Decades after the infamous DB Cooper airplane hijacking, newly released FBI files have revealed a plethora of potential suspects in the case.
The hijacking took place on November 24, 1971, when a smartly dressed, middle-aged Caucasian man known as Dan Cooper commandeered Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305 en route from Portland, Oregon, to Seattle, Washington.
Cooper – famously dubbed DB Cooper by the media – bought a $18.52 one-way ticket for the flight, bringing just a briefcase and paper sack with him.
While on the plane, Cooper discreetly handed a note to a flight attendant claiming to possess a bomb inside his briefcase. He demanded a ransom of $200,000, which today would be valued at around $1.2 million, to be paid in $20 bills, along with four parachutes, in exchange for the safety of the 42 individuals on board.
His demands were met and all of the passengers and most of the crew were set free while Cooper received his ransom in Seattle before telling the pilots to refuel and head to Mexico City.
While the plane flew somewhere over Washington state, the mystery man opened the rear staircase and parachuted from the aircraft never to be seen again.
Over the years, the FBI has investigated several possible suspects and relied on the only real piece of evidence Cooper left behind – a JCPenney clip-on tie that he removed before taking his storied leap of faith.
Now, the 472 newly released documents have revealed just exactly who has been considered a suspect in the never-ending mysterious case, including people with expertise in parachuting training, former bank robbers and those with the same last name as the hijacker.
The FBI have released 472 new documents related to the mysterious DB Cooper case. The files reveal a slew of possible suspects that the agency went after in search of the hijacker
Dan Cooper, a well-dressed, middle-aged man, hijacked Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305 on November 24, 1971 during a trip between Portland , Oregon , and Seattle, Washington
The new pages also revealed exactly how the agency were informed of specific suspects, as the public submitted letters and tips about who they thought the ‘armed and dangerous’ UNSUB, or unidentified subject of an investigation, was.
The FBI also looked into those with elite parachuting skills and those who appeared to suffer from oddly time injuries because of Cooper’s daredevil jump out of the plane.
The agency also depended on past conversations to help them get answers.
During the lengthy investigation, the FBI investigated two men but ultimately ruled them out of the line-up because one didn’t have enough hair on his head, while the other had a ‘pot belly.’
The agency has also cross referenced ID pictures from driver’s licenses to see if they match up with the sketch of the suspect that was given by witnesses.
The FBI also served a subpoena to a possible suspect in Bremerton, Washington, but the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office ruled him out because they didn’t believe ‘that he looked old enough to be the subject Norjack’ – a name referring to the incident that is short for Northwest Hijacking.
Meanwhile, another man, Alvin Earle Cooper, was also ruled out of the bunch because an image of him was ‘not identical with UNSUB in this case,’ the documents revealed.
More subjects were ruled out after they were found not to be in the Pacific Northwest at the time of the incident.
Over the years, the FBI has investigated several possible suspects and relied on the only real piece of evidence Cooper left behind – a JCPenney clip-on tie that he removed before taking his storied leap of faith off the plane
The documents have revealed just exactly who has been considered a suspect in the never-ending mysterious case, including people with expertise in parachuting training, former bank robbers and those with the same last name as the hijacker
One was in Los Angeles, California that day, while another raised eyebrows after calling out of work two days after the hijacking.
The former bank robber called in sick to his place of employment in Albuquerque, New Mexico, but was let go as a possible suspect.
Another possible suspect was locked up near Sacramento, California on a narcotics charge at the time of the incident.
The FBI also looked into a Pittsburgh man who walked with a limp due to a sprained ankle. He also had ties to the Portland area, but he was also ruled out.
The documents also detailed pages on two specific men, Jay Whiteford and Charles Whittaker.
Whiteford was a Seattle-based pilot who was previously turned down from an aerial photography business loan, while Whittaker attended skydiving school in San Diego. Both were eventually ruled out as suspects.
The FBI also took it upon themselves to inform banks and financial institutions across the country, informing them to ‘report any suspicious or unusual financial transactions concerning twenty-dollar federal reserve notes,’ the pages showed.
Agents often caught up with Northwest Orient crew members and staff to show them photographs, the files showed.
One of the many declassified pages showed a letter from FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover to Washington Senator Henry Jackson thanking him for his letter that contained suggestions on the case. The information in the letter has been redacted.
The recent find of the clip-on tie has unearthed an important piece of evidence as a speck of chemical on the fabric could finally reveal the true identity of the elusive suspect.
The FBI closed its investigation into Cooper in July 2016, but the tie remains in the bureau’s possession. Only a handful of people have ever been allowed access to it
The FBI closed its investigation into Cooper in July 2016, but the tie remains in the bureau’s possession. Only a handful of people have ever been allowed access to it.
One of those people is Tom Kaye, a scientist who has twice tested the crucial artifact for the FBI in 2009 and 2011, looking for traces of certain metals, chemicals, and pollen – tiny clues that could help to unravel the mystery of Cooper’s true identity.
The FBI did recover a partial DNA profile from Cooper’s tie but repeated requests made by Kaye and independent investigator Eric Ulis to access that data have been denied.
