Did D.B. Cooper survive his daring leap from a hijacked plane?
Police sketch of suspect
Cooper claimed he had a bomb
CASE DETAILS
On Thanksgiving Eve, 1971, a man who identified himself as D.B. Cooper walked into the airport in Portland, Oregon. According to FBI agent Ralph Himmelsbach, there was nothing unusual about him:
“He was your typical businessman, a suit, tie, a raincoat, carrying an attaché case. Nothing distinctive about him except perhaps for the fact that everything was very dark, black tie, black raincoat, black shoes. He appeared at the ticket counter, bought his ticket and just gave the name Cooper.”
Florence Shafner talked to Cooper
Cooper wanted assurances that the plane was a 727. Agent Himmelsbach explained why:
“The 727 became notorious through this case because it is the only airliner from which a successful parachute jump can be made from the passenger cabin.”
D.B. Cooper bought a one-way ticket to Seattle. His only luggage was a brief case. He was the last person to board the plane. He took his seat while the 727 begans taxiing to the runway. Flight attendant Florence Schaffner was the first crew member to talk to Cooper:
“He handed me a note and he kept looking at me. And I just ignored him the first time he looked at me and then he said, ‘I want you to read the note.’ It was printed, “Miss, I have a bomb in my briefcase. I want you to sit beside me.’
Cooper opened his brief case so Florence could see what was inside:
“I saw a big battery with six dynamite sticks wrapped around the battery. And he said to me, ‘All I have to do is attach this wire to this gadget here and we’ll all be dead.’”
Some of the ransom money was found
And so began one of the most infamous unsolved crimes in U.S. history. To this day, no one knows the true identity of the man who called himself D.B. Cooper or if he survived his daring parachute leap from 10,000 feet. The case remains the only unsolved skyjacking in the world.
Flight attendant Florence Schaffner went to the cockpit to inform the crew about Cooper and his threat. She recalled:
“We were very, very scared to death. All of us were. I was thinking about dying. That’s all I thought. I was also thinking, ‘I’ll never see my parents, my brothers and sisters.’”
Divers searched Lake Merwin, but found nothing
The flight crew immediately notified air traffic control about the hijacking. They, in turn, contacted the FBI. According to Agent Himmelsbach, Cooper’s demands were precise:
“He wanted $200,000 in cash in a knapsack and four parachutes. He identified the parachutes as two front pack parachutes and two backpacks and he specified that the airline remain in the air until the money and the parachutes were ready at Seattle. He also specified that the other passengers not be told that the airplane was being hijacked.”
The flight crew proceeded as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Drinks were served. Cooper ordered two bourbon and waters.
Meanwhile, the FBI communicated with the airline. Agent Himmelsbach said the airline agreed to pay the ransom:
“The FBI asked the airline what their approach to the hijacking was going to be, that is, did they wish to pay the ransom. This is an option that the victim of extortion has rather than law enforcement, and they responded instantly that they wished to pay the ransom. And so the FBI at Seattle set about assisting in obtaining the money.”
Some believe Richard McCoy was DB Cooper
Each bill was photographed and the serial numbers recorded. Cooper also insisted the plane be refueled immediately once it landed in Seattle. No passengers were to be released until all of his demands were met. He also instructed that once it landed, the plane should stay on the runway rather than to taxi up to the terminal.
At 5:43 pm, Flight 305 landed at the Seattle airport. The plane taxied in and was parked in a remote area of the field. Then, according to Agent Himmelsbach, the bags of ransom money were brought aboard:
“They were carried on board by a flight attendant. There were ten thousand $20 bills assembled in straps of 100 bills to a strap, and individual straps held together with rubber bands. The money alone, just the currency weighed 21 pounds.”
Four parachutes were also delivered. Both the flight crew and the FBI were worried that Cooper would use the extra parachutes to take hostages along with him. The passengers on board were completely unaware of the drama surrounding them, which included FBI snipers, according to Agent Himmelsbach:
“During the time the airliner was on the ground at Seattle, there were FBI agents with scoped rifles who were prepared, if the indications were present, that required it to pick him off.”
Finally, the passengers were allowed to deplane. But Cooper demanded that the flight crew and one attendant stay on board. Florence Schaffner recalled her conversation with the co-pilot:
“The co-pilot said you better get the hell out now. So I left without Tina and that’s when he decided to keep her because he was getting suspicious at everything.”
The passengers were met by FBI agents. It was only then that they realized that that plane had been hi-jacked and that their lives had been in mortal danger. When debriefed, they could remember nothing about the man with the brief case.
Cooper ordered the pilot to fly from Seattle all the way to Mexico City, at a height of 10,000 feet, and a speed of only 200 miles an hour. He agreed to refuel in Reno, Nevada. According to Agent Himmelsbach, Cooper then made an unusual request: he wanted the rear stairwell to be lowered prior to take off:
“The pilot explained that he wasn’t able to take off with that door open and they argued back and forth and finally the pilot said he just couldn’t fly the airplane and wasn’t going to try, and the hijacker consented for the door to be closed for take-off, which it was.”
At 7:37, Flight 305 took off. The Seattle control tower alerted all other aircraft to remain clear. Cooper’s 727 had the sky to itself. Cooper then told the remaining flight attendant to go into the cockpit. Agent Himmelsbach elaborated:
“He told her to go back into the cockpit and to close the curtain between the coach and the first class cabins. As she turned around to close the curtains, she said she saw him tying something to his waist with what she thought was rope. Later in the cockpit, the light flashed indicating that the hijacker was attempting to operate the door. At 8:12, the pilot told us that they were experiencing a rapid change in the air pressure reflected in an ears popping experience.”
Somewhere over the forest of Washington state, Cooper jumped.
Upon landing in Reno, Nevada, every inch of the 727 was examined for clues as to who D.B. Cooper really was. But he left behind no identifiable fingerprints, no personal items, and no clue to his identity. The flight attendants who had seen Cooper up close helped create a composite drawing of his face.
The crew felt that Cooper had jumped somewhere near the southern tip of Washington state. It was believed he would be found in the area bordered by Lake Merwin and ending 20 miles north of Portland. No matter where Cooper landed, Frank Heyl believes he could have survived:
“Let’s say he went down in the water. You’ve gotta know how to manage that parachute. You can use it for some floatation. Now his life expectancy is not going to be very long in that water. It’s cold and you have to think of the time of the year it was in, so he had probably a very, very few minutes to get on shore. But I think he could’ve done this.”
A large white object was seen floating in Lake Merwin, but divers found nothing.
Agent Himmelsbach felt it was unlikely that Cooper could have survived:
“My feeling is he would’ve have been hurt regardless of what he landed into. I think that Cooper mostly crawled to a creek. He didn’t have any water supplies, didn’t bring any along with him, and he would’ve had to have water to survive. So I assume he made his way to a little creek and perished there.”
Some feel that Cooper could never have survived in that rugged terrain dressed only in a business suit. Frank Heyl suggested Cooper came prepared:
“We don’t know what he wore under the suit, could’ve had a pair of long underwear on which he certainly should have had. And what he had in pockets may have been the most important thing because this would’ve given him the tools of survival. As long as a man’s got a knife, a cigarette lighter and the clothes on his back, he could’ve lived indefinitely out there. It’s possible. I think he buried the chute. I think he probably buried the briefcase. He got rid of that. I think he probably put the money in his coat and I think he headed for a big city someplace and lost himself.”
The search for D.B. Cooper continued with no new clues. Then, in November 1978, a hunter deep in the Washington forest discovered a plastic sign from a 727. It had been ripped from the lower stairwell of Flight 305.
Fifteen months later, an even more dramatic discovery was made. On February 10, 1980, a family was preparing a barbecue on the shore of the Columbia River, 20 miles southwest of Cooper’s supposed jump point. They planned to dig a fire pit, but dug up something else: stacks of water logged bills totaling $5,880. Agent Himmelsbach confirmed it was part of Cooper’s ransom:
“There were 294 bills found and all of those serial numbers are on the ransom list. So that money is definitely positively identified as having come from that particular ransom money.”
Some believe the discovery proves Cooper perished. Again, Frank Heyl doesn’t think so:
“They did not find $200,000. Where’s the rest of the money? That’s what I wanna know.”
Agent Himmelsbach had his own rational for why Cooper’s plan didn’t succeed:
“He risked his life to hijack the airliner. He didn’t get to spend the money. He may have lost his life. Now I don’t know that he lost his life, but I think there’s a very good chance that he did. None of the money, not one bill has ever turned up in circulation.”
Many believe that D.B. Cooper survived and some even think he may have struck again. Only five months after Cooper’s flight, a half million dollars was extorted by another hijacker. He was a former Green Beret and his name was Richard McCoy. He was sentenced to 45 years for air piracy, but he escaped and he was killed in a gun battle with the FBI.
Due to the resemblance between their pictures, some believe that D.B. Cooper and Richard McCoy are the same man. But flight attendant Florence Schaffner believes that the original composite of Cooper may be inaccurate:
“The composite never really looked like him. The hair does not look like him. The face does not look like him.”
Florence worked with Maylin Coleman, a forensic artist from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department. Together they created a new portrait of D.B. Cooper. Florence said Cooper’s was a face she’ll never forget:
“It’s still strong in my mind. I remember everything, the color of his eyes, the color of his eyebrows. And his features.”
Who was D. B Cooper? Did he survive? And if not, where is his body and the remaining $194,000? We may never know the truth.
Watch this case now on Amazon Prime in season one with Robert Stack and season two with Dennis Farina. Also available on YouTube with Robert Stack and Dennis Farina. Various seasons available now on Hulu.
The REAL Robert M. Blevins
The REAL Robert Blevins here. Hatred among Cooper investigators is pretty rampant, as you can see. Plus many of them use phony identities or pose as known folks in Cooperland to post up trollish garbage galore. If you really want to see what I’m about, go to the source where more than 80 illustrated articles live at my WordPress. Not surprisingly, one of the most popular articles is titled, ‘Fear and Loathing in Cooperland,’ and ‘How An Unsolved Hijacking Morphed Into an Environment for Hatred’. That’s why the phonies don’t like me, folks. I call it like I see it. You can find all that here: https://thedbcooperhijacking.wordpress.com/
Casey E. G.
His photo looks so much like Gary Hilton..
Bill Blaski
Richard Floyd McCoy was DB Cooper
The REAL Robert Blevins
Uh…this is the REAL Robert, as you can see from clicking on the link in my name there. The remainder of the comments to this article are mostly made by phonies who hang out at Dave Brown’s (aka ‘Shutter’) silly site, The DB Cooper Forum dot com. They are being mostly ditched by the media for their dishonest, hateful, and impersonating posts on the internet. Want to see where the REAL info resides on the Cooper hijacking? Just drop by https://thedbcooperhijacking.wordpress.com/ More than 35 articles on the Cooper case live there.
Actual REAL people host that WordPress site, not a bunch of phonies pretending to be others. And by the way…Skipp Porteous suffered from aphasia until he died. Couldn’t use a keyboard since about 2015. Previous posts attributed to either myself, Gayla, Skipp, whatever, are all phonies. Just like the folks at the Cooper Forum. (*laughs*)
No wonder you guys are getting blown off by the media, and got dumped by the Portland Yacht Club when you tried to host your 2018 symposium on Cooper there. They saw some of your posts here, as well as others that were worse. THESE posts have been copied over to files. We keep certain media updated on your activities on the internet, such as Minnow Films in London, and the guys in LA producing the four-part series on Cooper this year.
Have a great day, phonies.
Anonymous
I don’t care much for Jerry Warner’s bs and lying either. College professor my ass. Just a grumpy old granpa in the basement with a computer and a load of three day old tacos nearby. God, it must be ghastly smelling in the Warner House. Just sayin. Too bad Shutter has to leave Warner in charge. Does he have a uniform too, and a badge? A gun? Or i it just his weapon that comes from consuming loads of three day old burritos? Keep it pointing down and away, Georger. We don’t want any accidents.
Jerry Warner; aka GEORGER
I agree with Special Agent John Jarvis. Robert Blevins lies about everything and everybody. He knows nothing about the DB Cooper case. I have great access to the FBI and I know many agents on a first name basis. The FBI hates Tom Colbert for what he has done. Maybe if Tom Colbert and Mr. Blevins moved to Pluto, we could resume an intellectual search for the hijacker. And Bruce Smith can join them. As for everyone else, please join me at my website: DB Cooper Forum. Shutter put me in charge and I love being the boss.
John Jarvis, retired SA
Mr. Blevins, please do not use my name in any of your silly postings. I told you that I would not be involved in any DB Cooper conversation, because I’m now retired from the Bureau. Your comments here disturb me greatly. Ken Christianson was NOT the hijacker. The FBI ruled him out years ago. Stop telling the world your lies.
Robert Blevins
All the frauds pretending to be me. Jealousy is pitiful but it explains alot about these people here who fire at me. Kenny was cooper. Don’t take my word for it. Just ask FBI agent John Jarvis or Florence. Alternatively, you can believe those people here who have no evidence, no documentaries supporting their theories and absolutely no clue whatsoever.
Gerry
Robert, you must have gone to the administrator of this site and given him a big sob story. That’s what you have always done, rather than face the fact that Ken Christianson was not DB Cooper. You must not work for a living. Instead, you just troll the internet 24/7 looking for sites on DB Cooper that you don’t like. How sad for you.
Georger.
Bob Rackstraw
Oh Great! Blevins is going to get me off the hook and set me up to go after Tom Colbert for false accusations. Can we just move the campout and fundraiser event to Chief Squirrelpoopoo’s old teepee location? And I feel much better if Louie Meyers would audit the entire event. I need to call Geestman and suggest we hang out.
Bob Blevins
Next scheduled campout will be at Robert Rackstraw’s compound in California. I’m driving down with Gayla, Greg the Techi Guy, and maybe Bruce (since his bicycle broke down last month). Anyone wanting to join us should contact me at R&G House Cleaning, or at Adventure Books of Seattle. We plan on doing a fundraiser at Rackstraws so we can raise enough money to launch his civil suit against TC for defamation. I’ve been designated as the fundraising treasurer.
Jerrie Warnor
I’ll say it again, some of the dumbest people in the world have resided at Apartment C in Auburn, Washington, run bedpan services called R&G Cleaning, and spend every August spreading rumor/innuendo/bullsh*t at the Auburn Theater. I’m sure this Chief Squirrelpoo was a nice enough indian, but my new best friend Louie Meyers told me that the indians up at Bonnie Lake think Blevins looks a bit like Custer wearing a baseball hat and a warn-out cleaning mop.
Blevins
Tom C., now you know what Georger is really like. He’s a know-it-all from his arm-chair tv room in Iowa, eating lots of Burger Kings and Fritos, while trying to solve the Cooper mystery with his wit and wisdom. He’s never been to Tina’s Bar, but knows everything about it. He’s a retired teacher with too much time on his hands and a bellyful of envy for all Cooper sleuths. Tom,….. Rackstraw is not Cooper. It was Kenny C. I have the money from the previous location of my great ancestor’s teepee, Chief Squirrelpoo. But I admire your tenacity. If you want to write another book, please consult with Adventure Books of Auburn. I’m also available to take out the trash and clean up your office while you tend to book signings. My references are good, unless you defer to Georger.
Gayla
Chief Squirrelpoo invited my grandma into the teepee. That wouldn’t make me related to Robert, would it?
Greg the Techi Guy
My great, great gramma knew Chief Squirrelpoo. He had a teepee up at Bonney Lake and had some pow wows and big parties up there.
Bobby Blevins
$18.96? I’ll give you a super deal on my old DB Cooper books, Meyer. Normally sells for $7.19 a book, but I’ll give you four books for left over change from your Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) check. Did I ever mention that I’m part Indian too? My great great grandpa was Chief Squirrelpoo. Anyway, please consider my offer. I need to make these sales to top off at 150 books sold since 2012.
Louie Meyers
I have $18.96 left over from my BIA check. Maybe I can buy some ribs and bring them to Tina’s Bar. But Blevins can’t have any. That *%^#((**&………..ahole. …………..hic…………
Louie Meyers
I’m gonna get started before you guys…. ….hic… with sundown scheduled early on August 21st at Tina’s Bar, ………..hic…… (it must be 5:00pm somewhere!!!!) ….hic….. I can get everything set-up for the BIG party. I’m buying the first round. Just got my BIA check in the mail.
Brewster
Paradise Park? Isn’t that where the Kenny hooked-up in a motorhome with some guy after the jump? Seems to us that there was way too much sexual activity of these two guys at Paradise Park on 11/24/71. I guess that’s what hijackers do after a successful jump. The money must have fell out of the motorhome during all of the strokin, and fell into the Lewis River. keep looking Blevins. It must be out there somewhere. We’ll keep a cold drink waitin for you at Tina’s Bar.
Robert Blev
Well, it’s time to load up my Subie again. We’re all going to Tina’s Bar. The DC trip to see Comey didn”t work out too well, but this time I can pay for the short drive from Apt. C in Auburn to Tina’s Bar. Maybe Bruce will bring some pretzels in case we all get over-served at Tina’s. I hope this trip to Tina’s doesn’t interfere with my BIG contract at the Auburn Theater. I’m no longer an unrestricted free-agent and am now bound by the AT’s contract. They love me so much there, that they gave me an extra 20-minutes to pitch my db cooper fiction to the tourists. And I may even sell 2 or three more books. I’m ready to get down to T-Bar for a BIG party. To hell with Ariel. Show me the way from Paradise Park, Meyer.
Meyer
The booze is incredible at Tina’s bar. I just send my tab to the BIA. Or is it the FBI? The BFI? Who gives a sh*t. Free drinks for all Cooperites. ……….bu**rp…….
Bob and Jerry
Hey can we come too? Neither of us has ever been to Tina’s bar before. Do they serve cheap wine and beer?
Cooper Confidential
I’d put my vast experience in the field against Georger’s PhD anytime. PhD’s are usually dummies in every field but their own, and they have no horse sense. I have lots of horse sense, and I’m built and hung like a horse. Meyer, on the other hand, resides on the reservation and can’t see past the next gov’t handout. I get my teeth fixed on my own dime. And I get substantial royalties from my appearance on Nat’l Geo. Yes, the money did get attached on a North Korean freighter near the Lewis River. That was my own theory, not Larry Carr’s.
Carol A.
Yes, EVERY part, Tom. It was a fun vacation together in Vancouver, WA. Let’s go digging around for more DB Cooper getaways together.
Tom K.
Good post, Paul. My education is based on pure talent and camera presense, not a fake PhD from the BIA. Louie is an idiot who likes to terrorize guys like Bruce Smith. And Blevins is a buck private who is holed-up in Apartment C in Auburn, WA, hiding from everybody. I compare my gray matter to the likes of Georger. Ask Carol Abraczinskas. She knows every intimate part of my being.
Paul Grevett
In grade school, I recall that BIA stood for big indian asshole. And BFI (not FBI) stood for something similar. Anyway, Louie and Blevins seem like uneducated brothers in so many ways. Maybe they are both ignorant assholes. (bia).
BIA confidential
……….woops……….I forgot my name on that last post. MeyerLouie
Greg the Techi-Guy
It makes Robert a WACKO
The Donald
Wouldn’t that make Greg a “RINO?”
Friends of Greg the Techi Guy
Thanks Greg. We knew you were an employee of Robert’s “in name only.” Another one of Robert’s little tricks.
Greg the Techi Guy
True statements by Gayla and the Auburn Theater. Robert hasn’t paid me for years, but he still uses my name in his fictitious business. Hell, Blevins has no employees, an outdated laptop, uses a flip-top, goes to Fed-Ex Kinkos for all copying and spends most of his day looking at DB Cooper sites to see who his enemies are. Most of them are posters at the DBC Forum. He’s a wacko, that’s for sure.
Auburn Theater manager
We’ve caught Blevins on video tape swiping a few things here. Things like cleaning agents, scrubbing pads, and a mop. Typical wannabe house cleaner who can’t spend his own money on cleaning equipment. We let it go, for now, because he offered to sweep out the theater a few times after his lame DB Cooper presentation. There wasn’t much to sweep because only a couple people ever show up to listen to his crap. We will never hire him for services, though. R&G House Cleaning Services at Apartment C is rinky-dink, just like Adventure Books.
Gayla
What broom, Robert? We don’t own a broom. You were too cheap to buy one. I recommended that you swipe a few from the Auburn Theater, but you chickened out…………….again.
Robert Blevins
At your service, Mr. President. R&G House Cleaning at Apt. C in Auburn can sweep really well. We have 16 styles of brooms, and we get very good recommendations from our past customers. Gayla is on broom and I do the toilets. You can reach us by tweet and we promise that our work is confidential with no leaks. Although, we did have some leaky toilet issues last year. We just use bubble gum to plug the leaks.
President Donald J. Trump
NO!!! I don’t want to look at any loser cross-dresser guy who lives in Apt. C in Auburn. If he can clean toilets on the cheap, I might have a position for him at Quantico. Comey’s private stall needs some swishing. I heard that Comey keeps a recording device in the ceiling above the shitter. Can this guy Blevins sweep too? Tweeted from POTUS
Carlos Danger
Good luck with that, Donald. I’m still trying to retrieve my old SnapChat photos that I sent to Robert Blevins last year. He’s a great cross-dresser. If I can get those photos for you, would you consider a pardon?
President Donald J. Trump
Part of the reason I fired Director Comey is because he couldn’t crack the DB Cooper case. I mean, c’mon guy. You’ve had 45 years to finish the job. The Golden Gate bridge was built in six years. Alaska pipeline in three. FBI Director Comey was not competent…..period. By the time that idiot Blevins showed up with his evidence, Comey was h-i-s-t-o-r-y. Blevins and Tony Weiner both need to be investigated more. Hillary Clinton and Huma need to do time. The whole bunch is nuts. And this case has nothing to do with Russia. I knew that this DB Cooper thing was one big ol conspiracy coming from the Left and I plan on solving this case by September 2017.
Jim Comey
Actually, Robert Blevins is a part of my investigation into the Donald Trump saga. He was tweeting Trump and showing off his little pecker, under the name BobbyDanger. Trying to intimidate the Donald for not having larger hands. And how do we know it was Robert? Because we caught him earlier trying to text message Tony Weiner. It all turned up on Hillary’s e-mail server when we investigated Huma’s hard drive. Thanks for the tip-off, Skipp. We do appreciate you. We might not have caught ol DB, but we sure know how to trace those tweeters.
Director (Fired) Jim Comey
Anonymous
R&G House Cleaning Services, that is run out of Apartment C in Auburn, Washington, purports the upcoming release of a major movie about Ken Christianson as D.B. Cooper. But everyone here knows that Robert Blevins is actually in his Subaru traveling to Quantico to meet with Director Comey, who is making a low-budget documentary called. “Mr. Blevins Comes To Washington with his Janitorial Service to Scrub Our Toilets.”
Anonymous
Robert, you left without flushing the toilet. Didn’t your mom teach you anything?
Anonymous
Hey DB Cooper sleuths, here’s a brand new podcast that dives into the Dan Cooper mystery.
It’s a collaboration between Confluence of Events and the Seattle Files. What do you think?
https://soundcloud.com/confluenceofevents/true-crime-db-cooper
Would love feedback!!
Anonymous
Tom, make sure you bring Rackstraw with you, in cuffs. And cuff Blevins just before you arrive Quantico.
Anonymous
Dream on, Bruce. Even as a book of fiction, your daydreams of cranking it with all of the DB Cooper women is hilarious. Maybe a satirical comedy instead? Or how about purely fictionalized memoirs from your excursions to Pluto?
Anonymous
Director Comey invited me, so I’ll take my chances and ride with Blevin’s Subaru gang. Can I steer, or at least sit on Bruce Smith’s lap?
Anonymous
Yeah, but what about me? I already solved the case.
Anonymous
1st of all, TWO things are QUITE certain:
1) Cooper really DID land somewhere in the Lewis River – hence the obvious, ADDITIONAL missing pieces of pertinent evidence, i.e., the parachutes, the REST of the money-bag, the attache case, the skyjacker’s BODY…
2) When Florence Shafner was still working as a Northwest Airlines employee (in 1971), she was seriously HOT, & was MORE than likely propositioned by COUNTLESS male suitors, in her midst, who would’ve given a WEEK’S worth of payroll salary to have worshipped her beautiful feet, to the EXTENT of sucking on her succulent toes, ONE by ONE…
MALES are DISGUSTINGLY PERVERSE, in this sense, & is NO doubt, REASON ENOUGH, why the lovely Ms. Shafner initially – & rightfully! – ignored Cooper’s forward behavior, on the flight, early on…
Anonymous
Robert, do you have room in your Subaru for me too? I still have Kenny’s ashes we can take for DNA testing???
Anonymous
Skipp, are you kidding me? How do you think Adventure Books makes it’s living? We defame and bully for a living. You are an idiot, Skipp. The FBI brought me onboard with the Citizens Sleuth Team years ago. I put that entire program together. I didn’t need Tom Kaye for squat. He doesn’t even have any college background. He just examines dinosaur dung. At least I was in the Army. Carol Abrazincskos can’t draw stick figures. I already solved this case. Director Comey, Larry Carr…..all those guys agree. Even Ralph Himmelsbach told me that I should have been an FBI special agent in-charge. Director Comey invited me to lecture at Quantico this summer. I’m driving my 1977 Subaru all the way back there. And taking Bruce Smith with me, so he can help pay for gas. So Skipp,…..go jump in the lake. Sincerely your, Robert Blevins.
Anonymous
Robert, why not just have a book burning party at Apartment C? You can invite Bruce and Colbert too and share warmth during the cold spell in the DB Cooper case.
Anonymous
Funny thing, I was going to write the same kind of comment. Blevins is of the insane type of renter. Never owned a house. Just a renter. And he’s quite old. Of course, I should talk. lol. I live in Apartment B, here in Auburn. ps. some guy named Bruce was by here a couple months back looking for Blevins. I told him to go to Apt. C. C, as in Cat.
Anonymous
Look, for what’s it worth I live in Apartment D next to Mr. Blevins. He drives a crummy old Suburu, has a stupid cat that deficates on my porch, and Mr. Blevins plays loud music on his ghetto blaster at weird hours in Apartment C. This so-called Adventure Books company is nothing more than a laptop and a used copier. His wife Gayla moved out some time ago. His bragging about running a business is pure fiction. No employees. Mr. Blevins comes to my apartment always asking for a few bucks in change or some sugar. His entire operation is a joke here in Auburn. I just wish they would get the eviction papers filed on him so I can sleep. Jim in Apartment D in Auburn
Anonymous
You aren’t alone, Skipp. I paid Blevins to write a fake story about my brother Kenny. Blevins promised me that the FBI would make a full statement to the press about Kenny being DB Cooper, and Blevins and I would make millions. Then I was going to Quantico with Blevins and we were going to teach investigation classes to the new recruits. All based on Blevin’s awesome abilities as a top notch crime solver. Instead, Blevins has gone into hiding. At apartment C in Auburn, WA
Anonymous
Gayla, I don’t appreciate you spewing all of that hate. If you want the divorce, just say so. I know what I’m talking about. Kenny and Bernie pulled off the heist of the century and then celebrated with a big romp in the motorhome at Paradise Park. Case closed. The end. Now leave me alone. I’m going to continue celebrating the presidency of Donald Trump. Bruce Smith is coming over this weekend and we are going to party together. Smith and I LOVE Trump.
Anonymous
Gayla, considered yourself FIRED!
Anonymous
Listen up, after He sent the last stewardess up front, leaving himself alone, He tossed the parachute , and some of the money out. Hid in the a/c alpha compartment and escaped with an accomplice after the plane landed! He never jumped!
Anonymous
In 1996, I appeared in an episode of Unsolved Mysteries. It was a Lost Loves segment about Melvin Luther Wilson. He disappeared prior to sentencing on a federal charge of counterfeiting and was looking at thirty years in prison. It aired on March 27, 1997.
In 2010, a coworker of mine, familiar with my father’s disappearance, asked if I thought he could be DB Cooper. I had not heard of the Cooper hijacking before. I researched the hijacking, the suspect’s description and the timing of the event. The hijacking was 10 weeks after my father disappeared from St. Paul, Minnesota as a federal fugitive. His physical description matches the wanted poster of Cooper.
I have also been in contact with William Mitchell. He was across from Cooper in aisle 18. he had a good look at Cooper as he wondered why the flight attendant spent all he time with an old man. After he looked at my father’s photos and this video I made,(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03QLnFvk8Fs&list=UUIqXiJ2EOfl_ZaV8DN3V1oQ) he said he thought my father’s facial features were closer to what he remembered that evening. He told me he thought the sketch never looked like the man he saw and the FBI sketch portrayed his face too thin.
Vicki
Nate
Did he have paratrooper experience Vicki?
Vicki
I was only 7 when he left. He was stationed on the USS Durik during WW2. I petitioned for his military history, but it is very vague.
Skipp Porteous
Robert Blevins reads the internet all day because when he’s through cleaning toilets at night, he’s basically bored. He loves reading about himself on the internet. Then, he threatens the web-masters at certain sites that he will come after them if they print any bad news about him. This is what Blevins does for a living. Oh, that and cleaning toilets. Goodbye, cruel world. Another bm lost to Robert’s tremendous talent.
ROBERT BLEVINS
Who the hell is going to clean my Subaru when we get to Quantico? Gayla demanded and received all the cleaning supplies in the divorce settlement. Maybe Comey has some toilet cleaning jobs at Quantico?
JO WEBER
Don’t suppose ya all have room for a cranky ol widow? I have some new information on Duane Weber that I want Comey and the rest of you to see. I’ll even stay strapped on the roof of the Subie with that ol baffoon, Georger.
Bruce Smith
Ken Christianson and Robert Rackstraw are loser suspects. But since Marla Cooper is going to be hanging with me in the Subie, I can get into LD Cooper as the real McCoy. What the DB Cooper story has needed are some spicy sex scenes. Marla can whisper into my ear and I will write it all down with some steamy dialogue. Goad, this is gonna be a cranking trip to Quantico.
Robert Blevins
Can Marla sit on my lap too? I just got served divorce papers.
Robert Blevins
Can we just tweet Comey and let him know we have a full load of Cooper nutties enroute?
I plan on writing a book about this trip. Maybe a movie too! And I can teach Bruce how to be a better writer so he can sell as many books as me and Tom Colbert.
Bruce Smith
Jo Weber referred to Marla Cooper as “twistybutt.” So of course you can sit on my lap Marla. I would be honored. And if this becomes a one-way trip to Quantico, I would also be honored to share a padded cell with you. forever yours, Uncle Brucie.
Tom Colbert
Count me in. I’m still trying to sell more books and maybe the gang at Quantico will buy a few. Book sales are almost on par with Blevins, nearly 72 total. Rackstraw ordered half a dozen last week. Eng promised me he would reopen the case if I drove out with Blevins and the gang. I hope the Subie has air conditioning, or at least, windows that can be rolled down. uhg!
Gayla Blevins
I’m really praying that this is a one-way trip!!!
Robert Blevins
Not quite Alex. He landed near Paradise Park off I-5 and romped all night with Geestman in the Airstream motorhome. But some of the lost money did make its way down the Lewis River and then got snagged on the ass end of a Korean grain ship and got dumped at Tina’s Bar, 15 miles upstream. This is all 100% verifiable by the FBI. I saw the report. We got room for you in the Subie, Alex, as you seem like a real DB Cooper scholar like me.
skipp porteous
You’ll be hearing from attorney, Robert. Defamation and bullying on the internet are not good things. And you are not a nice person. Assho*e!!!
Skipp.
Robert Blevins
Skipp:
I burned all the books. I spent all the money. Send future grievances to my bankruptcy attorney. I’m done with DB Cooper forever. Guys like Georger can carry my torch. You weren’t a good investigator anyway, Skipp. And DB Cooper gave you nothing but Alzheimers. DB who?
Skipp Porteous
I want my money and my unsold books back.
Robert Blevins
You folks are all full of s**t. I moved to the basement with my cat last summer, where I can continue autographing all 890 unsold copies of my book. Please don’t don’t tell Skipp Porteous. He wants to sign them too. I’m still trying to wipe off the cat poop. Gayla wants to bundle them up and sell as firewood outside of Walmart in Auburn.
FBI special agent
What? Robert Blevins teaching investigation courses at Quantico? He couldn’t find a three inch pimple on the bald ass of a baby. I think its time we paid Mr. Blevins a little visit at Apartment C in Auburn. Hang in there, Lyle and Skipp. We’re not finished yet.
Skipp Porteous
Robert Blevins owes me money on unpaid royalties. He’s sold a grand total of 117 books since 2010 and I have yet to see a dime. That’s less that 20 books per year and Adventure Books bought 100 books just to drive the market outlook. Then they took all of those books and gave them out free to people who threw them into the trash. And all of this took place at Apartment C in Auburn. Where’s my money????
Skipp Porteous
I’d watch my backside if I were you, Bruce. Robert has been known to screw with people. Luckily, I faced him head on, and he ran away like a little scared puppydog, all the way back to apartment C in Auburn.
Robert Blevins
Shall we call it the “romp with Trump?” Or is that a little too racey for you, Bruce? Personally, I’m of the gender bender persuasion. You know, keeping up with the times. Bernie and DB did it. Why not us??
Robert Blevins.
Bruce Smith
Yup. I really do LOVE the Donald. Let’s get together for a pro-Trump rally, Robert.
Gayla P.
I’ve been listening to this DB Cooper s**t for 10 years now. It has driven Robert to taking anti-anxiety drugs every three hours or less. Robert is not the man he used to be. Mumbles continuously, still thinks he can back-channel Bernie, talks about Skipp in his sleep. I had to move to a different room. I finally got sick and tired of hearing about the queer events in the motorhome at Paradise Park, and the woodpecker hole at the Bonnie Lake house. It’s all nonsense and its going to drive the divorce papers. I can’t be a renter at age 65 in Auburn, WA (Apt. C) and expect any pension from Adventure Books either. Robert has been stealing from the fund and using it to pay off the mechanical repairs on the Suburu. Even Robert’s own mother has advised me to fly back to CA. Would someone please end all of this DB Cooper nonsense. I’m going crazy, and soon I’ll have to be committed to the looney bin along with the entire Adventure Books staff.
May
I thought Cooper died in the jumping off the airplane. But they never found a body. He might of survived the jumped but got injured when he landed. It would be like hitting a brick wall when he landed and he might of fracture a couple of things. He had a knife and experience in surviving the wilderness. The placard was found near Castle Rock, Washington north of Lake Merwin. He could of jumped in that area and that proves the FBI landing area was wrong. There’s a PRIVATE campground in the area of Lake Merwin and might of hiked and camped there several times. He was wearing all black and jumped at night so know one will see him. He knew the area around Lake Merwin well. The rest of the money is probably buried in different spots around or/and near Lake Merwin waiting to be discover. This guy buried everything. He knew he could never spend any of the money. He hiked to his destination with just the clothes on his back leaving the money behind. He might of burned the majority of the money he had hijacked destroying evidence including the papers. He probably rented a cabin or farm house near Lake Merwin. It was a four day weekend. He went back to his ordinary life after mailing four LETTERS to taunt the FBI.
Gayla Blevins
I think he’s still alive and cleaning toilets for a living after blowing nearly $195,000 on a stand-up comic career that never went anywhere.
Paul Gievett
I heard that the Ariel Store needs a full-time janitor, Robert. You interested?
Crime solving novice
I had a similar idea. Instead of jumping when pilots assumed, could he have instead just dropped the money? Was any kind of tracking device available back then? Then wait until plane descending and jump. Possibly not as cold or rainy closer to Reno where plane landed. An accomplice in Oregon could track the money and meet up with Cooper later. Does any known evidence contradict this theory?
karen
He never jumped is a good theory…I was thinking that today, then i saw the same comment above….anyone know if that possibiliy has been fully explored?
Aurora Loya
BD Cooper is mostly dead I believe he went to Canada
Robert Blevins
I confess that I wrote all the 500 filthy messages, just to get attention. Life is so lonely cleaning toilets. Kenny Christianson is all drummed up by me too. Georger has driven me mad and I hate him for it. Oh well, back to scrubbing. Goodbye cruel world.
Reader
His bones were found in the woods by a hunting dog. Part of the money was found in a river by a Boy Scout.
Robert Blevins
Excuse me for cleaning toilets, but this is an honorable profession, and it’s all I do now. I’m so sick of the DB Cooper case, I could just shit. Those people at DB Cooper Forum are mean and I really hate mean people. That’s why I’m voting for Donald Trump. Please don’t bother me any more about DB Cooper.
Mr
John Doe shut up… Vicki Wilson and Robert Blevins … get a life
It’s most likely that Copper died from the fall or exposer to the elements which would explain the part of the money being found.
The Bureau has argued from the beginning that Cooper did not survive his jump. “Diving into the wilderness without a plan, without the right equipment, in such terrible conditions, he probably never even got his ‘chute open,” said Carr. Even if he did land safely, agents contend, survival in the mountainous terrain would have been all but impossible without an accomplice at a predetermined landing point, which would have required a precisely timed jump—necessitating, in turn, cooperation from the flight crew. There is no evidence that Cooper had any such help from the crew, nor any clear idea where he was when he jumped into the stormy, overcast darkness.
joe
Maybe cooper lost the money on his fall and the boom blew up part or most of the money n injured cooper n was eaten by animals lost money unfound body. Were there any missing person from that mouth. That match cooper in any way.?
Robert M. Blevins
I’m too busy cleaning toilets to be bothered by any more questions.
Robert Blevins
It was Ken Christianson. The FBI already called me and confirmed. My wife Gayla and I clean toilets for a living. We are good investigators, though.
John Doe
The flight crew where the only people able to truly give a remotely believable description of “D.B. Cooper” most of the passengers where unaware a highjacking had even occurred. My theory is the flight crew held the plane for hostage dumped the money along with the parachute with intent of retrieving the money after landing the plane claiming the high jacker had jumped to cast the FBI’s shadow in the furthest direction from them as possible then retrieve the money for them selves.
John Doe
It was the was the flight crew
Truth
What the hell did I just read??