(FD-350), Seattle Post-Intelligencer: 'Curse of D.B. Cooper' re Ingram family misfortunes

FD-350 (Rev. 12-5-78) (Mount Clipping in Space Below)

(Indicate page, name of 'spaper, city and state.) p.A3 Post-Intelligencer Seattle, Wa. Date: 3/20/80 Edition: Final

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Character: or Classification: Submitting Office: Seattle

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Curse of D.B.

Misfortune Dogs the Family That Found Part of Skyjacker's Money

By Michael Sweeney

Harold Dwayne Ingram, 28, father of the 8-year-old boy who found part of skyjacker D.B. Cooper's ransom money last month, has been arrested in Vancouver, Wash., on a fugitive warrant from Oklahoma. The warrant charges Ingram with unlawfully removing mortgaged property from the state of Oklahoma — a felony charge that carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison.

Clark County sheriff's deputies arrested Ingram at his rented home in Vancouver Monday afternoon. He was released Tuesday night after a local bail bondsman posted Ingram's $500 bail, sheriff's deputies said.

Kathy Kelly, a legal assistant in the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney's office, said Ingram is scheduled to appear in county district court April 17 for an identification hearing to determine if he is, in fact, the same Harold Ingram sought in Oklahoma.

If he is, Kelly said, Oklahoma authorities will have 60 days to file extradition papers to force Ingram's return to Oklahoma for trial.

Kelly said court documents filed by authorities in Pittsburg County, Okla., last April charge that Ingram owed $616 then on a used car purchased a month earlier in McAlester, Okla.

The warrant for Ingram's arrest was filed last month, after Pittsburg County District Attorney Don Roberts recognized newspaper photos of Ingram that circulated nationwide in the wake of his family's discovery of a portion of D.B. Cooper's loot.

Cooper parachuted into a freezing rainstorm over Southwest Washington with $200,000 after hijacking a Seattle-bound Northwest Airlines plane Nov. 24, 1971.

Ingram's son, Brian, unearthed several thousand dollars of the ransom money Feb. 10, as he dug a fire pit in the sand along the banks of the Columbia River downstream from Vancouver.

The next day, Ingram turned the money over to the FBI, which announced the find with great fanfare at a press conference featuring the Ingram family.

"Several of us read the paper and recognized him," Roberts told The Associated Press. "We had a warrant sworn out to have him brought back."

Ingram's arrest is the latest in a string of reversals that have followed his family's brief glow in the limelight.

Two weeks after the money was discovered, Ingram's wife, Patricia, reported that her husband was forced to give up 1½ days of pay — about $100 — in order to return the money and attend the FBI's press conference.

"We live from paycheck to paycheck, and we could sure use that $100," she told The Post-Intelligencer at the time.

Mrs. Ingram told The P-I that recovery of the skyjack loot also resulted in family strife that arose when a relative tried to take credit for finding the money.

Late Saturday night, about 36 hours before Ingram was arrested, a fire broke out in an upstairs bedroom of the Ingram home and caused $1,000 damage before Vancouver firefighters could put it out.

Vancouver Fire Marshal Gordon Gage said the blaze was caused by a short in an extension cord.

And as of yesterday, Ingram had missed three days of work this week at the U-Cart Concrete Manufacturing Co. in Vancouver.

"We're trying to reach him, because we really want to help him," U-Cart owner Joe Tanner said yesterday, to help him. Tanner said his firm intends to advance Ingram the money "to get this thing in Oklahoma squared away.

"We think he's getting a bum rap," Tanner said.

"I'm from Texas, and I've got a little knowledge about these Southern redneck laws that let a D.A. help businessmen collect their debts," he said.

"I've been told he (Ingram) has been making payments on this car loan, and he's only a couple of payments behind," Tanner said.

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HAROLD INGRAM: "This is no big thing. At least I hope it's not."

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"This whole thing is ridiculous. He's a damned good worker, and we support him all the way'" Tanner said. "The guy's having a real string of bad luck." Steve Covington views things a bit differently from his perspective in McAlester. Covington told The P-I yesterday that he sold the car in question to Ingram for $800 last March. "Mr. Ingram paid $200 down on the car, financed the rest through GMAC (the General Motors Acceptance Corp.), and never made another payment," Covington said. When Ingram allegedly stopped making payments, Covington — who still holds title to the car — said GMAC came after him to make things right. "It cost me $600 out of pocket, and as far as I'm concerned he (Ingram) needs to be prosecuted if he can't return the car or come up with the money," Covington said. Covington said he and Ingram both worked for the same auto dealership in McAlester when Ingram bought the car. "I'm really surprised about this guy," Covington said. "I thought he'd turn out good.". Reached at his home last night, Ingram insisted that he was "up-to-date right now on my payments, and I've got the receipts to prove it. "This is no big thing," Ingram said. "At least I hope it's not. "I think they're mad at me because I took the car out of state, but I didn't know I wasn't supposed to do that." Ingram said he has hired an attorney to represent him, and intends to return to work today. "I've been in the papers quite a bit lately, and I'd rather not say anything more right now," he said. "I don't see what all the fuss is about."

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