SAC Los Angeles to Acting Director and Seattle re letter to Los Angeles Times claiming Cooper is dead
Document date 23 September 1972
Also filed at: Part 73 pp. 282–284
Copies may differ in what was redacted.
Part of: SAC Los Angeles to Acting Director and SAC Seattle quoting letter claiming Cooper is dead
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Id: Cooper-Part-28:079-081
Subject: Cooper Files: Cooper-Part-28:079-081 Document: Teletype SAC Los Angeles to Acting Director and Seattle re letter to Los Angeles Times claiming Cooper is dead Id: Cooper-Part-28:079-081 Page: https://cooper.theunsolved.net/documents/Cooper-Part-28%3A079-081 What is wrong (title, date, type, which pages belong together, copies)? What does the scan show?
A person reads every report. Corrections are made by hand, to the data — titles, dates, names, which pages belong together — never to the scans, and they can take a while to appear.
FBI 164-81, Vault Part 28 pp. 79–81 (DB Cooper-9603–9605), Teletype, dated 23 Sep 1972, serial SE 164-81-3930 (as read from the transcript) — cooper.theunsolved.net/documents/Cooper-Part-28%3A079-081
NR 004 LA PLAIN 555PM NITEL 9-23-72 GLD TO ACTING DIRECTOR (164-2111) SEATTLE (164-81) FROM LOS ANGELES (164-497) 3P
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NORJAK, OO: SEATTLE.
ON SEPTEMBER TWENTY-THREE INSTANT, [REDACTED] LOS ANGELES TIME, FURNISHED THIS OFFICE A LETTER AND ENVELOPE RECEIVED BY THE TIMES ON SEPTEMBER TWENTY-THREE INSTANT, FROM AN INDIVIDUAL CLAIMING TO BE [REDACTED] D. B. COOPER.
ENVELOPE CONTAINS STAMP AND PARTIALLY CANCELLED, BUT NO INDICATION AS TO LOCATION OR DATE WHEN MAILED. LETTER IS HANDPRINTED IN INK IN VERY CLEAR TEXT AND IS AS FOLLOWS:
DEAR SIRS:
[REDACTED] IS DEAD. "D. B. COOPER" PASSED AWAY ON SEPTEMBER TWELFTH. TOGETHER WE BOTH PLANNED THE MOST SUCCESSFUL SKYJACKING TO DATE.
END PAGE ONE
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164-81- 3930 SEARCHED......INDEXED...... SERIALIZED...FILED... SEP 2 3 1972
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DB Cooper-9603
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b6 b7C
LA 164-497 PAGE TWO
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WHILE HE WAS ALIVE, [REDACTED] REFUSED TO LET ME TELL THE PUBLIC THAT HE WASN'T REALLY BAD. HE DIED WITH THE AMERICAN PEOPLE THINKING HE WAS JUST ANOTHER "SKYJACKER TERRORIST". BUT HE WASN'T.
TO ME, AND THOSE OF YOU WHO KNEW HIM, HE WAS NOT "A RUTHLESS CRIMINAL". HE WAS A KIND AND GENTILE (SIC) HUMAN BEING. HE LOVED LIFE AND EVERYTHING ABOUT IT. WHEN HE FOUND OUT THAT HE HAD BUT MONTHS TO LIVE, HE FACED THE NEWS VERY BRAVELY. TALKING DID NO GOOD. WHAT COULD I SAY? JUST TWO YEARS BEFORE, HE LOST HIS WIFE AND DAUGHTER. I COULD SENSE A CHANGE COMING OVER HIM. HE WAS FACED WITH DEATH. BUT SOMETHING ELSE WAS ON HIS MIND. WHEN HE FIRST TOLD ME ABOUT THE JOB, I THOUGHT HE WAS JOKING. HE WASN'T. AFTER ALL, HE HAD NOTHING TO LOSE AND PLENTY TO GAIN.
HOWEVER, MONEY WASN'T THE OBJECT. [REDACTED] KNEW THAT HE COULD DEMAND ALMOST ANY AMOUNT AND HE'D PROBABLY GET IT. IN FACT, WE GAVE ALMOST ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-EIGHT THOUSAND DOLLARS OF THE RANSOM MONEY AWAY TO CHARITIES AND FAMILIES IN NEED. HE PAID OFF ALL [REDACTED] HOSPITAL BILLS AND GAVE [REDACTED] [REDACTED] HE TOLD [REDACTED] WE MADE IT BIG UP IN CANADA LAST YEAR, BUT I'M
END PAGE TWO
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DB Cooper-9604
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b6 b7C
LA 164-497 PAGE THREE
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SURE [REDACTED] GUESSED THE TRUTH. [REDACTED] NEVER SAID NOTHING ONE WAY OR THE OTHER. "D. B. COOPER" DIED THINKING THAT [REDACTED] BELIEVED HIM.
EVERYTHING I'VE SAID HERE IS TRUE. I COULD'VE TOLD YOU THAT WE GAVE EVERY BIT OF THE MONEY TO CHARITY, BUT WE DIDN'T. LAST JANUARY WE FLEW TO EUROPE AND AROUND THE WORLD. [REDACTED] WANTED TO SEE THE WORLD BEFORE HE DIED. THAT WAS THE LAST TRIP WE EVER TOOK TOGETHER.
HIS LAST [REDACTED] DAYS WERE SPENT COMPLETELY BEDRIDDEN. DISEASE KNAWING HIS INSIDES OUT AND PAIN SHOOTING THROUGH HIS BODY, HE NEVER ONCE LOST HIS COURAGE. THE ONLY DAY HE MISSED AN ENTRY IN HIS DIARY WAS THE DAY HE PASSED AWAY. I THINK YOU WILL BE INTERESTED IN HIS LAST WRITTEN WORDS.
". . . REALLY WEAK TODAY. . . . MOTHER CAME BY THIS MORNING. I LOVE HER. . . . LIFE ISN'T SO IMPORTANT THAT I SHOULD IGNORE DEATH, NOR VICE VERSA. ALL MY LIFE I HAVE DENIED DEATH THE ATTENTION HE NOW DEMANDS. BETTER THAT HE TAKE ME, THAN THE LIFE FROM ANYONE ELSE. . . ."
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EVEN ON THE VERGE OF DEATH, [REDACTED] WAS THINKING OF OTHERS. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
LETTER IS SIGNED [REDACTED] LOS ANGELES WILL FURNISH ORIGINAL AND COPIES OF LETTER AND ENVELOPE TO BUREAU AND SEATTLE BY AIRTEL.
END
DCA FBI SEATTLE CLR
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b6 b7C
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DB Cooper-9605
Serials: 164-2111, LA 164-497, SE 164-81, SE 164-81-3930