Cracking the D.B. Cooper Case

**Cracking the D.B. Cooper Case** is the 10th episode in Season 3 of Expedition Unknown.

## Plot Synopsis

Gates investigates the only unsolved plane hijacking in US history. He joins private individuals on the hunt for D.B. Cooper in the Pacific Northwest. He discovers new clues and theories before jumping out of a plane as Cooper did.

## Historical Context

"He is known as D.B Cooper, mastermind of the only unsolved skyjacking in history, and what some believe to be the perfect crime. In 1971, this mysterious traveller threatens to blow up Northwest Orient Flight 305. He's given $200,000 and four parachutes before vanishing out the back of a Boeing 727, never to be seen again. The crime captivates the nation and sets off the largest manhunt in U.S history but now, decades later the FBI is officially giving up on the case unsolved."

- Josh Gates

## Summary

Josh starts his journey in New York and meets Geoffery Gray, and author, who has unpublished FBI files that describe a different Cooper than drawings illustrate. His name "Dan Cooper" was a fake persona of a superhero with the same name. Josh goes to Portland, Oregon and then Ariel, Washington the FBI's primary search zone. In Tena Bar, he meets Meyer Louie, Robert Nicholson, and Bruce Smith, Cooper researchers. Some of D.B. Cooper's money was found in Tena Bar in 1980. They metal detect the beach and find a metal ring which may be part of a parachute.

Josh video calls Tom Kaye, a lab technician, in Tuscon who tested D.B. Cooper's tie and tells him about the process to take particles from the tie. In Tacoma, he sees one of the Cooper parachutes at the Washington State History Museum. Cooper took old military parachutes which may mean he was in the military or had little knowledge about parachutes.

At Boeing Field, Josh meets Greg Hall, a former FBI agent and Army veteran. Greg has evidence that points to Cooper having jumped north of Reno, Nevada. Josh and Greg go to Reno and Josh skydives out of a plane where Cooper might have. The landscape is more suitable to land in than in Washington. His final stop is in Tuscon to meet up with Tom Kaye who has been able to test the particles on the tie with help from the McCrone Group lab. They went from 700 particles on the tie to 100,000 and many of them show rare Earth elements, many of which relate to the production of CRT tubes.

## Final Words

"Everything we think we know about D.B Cooper is dead wrong. The FBI files reveal that Cooper was far less refined than we imagined. His name appears to be inspired by a comic book, and he may well be from north of the border. There's more searching to be done along the beaches of Tena Bar. We have an entirely new drop zone just outside of Reno, with a compelling theory that Cooper hailed from a military background. And now this - new physical evidence that places Cooper in a highly specific and technical industry. Author Geoff Gray warned me not to get too close to this case, that looking for Cooper can become an obsession and now I see why. Cooper Mania, as it's known, endures because, on some level, we all want to feel what he felt, to make that big jump and defy the pressures of the world. If he gets away, we get away. The FBI may have put this case on ice, but as far as I can tell, the hunt for D.B Cooper is just heating up."

- Josh Gates

## Notes & Trivia

* Upon his arrival in Portland, Oregon, the crew holds a party for Josh visiting his 50th state.

## Quotes

* "They call it the "Biggest Little City in the World" which I guess plays better on paper than "Vegas, but much weirder."
* "You know how many Mexicans it takes to take you out of the airplane? Only Juan."
* "Please don't let that be the last joke I hear on this Earth."
* "Oh. I got a little bit of fear."

## References

1. ↑ https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullrights/2017/3/4/TEXU307H\_DB-Cooper\_247643\_896540.1438486.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.966.725.suffix/1491594003695.jpeg