- tually; - the back stairs on 727 jets were modified to lock in flight. And that was the end of that.
"I took the notorious and made it commonplace," says Hubbard. "You want to take the commonplace -- and D. B. Cooper was commonplace -- and make it notorious. I don't buy that."
Psychiatrist David Hubbard does all his work at the Aberrant Behavior Center in Dallas. He lives nearby. Back in 1971,. Hubbard -- like Coo- per-received $200,000.
But Hubbard's money came from a private benefactor. It was given to ii- nance a study on skyjacking.
John Kerans is a free-lance writer.
DB Cooper-23078FD-350 (Rev. 10-19-77)
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
A remnant of D. B.'s leap?
KELSO (AP) - A heavy plastic pla- card from a Boeing 727, found by a hunter in a thickly wooded area, could be a link to the unsolved Nov. 24, 1971, D. B. Cooper skyjacking, authorities said today.
Cooper is thought to have parachut- ed from the Northwest Airlines jet near Woodland, about 10 miles south of here, with $200:000 in $20 bills.
The placard is described as an emer- gency warning notice of the type post- ed next to the rear exit of 727s.
The placard is described as an emer- gency warning notice of the type post- ed next to the rear exit of 727s.
"There isn't any way that it could Dhave come off a plane without the (rear) door being opened," said Cowl -. itz County Sheriff Les Nelson. "We iknow that two days after Cooper jumped the placard was missing off the plane.
"This is the first probable, tangible piece of evidence that has surfaced in the D. B. Cooper case," he added. "It's inconceivable, it's one in a million, that any other plane could have lost it in the area in which D. B. Cooper jumped."
The placard was found about "six flying minutes" from where Cooper is believed to have jumped, said Nelson. It was found last November by an elk hunter, Carroll Hicks of Kelso, near a Weyerhaeuser Co. logging road north of the town of Ariel, said Nelson.
Although Cooper is immune from prosecution now - the federal statute of limitations on that crime is five years, authorities have said - he has never been seen and none of the $20 bills given in ransom has surfaced in circulation.
prosecution now - the federal statute of limitations on that crime is five years, authorities have said - he has never been seen and none of the $20 bills given in ransom has surfaced in circulation.
JERGENCY IT HANDLE
AFT MIRSTAIR TO OPERATE CCESS DOOR, PULL ON RE LE. LOCK WIE WILL BRE IEN HALOLE IS PULLED
AP Laserphot
Cooper placard?
Cowlitz County Sheriff's detec- tive Bob Nix displayed an exit placard from a Boeing 727, found near Toutle by a hunter, and confirmed by the FBI ap matching one missing from 2 plane hijacked by D. B. Cooper in 1971.
DB Cooper-23079
SUB B.
(Indicate page, name of
newspaper, city and state.)
p.AL
News Tribune Tacoma, Wa.
Date: 1/17/79
Edition: Final
Title:
Character:
or
164-81
Classification:
Submitting Office: Seattle
64-81-SubB
EARCHED INDEXED FERIALIZED FILED FEB2: 1979
ATTLE 
b6 b7C
FBI/ DOJFD-350 (Rev. 7-16-63)
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
Skull Found in Oregon Is Not D. B. Cooper's
PORTLAND, Ore. - (UPI)-The "D. B. Coo- per" skyjacking case re- mained as much a mys- tery as ever yesterday with the latest set of tan- talizing possibilities - a weathered skull, clothing remains and a parachute hanging from a tree - apparently ruled
Coo- per" skyjacking case re- mained as much a mys- tery as ever yesterday with the latest set of tan- talizing possibilities - a weathered skull, clothing remains and a parachute hanging from a tree - apparently ruled out of contention.
· " Cooper, one of the first in the nation's series of skyjackings, jumped Thanksgiving Eve 1971 from a Boeing 727 some- where south of Woodland, Wash., with $200,000 in $20 bills strapped to his body.
He had seized the Northwest Airlines jet be- tween Portland and Seat -. tle, received the money in Seattle, and ordered the crew to fly to Reno, Nev.
En route he disappeared. 'The skull, believed to be that of a Caucasian in his early. 30s, was found Thursday in the Mt. Hood National Forest 10 miles east of Estacada. Near the skull was a parachute hanging high in a fir tree.
The Clackamas. County sheriff's office said cloth- ing was found in the area earlier, but it had not been . connected with the Cooper case. A spokesman- said the parachute was believed to be from a weather balloon.
"I'm satisfied it is not him," said Dr. Larry Lew- man of the state medical examiner's office, who studied the skull and checked with the FBI.
Larry Lew- man of the state medical examiner's office, who studied the skull and checked with the FBI.
Dr. Lewman said the
skull was .of a person younger than the . descrip- tion of Cooper, who was believed to be in his. late 40s or early 50s. Lewman said the plane's flight path was west of Portland and the chute was found east of the city.
Sheriff's deputies said the skull may have been of a hunter or. a missing pilot. Deputies were un- able to thoroughly inspect the area until spring be- cause of three feet of snow covering the ground.
Harold K. Clark, special FBI agent in charge, said his agents are continuing to investigate the Cooper affair, one of the top cases in the Pacific North- west. But he said, "noth- ing's cooking.
(Indicate page, name of newspaper, city and state.)
P.A Il-Seattle P.I.

Date:	1-12-75
Edition:	Sunday
Author:
Editor:	Dick Lyall
Title:

164-81 Sub B
Character:
or
Classification:
Submitting Office:
SE :
Sunday
Author:
Editor:	Dick Lyall
Title:

164-81 Sub B
Character:
or
Classification:
Submitting Office:
SE Being Investigated
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JAN 13 1975
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DB Cooper-23080FD-350 (Rev. 10-19-77)
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Possible D. B. Cooper Suspect
P-L News Services
STOCKTON, Calif. - A self-styled soldier of fortune, whose wild esca- pades have landed him in a northern California jail, has emerged as a possi- ble suspect in the legendary D.B. Cooper skyjack case.
Robert Wesley Rackstraw, 35, was arraigned yesterday in Stockton on charges connected to his disappear- ance last October in a rented plane, He allegedly faked a crash of that plane last Oct. 11.
FBI agents in Seattle and at several, California offices yesterday declined official comment on the possibility of a connection between Rackstraw and. the D.B. Cooper case. But an FBI source confirmed that Rackstraw had been questioned "at least once" in connection with the skyjacking.
And a relative of Rackstraw, con- tacted yesterday at his home in San Jose, Calif.
But an FBI source confirmed that Rackstraw had been questioned "at least once" in connection with the skyjacking.
And a relative of Rackstraw, con- tacted yesterday at his home in San Jose, Calif., said FBI agents visited. him last year in connection with the skyjacking case. William Rackstraw, the relative, said he was unable to help the agents.
The rumor that. Robert Rackstraw, a much - decorated Vietnam War vet- 'eran and former Green Beret with parachute training, could be the elu- sive D.B. Cooper, first surfaced among
Stockton law officials about a year ago. "We checked on it a year or so ago, and found out he was up there iin the Pacific Northwest at the time of the skyjacking)," said Det. Sgt. Charles! Buck of the Stockton Police Depart- ment. e
On Thanksgiving Day, 1971, a mid- dle - aged man calling himself D.B. Cooper parachuted. from a low - flying jetliner over Southwest Washington with $200,000 strapped to his body.
The rumor of the Rackstraw-D.B. Cooper connection. previously con- fined to law enforcement circles, leaked to the press after Rackstraw was arrested last week in Fullerton, Calif.
previously con- fined to law enforcement circles, leaked to the press after Rackstraw was arrested last week in Fullerton, Calif., a suburb of Los Angeles.
Fullerton police said yesterday that Rackstraw was arrested after a man tried to duplicate a Federal Avia- tion Administration pilot's license. The owner of a print shop became suspicious and called the FAA, police said:
One of two San Joaquin County detectives, dispatched to return the suspect to Stockton on outstanding warrants, watched as Rackstraw was being fingerprinted, according to a Callfornia police source.
When a palm print was obtained from Rackstraw, the suspect ts re- ported to have remarked "Oh, the [D:B. Cooper thing again.'
A Stockton police source said au-
thorities have tried to obtain a palm print from Rackstraw in the past in connection with the D.B. Cooper case but have been unsuccessful:
FBI officials have been tight - lipped about their investigation of the case, and the possible significance of a
patm print could not be determineds last night.
Cooper case but have been unsuccessful:
FBI officials have been tight - lipped about their investigation of the case, and the possible significance of a
patm print could not be determineds last night.
FBI spokesman Ray, Mathis in Seat- the last night refused to comment on any possible.connection between Rackstraw and the D.B. Cooper case.
"I can tell you." Mathis said, "thats,
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p. Al
Seattle Post- Intelligencer Seattle, Wa.
Date: 2/3/79
Edition: Final
Title:
Character:
or 164-81
Classification: Submitting Office: Seattle
164-81-SubPor
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DB Cooper-23081 we don't know who D.B. Cooper is and to the best of my knowledge, we're not any closer to knowing who D.B. Cooper is.
: Asked whether he thought the Rackstraw arrest in Fullerton was a break in the Cooper skyjacking, Mathis refused comment.
According to court records in Ca- laveras County, Rackstraw left the army early in 1971 and took.a job with a petrochemical firm in the San Fran- cisco Bay area. As a trained helicopter pilot, he also is reported to have taken on private flying assignments for various corporations between 1971 and 1974, when he formed
As a trained helicopter pilot, he also is reported to have taken on private flying assignments for various corporations between 1971 and 1974, when he formed his own helicopter service.
.: Rackstraw went Into the construc- tion business with his stepfather in Calaveras County in.1976. The-busi- ness took a bad turn, and Rackstraw late in 1977 was charged with writing $75,000 in bad: checks at two San Joa- quin County banks. :
It was at about that time that Rack- straw, dropped out of sight. Eventual- ly, the FBI located Rackstraw in Iran, where he had taken a job as a flight instructor for Bell Helicopter Interna- Sional. !
1
.He was deported from Iran and was arrested Feb: 20, 1978; when he arrived on a flight to New York City.
Two days later, the body of his step- father was found in a shallow grave. hear his home in Valley Springs. Calif.
Rackstraw was acquitted of charges in the murder of his stepfath- fer. but illegal explosives charges and! charges on the bad checks remain to be disposed of in San Joaquin County.
And it was last October, a few days before he was due in court on those charges that Rackstraw and an uni- dentified
And it was last October, a few days before he was due in court on those charges that Rackstraw and an uni- dentified companion rented a plane at a Stockton airport and disappeared. The last that was heard from Rack- straw, until his arrest last week, was his "mayday" call supposedly broad- cast from somewhere in the Monte- rey, Calif. area.
During an interview with a Stock- ton newspaper reporter last summer, Rackstraw claimed the FBI considers him "a James Bond who had gone wrong."
He also said that he was a member of a "top - secret special intelligence organization while in Vietnam in 1969.
A San Joaquin County prosecutor, Clark Sueyres, said he once ques- tioned Rackstraw about being Cooper. He said Rackstraw "invoked his rights" to have an attorney present Rand the inquiry stopped there.
The questioning took place shortly before Rackstraw's disappearance ing October.
He was being held last night in lieu of $650,000 ball after arraignment on the past charges.
D.B. COOPER Artist's sketch
ROBERT RACKSTRAW Soldier of fortune
DB Cooper-23082FD-350 (Rev.
He was being held last night in lieu of $650,000 ball after arraignment on the past charges.
D.B. COOPER Artist's sketch
ROBERT RACKSTRAW Soldier of fortune
DB Cooper-23082FD-350 (Rev. 12-5-78)
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
D.B. Cooper
-
Did He Attend Play?
MINNEAPOLIS - (AP) - Has D.B. Cooper - the. hijacker immortalized after he jumped from a plane in the Pacific Northwest eight years ago - been to Minne- apolis' Cricket Theater recently?
Be has if letters received by the Cricket are for real. And if not, the Cricket has the benefit of a promotional gimmick.
Last month the Cricket opened a musical based on the life of Cooper, who disappeared in 1971 after hijack- ing a Northwest Airlines plane and parachuting some- where over southwestern Washington. Cooper took a $200.000 ransom. byt neither Cooper nor the money ever was found.
Early this year the Cricket placed an ad in Time magazine, telling "D.B. Cooper, wherever you are." thiat "1wo.free tickets are waiting for you at the Cricket Thea- ter .. . "
Two replies were received, both apparently written by the same person.
free tickets are waiting for you at the Cricket Thea- ter .. . "
Two replies were received, both apparently written by the same person.
The first, postmarked in Chicago, thanked the Cricket for the invitation. "I won't say I will accept, and I won't say I won't" the writer said. The brief note was signed Daniel B. Cooper.
The letter mailed in Los Angeles was received late last month after the play opened .- Written on the same kind of green notepaper with apparently the same type- writer. it was longer and full of grammatical errors.
The writer claimed to have seen the play in Minne- apolis. "The actors and actresses were wonderful," the writer said. "I wish I had known them in my own actual life."
A spokesman for the theater said Producing Direc- tor Bill Semans "firmly believes" the letters are on the level.
But playwright John Orlock doesn't buy it. "I think it was fwritten by) someone who couldn't resist the chal- lenze," he said.
Some law enforcement officials say Cooper died when he jumped from the plane. Orlock believes Cooper survived the jump but djed of cancer later.
Some law enforcement officials say Cooper died when he jumped from the plane. Orlock believes Cooper survived the jump but djed of cancer later.
Orlock's play is based on a letter printed in the New York Times about three weeks after the hijacking. In. Il. Cooper claimed to be dying of cancer and added that he had hijacked the plane in hopes of gaining a "few fast grains of peace of mind."
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(Indicate page, name of newspaper, city and state.) p. A5 Post-Intelligencer Seattle, Wa. Date: 5/3/79 Edition: Final
Title:
Character: or
Classification:
Submitting Office: Seattle
The FBI thinks the hijacker didn't know much about TE parachutes when he jumped from the rear door of a jet traveling 197 mph at 10,000 feet, and he probably landed in some of the roughest wilderness in the Pacific North- ahwest.
Cooper was, for a while, a folk hero, immortalized by songs. bumper stickers and T-shirts. Orlock saw him as a sick little man whose miserable life concluded with a ri- tualized act that put it all in order.
Shortly before the fifth anniversary of the Nov.
Orlock saw him as a sick little man whose miserable life concluded with a ri- tualized act that put it all in order.
Shortly before the fifth anniversary of the Nov. 24.7 1971, hijacking. an indictment was returned against "Dan Cooper," eliminating the statute of limitations in the case.
164-81-SubB
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MAY 3 19790 FOI-SEATILL 1
FBI/DO!
DB Cooper-23083FD-350 (Rev. 10-19-77)
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
Suspect linked
ho D.B.
Cooper
FULLERTON, Calif. - (AP) - Police today transferred to a Stockton, Calif,, jail a man who has been linked to the search for! D.B. Cooper, the nation's most fa- mous airplane hijacker.
The man was identified by pol- ice in this Los Angeles suburb as Robert Wesley .Rackstraw, 35. Police said he was arrested here last week, reportedly for trying to duplicate a Federal Aviation Ad- ministration pilot's license and medical certificates .. Police ar- rested him when the owner of a print shop became suspicious and
Icalled the F.A.A.
Fullerton police said there are arrest warrants outstanding in Stockton for Rackstraw on charges of aircraft theft, posses- sion of explosives and fraud.
Fullerton police said there are arrest warrants outstanding in Stockton for Rackstraw on charges of aircraft theft, posses- sion of explosives and fraud.
In nearby Santa Ana, Pete Nor- regard, an F.B.I. agent, said Rackstraw had been sought for questioning in the. D.B. Cooper case about a year ago. But Norre- gard added, "The F.B.I. here is not aware of any current investi- gation involving Rackstraw. That! case is being handled by our Seattle office."
In Seattle, a F.B;I. spokesman, Ray Mathis, declined comment. "We cannot talk about people we have under investigation," Mathis said.
In February 1978, after return- ing from a year in Iran as a heli- copter pilot, Rackstraw was ar- rested by the F.B.I. in New York. on charges of killing his stepfath- er, Philip, and burying the body in Calaveras County in California.
He was acquitted by a Calaver- as County Superior Court. But during the murder investagation, Warren Little, an F.B.I. agent in
Stockton, indicated he believed he had established a link between Rackstraw and D.B. Cooper.
The nature of the link is not known.
agent in
Stockton, indicated he believed he had established a link between Rackstraw and D.B. Cooper.
The nature of the link is not known.
William Rackstraw, Philip's brother, told the F.B.I. at the time, "I can't really say where Robert was (when the plane was hijacked). He was all over the country and in and out of trouble- (wherever he went."
On November 24, 1971, a middle- [aged man wearing sunglasses and "calling himself "Dan Cooper" boarded a Portland-to-Seattle.
SUB. B #5€
pun
$96.983
DB Cooper-23084
(Indicate page, name of
newspaper, city and state.)
p.AL Seattle Times Seattle, Wa.
Date:
2/2/79
Edition:
Final
Title:
Character:
or
164-81
Classification:
Submitting Office: Seattle
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FBI/DOJ
164-81-SubBflight carrying a paper bag in his hand. Soon after takeoff, he told stewardesses he had a bomb and he wanted $200,000 in cash and four parachutes.
The Northwest Airlines 727 landed in Seattle and the other passengers, who did not realize anything was amiss, got off.
The Northwest Airlines 727 landed in Seattle and the other passengers, who did not realize anything was amiss, got off. Coop- er's demands were met and the plane took off again for Reno, car- Fying only Cooper and the crew, Somewhere over Southwest Washington, Cooper bailed out with the money and has not been seen since, despite extensive
searches,
It is the nation's only unsolved . hijacking.
Last month, Cowlitz County Sheriff Les Nelson revealed that i an elk hunter had found a heavy plastic placard of the type found on 727s. That placard was found to be missing off the 727 hijacked by Cooper, but not until after the F.B.I. conducted a simulation of the hijacking about six weeks aft- er the actual incident,
So, although it's been called the first real link to Cooper, nothing can be proved.
DB Cooper-23085FD-350 (tev. 10-19-77)
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D.B. Cooper? I'm Not Him'
STOCKTON, Calif. - (AP) - Robert Wesley Rack- straw, says he is not skyjacker D. B. Cooper and that any doubt will be removed when he goes on irial on a variety of non-skyjacking charges.
Cooper and that any doubt will be removed when he goes on irial on a variety of non-skyjacking charges.
Rackstraw, 35, was questioned about the skyjacking last year. The FBI says he no longer is a suspect. .
He was arrested recently in Fullerton after allegedly attempting to duplicate a pilot's license and medical cer- tificates in a printing shop.
He is being held on charges of grand theft of an air- plane, possession of explosives, check forgery and pass- ing bad checks. .
The discovery of explosives early .last year in a Stockton warehouse leased by Rackstraw, plus his back- ground as a pilot and his extensive military parachute training, led to bis being questioned in connection with the Cooper skyjacking.
Rackstraw was free on bail on the check and explos- ive charges last October when he disappeared after alleg. edly faking a plane crash in Monterey Bay. he was not found until his arrest in Fullerton. He is being held in the San Joaquin County jail.
"You want me to say I'm not D. B. Cooper?
he was not found until his arrest in Fullerton. He is being held in the San Joaquin County jail.
"You want me to say I'm not D. B. Cooper? Okay, I'm not D. B. Cooper," Rackstraw said.
He added that doubts about his not being Cooper will be dispelled in the trial.
Cooper apparently bailed out of a jetliner Nov. 21, 1 1971, over the rugged foothills of the Cascades north of Portland, Ore., area, with $200,000 in ransom money "strapped to his body.
Neither he nor the money has been found. It is the only unsolved skyjacking in U.S. history.
#5€
DB Cooper-23086
ROBERT RACKSTRAW: "I'm not D.I Cooper." - AP Photo
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newspaper, city and state.)
p. ALO Seattle Post Intelligence Seattle, Wa. b6 b7C
Date: 2/11/79
Edition: Sunday
Title:
Character:
or 164-81
Classification:
Submitting Office: Seattle
164-81-SubB
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FBI/DOJFD-350 (Rev. 10-19-77)
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Cooper? Not he,
says man in Calif.
The man questioned about being D.B.
10-19-77)
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
Cooper? Not he,
says man in Calif.
The man questioned about being D.B. Cooper in the 1971 skyjacking says he is not Coop- er and any doubt will be re- moved when he goes on trial on a variety of charges, the Asso- ciated Press reported from Stockton, Calif.
Robert Wesley Rackstraw, 35, was questioned about the skyjacking last year, but the Federal Bureau of Investiga- tion says he no longer is a sus- pect. He was arrested last! week in Fullerton, Calif., after reportedly trying to duplicate a Qpilot's license and medical cer- tificates in a print shop.
He is being held in Stockton on charges of grand theft of an airplane, possession of explo- sives, check forgery and pass- ing bad checks. His background as a pilot and his extensive mil- itary parachute training prompted questioning about the unsolved Cooper skyjacking.
"You want me to say I'm not D.B. Cooper? OK, I'm not D.B. Cooper," Rackstraw said.in a copyright interview by The Stockton Record. Any doubts about his Cooper connection will be dispelled when he goes on trial on the other charges, he said.
Any doubts about his Cooper connection will be dispelled when he goes on trial on the other charges, he said.
A man calling himself Coop- er bailed out of a Northwest Orient Boeing 727 over the foot- hills of the Cascades in 1971; with $200,000 in extorted mon- ey.
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DB Cooper-23087
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PAL7 Seattle Time. Seattle, Wa.
Date: 2/8/79 Edition: Final
Title:
Character: or 164-81 Classification: Submitting Office: Seattle 164-81-SubB
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FBI/DO.I'D-350 (Rev. 10-10-77)
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D. B. Cooper?
Robert W. Rackstraw, shown being wheeled from a California.courtroom in this 1978 photo, emerged yester- day as a current suspect in the eight- year-old D. B. Cooper skyjacking case. The FBI in Southern California has' acknowledged investigating Rackstraw to determine if he is Coo- per.
The FBI in Southern California has' acknowledged investigating Rackstraw to determine if he is Coo- per. A skyjacker who called himself D. B. Cooper apparently jumped from a commercial jet over southwest. Washington on Thanksgiving Eve in 1971, taking $200,000 with him. Neither he nor the loot has been found despite an extensive effort by the FBI. An artist made the sketch below from descriptions given by passengers and crew members.
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AP Laserphoto
255- SUB
DB Cooper-23088
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newspaper, city and state.)
p.A3 News Tribune Tacoma, Wa.
Date: 2/3/79 Edition: Final
Title:
Character:
or
164-81
Classification:
Submitting Office: Seattle
164-81-Sub B
by I FMI/DOJ
b6 b7CFD-350 (Rev. 10-19-77)
(Mount Clipping in Space Bolow)
Californian ruled out as Cooper suspect
A California man reportedly investi- gated in connection with the D. B. Coo- per airline hijacking apparently has been ruled out as a suspect in the nation's only unsolved air piracy case.
1
The Associated Press, quoting a.
Coo- per airline hijacking apparently has been ruled out as a suspect in the nation's only unsolved air piracy case.
1
The Associated Press, quoting a. Seattle newspaper, said Robert Wesley Rackstraw, 35, was no more than one of more than 1,000 persons who had been considered and rejected as suspects.in the 1971 case, according to unnamed law-enforcement sources.
Quoting one source, the newspaper said, "He was just considered a suspect. I think (the) Seattle (FBI office) has
already resolved that it wasn't him." The Seattle office, which directed the FBI's investigation of Cooper, refused to comment on Rackstraw, a pilot, explosives expert and suspect in other crimes.
"We don't know who D. B. Cooper is," said FBI spokesman Ray Mathis in Seattle. "You can imply certain things from that."
Reports arose at week's end in Fullerton, Calif., that Rackstraw, being held on unrelated charges there; had beenlinked to the unsolved hijacking.
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p-A6 News Tribune Tacoma, Wa.
Date: 2/4/79
Edition: Sunday
Title:
Character:
or 164-81
Classification:
Submitting Office: Seattle
64-81-Sub B
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Date: 2/4/79
Edition: Sunday
Title:
Character:
or 164-81
Classification:
Submitting Office: Seattle
64-81-Sub B
p
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FBI/DOJ
SUB- BI SUB. 933
DB Cooper-230891ºD-350 (Rev. 10-19-77)
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
Man denies being hijacker
STOCKTON, Calif. (AP) .- Robert Wesley Rack- straw, the jailed former Green Beret who was quest tioned about the fabled. D. B. Cooper skyjacking, says he is not Cooper.
"You want me to say I'm not D. B. Cooper? Okay, I'm not D. B. Cooper," Rackstraw told the Stockton Record in a copyright interview from the San Joa- quin County jail.
. That answer was tongue-in-cheek, but later in the interview he repeated that he was not Cooper and gthat any doubt would be removed when he goes on trial on a variety of charges.
Rackstraw last year was questioned about the skyjacking, but the FBI said this week that he is no longer a suspect.
Undicate page, name of newspaper, city and state,)
p. ALO News Tribune Tacoma, Wa.
SUB. B. SUB. 935
Date: 2/7/79 Edition: Final
Title:
Character:
164-81
or
Classification: Submitting Office: Seattle 61-81-Subs
APLAEL
MAR 1 4 1979
FRI - RCATTIS
935
Date: 2/7/79 Edition: Final
Title:
Character:
164-81
or
Classification: Submitting Office: Seattle 61-81-Subs
APLAEL
MAR 1 4 1979
FRI - RCATTIS
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DB Cooper-23090
F41/ DOJFD-350 (Rev. 12-5-78)
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
Dead or alive, D.B.
Cooper where are L
(Indicate page, name of newspaper, city and state.) 12 PIONEER PRESS St. Paul, MN Date: 5-2-79 Edition:
Morning
Title: Dead or alive, D.B. Cooper where are you?
Character: or
Classification:
163-74
Submitting Office: MINNEAPOLIS
you?
Never let the truth interfere with good publicity? -In show business that advice is right up there With . the .Ten" Commandments, but sometimes .. things get too far-fetched .:
ENTER THE Cricket Theater, which last month opened a whim-o sical. musical based on the fic- tionalized life of an airplane hi- jacker; named: . D.B. Cooper. In: real life a man identified by that"x: name . commandeered a North- west Airline aircraft in 1971 and- later parachuted from the plane somewhere over,. Washington-> state.
Cooper He carried with him about -21 pounds .
commandeered a North- west Airline aircraft in 1971 and- later parachuted from the plane somewhere over,. Washington-> state.
Cooper He carried with him about -21 pounds . in money, totaling $200,000 .- No one knows what happened to Cooper 'and none of the money; all of which was marked, "has been recovered .:
Until now, anyway. If you believe what follows; I have a bridge you might be interested in buying. : Earlier this year-the Cricket, in a promotional gimmick, placed an ad in Time Magazine. "D.B. "Cooper, wherever you are," the ad said. "Two free Tickets are waiting for you at the Cricket Theater for "The D.B. Cooper Project.'
TWO REPLIES WERE received - both appar-
ently written by the same person.
The first, postmarked from Chicago, thanked the Cricket for the invitation .- "I won't say I will "_ accept, and I won't say I won't," the writer- said. The brief note was signed by Daniel B. Cooper. :
The second letter, mailed in Los Angeles, was received 'late last month after the play opened. Written on the same type of green notepaper. with apparently the same typewriter, it was.
:
The second letter, mailed in Los Angeles, was received 'late last month after the play opened. Written on the same type of green notepaper. with apparently the same typewriter, it was.longer :and full of grammatical errors; Y
The writer claimed to have visited Minneapolis to see the play. "The actors and actresses were wonderful," the writer said. "I wish I had known them in my own actual life."
What do you do with two such letters? Copy them and put out a news release, of course.
· Another question is whether anybody at the Cricket really believes the letters could be genuine literary products by D.B. Cooper. A spokesman for the theater said Producing Director Bill Semans "firmly believes" the letters,are on the level ..
PLAYWRIGHT JOHN Orlock doesn't buy any of it. "I -think it was -(written by) someone who couldn't resist the challenge;" he said. "If perhaps one more letter comes in we'll have a competi- tion."
Where is D.B. Cooper? Dead, says Orlock. Dead, says the FBI.
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