The FBI has released a trove of documents related to the case of DB Cooper, one of the most legendary unsolved crimes in U.S. history.
The 398-page archive has shed new light on the bureau’s decades-long hunt for the mysterious hijacker who vanished without a trace after leaping from a plane with $200,000 in cash in 1971.
Despite the new information, the files ended up revealing more confusion than clarity.
The FBI’s investigation spanned decades and uncovered a wide range of suspects
Image credits: David Trinks/Unsplash
The story of DB Cooper has become a legend. On November 24, 1971, a man who identified himself as Dan Cooper boarded Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305.
Calm and composed, he handed a flight attendant a note claiming he had a bomb, which he reportedly showed to her. He then demanded $200,000 in $20 bills, four parachutes, and a flight to Mexico City.
After releasing 36 passengers upon landing in Seattle, Cooper took off again with the crew. Somewhere between Seattle and Reno, he opened the rear stairs and jumped into the night with the money, never to be found.
Image credits: FBI
The newly released files painted a portrait of an exhaustive manhunt filled with false leads and bizarre characters, according to a New York Post report. As per the documents, agents investigated several leads, from cancer-stricken Alabama men to airline pilots and former parachutists.
In one case, a man confined to a wheelchair was scrutinized until it was determined that he could not have been the mystery hijacker. “A man confined to a wheelchair did not hijack the plane in this case,” the report read.
Each suspect’s file often ended the same way, with photos shown to witnesses, suspicions evaluated, and the word “Eliminated” handwritten in bold.
One man impersonated Cooper to scam a journalist, wearing a wig and using fake bills
Image credits: Northwest Airlines History Center
Among the oddest tales in the FBI’s archive was that of Donald Sylvester Murphy, a man who pretended to be DB Cooper in order to extort $30,000 from a former Newsweek editor.
According to the files, Murphy went as far as to pose for photos wearing a wig and glasses so he could resemble Cooper’s famous composite sketch.
He even mocked up fake $20 bills that match the serial numbers of the money that Cooper successfully stole.
Image credits: Getty Images/Unsplash
The scam didn’t work, however, and he and an accomplice were eventually arrested and sentenced to prison.
While Murphy was most definitely not Cooper, his story remains a strange footnote in the mysterious hijacker’s saga.
Recent claims from DB Cooper truthers aren’t reflected in the files
Image credits: FBI
Notably absent from the released documents was any mention of Richard McCoy Jr., a man many amateur sleuths believe was the real DB Cooper.
McCoy pulled off a similar hijacking in 1972, using a parachute and jumping with stolen money, according to Unilad.
He was later caught and sentenced to 45 years in prison. However, he passed away during a shootout with FBI agents two years later.
Image credits: FBI
His children, Chanté and Rick McCoy III, recently came forward to say they believe their father was DB Cooper all along.
The siblings also noted that their mother might have been implicated in their dad’s schemes, as his parachute was kept in her storage stash outside their home.
The siblings even stated that the topic was taboo in their home, so they waited until after their mother passed away in 2020 to speak out.
Image credits: FBI
The FBI seemed to take a strong interest in the McCoy siblings’ story, with agents reportedly taking a DNA sample from Rick.
Authorities reportedly informed the siblings that their father’s body might need to be exhumed as well.
The DB Cooper mystery endures despite decades of tips and dead ends
Image credits: Northwest Airlines History Center
Even after decades, hundreds of tips, and a nationwide manhunt, DB Cooper remains unidentified to this day. The case has inspired books, documentaries, and podcasts, but none of the suspects listed in the new files were ever conclusively linked to the hijacking.
Despite public fascination, it’s still unclear whether Cooper survived the jump at all, or if he perished in the wilderness that night with the money never recovered.
Such a scenario seems plausible, as a black tie believed to be Cooper’s and a crumbling package of $20 bills matching the stolen money’s serial numbers were found by a young boy along the Columbia River way back in 1980.
The FBI’s recent DB Cooper update was met with polarizing reactions from netizens
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