WA WA - D.B. Cooper Hijacking Mystery, 24 Nov 1971 #4

[Force Ten]

There is also another possibility: they find the box with the money, the newspapers, the evidence, but they have already made them disappear and goodbye identification of DB Cooper.

Possible, but the amount of money and fame they could get might supersede that.

 

[JustinW]

Bishop's eyes don't appear to be close set; they appear average.

Bishop looks close enough to the sketch. All the “suspects” do, though. The sketch probably looks like a huge percentage of the male population of that generation at the time. I would really only consider the basics of the description for eliminating a possible suspect. If his race, facial hair, hair,weight, height, etc are completely different from the description, then exclude them. Like say, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Bruce Lee.

 

[Sonny Crockett]

As I said previously, I doubt that D.B. Cooper survived long after jumping out of the plane.

However, if he did - I doubt William Bradford Bishop was Cooper. Cooper jumped out of the airplane in November 1971, and Bishop killed his family in March 1976. And, Bishop possibly "snapped" because he didn't get a promotion he was expecting at work. This does not sound like someone who had access to a lot of cash.

Sure, if Bishop was Cooper & if he had been able to keep some of the money, he probably would have been very careful how he spent this. However, someone in that situation would also not have been worried too much about money.

Bradford Bishop - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[JustinW]

According to historical weather records for Portland, OR show lows of about 43 deg f and rain tapering off substantially in the evening on the day of the jump. The suspected jump zone could have been a few degrees cooler, for sure. If Cooper was soaking wet, or maybe really only had the clothes on his back he could have been at potential risk for hypothermia. He did not appear to be unhealthy, and was not at an age to put him at high risk for freezing to death. It would have been a long night for sure.
There is some possibility he had extra clothing, blanket, long underwear, something, with him. Also, couldn’t he potentially have had something staged in the overhead compartment? I never hear anyone talk about that possibility. Maybe I’ve missed something.
It seems unlikely he would have started a fire due to the much increased likelihood of being spotted. A dry blanket could have likely got him through the night, though.
If he survived the jump, he likely survived the night. What else would have killed him, if the weather most likely didn’t. There are black bear and cougar in the area, however animal attacks in the area are extremely rare. I also think the cougar population was lower than now, which makes it even less likely. Google fatal(or any even non fatal) cougar or black bear attacks in the Pacific Northwest and you will find very few in historical data. It is possible, though.
If Cooper had an accomplice they would have either had to wait at a designated location or be called in by a pay phone. There is just no way he could have accurately landed within a few miles at best of any target, given the visibility and the lack of control in the parachute. Where were the pay phones in a few mile radius of the suspected jump zone?
I suppose is it possible he had a car stashed. Would he have been comfortable parking a stationary, unmanned vehicle when he didn’t know for SURE where he would be able to jump? He could have ended up jumping many miles from where he did, due to other variables.
All that is interesting, but I’m not sure how it gets you any closer to a suspect now. The FBI probably thought of all this and more. Right?

 

[JustinW]

One of the biggest bummers to me about the whole case is the loss of the cigarette butts. The FBI had collected and saved the cigarette butts Cooper has accumulated during his flight. It is believed that those were tossed after a period of time after the FBI found them not to be useful given then current technology. It’s pretty likely if we had those today we could find the real suspect!
It is said that there is a partial DNA sample(from the tie), but it sounds like it is too small for any ancestral DNA type research. I don’t know how careful they were with the tie back then. I suppose it could be anyone attached to the case’s DNA if they weren’t careful.

 

[PuzzlinEvidence]

It is said that there is a partial DNA sample(from the tie), but it sounds like it is too small for any ancestral DNA type research. I don’t know how careful they were with the tie back then. I suppose it could be anyone attached to the case’s DNA if they weren’t careful.

Yeah I think Larry Carr said that the DNA was from spit, but that it was a very small partial amount, and not necessarily from Cooper. He doesn't seem very hopeful about it. If the DNA is a dead end then that's unfortunate, as I don't think there are many other ways for this case to be solved.

 

[Ozoner]

Yeah I think Larry Carr said that the DNA was from spit, but that it was a very small partial amount, and not necessarily from Cooper. He doesn't seem very hopeful about it. If the DNA is a dead end then that's unfortunate, as I don't think there are many other ways for this case to be solved.

Spit could be from anybody who walked past Cooper on the plane or in any hallway that he had walked down wearing that time any time in the previous 20 years. It is probably useless.

 

[JustinW]

That little DNA seems to be all they have to go on.

 

[JustinW]

I read somewhere that Eric Ulis(the civilian investigator doing a lot of the current research) had a suspect he felt very strongly about based upon microscopic examination of the tie. Has anyone seen where he has released that info yet? I’ve tried to search it, but I haven’t found anything conclusive.

 

[JustinW]

It’s been awfully quiet in here. It’s not like this is a 51 year old cold case that has never had any solid leads or anything…
I’m curious how other people first became interested in the DB Cooper mystery. For me it would have been in the mid to late 80’s when I was single digits old still. I found a bone on an island on the Columbia River. My dad and uncle laughed and said,”maybe that’s DB Cooper.” I asked who that was, they told me, and my ears perked up any time I heard mention of his name after that. Now this island was east of Vancouver, WA and Portland, OR, probably a good 40 miles upriver from Tena bar or so, and if memory serves me the bone looked like a hip bone from a medium mammal(deer?) so I don’t think I was accidentally on to anything…

 

[Cliff Hardy]

One of the biggest bummers to me about the whole case is the loss of the cigarette butts. The FBI had collected and saved the cigarette butts Cooper has accumulated during his flight. It is believed that those were tossed after a period of time after the FBI found them not to be useful given then current technology. It’s pretty likely if we had those today we could find the real suspect!
It is said that there is a partial DNA sample(from the tie), but it sounds like it is too small for any ancestral DNA type research. I don’t know how careful they were with the tie back then. I suppose it could be anyone attached to the case’s DNA if they weren’t careful.

Think you will find the cigarette butts were lost when evidence was transferred from the possession of one police department to another. In any case, it is gone and with it went a big opportunity to solve the crime.

 

[Cliff Hardy]

It’s been awfully quiet in here. It’s not like this is a 51 year old cold case that has never had any solid leads or anything…
I’m curious how other people first became interested in the DB Cooper mystery. For me it would have been in the mid to late 80’s when I was single digits old still. I found a bone on an island on the Columbia River. My dad and uncle laughed and said,”maybe that’s DB Cooper.” I asked who that was, they told me, and my ears perked up any time I heard mention of his name after that. Now this island was east of Vancouver, WA and Portland, OR, probably a good 40 miles upriver from Tena bar or so, and if memory serves me the bone looked like a hip bone from a medium mammal(deer?) so I don’t think I was accidentally on to anything…

I overheard the name DB Cooper being used in a conversation to emphasize a point and asked the person who he was. It was around 1995 and they didn't know much about him but it was enough to ignite my inquisitiveness. I subsequently started scouring the internet about Cooper and have read about 5 books on him.

 

[JustinW]

I guess I should have clarified I have lived in SW Washington state my whole life, so there is the regional connection, for me.

 

[Laughing]

It’s been awfully quiet in here. It’s not like this is a 51 year old cold case that has never had any solid leads or anything…
I’m curious how other people first became interested in the DB Cooper mystery. For me it would have been in the mid to late 80’s when I was single digits old still. I found a bone on an island on the Columbia River. My dad and uncle laughed and said,”maybe that’s DB Cooper.” I asked who that was, they told me, and my ears perked up any time I heard mention of his name after that. Now this island was east of Vancouver, WA and Portland, OR, probably a good 40 miles upriver from Tena bar or so, and if memory serves me the bone looked like a hip bone from a medium mammal(deer?) so I don’t think I was accidentally on to anything…

I always watched Unsolved Mysteries, probably many of us did.

Plus, as an undergrad one of the popular bars was D. B. Cooper's. You know what the staff wore on Halloween.

jmho ymmv lrr

 

[PuzzlinEvidence]

Think you will find the cigarette butts were lost when evidence was transferred from the possession of one police department to another. In any case, it is gone and with it went a big opportunity to solve the crime.

Yeah IIRC, Larry Carr said they were lost when they were sent to the Las Vegas office. I've also heard they were simply destroyed, which is plausible cause this was pre DNA. Apparently there was also a hair in a glass slide collected from Cooper's seat, which was misplaced. At least it might theoretically be somewhere in an evidence room, ripe for re-discovery one day.

 

[Ajaygee11]

It’s been awfully quiet in here. It’s not like this is a 51 year old cold case that has never had any solid leads or anything…
I’m curious how other people first became interested in the DB Cooper mystery. For me it would have been in the mid to late 80’s when I was single digits old still. I found a bone on an island on the Columbia River. My dad and uncle laughed and said,”maybe that’s DB Cooper.” I asked who that was, they told me, and my ears perked up any time I heard mention of his name after that. Now this island was east of Vancouver, WA and Portland, OR, probably a good 40 miles upriver from Tena bar or so, and if memory serves me the bone looked like a hip bone from a medium mammal(deer?) so I don’t think I was accidentally on to anything…

I live in Australia, so the first time I heard about him was when they used to have “In Search Of“ with Leonard Nimoy on Channel 7 every Saturday Night. It was Season 4 Episode 11, so that would of been about 1980 when I was 12. I loved that series. Leonard did such an awesome job of hosting and narrating that show

 

[Magnum P.E.]

A new suspect in the DB Cooper case! And he may have been a Yinzer!
Actually, a new suspect is found every few years when the previous suspect does not pan out, kind of like Jack The Ripper. At least the Pittsburgh part is real: only Crucible in Pittsburgh made the alloy of titanium found on Cooper’s tie. Probably used in a lot of aircraft shops all over the place, though.

New D.B. Cooper suspect revealed through lab analysis of skyjacker’s tie, just in time for CooperCon

The past few years have seen amateur and professional sleuths investigate every lead, documentary filmmakers and authors take up the subject, and new “confessions” pop up.

www.oregonlive.com

 

[kemo]

The alloy of Titanium may have come from a company in Pittsburgh but it was used in many components of aircraft and these were often made in independent machine shops that Boeing contracted with. Machinists would normally not wear a tie while working because it could get caught in machinery but lots of people who worked in the industry in a capacity where a tie would be appropriate might come in contact with that material. At that time, the airline industry was in a slump and a lot of employees of Boeing and companies that did contract work for Boeing were laid off. The tie evidence is consistent with the theory that DB was a laid off aircraft worker but it isn’t going to be any kind of smoking gun.

While DB appeared to know a lot about commercial flight, I believe he must have had serious parachute experience; either military or an avid amateur.

 

[Ozoner]

While DB appeared to know a lot about commercial flight, I believe he must have had serious parachute experience; either military or an avid amateur.

Snipped, BBM

Considering the parachutes he selected, his experience was almost certainly from the military—if he had experience.

 

[Ajaygee11]

A new suspect in the DB Cooper case! And he may have been a Yinzer!
Actually, a new suspect is found every few years when the previous suspect does not pan out, kind of like Jack The Ripper. At least the Pittsburgh part is real: only Crucible in Pittsburgh made the alloy of titanium found on Cooper’s tie. Probably used in a lot of aircraft shops all over the place, though.

New D.B. Cooper suspect revealed through lab analysis of skyjacker’s tie, just in time for CooperCon

The past few years have seen amateur and professional sleuths investigate every lead, documentary filmmakers and authors take up the subject, and new “confessions” pop up.

www.oregonlive.com

Yoda would say: Straws Grasping At, I Think He Is