DB Cooper mystery after 53 years – New clues could solve the case.

A groundbreaking new clue could finally solve the long-standing mystery of the DB Cooper case, which has puzzled investigators for over 53 years.

On November 24, 1971, a man using the alias Dan “DB” Cooper hijacked Northwestern Flight 305 over Portland and demanded a $200,000 ransom. After receiving the money, he jumped out of the plane with a parachute and disappeared without a trace. Recently, on the 53rd anniversary of the hijacking, a parachute believed to belong to Cooper was discovered.

The children of Richard Floyd McCoy IIa suspect in the case has come forward with interesting information. Chante and Richard III “Rick” McCoy reached out to YouTuber Dan Gryder, who has been involved in the case for years, and invited him to their home in 2022. Gryder, who had previously contacted the siblings, told Cowboy State Daily that the military parachute found in the McCoy garage could possibly be the one used by Cooper.

He noted, “This facility is literally one in a billion.” The McCoy siblings agree with Gryder’s assessment, but chose to wait until after their mother’s death to share their thoughts, believing they might was involved in her father’s actions.

Many people suspect that McCoy is the infamous hijacker who jumped off a United Airlines flight over Utah in 1972 with $500,000 in cash. Gryder mentioned that the FBI reached out to him after he shared details of his investigation on YouTube. The amateur detective stated that FBI agents met with him and Rick in 2023 to collect the harness and parachute as evidence, as well as a logbook discovered by Chante that was relevant to the kidnapping case.

After this surrender, an FBI agent contacted Rick a month later and asked for permission to search the family property. Rick reported that FBI agents, with the assistance of local authorities, thoroughly searched “every corner.” He noted, “This is a positive sign that they are taking this matter seriously.” The FBI has not yet returned the evidence, leading Gryder to believe their theories that the parachute is connected to the Cooper kidnapping. Rick also provided DNA samples to the FBI, but the agency has not provided the McCoy family with any updates on the progress of the case.

DNA breakthrough

Earlier this year, an independent investigator managed to obtain the elusive criminal’s DNA. Cooper made a bold leap and took all of his belongings with him, leaving only a black tie from JCPenney on his seat. This connection was long considered the crucial piece of evidence that could finally solve the mystery.

Eric Ulis, who has been investigating Cooper for 13 years, recently said that the criminal’s time in the shadows was coming to an end. Ulis met with Tom Kaye, a scientist who analyzed DB Cooper’s tie in 2009 and 2011 using a special device designed to capture particles in a filter. Kaye’s tests originally aimed to detect traces of certain metals, chemicals and pollen on the tie.

However, they recently discovered that the device can also detect DNA, a groundbreaking discovery for Ulis and Kaye. According to the duo, Kaye’s filter, which has been sealed for 13 years, is “100 percent certain” to contain Cooper’s DNA. They now plan to send the filter to a state-of-the-art laboratory for metagenomic DNA analysis, a sophisticated method that allows scientists to isolate individual strands of DNA.

The hunt for DB Cooper

Cooper hijacked Northwest Orient Flight 305 on November 24, 1971, during a short flight from Portland to Seattle. Shortly after takeoff, Cooper handed a message to a flight attendant sitting behind him revealing that he had a bomb in his briefcase. In exchange for the safety of the 36 passengers and six crew members on board, the quiet hijacker demanded $200,000 in $20 bills and four parachutes.

When the flight landed in Seattle, the cash and parachutes were handed over in exchange for the release of all passengers and some crew members. Following Cooper’s instructions, the Boeing 727 was refueled and took off again, this time towards Mexico City. But around 8 p.m., somewhere over southwest Washington, a light on the cockpit instrument panel indicated that the rear exit door had been opened. With that, Cooper disappeared.

The FBI investigated over 800 potential suspects in the years following the robbery, but it turned out that none of them matched them. To this day, the incident is considered the only unsolved skyjacking in U.S. history.

Who is DB Cooper?

Richard McCoy II is not the only suspect in the DB Cooper case. The FBI officially closed its investigation into DB Cooper in 2016, leaving the Northwest Flight 305 hijacking as the only unsolved crime of its kind in the United States.

Although more than 800 people were subsequently investigated, none were found to be convincing and no arrests were made. Investigator Ulis is currently concentrating his investigation on Vince Petersen as the main suspect. Petersen, a metallurgist who died in 2002, was 52 at the time of the skyjacking and bore some physical similarities to Cooper’s eyewitness accounts. A key piece of evidence that led Ulis to Petersen was a collection of chemicals found on Cooper’s tie that matched rare specialty metals used in the aerospace industry.

Many people believed that Cooper, dressed in a business suit, trench coat and loafers, probably wouldn’t have made it. The wind at that altitude was blowing over 200 miles (322 km) per hour and his parachute could not be controlled. He would also have landed in a harsh, densely forested region.

After years of searching for unproductive leads, investigators caught a break in 1980 when a young boy discovered a decaying package containing $5,800. This package was buried on the Columbia River north of Portland, about 20 miles (32 km) from Ariel. The serial numbers on the money, all $20 bills, matched those on the ransom.

However, despite a thorough search, no additional evidence was found. Although the FBI continued to receive tips, the agency officially closed the case in 2016, saying its resources would be better used on other investigations. The unsolved case captivated the nation, made DB Cooper something of a folk hero and inspired a multitude of songs, books and films.