The D.B. Cooper case is the only unsolved hijacking case in American commercial aviation history. The flight was from Portland to Seattle on Nov. 24, 1971 (Thanksgiving eve). A nondescript male in his mid-40s passed a note to a stewardess. The note read “I have a bomb in my briefcase.” He told the woman to sit next to him and proceeded to briefly open the case to reveal what looked like a bomb. He demanded $200,000 and four parachutes. When the plane landed in Seattle, Dan Cooper (the name he used purchasing the ticket – a newspaper reporter erroneously reported it as D.B. Cooper) received his ransom. He may have chosen the name Dan Cooper based on a Belgian comic book hero who sometimes parachuted into his adventures. He released the passengers and kept four of the six person flight crew. He ordered the pilot to fly to Mexico, but on the first leg to Reno for refueling, Cooper lowered the back stairs and jumped. The F.B.I. conducted an extensive investigation that filled 60 volumes. In 2106, it called off the investigation. There was not enough forensic evidence on the plane (e.g., Cooper kept the note) and all the suspects were cleared or had insufficient evidence against them. In 1980, an eight-year old Brian Ingram was digging in the sand along the Columbia River in Washington and found a bundle of $20 bills totaling $5,800. The serial numbers matched the ransom money. This finding backs up the strongest theory which is that Cooper did not survive his crime. He jumped in high winds during a thunderstorm over a dense forest and could easily have been killed.
https://www.history.com/news/who-was-d-b-cooper
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._B._Cooper
https://www.britannica.com/biography/D-B-Cooper
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