In November 1971, a man identifying himself as D.B. Cooper hijacked a plane and disappeared with $200,000 in ransom money. Despite decades of investigation, he was never found.
Now, new developments have emerged in one of the greatest mysteries in U.S. history.
According to The Guardian, two brothers, Chante and Rick McCoy III, claim their late father, Richard McCoy Jr., was the man who boarded a Northwest Orient Airlines flight as "Dan Cooper" on that fateful day.
The brothers say they discovered the parachute used in the hijacking in their mother's house and have known the truth for years, though it was considered a taboo topic within the family.
The Hijacking
On November 24, 1971, a man calling himself Dan Cooper purchased a one-way ticket for Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305 from Portland, Oregon, to Seattle, Washington. Once aboard, he ordered a drink and handed a flight attendant a note, claiming he had a bomb in his attaché case.
When the plane landed in Seattle, Cooper received $200,000 in ransom money and four parachutes in exchange for releasing the 36 passengers. He then ordered the crew to fly toward Mexico City via Reno, Nevada.
Thirty minutes after takeoff, Cooper parachuted out of the plane over southwest Washington, taking the ransom money with him. The pilots landed the plane safely, but Cooper was never seen again. In 1980, $5,800 of the ransom was discovered near Vancouver, Washington, but his ultimate fate remains a mystery.
After 45 years of investigation, the FBI officially closed the case in 2016.
New Evidence
In November, retired pilot Dan Gryder, who has spent two decades investigating the case, told Cowboy State Daily that the FBI reopened the case after the McCoy brothers found the parachute in their mother’s home.
According to Gryder, the FBI visited the property, which had belonged to their mother, Karen McCoy, before her death in 2020.
The Richard McCoy Connection
Speculation that Richard McCoy could be D.B. Cooper is not new.
McCoy, a former Vietnam War helicopter pilot, was already a suspect due to his involvement in a similar crime. In April 1972, McCoy hijacked a plane, extorted $500,000, and parachuted over Provo, Utah.
He was arrested two days later and sentenced to 45 years in prison.
However, McCoy escaped in 1974, only to be killed three months later in a shootout with the FBI.
While the connection remains unconfirmed, the discovery of the parachute has reignited interest in the mystery of D.B. Cooper.
