In the 1970s, the United States witnessed an event worthy of a James Bond film. The world was extremely different from what we were used to; the Internet and globalization were utopias yet to be realized, and within this context, a man went down in history as the unknown person who achieved the perfect crime. Incredibly, the event is part of the list of cases that the FBI has not been able to solve to this date. Take a look at the fascinating story of D. B. Cooper.
How It Started
The event occurred on November 24, 1971, when an average looking person went to the Northwest Orient airline ticket booth located in Portland and requested the purchase of a ticket to the city of Seattle. So far, a perfectly normal behavior. The man made the payment in cash, which could be a curious detail nowadays, however, at that time it was quite common. The individual introduced himself and made the purchase as Dan Cooper, however, sometime later the media and word of mouth made him go down in history as D. B. Cooper.
The Hijacking
It was a normal day for the flight attendant Florence Schaffner, so much so that when Cooper handed her a note she ignored it, mistaking it for another effort of flirtation like the ones she had experienced on board. However, to her surprise, Cooper insisted and when she read it, she understood that it was not a joke. The note read "Miss I have a bomb here and I would like you to sit by me." The stewardess decided to comply with the man's request, who immediately opened the briefcase he was carrying and revealed inside a network of cables and some kind of red cylinders that looked like dynamite.
The Petition
The man indicated to the flight attendant that she would now be the one to deliver a note to the pilot. In the note, Cooper requested the total sum of 200 thousand dollars and 4 parachutes. Once the plane landed in Seattle, he received the loot in exchange for freeing most of the passengers. Subsequently, D. B. Cooper forced the pilot to resume the flight this time to Mexico. The incredible denouement happens when in the middle of the night the man disappears jumping out of the plane with the parachute and carrying all the money with him.
Theories
Although the FBI investigation started right away, the incident has remained unsolved for 50 years. Despite all the identikits, having interviewed dozens of people, and the intense investigation of the federal agency, it was never possible to discover who was hiding behind the pseudonym of D. B. Cooper. One of the main hypotheses that was handled was that the criminal did not survive the fall, however, his body was never found. An extremely interesting fact is that over the years many people have accused themselves of being Dan Cooper, such as Barbara Dayton and Duane Weber.
Suspects
Among the more than 800 suspects that came to be considered, the ones that stood out the most were Richard Floyd McCoy, who was caught some time later for carrying out a robbery with similar characteristics, and Sheridan Peterson, due to the extreme resemblance to the identikit, and his knowledge of aviation. Despite never having found the body, the authorities have already closed the case and insist that due to the lack of accomplices and planning, Cooper most likely did not survive the jump.
