DB Cooper's Parachute Found?

[knapplc]

DB Cooper, for the three of you who don't know, was the pseudonym of a hijacker who demanded cash in return for the release of his hostages. Officials complied and he let the passengers go, but then he parachuted from the plane into the night, never to be seen again. He got away with $200,000, which in 1971 was a fair amount of money, but it's a mystery if he survived the jump.

SEATTLE - Hoping to solve at least part of a 36-year-old mystery, the FBI is analyzing a torn, tangled parachute found in southwest Washington to determine if it belonged to famed plane hijacker D.B. Cooper.

Children playing outside their home near Amboy found the chute's fabric sticking up from the ground in an area where their father had been grading a road, agent Larry Carr said Tuesday. They pulled it out as far as they could, then cut the parachute's ropes with scissors.

Here's another interesting fact about the story:

If it is Cooper's parachute, that will solve one mystery — where he apparently landed — but it will raise another.

In 1980, a family on a picnic found $5,880 of Cooper's money in a bag on a Columbia River beach, near Vancouver. Some investigators believed it might have been washed down to the beach by the Washougal River. But if Cooper landed near Amboy and stashed the money bag there, there's no way it could have naturally reached the Washougal.

"If this is D.B. Cooper's parachute, the money could not have arrived at its discovery location by natural means," Carr said. "That whole theory is out the window."

Here's the whole article.

[Omaha Red Sox]

I saw this earlier. Interested to see what they find out.

[SniperShot]

I never heard of DB Cooper, guess it was before my time.

Quite an interesting story.

[stomperrob]

I've always been fascinated by this case because of the mystery surrounding it. Here's another story on the find and also the 2007 video press release by the FBI asking for the publics' help that's kinda interesting:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/356 ... per26.html

[knapplc]

It's a pretty fascinating story, Sniper. To my limited knowledge there hasn't been another heist like this in American history.

Here's the Wiki page.



Stomper (and anyone else), do you find it amazing that they've been working on this thing for 36 years before they go this public and release these sketches? What would be the benefit of sitting on this case for the better part of four decades before asking for the public's help? I don't get that at all.

[treat24]

I've always been fascinated by this. interesting find.

[stomperrob]

It's a pretty fascinating story, Sniper. To my limited knowledge there hasn't been another heist like this in American history.

Here's the Wiki page.



Stomper (and anyone else), do you find it amazing that they've been working on this thing for 36 years before they go this public and release these sketches? What would be the benefit of sitting on this case for the better part of four decades before asking for the public's help? I don't get that at all.

Sometimes police agencies, especially elite ones like the FBI, don't like to admit they need help and tend to play things close to the vest. Alternatively, often unsolved police files remain dormant and untouched for years until (and if) a new investigator comes along and wants to take a crack at the case, such as with Agent Carr in this case.

Here's another backgrounder to the case from last year: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/340 ... per23.html

[joelamosobadiah]

I am going to have to read up on this. I hadn't heard of the name before this thread either. I have heard the story or at least part of the story, but the name didn't even ring a bell.

[treat24]

I am going to have to read up on this. I hadn't heard of the name before this thread either. I have heard the story or at least part of the story, but the name didn't even ring a bell.

I never heard of DB Cooper, guess it was before my time.

Quite an interesting story.

I actually find these posts quite shocking. I've never met a person in my life who doesn't know of DB Cooper... now here are 2 in less than a day...

[joelamosobadiah]

I've never met a person in my life who doesn't know of DB Cooper

Do you ask them all?

Knapp did say there were three of us, so now we just have to wait for the third to show up and make the trifecta.