FBI Communications Center facsimile from Director to Seattle transmitting UPI articles re Cooper search

FD-443 (Rev. 3-15-78)

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION COMMUNICATIONS CENTER

Transmit attached by Facsimile - UNCLAS

Precedence: IMMEDIATE

DEC 22 1982

To: FBI, Seattle Date: 12/22/82 From: Director, FBI Time: Transmitted - Subject: NORJAK; OO: SEATTLE Initials:

ReBurtelcn1 to Supervisor[REDACTED] 12/22/82

[ ] Fingerprint Photo [ ] Fingerprint Record [ ] Map [ ] Newspaper clipping [ ] Photograph [ ] Artist's Conception [X] Other UPI articles

Special handling instructions: ATTENTION: Supervisor[REDACTED]

091 Approved: [signature]

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164A81-8707 9[illegible] SEARCHED _____ INDEXED _____ SERIALIZED [illegible] FILED [illegible]

DEC 2 2 1982

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DB Cooper-19331

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b6 b7C

1 05-82 01:54 AES=

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D.B. Cooper ENTHUSIAST PLANS TO CONTINUE SEARCH PORTLAND, Ore. (UPI) _ A FORMER FBI AGENT, FASCINATED BY THE 11-YEAR-OLD LEGEND OF SKYJACKER D.B. Cooper, PLANS TO SEARCH THE COLUMBIA RIVER WHERE HE BELIEVES THE STILL-MISSING Cooper LEFT SOME OF HIS $200,000 RANSOM. RICHARD TOSAW ALSO HAS ENTERED INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH FOUR BROTHERS WHO OWN FARM LAND WEST OF PORTLAND TO SEARCH AN AREA IN WHICH PART OF THE $200,000 RANSOM PAID BY NORTHWEST AIRLINES ON THANKSGIVING EVE 1971 WAS FOUND. AN 8-YEAR-OLD BOY PICNICKING WITH HIS FAMILY ON A BEACH ON THE VAZIO [guess: TAZIO] BROS. PROPERTY FOUND ROTTING PACKETS CONTAINING $5,800 IN $20 BILLS, THE ONLY MONEY RECOVERED FROM THE SKYJACKING. TOSAW, A CERES, CALIF., PROBATE ATTORNEY WRITING A BOOK ON THE SKYJACKING, WANTS TO START SEARCHING NOV. 24 _ THE 11TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DAY A MAN USING THE NAME COOPER BAILED OUT OF A NORTHWEST BOEING 727 WITH THE MONEY APPARENTLY STRAPPED AROUND HIS BODY IN ONE OF THE SPARE PARACHUTES HE DEMANDED. COOPER HIJACKED THE PLANE AFTER IT LEFT PORTLAND, LET THE PASSENGERS OFF IN SEATTLE AND ORDERED THE CREW TO STAY IN THE COCKPIT AREA AND FLY HIM TO RENO, NEV., WITH THE RANSOM MONEY HE GOT FROM THE AIRLINE. HE PARACHUTED FROM THE PLANE'S REAR DOOR. THE FBI COMPUTED HE LANDED IN THE LAKE MERWIN AREA NORTHEAST OF VANCOUVER, WASH. TOSAW, WHO LEFT THE FBI BEFORE THE SKYJACKING, BECAME INTERESTED IN THE CASE AFTER THE MONEY WAS FOUND AND DECIDED COOPER LANDED NEARBY, SOME NINE MILES WEST OF VANCOUVER. HE WANTS SOMEONE TO DRAG THE RIVER WITH GRAPPLING HOOKS TO TRY TO SNAG COOPER'S PARACHUTE, HIS BODY OR ANYTHING ELSE THAT DIVERS COULD THEN CHECK. "MY THEORY IS THAT THE PARACHUTE WOULD BE EASIEST TO FIND BECAUSE IT'S 28 FEET ACROSS AND WITH NYLON CORDS AND A CANVAS HARNESS," TOSAW SAID. HE FIGURES THE MONEY FOUND WAS CHURNED UP BY AN ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS' DREDGE WORKING THE AREA IN EARLY 1980. TOSAW HAS WITHDRAWN A REWARD HE HAD OFFERED FOR FINDING ANY SIGN OF COOPER. HE BELIEVES THE HIJACKER WAS AN EX-MILITARY MAN WITH PARACHUTE TRAINING AND POSSIBLY A STRONG SWIMMER WHO COULD HAVE MADE IT TO SHORE AFTER DUMPING THE CHUTE AND THE HEAVY MONEY BAG IN THE WATER.

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DB Cooper-19332

PB

1 -19-82 12:56 AES

(WASH.- CALIF.) By BARNEY LERTEN 'PORTLAND- ORE.: (UPI) _ A TATTERED PIECE OF CLOTH-COVERED NYLON, A PIECE OF ROPE AND A BONE SCOOPED FROM THE COLUMBIA RIVER MAY PROVIDE CLUES TO THE WHEREABOUTS OF SKYJACKER D.B. COOPER.

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BLAKE PAYNE OF FLORENCE, ORE., MAILED THE ITEMS TO EX-FBI AGENT RICHARD TOSAH, A CERES, CALIF., LAWYER WRITING A BOOK ABOUT COOPER'S MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE AFTER HE PULLED OFF THE WORLD'S FIRST AERIAL HIJACK FOR RANSOM 11 YEARS AGO. "AS LONG AS IT'S RELATED TO THAT JUMP, I'LL FEEL WE'VE HIT PAYDIRT," TOSAH SAID FRIDAY. MOST AUTHORITIES DECIDED LONG AGO THE MAN NAMED ON PASSENGER LISTS AS DAN COOPER PROBABLY WAS KILLED WHEN HE PARACHUTED OUT OF A NORTHWEST AIRLINES BOEING 727 OVER SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON ON A RAINY THANKSGIVING EVE IN 1971 WITH $200,000 IN RANSOM STRAPPED TO HIS WAIST. THE ONLY CONCRETE CLUES TO COOPER'S FATE SO FAR HAVE BEEN SOME TATTERED BILLS FROM THE RANSOM MONEY DUG UP ALONG THE SHORE OF THE COLUMBIA IN FEBRUARY 1980. PAYNE, SKIPPER OF THE FISHING BOAT "MAGNUM," HAS HIRED BY TOSAH LAST MONTH TO DREDGE THE BOTTOM OF THE COLUMBIA BETWEEN PORTLAND AND VANCOUVER, WASH., IN THE PLANE'S FLIGHT PATH. "HE'S BEEN PAKING THE RIVER WITH A 12-FOOT RAKE _ HE CALLS IT A 'COOPER SNOOPER' _ FROM THE STERN OF HIS BOAT," TOSAH SAID IN A PHONE INTERVIEW. "HE GOES BACK AND FORTH RIGHT WHERE THE AIRPLANE[S] FLEW OVER THAT NIGHTS AT THE TIP OF HAYDEN ISLAND IN THE COLUMBIA. PAYNE FOUND THE NYLON, CORD AND BONE THANKSGIVING[?]. HE SAID HE WILL LEAVE THE SIGNIFICANCE OF HIS FIND TO THE EXPERTS. "IT'S SOMETHING, ANYWAY," HE SAID. "IT'S DEFINITELY CANVAS, AND THAT NYLON CORD IS THE TYPE COOPER HAD. IT'S BEEN 11 YEARS, AND THIS STUFF LOOKED LIVE IT HAS BEEN THERE THAT LONG." "WE'RE INTERESTED IN EXAMINING IT TO SEE IF THERE'S ANY INDICATION IT'S PART OF COOPER'S GEAR," TOSAH SAID. HE SAID HE WILL ASK EARL COSSEY OF SEATTLE, WHO PACKED THE PARACHUTES USED BY COOPER, TO HELP DETERMINE ITS VALIDITY. "THE BONE PROBABLY HAS NO CONNECTION AT ALL," TOSAH SAID. HE SAID IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO CONFIRM THE IDENTITY OF A BONE, AND HE HAS NOT EVEN SURE IF IT WAS HUMAN. WHETHER OR NOT THE CLUES PROVE TO HAVE MERIT, TOSAH SAID HE WILL KEEP UP THE SEARCH, WHICH ALREADY HAS COST HIM $10,000. A MAJOR FIND COULDN'T HURT SALES OF TOSAH'S BOOK, WHICH HE PLANS TO PUBLISH IN TWO MONTHS, CALLED "D.B. COOPER: DEAD OR ALIVE?" A NORTHWEST LEGEND HAS GROWN AROUND COOPER, WHO PULLED OFF THE NATION'S ONLY UNSOLVED HIJACKING, TRIGGERING HEIGHTENED SECURITY PROCEDURES AT AIRPORTS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY. SONGS HAVE BEEN WRITTEN AND T-SHIRTS PRINTED, WHILE RESIDENTS OF ARIEL, WASH., IN THE AREA WHERE COOPER JUMPED, HOLD AN ANNUAL PARTY AND INVITE COOPER TO ATTEND. HE HAS YET TO DO SO.

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DB Cooper-19333

1 -21-82 01:41 AMS

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By BARNEY LERTEN PORTLAND, Ore. (UPI) _ THE FBI HAS DISCOUNTED ANY LINK BETWEEN MISSING SKYJACKER D.B. COOPER AND PART OF A PARACHUTE AND OTHER ITEMS SCOOPED FROM THE COLUMBIA RIVER. "THIS ITEM, IF IT'S THE OLIVE-DRAB COLOR YOU DESCRIBE, HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH COOPER," FBI AGENT DORWIN SCHPEUDER SAID MONDAY. SCHPEUDER AND OTHER AGENTS LOOKED AT BLACK-AND-WHITE PHOTOS OF THE DARK PIECE OF FABRIC. THE PARACHUTE PART WAS FOUND SATURDAY BY CHARTER BOAT CAPTAIN BLAINE PAYNES WHO RETURNED TO HIS FLORENCE, ORE., HOME TO AWAIT FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS FROM FORMER FBI AGENT RICHARD TOSAW OF CERES, CALIF., WHO IS PAYING FOR THE RIVER SEARCH. SCHPEUDER SAID ONE OF THE FOUR PARACHUTES PROVIDED TO COOPER ALONG WITH $200,000 BEFORE THE SKYJACKER LEAPED FROM A NORTHWEST AIRLINES BOEING 727 ON THANKSGIVING EVE OF 1971 WAS SIMILAR. BUT HE SAID IT WAS LEFT BEHIND ON THE PLANE AND "WAS NOT ONE THAT HE TOOK WITH HIM." SOME OF THE MONEY WAS BEEN FOUND ON A BANK OF THE WASHINGTON SIDE OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER. LAST WEEK PAYNS MAILED TOSAW A PIECE OF NYLON CORD, A TATTERED PIECE OF FABRIC AND A BONE HE SCOOPED FROM THE COLUMBIA RIVER WITH A METAL DEVICE CALLED THE "COOPER SNOOPER." SCHPEUDER, AFTER VIEWING PHOTOS OF THE MATERIALS FOUND BY PAYNES SAID, "THEY DON'T APPEAR TO BE AMONG THE ITEMS" LEFT BY THE LEGENDARY SKYJACKER. TOSAW IS WRITING A BOOK ABOUT COOPER. HE SURMISED THE FABRIC MIGHT BE PART OF A BAG STUFFED WITH THE $200,000 THE SKYJACKER STRAPPED TO HIS WAIST BEFORE BAILING OUT OF THE JETLINER SOMEWHERE OVER SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON. TOSAW SAID THE CORD MIGHT HAVE COME FROM ONE OF THE PARACHUTES. HE SAID COOPER MIGHT HAVE BEEN AN EX-GREEN BERET WHO DECIDED TO USE A MILITARY CHUTE RATHER THAN THE CIVILIAN ONE GIVEN TO HIM BECAUSE HE WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE FAMILIAR WITH IT. THE HIJACK MARKED THE WORLD'S FIRST AIR PIRACY FOR RANSOM AND REMAINS THE NATION'S ONLY UNSOLVED HIJACKING.

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DB Cooper-19334

UPI 12-20-82 02f33 PES

4 20-82 02:38 PES*

(COMBINING TAKES) (SERAFRAIDVVHE SAID, _ FBI DISCOUNTS FIND) PICTURE

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PORTLAND, Ore. (UPI) _ A CHARTER BOAT CAPTAIN ENGAGED IN A SEARCH OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER FOR LEGENDARY SKYJACKER D.B. COOPER. MONDAY REPORTED FINDING A PIECE OF OLIVE-DRAB FABRIC THAT COULD BE PART OF A PARACHUTE. "I'VE SEEN A COUPLE OF CHUTES BEFORE _ THIS LOOKS LIKE ONE. IT'S GOT SILK IN IT; JUST LIKE A CHUTE WAS." SAID THE BOAT CAPTAIN. BLAKE PAYNE, WHO IS EMPLOYED BY RICHARD TOSAW, A CERES, CALIF., ATTORNEY WHO PLANS TO WRITE A BOOK ABOUT THE SKYJACKING MYSTERY. LAST WEEK, PAYNE MAILED TO TOSAW A PIECE OF NYLON CORD, A TATTERED PIECE OF FABRIC AND A BONE HE DREDGED FROM THE RIVER BOTTOM WITH A HEAVY METAL RAKE.

THE TWO MEN SURMISED THE FABRIC FOUND LAST WEEK MIGHT BE PART OF A MONEY BAG STUFFED WITH $200,000 THAT THE SKYJACKER STRAPPED TO HIS WAIST ON A RAINY THANKSGIVING EVE 1971 AS HE JUMPED FROM A NORTHWEST AIRLINES BOEING 727 OVER SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON.

THE CORD, PAYNE SAID, MIGHT HAVE COME FROM ONE OF FOUR PARACHUTES DEMANDED BY COOPER. THE CLOTH REPORTED MONDAY MAY ALSO BE FROM ONE OF THE PARACHUTES THE SKYJACKER HAD, HE SAID.

FBI AGENTS, HOWEVER, DISCOUNTED ANY LINK BETWEEN THE MATERIAL AND COOPER. "THIS ITEM, IF IT'S THE OLIVE-DRAB COLOR YOU DESCRIBE, HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH COOPER." DORWIN SCHREUDEP OF THE FBI'S PORTLAND OFFICE SAID AFTER HE AND OTHER AGENTS VIEWED BLACK-AND-WHITE PHOTOS OF THE DARK PIECE OF FABRIC.

PAYNE FOUND THE ITEM SATURDAY WHILE DREDGING THE RIVER BETWEEN OREGON AND WASHINGTON. HE WAS BACK IN HIS FLORENCE, ORE., HOME AWAITING FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS FROM TOSAW. A FORMER FBI AGENT WHO IS FUNDING THE RIVER SEARCH.

SCHREUDER SAID ONE OF THE FOUR PARACHUTES PROVIDED TO COOPER ALONG WITH $200,000 RANSOM BEFORE HE JUMPED FROM A NORTHWEST AIRLINES BOEING 727 ON A RAINY THANKSGIVING EVE IN 1971 WAS OF A SIMILAR NATURE BUT HAD BEEN LEFT BEHIND ON THE PLANE AND "WAS NOT ONE THAT HE TOOK WITH HIM."

SCHREUDER SAID HE COULD NOT DISCUSS UNRELEASED DETAILS ABOUT THE CASE IN ORDER TO PROTECT THE 11-YEAR-OLD INVESTIGATION. HOWEVER, AFTER VIEWING PHOTOS OF THE MATERIALS FOUND BY PAYNE, HE SAID "THEY DON'T APPEAR TO BE AMONG THE ITEMS" PROVIDED TO COOPER.

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DB Cooper-19335