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Tracking the money is the key to solving this case. As of yet no one has come up with a satisfactory explanation for how the money found in 1980 on Tena Bar got there and how it was in such good condition after almost 9 years. I think he either survived or someone found the remains and kept quiet so they could keep the money. I also don't buy the "not in circulation" line. It could easily be in circulation overseas or have been burned up along with trillions of other bills by the Treasury. Anyone that believes they have tracked every bill destroyed without fail lives in a different world.
Currently inactive because it's very low priority but still unsolved and open.
For your first thought.. It's not like they would have missed a bill.. They would have missed 10,000 bills. Well, technically, 9,710 bills. As for the condition of those bills.. They weren't in good shape. The rubber bands likely are the key.. because they would disintegrate well before the bills themselves.. A possible explanation could be that the bills were contained in the parachute bag that he placed them in, and those three bundles fell out as the bag fell apart after 9 years hanging in a tree somewhere.
An interesting part is.. How did that one bundle wind up 10 bills short? 2 full 100 bill bundles, then one with only 90 bills..
The case.. "Inactive" is not a word I would use to describe it.. The feds generally consider a case 'open' until the suspect hits 100 years old, at least in the case of fugitives.. As we don't know the suspect in this case.. I suspect it will be an open investigation for another 40 years or so. As I understand it, there is still someone assigned to this case. But, I will agree on the 'low priority' part.. Simply because of the lack of evidence.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cuero
When it comes to the publicly acknowledged suspects I am skeptical since they all have proponents with financial interests in their man being the one. The only ones I consider as possible are: Kenny Christiansen, Lynn Doyle Cooper, and Duane Weber. I don't consider L.D. Cooper a serious suspect because all we have is a picture of a guy resembling the sketch and a story from a relative. That leaves Weber and Christiansen.
Now, i'll disagree with you here.. I like LD Cooper as the suspect. But, pointing to your two primes.. Here's where I would poke holes in them..
Weber's wife found library books on DB Cooper with the husbands handwriting in the margins.. In today's world.. He'd be called a stalker. I think he inserted himself into the story.. Perhaps as a way to get money to his wife after his death.. Who knows.. But, his story stinks of fabrication to me. Well studied fabrication, but fabrication nonetheless.
Christiansen.. The fact that he was a trained paratrooper eliminates him in my book. But also, there's evidence of him having money.. So, if he had the ransom, he spent it, which goes in the face of the 'no bills ever turned up' thing.
LD Cooper.. There is more evidence than just the family members story, though, there are plenty of holes to be poked in him as a suspect, just as there are with everyone else.. One of the things is that he was apparently a big fan of the French comic book hero "Dan Cooper". Supposedly, also the landing zone where he jumped was within miles of his house. The biggest hole in him as the suspect is.. He apparently just had a change of heart and didn't spend the money.. Of course, I suppose we can say for any of them that maybe they dropped the money on the way down.
Now, i'll disagree with you here.. I like LD Cooper as the suspect. But, pointing to your two primes.. Here's where I would poke holes in them..
Weber's wife found library books on DB Cooper with the husbands handwriting in the margins.. In today's world.. He'd be called a stalker. I think he inserted himself into the story.. Perhaps as a way to get money to his wife after his death.. Who knows.. But, his story stinks of fabrication to me. Well studied fabrication, but fabrication nonetheless.
Christiansen.. The fact that he was a trained paratrooper eliminates him in my book. But also, there's evidence of him having money.. So, if he had the ransom, he spent it, which goes in the face of the 'no bills ever turned up' thing.
LD Cooper.. There is more evidence than just the family members story, though, there are plenty of holes to be poked in him as a suspect, just as there are with everyone else.. One of the things is that he was apparently a big fan of the French comic book hero "Dan Cooper". Supposedly, also the landing zone where he jumped was within miles of his house. The biggest hole in him as the suspect is.. He apparently just had a change of heart and didn't spend the money.. Of course, I suppose we can say for any of them that maybe they dropped the money on the way down.
Rereading my post later I realized I championed Weber and Christiansen more than I intended. I think all the named suspects have holes in their stories which is why I think researchers need to determine if human intervention planted the money that was found or if it could have been carried by natural forces.
Your point about some bills missing from the bundles is significant. Planting the money could have been a form of triumph for DB to show he got away. I can't imagine a reason for someone other than DB to plant the money that was found and it wasn't a good hiding place. I have rubber bands in my climate controlled office just a few years old that won't hold any longer. Hard to believe one exposed to the elements would last 9 years.
I overreached with LD Cooper. I haven't read enough about him to decide one way or another if he is a worthwhile suspect.
Weber. I think his wife has done more harm than good in her attempts to promote him as DB. Her writing has made me very skeptical of him as a suspect.
Christiansen. I wouldn't rule Christiansen out just because of paratrooper training and the money not being found in circulation.
-Trained paratrooper: Some thoughts on that. 25 or so years had passed since he last parachuted and he could easily have distorted memories of how easy it was back when he was 18. Also his training in parachutes could have been fairly limited compared to contemporary skydiving enthusiasts. The Army's main concern was getting guys on the ground to fight, not teach the intricacies of parachute design. Between WWII and Korean War, training was drastically cut so the only training he had was during the war. He also never made a combat jump. In a stressful situation he could have either overlooked the sewn up reserve or noticed and decided since that was the type of chute he wanted to use it outweighed the lack of a reserve.
-Serial numbers on the currency: Mistakes are made all the time and even more so in government. See the JonBennett Ramsey thread. As someone that deals with government agencies routinely, I can tell you they lose data frequently and their computer systems are obsolete. I can't imagine what they were like in the 1970s. They do have some outstanding employees but many don't care and bureaucracy is cumbersome.
Another thing to consider is Kenny was a purser (paymaster) for NWA on their overseas routes. That potentially opens up other avenues for him to launder the money through a foreign bank.
I've been researching Cooper for years. I looked into Marla Cooper's story and found lots of problems. she gave two different stories about where he landed. I found strong evidence that LD's birth date is wrong, he's two years younger. here grandmothers house was nothing but an old loggers home (one room) which conflicts with LD having the comics in his room at grannies house. I found a paper trail of him being in Las Vegas starting in the early 70's. Marla claimed he was in hiding, but a paper trail is something you wouldn't have while trying to hide.
Christiansen has many problems. he doesn't fit the description at all. he didn't pay cash for his house, in fact it took him 17 years to pay it off. he had a lot of money in the bank before he passed away, but this was from land he purchased prior to the hijacking, and sold for $17,000 an acre. he had almost two dozen acre's. Kenny was 5' 8". Tina was also 5' 8", and stated she had to look up at Cooper. Kenny doesn't fit the profile. lots of people are upset, or don't like there job. Cooper stated he didn't have a grudge against the airline, he said he just had a grudge. If you watched Decoded about Christiansen, you will see in the end that they didn't believe Bernie Geestman was an accomplice in the crime. they blew a hole in the whole theory they were pushing. I found lots of holes in this story, too many to mention.
Duane Weber, I know Jo Weber from posting on Dropzone. yes, she has done more damage than good. she send me an average of 10 emails a week. she admitted years ago that the writing in the book was not Duane's. Weber couldn't even steal a ladies purse without getting caught, so this crime would be way over his head.
I have a Cooper forum that's been running for almost two years. I have a lot of experienced members on my forum, people like Tom Kaye who did the research on the money, and the tie Cooper had. Brian Ingram's joined, but only posted once.
I'm currently working on the flight path via simulator. I have a fully enclosed cockpit with a functional 727-100 that has been tested by pilots on my forum. people claim the flight path might be wrong, so I thought I would retrace it. we currently have a production company working with several members, including myself trying to put together a documentary about Cooper. this production company works with networks like Discovery, and the History channel to name a few.
I just thought I would drop in and give you guys some info I've had for a while.
Another thing to consider is Kenny was a purser (paymaster) for NWA on their overseas routes. That potentially opens up other avenues for him to launder the money through a foreign bank.
Every bill eventually comes back to the US Treasury for destruction. Whether it's laundered overseas or whatever.. The only way a bill wouldn't come back is if it's out of circulation totally. (Destroyed, stuck in a parachute bag hanging from a tree, buried treasure, etc)
I still think that, whoever it was, died in the jump and/or landing.. The money sat out there.. Then Mt Saint Helen erupted and buried the evidence.
That's the bad part.. That eruption, had it not happened.. I think this case would have been solved by now. The evidence was out there.. But it's now been destroyed.
There's still a SMALL chance it will be solved.. Noone will be brought to justice, but the answer will be had. As DNA testing and cataloging grows and grows, sooner or later there will be a hit on 'familial' DNA, and they'll be able to track back through the family and find who it was. Assuming that the DNA on the tie clasp was actually Cooper's.
Thanks for the update. I hadn't seen much recent activity at the dedicated DB Cooper forums or websites, but will check it out. Combining a more accurate flight path with the research on the hydrology of the area seems like the most viable approach to pinpointing the landing site.
I agree the most likely scenario is he either didn't survive the landing or lost the money, but that's hard to accept without more evidence. The bills not turning up in circulation is evidence but without intimate knowledge of sensitive US Treasury operations it's hard to know if that is conclusive or not. Knowing that the jump was survivable adds to the mystery.
What bothers me about the case is no one has come forward and said "I know that guy". It's like he had no family or friends.
Christiansen has many problems. he doesn't fit the description at all.
Shutter
When I look at Christiansen's picture I see a spitting image of the Cooper sketch. A well fitted toupee would fix the bald spot and some thick socks and shoes would add a little height to him. In my opinion his appearance and psychological profile are two of the strongest factors in favor of him as a suspect.
Stating "I don't have a grudge against the airline, I just have a grudge" is a really odd thing to say.
But for the FBI to dismiss him as a suspect so quickly tells me Mr. Blevins needs to keep looking.
Quote:
Originally Posted by curiousgeorge5
The mystery is interesting and frustrating at the same time.
And how. Probability favors DB ending up bear food and the money washed out to sea. It explains why the case has never been solved as the living tend to trip up eventually. Still it's not a satisfying answer for those of us who enjoy a good mystery.
Far to many people take the sketch as a photo. this doesn't tell the story of who Cooper is over his description.
Agent Larry Carr Quote below.
"The physical description I provided is a reported fact. No matter how much you would like to change it you simply can't throw it out and replace it with theoretical fact so it fits your suspect. If you do, your investigation is doomed to fail."
"No matter how much someone wants to put DB Cooper's height at 5'8" will never change the fact he was reported to be 6'. You can certainly say it's so but you have to have articulable fact to support the dismissal of the witnesses credibility. But if you discredit the witness on one piece of her statement you may have to discredit all, you can't have it both ways."
"Under the "trust no I-witness" philosophy, there is no base of fact to go from, maybe he was actually a she? Where do you stop? there has to be a baseline of fact, you simply cannot conduct an effective investigation if every human being is a suspect."
"There is the key difference, "it happened so fast" Not the same in the Cooper case. Mucklow spent almost five hours with Cooper, I think she could have got the base physical indentifiers correct, especially when the others reported almost the same."
Now, Tina Mucklow reported having to look up at Cooper. she is the same height as Christiansen.
1) Kenny was bald on top...
2) Kenny was light skinned..
3) Kenny was 5' 8"..
4) Kenny was 150 lbs..
"Christiansen was dismissed because the only part of his physical description that matches Coopers is that he is male."
Tina asked Cooper if he had a grudge against the airline, he replied "I don't have a grudge against your airline, I just have a grudge" it's not odd, it's a shame Tina didn't question him further to find out what his grudge actually was. we would then have a possible reason for why he did what he did in the first place....
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