Has ‘D B Cooper’ Been Unmasked?

One of the most tantalising aspects of unsolved mysteries is that they’re, well, unsolved.

When it comes to unsolved murders, of course, solving the mystery would help bring justice to the innocent slain. Or at least, some measure of satisfaction to their families.

Less fatal mysteries, on the other hand, appeal because they are blank slates on which we can write all kinds of stories. The more bizarre the mystery the better, because they allow a greater leeway for the imagination to run free.

Solving such mysteries, on the other hand, often reveals a rather bland reality...

A pair of North Carolina siblings believe their late father is the elusive D.B. Cooper skyjacker who infamously leaped out of an airplane with $200,000 in cash during the 1971 heist.

Chanté and Rick McCoy III claim their father, Richard McCoy Jr., is the fugitive, after allegedly finding the suspect’s parachute hidden in their home, the New York Post reported. The case remains unsolved 53 years later.

The D B Cooper mystery was so alluring because of the daring modus operandi of the criminal.

The unknown thief who used the name Dan Cooper took passengers and crew hostage aboard Northwest Orient Flight 305 before jumping out and disappearing somewhere between Seattle and Reno, Nevada. Wearing a business suit, he passed a note to the flight attendant stating he had a bomb in his briefcase and wanted her to sit with him.

Authorities said he then opened his briefcase to show a bunch of wires and colored sticks. He allegedly told the flight attendant to take a note to the captain demanding four parachutes and $200,000 in $20 bills.

Parachutes and cash in hand, ‘Cooper’ ordered the plane refueled and re-routed to Mexico. But about 30 minutes after taking off again, the hijacker, whom stewardess Tina Mucklow described as “rather nice… not cruel or nasty,” opened the plane’s rear door and jumped from the plane with cash and parachute.

He was never found, though some of the damaged money was, nearly a decade later. Investigators long surmised that he had not survived the jump.

Apparently he did. Or at least, one Richard McCoy Jr pulled off a similar hijack six months later.

Using the alias “James Johnson”, McCoy hijacked a United Airlines flight from Newark to LA, using a hand-grenade and a pistol. McCoy escaped mid-air with $500,000 cash. McCoy was arrested after a tip-off from a motorist who’d picked him up hitch-hiking, wearing a jumpsuit and carrying a duffel bag.

McCoy was convicted and sentenced to 45 years. In a Woody Allen-esque escapade, McCoy escaped a federal penitentiary using a fake handgun fashioned from dental paste from the prison dental office.

Three months later, in 1974, McCoy was tracked down by FBI agents at his home in Virginia. He was killed in the subsequent shootout.

So, why did his kids take so long to come forward?

The McCoy siblings said they’ve known the truth about their father for years, but talking about it remained taboo in their family.

The children say they were worried law enforcement would implicate their mother, Karen, in the crimes.

Rick McCoy III also provided investigators with a sample of DNA […]

Aviation YouTuber Dan Gryder, who has seen the parachute, believes it’s the one used in the heist, according to the outlet.

“That rig is literally one in a billion,” Gryder told the siblings, the New York Post reported […]

In 2016, the FBI said it would no longer actively investigate the case, citing the number of personnel and man-hours it would take and the lack of credible leads.

Well, it sounds like they’ve got one, now.

And the world becomes just a little less unexplained.