EC Seattle re Tacoma walk-in claiming to have buried NORJAK money near Woodland, WA

(Rev. 10-01-1999)

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Precedence: ROUTINE Date: 06/28/2000

To: Seattle

From: Seattle Squad 5 Contact: SA [REDACTED] 206-262-2503

Approved By: [REDACTED]

Drafted By: [REDACTED]:kjh

Case ID #: SE 164A-81-9338(Pending)

Title: NORJAK

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Synopsis: [REDACTED] date of birth [REDACTED] SSN [REDACTED] is the appeared at the Seattle FBI Office. [REDACTED] is the subject of previous Serials 9165 and 9317.

Details: [REDACTED] currently residing at the Tacoma, Washington, and holding Nevada Driver's License No. [REDACTED] appeared at the Seattle FBI Office. [REDACTED] had previously contacted the FBI on numerous occasions concerning captioned case. Following one such contact in 1991 (see Serial 9165), [REDACTED] was deemed not to be credible.

[REDACTED] advised that he had previously not provided complete information to the FBI, as he was afraid of being prosecuted. [REDACTED] related that in November of 1971, he was employed in a logging camp near Carbonado, Washington, where he worked with an individual, whose name he does not recall, whom he believes was Cooper. [REDACTED] said he came to this conclusion since this individual disappeared from the logging camp at approximately the same time he heard of the hijacking. [REDACTED] said that in the summer of 1972, he returned to an area near this camp, described as approximately four miles off of Highway 165, between Buckley, Washington, and Carbonado, Washington, where he found the skeletal remains of an individual and pieces of a parachute hanging from a tree. [REDACTED] advised that this skeleton had a black briefcase handcuffed to his wrist. [REDACTED] said he removed the skeletal remains, briefcase, and parachute from the tree; removed $10,000 to $15,000 in cash in $20 bills from the briefcase, buried the remains, and discarded the parachute nearby. [REDACTED] advised then, he went into the town of Coronado, where he spent some of the money at the general store and gave some of it to some young females there, whom he believed were later questioned by the FBI. After noticing what he

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DB Cooper-21449

To: Seattle From: Seattle Re: SE 164A-81, 06/28/2000

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believed to be numerous law-enforcement vehicles in the area, [REDACTED] became scared and drove towards Portland, stopping in the area of Woodland, Washington, where he buried a quantity of the money in the Columbia River bank, inside a fire pit. [REDACTED] does not recall exactly where he buried this money, but said he noticed lots of logs and an empty beer can. [REDACTED] believed he may have wrapped the money in plastic. [REDACTED] said he returned to the Carbonado area in approximately 1976 and revisited the location where he had buried the remains and money. [REDACTED] said he again saw remnants of the parachute he had discarded at that time.

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[REDACTED] admitted he has read numerous books on captioned case and could not explain why he had waited this long to come forward, other than being afraid of possible prosecution. It was noted by SA [REDACTED] that [REDACTED] facts concerning the discovery of the remains and their condition, as well as the briefcase, did not correspond to known facts in the case. Further, it was noted that the location described by [REDACTED] is on the north side of Mt. Rainier, and the location [REDACTED] claimed to have buried the money, near Woodland, Washington, was actually down-stream from where money was actually located in February of 1980.

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Based on the above and prior contacts with [REDACTED] it is recommended no further investigation be conducted concerning his story. [REDACTED] was told to return to the site at which he claimed to have buried the briefcase and retrieve one of the remaining bills for verification of his accounts.

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180KJH05.EC ◆◆

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DB Cooper-21450