FD-350 clipping, The Columbian: 'FBI geologist favors Washougal River landing for D.B. Cooper'

FD-350 (Rev. 12-5-78) (Indicate's .ge, name of newspaper, city and state.) no. 15, The Columbian Vancouver, Wa. Date: 2/16/80 Edition: (Mount Clipping in Space Below) Title: Character: 164-RL or Classification: Submitting Office: SE

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FBI geologist favors Washougal River landing for D.B. /Subs: B,E,4,M,

By MYRON STRUCK States News Service WASHINGTON — Did D.B. Cooper land in, or near, the Washougal River rather than the Lewis River?

In the personal opinion of the chief FBI geologist who worked on the case, D.B. Cooper may have landed in the Washougal River, not near the Lewis River where it had been presumed that he came to earth —

before about $5,800 in compressed, wet and eroded money was found along the banks of the Columbia River in February upstream from the Lewis.

The Washougal River scenario is the private view of geologist Chris Fiedler, who handled the soil analysis on the money, and not part of the agency's official report to the Seattle field office coordinating the

investigation.

Still, it seems to be the only clue — that might help the investigation the FBI was able to glean from a recent analysis of the bills in its Washington, D.C., research area known as The Laboratory.

The official report says little was found on the wad of money. The basis for the new information is Fielder's research of the sand particles found

among the bills and his discussions with federal geologists in the field.

He has concluded that the range of sand particles found among the bills is similar to sediment along the Columbia River and a number of its tributaries.

Fiedler's opinion has been disavowed firmly by his mineralogy division section chief.

"He could have landed in the Columbia River," Fiedler said. "Or he could have come down in the Washougal. The latter is where my training, and instincts, tell me is more likely, based on the data I have available."

The sand tests involve little in the way of complicated equipment — only a simple microscope and some geological reference material that discuses the characteristics of sand

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SEARCHED [INDEXED] SERIALIZED [FILED] ...: 19 1980 FBI - SEATTLE

164 81 - 8315

COPY SENT TO BUREAU FBI/DOJ

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DB Cooper-17675

particles. Those found in the bills were rounded, worn and considered to have been exposed to exceptional wear and tear. "What we didn't find, is clay or other substances," Fiedler said. These substances could have indicated the money originally had been buried in dirt. When the money was sent back to The Laboratory for examination, most of the bills were compressed together, but a number could be distinguished easily. Field agents had determined that the serial numbers matched those of the $200,000 Cooper skyjacking money. The money was routed to the Laboratory's documents division, the lead division handling the case. First, the money was dried out, using some 23-cent blotter paper, a pair of tweezers, some heat and a careful hand. Individual bills were placed in cellophane envelopes and sent to the Latent Fingerprints Division. The sand particles associated with the bills were routed to the mineralogy section where Fiedler made his analysis. The most impressive analysis was the use of a $36,000 experimental laser beam process to detect fingerprints. The process was created accidentally by Xerox of Canada when it tried using laser beams to photocopy documents. Fingerprints would show up on the paper, making the process unworkable. The substance the laser detects from fingertip contact is unknown. The device, however, has been successfully used in detecting fingerprints that were not visible through conventional chemical and powder detection. Those conventional chemical tests also were applied to the D.B. Cooper money, seeking grease or oil fingerprint stains and amino acid fingerprint stains. All four systems turned up nothing. The money had been exposed to the waters of the Columbia River too long. It was impossible to detect any fingerprint traces, even those of Brian Ingram, the 8-year-old boy who found the money on Tena Bar near Vancouver.

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DB Cooper-17676