FD-350 clipping, The Oregonian: 'In geologist's opinion Cooper money spent 8 years in river'

FD-350 (Rev. 10-19-77)

(Mount Clipping in Space Below)

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In geologist's opinion 'Cooper' money spent 8 years in river

By LESLIE L. ZAITZ of The Oregonian staff

At least some of the cash from "Dan Cooper's" 1971 escapade has spent much of the past eight years under water and only recently was washed up on the Columbia River bank where it was found Sunday, according to a geologist assisting the FBI.

Leonard Palmer, a Portland State University geologist, reached that conclusion after examining the river bank nine miles northwest of Vancouver, Wash., where a family building a campfire found three packets of badly deteriorated $20 bills.

The FBI said the money, believed to be several thousand dollars, was part of the $200,000 ransom paid to a man known only as Dan Cooper. Cooper, popularly known as "D.B. Cooper" because of an erroneous news agency report at the time, received the money after hijacking a Northwest Airlines jetliner after it departed from Portland Nov. 24, 1971.

Palmer's research discounted an initial FBI theory that the cash had been deposited on the river bank during a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers channel dredging operation in 1974. Palmer said there were two other distinct layers of sand and sediment on top of the material dredged from the river.

The money was found in a layer of coarse sand ranging from several inches to 4 feet thick, Palmer said. He said the top layer of sand probably was deposited by wave action caused by passing ships.

Palmer said he believed the money found its way into the water not long after the hijacking, because it would have deteriorated within weeks if left exposed on the surface.

Palmer offered a theory for what happened, based on what little evidence exists and on geological information. It

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The Oregonian FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1980

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(Indicate page, name of newspaper, city and state.)

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Date: 2/15/80 Edition:

Title: Cooper money Spent 8 years in River

Character: AIR PIRACY or Classification: Submitting Office:

Seattle 164-A-81-[guess: 8564]

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DB Cooper-18855

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b6 b7C

Staff photo by KRAIG SCATTARELLA

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COOPER'S CASH — Portland State University geologist Leonard Palmer discusses probable history of $20 bills found Sunday on Vancouver, Wash., beach. The money, part of ransom paid to hijacker "Dan Cooper," washed ashore recently after spending about eight years in water, Palmer says.

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begins with Cooper parachuting from the Boeing 727 somewhere over South- west Washington.

Cooper may have landed in a wil- derness alive and then decided to find a stream to follow out of the woods, Palmer speculated. He said the chance that Cooper landed in water was re- mote.

Once Cooper got to the water, something happened that caused him to become separated from at least part of the money, Palmer continued.

"He would not let go unless he was

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in trouble. He had gone through a lot of work to get that money," Palmer said. "But there were plenty of reasons for him to be in trouble."

Whatever the source of the trouble, the money entered the water.

"Up to that point, it's conjecture," Palmer said. "But once we have it in the water, we know what happened to it."

The bills spent the next nine years moving slowly downstream, probably getting caught at spots on the stream bottom, resting there a time and then becoming dislodged by river action.

The bills recovered Sunday were

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worn away in a rounding fashion and were matted together — evidence that the money had been in the water most of the time, Palmer explained.

Palmer said he believes the bills probably were washed up on the river bank within the last three to six months. The bills could have been there as long a year if they were well pre- served in the water, he added.

The FBI sent the decomposed $20 bills Wednesday to its Washington, D.C., laboratory.

The FBI ultimately plans to return the money to its proper owner when it determines whether the owner is Northwest Airlines or Royal Globe In- surance Co. of New York, which cov- ered the loss. The airline's offer of a $25,000 reward for return of the money has expired.

Charles Arnold, a spokesman for the U.S. Treasury Department in Washing- ton, D.C., said the tattered bills would be replaced at face value if they were returned to the Treasury.

Responsibility for the Cooper inves- tigation Thursday was returned to the FBI office in Seattle. Technically, the Seattle field office has been in charge of the hijacking investigation.

Jack Pringle, assistant special agent in charge of the Seattle office, said there was a chance that laboratory tests on the money "could find additional debris that might give us an idea where it may have been."

Preliminary results were not ex- pected until next week.

The FBI has asked the Corps of En- gineers to begin assessing streamflows of the Columbia and its tributaries in the Washougal River watershed.

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DB Cooper-18856