WA WA - D.B. Cooper hijacking mystery, 24 Nov 1971 - #3

[Laura_Bean]

Thank you, Bluesneakers, I wonder if the stewardess would ever tell us if this is the case? The FBI closed the case unless the cash or parachute is found.

 

[mrseeker]

I understand this seems extremely far fetched, but here is a new idea I have had to the D.B. Cooper case.

So the story goes, a man boards an airplane. No one seems to notice him at all, except for a couple of stewardesses.

He sits down, smokes some cigarettes, talks to the stewardess and tells her he has a bomb and he will set it off if he doesn't get money, parachutes, etc.

The stewardesses remain calm, and try to keep him calm and happy.

He gets the money he asked for, he jumps out of the plane with the money bag tied around him and a parachute on his body.

After doing some digging, here is what I am considering.

The easiest answer, the most simple explanation, is usually the right answer. Things are NOT usually extremely complex. Sometimes they are. But most of the time they aren't.

How can a man simply disappear without a trace? How can a parachute simply disappear without a trace too?

Okay, what do we know? We know that whoever did this crime knew about airplanes, because he supposedly told the crew to drop down to a lower altitude. He knew that he would get what he wanted. He knew to ask for a parachute. Supposedly, he knew something about jumping from a plane, but not a lot about it, because he jumped in the dark, when it was extremely cold, with a suit on that would not keep him warm in the cold weather, and he didn't check the parachute to ensure it was safe.

So he knows lots, but doesn't know basic knowledge?

And who saw D.B. Cooper? No one else on the plane seemed to even know he was THERE. Doesn't that seem a little odd?

It does to me.

I say again, what if there was not a D.B. Cooper?

What if D.B. Cooper was the two stewardesses and the pilot/co-pilot?

Here is my thought. If these 4 people got together? They say there is a man on board, he has a bomb and he is going to kill everyone, if he doesn't get this much cash and 4 parachutes?

4 parachutes.... Let's consider that. 4 parachutes = 4 people = the pilot, the co-pilot, and 2 stewardesses. Perhaps they were considering all jumping. But..... Who gets the cash? And maybe they all decided that conditions were too bad to jump and survive. So instead they need to figure out something....

They cannot land with that cash on the plane. It's going to be searched. So.... What else can they do?

They can tie the bag of cash to one of the parachutes, and can deploy the chute on the plane. They can place it next to the door (the bottom stairs they dropped midflight) and she can go to the front, they drop the stairs, and that chute flies out of that plane. They can close it, and make sure it is out of the plane.

What they might have figured is, they could go look for it. They would know the basic place to find it. And they may have made sure it was in a remote area so no one would happen upon it.

But money was found in the water, so.... How? Perhaps the wind took it further than expected, and it lands in the water.

So that is perhaps why we cannot find this man, D.B. Cooper. The guy who did something similar, who got caught would just be a copycat if this is the case.

I am wondering.... Is it possible? That the man D.B. Cooper was never found simply because he was never even there? They could have taken cigarettes from an ashtray from someone who was on that plane and put them there to make it look like someone was there. They could have brought a tie with them and said this was HIS. But it might have been planted just so that it looked like someone was there. Also, what happened to the bomb, if there really was one on the plane? It wasn't found, right?

So are we suggesting D.B. Cooper was insane enough to grab a bomb and jump out of the plane with it, knowing there was a probable chance that during the drop, he would drop it or blow himself up? So I am thinking there was NOT a bomb at all. There was NOT a man claiming to be Dan Cooper at all. There was no one except a couple of stewardesses, a couple of pilots, and a group of passengers who had no idea what was happening, but were later told there was someone sitting in a seat, threatening to blow everyone up, and no one remembered that seat was empty.

In this latest show, there was a passenger who saw him sitting with the stewardess as she described. They also said they did a roll call of the passengers and Dan Cooper was the only one who did not answer once everyone was off the plane. It is an interesting scenario, but I am not certain many passengers did not at least notice him. Does the ground agents collect the ticket boarding and prepare the passenger manifest. Seems no much money with all the people who would require a cut. If they had asked for millions, and all soon retired, maybe. Of course as was observed, would make a great book. Maybe they all could have jumped out and an empty plane fly off into the ocean...a movie maybe...Oceans14..just kidding. interesting thought though. Maybe someone on the flight was in on it, but he died. Maybe he had planned on taking this person as a fake hostage, and they both jump but events unfolded too quickly. I have seen others suggest he was hiding and never jumped then walked off in all the confusion...but again, they had to search that plane from nose to tail.

 

[Laura_Bean]

In this latest show, there was a passenger who saw him sitting with the stewardess as she described. They also said they did a roll call of the passengers and Dan Cooper was the only one who did not answer once everyone was off the plane. It is an interesting scenario, but I am not certain many passengers did not at least notice him. Does the ground agents collect the ticket boarding and prepare the passenger manifest. Seems no much money with all the people who would require a cut. If they had asked for millions, and all soon retired, maybe. Of course as was observed, would make a great book. Maybe they all could have jumped out and an empty plane fly off into the ocean...a movie maybe...Oceans14..just kidding. interesting thought though. Maybe someone on the flight was in on it, but he died. Maybe he had planned on taking this person as a fake hostage, and they both jump but events unfolded too quickly. I have seen others suggest he was hiding and never jumped then walked off in all the confusion...but again, they had to search that plane from nose to tail.

I have a theory for that too. Only one person "saw him". He wouldn't have to be "in on it". How many people love to gossip? I would think at least one person would love to tell family and friends how he caught a glimpse of this highjacker. I am surprised more people did not say that they saw DB Cooper, the infamous thief who jumped out of a plane with lots of cash. Know what I mean?

 

[mrseeker]

I have a theory for that too. Only one person "saw him". He wouldn't have to be "in on it". How many people love to gossip? I would think at least one person would love to tell family and friends how he caught a glimpse of this highjacker. I am surprised more people did not say that they saw DB Cooper, the infamous thief who jumped out of a plane with lots of cash. Know what I mean?

I know what you mean, but I am not sure if that is true that nobody else saw him. I just don't know if anyone saw him enough to help so we never heard from them. We don't notice much if we do not know it's important. So people might have noticed the man in the rear of the plane but could not describe him well. I would have to go back through what has been written and see if what you suggest holds up. I really don't remember, but I thought the agent who checked him, remembered that he existed if nothing else. I personally think he jumped and most likely died. If you ever go hiking in the area, keep checking the trees..lol.

you might be interested in this article http://www.crimemagazine.com/db-cooper-–-myth-or-man

 

[steelman]

I watched part 2 of the show in anticipation of them pinning it on Rackshaw. Of course, once they asked the stewardess to look at all of his pictures and listen to his voice, and she was positively adamant that it wasn't him..............oh well. She spent 4 hours with this guy, she of all people would know. I told my old lady....."I should have known they weren't going to solve it on this B.S. show, otherwise it would have already been in the news".

The FBI closed the case, which is kinda surprising. I imagine a big part of the reason is because their suspect, even if he was revealed, would either be dead or darn close to it. They've had thousands of interviews and re-interviews, and by now their files probably look like a big jumbled mess.

Looks like you got away with it Dan. Too bad you didn't ask for half a million, you know, to offset inflation and all.

 

[LinasK]

I understand this seems extremely far fetched, but here is a new idea I have had to the D.B. Cooper case.

So the story goes, a man boards an airplane. No one seems to notice him at all, except for a couple of stewardesses.

He sits down, smokes some cigarettes, talks to the stewardess and tells her he has a bomb and he will set it off if he doesn't get money, parachutes, etc.

The stewardesses remain calm, and try to keep him calm and happy.

He gets the money he asked for, he jumps out of the plane with the money bag tied around him and a parachute on his body.

After doing some digging, here is what I am considering.

The easiest answer, the most simple explanation, is usually the right answer. Things are NOT usually extremely complex. Sometimes they are. But most of the time they aren't.

How can a man simply disappear without a trace? How can a parachute simply disappear without a trace too?

Okay, what do we know? We know that whoever did this crime knew about airplanes, because he supposedly told the crew to drop down to a lower altitude. He knew that he would get what he wanted. He knew to ask for a parachute. Supposedly, he knew something about jumping from a plane, but not a lot about it, because he jumped in the dark, when it was extremely cold, with a suit on that would not keep him warm in the cold weather, and he didn't check the parachute to ensure it was safe.

So he knows lots, but doesn't know basic knowledge?

And who saw D.B. Cooper? No one else on the plane seemed to even know he was THERE. Doesn't that seem a little odd?

It does to me.

I say again, what if there was not a D.B. Cooper?

What if D.B. Cooper was the two stewardesses and the pilot/co-pilot?

Here is my thought. If these 4 people got together? They say there is a man on board, he has a bomb and he is going to kill everyone, if he doesn't get this much cash and 4 parachutes?

4 parachutes.... Let's consider that. 4 parachutes = 4 people = the pilot, the co-pilot, and 2 stewardesses. Perhaps they were considering all jumping. But..... Who gets the cash? And maybe they all decided that conditions were too bad to jump and survive. So instead they need to figure out something....

They cannot land with that cash on the plane. It's going to be searched. So.... What else can they do?

They can tie the bag of cash to one of the parachutes, and can deploy the chute on the plane. They can place it next to the door (the bottom stairs they dropped midflight) and she can go to the front, they drop the stairs, and that chute flies out of that plane. They can close it, and make sure it is out of the plane.

What they might have figured is, they could go look for it. They would know the basic place to find it. And they may have made sure it was in a remote area so no one would happen upon it.

But money was found in the water, so.... How? Perhaps the wind took it further than expected, and it lands in the water.

So that is perhaps why we cannot find this man, D.B. Cooper. The guy who did something similar, who got caught would just be a copycat if this is the case.

I am wondering.... Is it possible? That the man D.B. Cooper was never found simply because he was never even there? They could have taken cigarettes from an ashtray from someone who was on that plane and put them there to make it look like someone was there. They could have brought a tie with them and said this was HIS. But it might have been planted just so that it looked like someone was there. Also, what happened to the bomb, if there really was one on the plane? It wasn't found, right?

So are we suggesting D.B. Cooper was insane enough to grab a bomb and jump out of the plane with it, knowing there was a probable chance that during the drop, he would drop it or blow himself up? So I am thinking there was NOT a bomb at all. There was NOT a man claiming to be Dan Cooper at all. There was no one except a couple of stewardesses, a couple of pilots, and a group of passengers who had no idea what was happening, but were later told there was someone sitting in a seat, threatening to blow everyone up, and no one remembered that seat was empty.

Except that there was an eyewitness to D.B. sitting in the same aisle as him. Can't recall his name, but he was featured in the History channel program, and he saw the stewardess paying enormous attention to D.B. (when he flashed her the dynamite in his briefcase) and he was jealous that the stewardess ignored him.
And another thing- why would the crew demand the money, and how did it get to the banks of the river then? Rumor has it that the finders were in on it with D.B., and planted it, and that's why less than $6,000 of the $200,000 was found. Why would the crew fly with the flaps down and so low and endanger themselves flying over mountains and waste gas continuing to fly to Reno? I just don't buy this theory, sorry.:snooty:

 

[bluesneakers]

I remember when the money was found - I was in HS at the time - and I remember some talk about them being in on it but don't remember anything coming of it. I thought it was a stretch. Mt. St. Helens blew up a few months later and my theory at the time was it washed away whatever remains were left of Cooper. A lot of people, buildings, and huge chunks of land and forest disappeared forever. I've never looked at a map to test my theory though. Hmmm.

 

[Icharus]

If we're entertaining weird theories, how about this one;

Maybe, there actually was a Cooper, but he didn't jump.

They said they searched the plane thoroughly, and determined he wasn't on board, however... did they?

Pilots made the initial search, followed by the police. Neither are likely familiar with the normally inaccessible parts of an aircraft. Maybe he was hiding behind a maintenance panel the whole time; up in the tail, under the floor, the rear cone? Were maintenance people called to assist on the search?

A mechanic would know about planes, and he would know the hiding spaces. It wouldn't take long to drill out a couple of rivets, or unscrew some screws, glue replacement heads on, crawl in, and seal the hatch after him. From the outside you couldn't tell the only thing holding the panel closed is Cooper's hand.

Did they remove all the interior paneling to expose the entire structure before determining he wasn't on board? I bet they didn't. Did they run dogs through the aircraft to sniff out possible hiding places? I doubt it. They were so sure he jumped, they didn't even really consider the possibility he didn't. Multiple parachutes, open stairs, no Cooper in sight; it's obvious he jumped, right? Maybe that was exactly the impression he wanted to give.

He could've had a mechanic's uniform on under the suit, and just walked out the airplane after everyone was gone.

 

[KaaBoom]

Daily Mail:

FBI no longer investigating DB Cooper plane hijacking case after exhausting
all leads, leaving one of the greatest mysteries in American history unsolved

I'm surprised this didn’t happen before now. If Cooper is still alive, he would be at least 88 years old now. But I think it’s pretty obvious that he didn’t survive the jump from the plane, or at least he died almost immediately there after.

And I agree with others, that the major volcanic eruption at Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980 blew any possible chance of finding any additional remains. The case really should have been closed after that event.

 

[KaaBoom]

I understand this seems extremely far fetched, but here is a new idea I have had to the D.B. Cooper case.

So the story goes, a man boards an airplane. No one seems to notice him at all, except for a couple of stewardesses.

He sits down, smokes some cigarettes, talks to the stewardess and tells her he has a bomb and he will set it off if he doesn't get money, parachutes, etc.

The stewardesses remain calm, and try to keep him calm and happy.

He gets the money he asked for, he jumps out of the plane with the money bag tied around him and a parachute on his body.

After doing some digging, here is what I am considering.

The easiest answer, the most simple explanation, is usually the right answer. Things are NOT usually extremely complex. Sometimes they are. But most of the time they aren't.

How can a man simply disappear without a trace? How can a parachute simply disappear without a trace too?

Okay, what do we know? We know that whoever did this crime knew about airplanes, because he supposedly told the crew to drop down to a lower altitude. He knew that he would get what he wanted. He knew to ask for a parachute. Supposedly, he knew something about jumping from a plane, but not a lot about it, because he jumped in the dark, when it was extremely cold, with a suit on that would not keep him warm in the cold weather, and he didn't check the parachute to ensure it was safe.

So he knows lots, but doesn't know basic knowledge?

And who saw D.B. Cooper? No one else on the plane seemed to even know he was THERE. Doesn't that seem a little odd?

It does to me.

I say again, what if there was not a D.B. Cooper?

What if D.B. Cooper was the two stewardesses and the pilot/co-pilot?

Here is my thought. If these 4 people got together? They say there is a man on board, he has a bomb and he is going to kill everyone, if he doesn't get this much cash and 4 parachutes?

4 parachutes.... Let's consider that. 4 parachutes = 4 people = the pilot, the co-pilot, and 2 stewardesses. Perhaps they were considering all jumping. But..... Who gets the cash? And maybe they all decided that conditions were too bad to jump and survive. So instead they need to figure out something....

They cannot land with that cash on the plane. It's going to be searched. So.... What else can they do?

They can tie the bag of cash to one of the parachutes, and can deploy the chute on the plane. They can place it next to the door (the bottom stairs they dropped midflight) and she can go to the front, they drop the stairs, and that chute flies out of that plane. They can close it, and make sure it is out of the plane.

What they might have figured is, they could go look for it. They would know the basic place to find it. And they may have made sure it was in a remote area so no one would happen upon it.

But money was found in the water, so.... How? Perhaps the wind took it further than expected, and it lands in the water.

So that is perhaps why we cannot find this man, D.B. Cooper. The guy who did something similar, who got caught would just be a copycat if this is the case.

I am wondering.... Is it possible? That the man D.B. Cooper was never found simply because he was never even there? They could have taken cigarettes from an ashtray from someone who was on that plane and put them there to make it look like someone was there. They could have brought a tie with them and said this was HIS. But it might have been planted just so that it looked like someone was there. Also, what happened to the bomb, if there really was one on the plane? It wasn't found, right?

So are we suggesting D.B. Cooper was insane enough to grab a bomb and jump out of the plane with it, knowing there was a probable chance that during the drop, he would drop it or blow himself up? So I am thinking there was NOT a bomb at all. There was NOT a man claiming to be Dan Cooper at all. There was no one except a couple of stewardesses, a couple of pilots, and a group of passengers who had no idea what was happening, but were later told there was someone sitting in a seat, threatening to blow everyone up, and no one remembered that seat was empty.

Except that there are more then a few witnesses who saw Cooper buy the ticket, and get on the plane and take a seat. It would have to be a really big conspiracy for him not to have actually been there. A combination of airline ticket agents, gate crew, flight crew and passengers would have to be in on it.

 

[KaaBoom]

I remember when the money was found - I was in HS at the time - and I remember some talk about them being in on it but don't remember anything coming of it. I thought it was a stretch. Mt. St. Helens blew up a few months later and my theory at the time was it washed away whatever remains were left of Cooper. A lot of people, buildings, and huge chunks of land and forest disappeared forever. I've never looked at a map to test my theory though. Hmmm.

Yep, the volcanic eruption of Mount St. Helens ended any chance of ever finding Cooper’s remains, or additional money. It’s all buried somewhere deep in mud now.

 

[KaaBoom]

If we're entertaining weird theories, how about this one;

Maybe, there actually was a Cooper, but he didn't jump.

They said they searched the plane thoroughly, and determined he wasn't on board, however... did they?

Pilots made the initial search, followed by the police. Neither are likely familiar with the normally inaccessible parts of an aircraft. Maybe he was hiding behind a maintenance panel the whole time; up in the tail, under the floor, the rear cone? Were maintenance people called to assist on the search?

A mechanic would know about planes, and he would know the hiding spaces. It wouldn't take long to drill out a couple of rivets, or unscrew some screws, glue replacement heads on, crawl in, and seal the hatch after him. From the outside you couldn't tell the only thing holding the panel closed is Cooper's hand.

Did they remove all the interior paneling to expose the entire structure before determining he wasn't on board? I bet they didn't. Did they run dogs through the aircraft to sniff out possible hiding places? I doubt it. They were so sure he jumped, they didn't even really consider the possibility he didn't. Multiple parachutes, open stairs, no Cooper in sight; it's obvious he jumped, right? Maybe that was exactly the impression he wanted to give.

He could've had a mechanic's uniform on under the suit, and just walked out the airplane after everyone was gone.

They investigated that possibility. When the plane landed, the Washoe County Sheriff’s Department immediately searched the plane, and used dogs to search the entire airport as well as the surrounding neighborhoods, on the chance that he might have de-boarded the plane there. At that point they believed that he was still on the plane, or on the airport grounds. So they did extensively search for him there. They didn’t even entertain the possibility that he had jumped, until they verified that he was not on the plane or the airport grounds.

A tale of the '70s: When D.B. Cooper's plane landed in Reno

 

[Bargle]

They mentioned,more than once, that the crew felt the plane shudder or shake when he jumped. The pilot or co-pilot radioed in at that time to give searchers a likely drop zone.

His not wearing gloves is what sticks out to me about this. Boarding wearing them would have drawn attention, but even after everyone but the stewardess was out of the rear of the plane, he still didn't don them. There's been no mention of surfaces being wiped after the stewardess made her last trip out. This makes me believe that his fingerprints weren't on file anywhere and he wasn't worried about being found through them. They would convict him if he was captured, but couldn't be used to find him. All this makes me think he wasn't ever in the military or any job that would require mandatory fingerprinting.
Fingerprints not matching is what likely eliminated Rackstraw, IMO.

 

[Gardener1850]

I finally got a chance to watch this 2-part special. I should have known the case had not been solved. What a disappointment. I guess I can understand they don't want to devote resources to fielding all the crackpot theories that come in about the case. I'm not convinced that Rackstraw was Cooper. They laid out a good timeline but it was all circumstantial. The flight attendant was sure he was not the hijacker and that sealed it for me. I do think the whole Baron Norman Dewinter story is interesting. IMO, they really didn't prove that Rackstraw was Norman Dewinter. The only thing they really had in common was that the knew how to fly private planes. And the eye witnesses thought Rackstraw could be Dewinter but they were not 100%, IMO. Rackstraw fits the description of Copper and this Norman Dewinter also fits the description of Cooper so they would be easily mistaken for one another, IMO. Ergo, the man who pretended to be Norman Dewinter could have been D.B. Cooper. There is at least one real man by the name of Norman Dewinter living in the US--or there was one in 1997 according to Familysearch.org I wonder if anyone bothered to contact him/find out if he was the one claiming to be a Swiss Baron?

 

[SweetCaroline]

I remember seeing this story on Unsolved Mysteries or a similar show when I was a kid, and being fascinated. I've always believed he didn't survive the jump, but I'd love to be wrong. I was struck by his demeanor. He had to have known there was a chance he'd get caught or die jumping from the plane, but witnesses say he was very calm and polite. Why wasn't he nervous?

 

[dogperson]

I thought the differences in the demeanor of the pilot and the stewardess on the show was really interesting. Even after this many years, the pilot was all choked up about how well the stewardess stood up under the pressure and what a great job she did. And she just kind of blew it all off like, "It was a long time ago. I don't even think about it, etc." She didn't show any emotion, not even about the praise the pilot gave her. I don't particularly buy a conspiracy theory but if there was one, the pilot didn't seem to be in on it, because he still appears deeply affected by the experience. The stewardess, the one who had the most contact with DB Cooper and should have been the most traumatized, seemed to suggest the event had no impact at all on her life. Unless she was in cahoots with DB Cooper all along, but I don't particularly believe it. If she was, though, denying Rackstraw was the man on the plane (if he was DB Cooper), would be the thing to do.

My opinion is that whoever this man was actually did know a lot about the plane but had no criminal records (no fingerprints on file) and may never have been military either (also because no fingerprints on file). My father served in WWII and the copies of his military records clearly show his thumbprint. So DB Cooper probably worked in the aviation field but had never been arrested and had never been in the military. It's likely the jump killed him and the parachute wasn't found because he didn't jump exactly where they thought he did. Or if he survived, he may have buried the parachute, which is common sense if you think about it. Leaving the parachute in plain sight is the same as making an "X" to mark the spot.

 

[Gardener1850]

I thought the differences in the demeanor of the pilot and the stewardess on the show was really interesting. Even after this many years, the pilot was all choked up about how well the stewardess stood up under the pressure and what a great job she did. And she just kind of blew it all off like, "It was a long time ago. I don't even think about it, etc." She didn't show any emotion, not even about the praise the pilot gave her. I don't particularly buy a conspiracy theory but if there was one, the pilot didn't seem to be in on it, because he still appears deeply affected by the experience. The stewardess, the one who had the most contact with DB Cooper and should have been the most traumatized, seemed to suggest the event had no impact at all on her life. Unless she was in cahoots with DB Cooper all along, but I don't particularly believe it. If she was, though, denying Rackstraw was the man on the plane (if he was DB Cooper), would be the thing to do.

My opinion is that whoever this man was actually did know a lot about the plane but had no criminal records (no fingerprints on file) and may never have been military either (also because no fingerprints on file). My father served in WWII and the copies of his military records clearly show his thumbprint. So DB Cooper probably worked in the aviation field but had never been arrested and had never been in the military. It's likely the jump killed him and the parachute wasn't found because he didn't jump exactly where they thought he did. Or if he survived, he may have buried the parachute, which is common sense if you think about it. Leaving the parachute in plain sight is the same as making an "X" to mark the spot.

Have you ever watched the TV show Leverage? There is an episode where they "solve" the DB Cooper hijacking and in their (completely fictional) version the flight attendant was in on it and married DB Copper after the hijacking. In the fictional TV show, the FBI investigator goes to interview to the flight attendant and meets her out-of-work boyfriend (DB Copper introduced by his real name). FBI agent encourages him to apply to work for the Bureau and they go around solving other cases together for 40 years. The insinuation being the FBI could never solve it because it was one of their own. They even had the flight attendant give a false description so the sketch was not very accurate. It was a very entertaining show, but totally fictional. IMO the flight attendant had no motive to be "in on it". DB Cooper couldn't even spend the money (if he survived the jump) because it was all logged to be traceable by serial numbers. What would she get out of helping a hijacker terrorize her coworkers? The pilot was more afraid because he knew just how close they came to crashing the plane by flying it so low and at the speed Cooper requested. JMO.

 

[LinasK]

I finally got a chance to watch this 2-part special. I should have known the case had not been solved. What a disappointment. I guess I can understand they don't want to devote resources to fielding all the crackpot theories that come in about the case. I'm not convinced that Rackstraw was Cooper. They laid out a good timeline but it was all circumstantial. The flight attendant was sure he was not the hijacker and that sealed it for me. I do think the whole Baron Norman Dewinter story is interesting. IMO, they really didn't prove that Rackstraw was Norman Dewinter. The only thing they really had in common was that the knew how to fly private planes. And the eye witnesses thought Rackstraw could be Dewinter but they were not 100%, IMO. Rackstraw fits the description of Copper and this Norman Dewinter also fits the description of Cooper so they would be easily mistaken for one another, IMO. Ergo, the man who pretended to be Norman Dewinter could have been D.B. Cooper. There is at least one real man by the name of Norman Dewinter living in the US--or there was one in 1997 according to Familysearch.org I wonder if anyone bothered to contact him/find out if he was the one claiming to be a Swiss Baron?

My theory is that Rackstraw was cultivating the persona of Baron DeWinter pre-hijacking to explain the sudden wealth he was about to come into when he pulled off the heist, otherwise how do you suddenly explain to everyone you know how you suddenly got rich?

 

[Gardener1850]

My theory is that Rackstraw was cultivating the persona of Baron DeWinter pre-hijacking to explain the sudden wealth he was about to come into when he pulled off the heist, otherwise how do you suddenly explain to everyone you know how you suddenly got rich?

Interesting. I think that line of thinking works even for those thinking Rackstraw was not Dewinter but Dewinter was possibly DB Cooper. Since Dewinter never resurfaced in that town after the hijacking we could also conclude maybe he didn't survive the jump. If Rackstraw was Cooper and thinking along those line, why not go through with the the plan and return to the small town as the baron? We know now that he couldn't spend the money without getting caught, but would Cooper know he couldn't spend it?

 

[mrseeker]

I think Baron de Winter is a red herring. I do not think DB would be out in the open before the hijacking. I would expect a low profile. deWinter is an interesting side show. Kind of like all the crazy theories about JFK. was there really an umbrella man? I have no doubt that there was a character calling himself Baron de Winter passing himself off as nobility. There are lots of con people out there. I do think DB might have been destitute, so bumming might be something he would do. It is possible deWinter is DB, but I don't think so. If de Winter was a con artist, he would be going for a score in that town . The trip to Europe on a private plane was his scam. He just was not able to pull it off before he was discovered. In my Opinion, DB was somewhere in the area putting the finishing touch on his plan. I have no doubt the people in the town believe what they say, but i also know people's memories are very fragile. Their mysterious Baron de Winter, might have even appeared at another time. They might have just convinced themselves the good Baron is DB and have fit their memories into that time frame. Our memories really do not work like we want. It is very easy for memories to be influenced by time and other information. I would trust more a receipt from a motel with Baron de Winter's signature on it than all the witnesses they can muster. I am still convinced, DB was more likely a longed haired bearded fellow who shaved and bought a cheap suit to pull off this hijacking. That is why nobody called to say they knew him. He probably died that night. Like has been said here, perhaps long buried by Mt St Helen. I think when i have time. I will study the flight path again.