The unsolved D.B. Cooper case in which a commercial jet passenger stole $200,000, parachuted from the plane and vanished in 1971 has been officially closed by the FBI — but Geoffrey Gray, who wrote a best-selling book about the mystery, says it must be reopened.
In a column for
Medium, Geoffrey Gray writes that there are "strong reasons" the FBI should keep the cold case alive — the most central being that there's a good chance it can finally be solved.
"There still exists (or should still exist) evidence from the hijacked flight that could contain genetic matter," Gray writes.
"On the plane, forensic scientists discovered eight Raleigh filter-tipped cigarette butts, and forensic evidence that could contain saliva embedded in the contain fibers — saliva that could be used to identify the hijacker.
"But from my research in the case, the cigarette butts once bagged up by the FBI's agents years ago have gone missing. Before they close the case for good, the FBI agents should find those cigarette butts!"
In addition, Gray — author of
"Skyjack: The Hunt for D. B. Cooper," published by Broadway — says a quirk in the statute of limitations laws means that "in theory, if Cooper were to walk out of the woods today, he could theoretically be charged with a crime."
The case centered on a man calling himself Dan Cooper, who hijacked a Boeing 727 over the Northwest between Portland and Seattle on Nov. 24, 1971. He extorted $200,000 in ransom money and jumped out the back of the plane wearing a business suit and a parachute.
FBI investigators said that Cooper likely did not survive the dangerous jump, but no body was ever discovered. And despite an exhaustive manhunt, Cooper was never found, although some of the cash he took was discovered through matching serial numbers in 1980.
The case sparked worldwide interest and spawned movies including "The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper," starring Treat Williams as Cooper and "Bigfoot vs. D.B. Cooper," with Eric Roberts.
On television, National Geographic presented a documentary called "The Skyjacker Who Got Away" and Leonard Nimoy hosted a look at it on his "In Search Of …" series.
But none of them could provide a solid clue as to what ever happened to D.B. Cooper.
In its announcement on Tuesday, the FBI said it was no longer actively investigating Cooper because it had "exhaustively reviewed all credible leads" over 45 years and has redirected those resources to other priorities.
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