Who Is D.B. Cooper in Walker McGuire’s ‘Mysteries of The World?’
Walker McGuire's song 'Mysteries of the World' touches on different things that we still have questions for. One of those lines is "Where did D.B. Cooper Go?" I was surprised to learn that some of my co workers here at the station didn't know who D.B. Cooper was.
Back in November of 1971, a man who identified himself as Dan Cooper purchased an airline ticket and boarded a plane in Portland Oregon. Once the flight took off, he calmy passed a note to a flight attendant saying that he had a bomb.
The pilots were notified and he gave them a list of demands. He needed 4 parachutes and $200,000 in unmarked bills. Making a long story short, the plane landed and the FBI and FAA gave him what he wanted so he wouldn't blow up the plane. Eventually he released the passengers, but the flight crew stayed on board.
He instructed the pilots to fly at a lower altitude and not to pressurize the cabin and fly as slow as possible. Once the plane was in the air, the crew noticed the aft staircase door was opened and that the air pressure had changed. When they landed, Dan Cooper was no longer on board.
No one actually saw him jump from the plane, but years later evidence has shown that a portion of the cash was found on the ground. No one really knows who the man actually was, a mix up of an early bulletin incorrectly identified him as "D.B. Cooper," when actually the name he gave was Dan Cooper. Regardless, the news and mystery spread of the name "D.B. Cooper."
Several con men over the years have claimed to be D.B. Cooper, but lacked evidence. There have been many suspects, but no one really knows for sure who it was.
He may have survived parachuting outside the plane, or he may have died. All we know for sure is the FBI never caught him, and they officially closed the case in 2016.
So the question still remains as one of the great unsolved mysteries, "Where did D.B. Cooper go?"