On November 24, 1971, Dan Cooper, a quiet, nondescript man (wearing the classic business suit everyone wore back then) wandered into Portland airport and paid cash for a one-way ticket to Seattle. He drank his bourbon and soda in the lounge and boarded the plane like every other passenger. 

Cooper was your average guy, at least until shortly after takeoff, when he handed the flight attendant a note. And no, it wasn’t an attempt to flirt his way into the mile-high club. This note said that there was a bomb in his briefcase and that she should sit down next to him. She sat down.

Dan opened his briefcase to reveal a mass of wires and red coloured sticks to the flight attendant, who promptly followed his instructions to send a message to the captain. He demanded that $200,000 in twenty-dollar bills and 4 parachutes be delivered to him upon landing. 

The flight landed in Seattle, Cooper exchanged the flight’s 36 passengers for the money and parachutes and then, with some crew still on board, took off again for Mexico City. 

Somewhere between Seattle and Reno, ordinary Dan walked to the back of the plane, opened a door and jumped out with a parachute and the money. The pilots landed safely and DB Cooper, as he became known, disappeared. 

50 years later, we’re still looking for him, and amazingly, there have been very recent (as in March 2024) updates to this cold case! 

CHAPTERS:

• 00:00 The Mysterious Case of DB Cooper
• 03:15 Investigations, Theories, and Folk Hero Status
• 05:36 Copycats and Confessions 
• 08:54 The Hunt for DB Cooper: Suspects, Clues, and Dead Ends
• 12:26 Tom Colbert’s case against Robert Rackstraw
• 15:38 DB Cooper Wannabes 
• 18:36 Case closed after 45 years
• 20:31 DNA Evidence: A New Hope in the Cold Case
• 27:40 Speculations and Theories: Where is DB Cooper?
• 29:32 What’s next on The Wholesome Show

SOURCES:

• D.B. Cooper Hijacking — FBI
• https://www.the-sun.com/news/10528799/db-cooper-dna-sample-fbi-new-culprits/
• 7 People Have Confessed to Being DB Cooper. A Twist in the Case Says One Told the Truth.
• Who Was D.B. Cooper? | HISTORY
• D.B. Cooper Hijacking - Topics on Newspapers.com
• 'Missed crucial DB Cooper clue' left behind by mystery plane hijacker doesn't have to be turned over by FBI, rules judge | The US Sun