A 50-year-old mystery is still unsolved, and the man who hijacked the plane and took a bunch of money has never been found.
Source: Profimedia
On the afternoon of November 24, 1971, a nondescript man named Dan Cooper approached the counter of Northwest Orient Airlines in Portland, Oregon. He used the cash to purchase a one-way ticket on Flight #305, bound for Seattle, Washington.
Thus began one of the great unsolved mysteries in FBI history. Cooper was a quiet man who appeared to be in his mid-40s, wearing a business suit with a black tie and white shirt. He ordered a drink, bourbon and soda, while waiting for the flight to take off.
A little after 15:00, he gave the flight attendant a note indicating he had a bomb in his briefcase and wanted her to sit with him. The stunned flight attendant did as she was told. Opening the cheap case, Cooper showed her a mass of red wires and sticks and demanded that she write down what he told her.
Robbed the plane Source: Youtube/ FBIDOTGOV
She soon sent a new message to the captain of the plane saying that he demanded four parachutes and $200,000 in twenty dollar bills.. When the plane landed in Seattle, the hijacker exchanged 36 passengers on the flight for money and parachutes. Cooper kept several of the crew, however, and the plane took off again, and ordered the pilot to set a course for Mexico City.
Somewhere between Seattle and Reno, a little after 8 p.m., the hijacker did something incredible: he jumped out of the back of the plane with a parachute and ransom money. The pilots landed safely, but Cooper disappeared into the night and his the final fate remains a mystery to this day.
One of the unused parachutes Source: FBI
The FBI learned of the crime in flight and immediately opened an extensive investigation that spanned many years. They interviewed hundreds of people, followed leads across the nation and searched the plane for evidence. By the fifth anniversary of the kidnapping, they had considered more than 800 suspects and eliminated all but one man from the list.
Canvas bag containing one of the parachutes given to DB Cooper in 1971. Source: FBI
One person on the list, Richard Floyd McCoy, remains the prime suspect among many. They found and arrested McCoy for similar hijackings and parachute escapes less than five months after Cooper’s flight. But McCoy was later dismissed because he did not match the nearly identical physical descriptions of Cooper given by the two flight attendants.
Money found in 1980 that matched the serial numbers of the ransom money. Source: FBI
Maybe Cooper didn’t survive his jump from the plane. After all, the parachute he was using couldn’t be steered, his clothing and footwear were not suitable for a rough landing, and he jumped into a wooded area at night – a dangerous proposition for a seasoned professional, which the evidence suggests Cooper is not. This theory received an additional boost in 1980 when the young man found a rotting package full of twenty-dollar bills ($5,800 total) that matched the serial numbers of the ransom money.
During the abduction, Cooper was wearing this JC Penney black tie, which he removed before jumping Source: FBI
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