(FD-350), Oregon Journal: 'Original Hijacker Just Fading Memory' one-year anniversary feature

FD-350 (REV. 7-16-63)

---

Original Hijacker Just Fading Memory

---

By KEN JUMPER Journal Staff Writer

To many of the public, he is a modern-day Robin Hood or a swashbuckling daredev-il cast from the same mold as fiction's Capt. Blood.

To dismayed law enforcement officers, he is the evil genius who became the grandfather of a crime that still is being committed in the nation's airways with alarming frequency.

BUT HOWEVER his actions are assessed, "D. B. Cooper" already has become a legend, a year after he became the first man to hijack an airliner solely for profit and not political reasons.

The saga of "D. B. Cooper," if it can be called that, began at Portland International Airport the evening of Nov. 24, 1971, when he purchased a ticket and boarded Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305, bound for Seattle.

Before that Thanksgiving Eve had ended, the man, known as D. B. Cooper had presented a note to a stewardess that said he was taking the command of the aircraft, a 727 jet, and he displayed what appeared to her to be several sticks of dynamite wired together as an explosive device.

IN THE NOTE, the hijacker demanded $200,000 in $20 bills and four parachutes. After some palaver in the air and on the ground at Seattle, his demands were met and the aircraft took off again, bound for Reno at Cooper's instruction.

The plane reached Reno, but D. B. Cooper was not aboard.

A flight recorder indicated the hijacker had opened the rear door of the aircraft at 8:13 p.m., not too long after leaving Seattle. It was assumed that Cooper parachuted about that time.

THE SEARCH mounted by the FBI and Washington State officials centered in the rugged countryside near Woodland, Wash. Hundreds of men — eventually units of the First Squadron of the 3rd, Armored Cavalry at Ft. Lewis were pressed into duty — and aircraft concentrated on the area.

But it was to no avail and as the winter wore on the intensity of the search slackened. D. B. Cooper apparently had vanished from the face of the earth.

There was the usual spate of letters to newspapers and law enforcement agencies over the country, purported-ly authored by the nocturnal parachutist.

ONE SUCH letter, to the New York Times, had a mixture of bravado, remorse, and plaintiveness in it.

"I knew from the start that I wouldn't be caught," the letter said.

"I didn't rob Northwest Orient because I thought it would be romantic, heroic or any of the other euphemisms that seem to attach themselves to high risk.

"I'm no modern day Robin Hood. Unfortunately, I do have only 14 months to live."

---

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

/ THE OREGON JOURNAL Dec 1 PORTLAND, OREGON

Date: 11-24-72 Edition: Author: Editor: Title:

Character: or Classification: Submitting Office: ☐ Being Investigated

le 4- 41-Serb1 SEARCHED _______ H:CI XCD_______ SERIALIZED _[illegible]_

---

DB Cooper-22970

THIS SIGN greets motorists headed for Ariel, Wash., on state highway 513, in the area where skyjacker D. B. Cooper is believed to have parachuted just one year ago.

---

"MY LIFE has been one of hate, turmoil, hunger and more hate; this seemed to be the fastest and most profita- ble way to gain a few last grains of peace of mind," the letter writer said.

He went on to point out he is not a boasting man, he left no fingerprints, he wore a toupee and he used putty. makeup.

"I've come and gone on several airline flights al- ready and am not holed up in some obscure backwoods town. Neither am I a psycho- pathic killer. As a matter of fact, I've never even re- ceived a speeding ticket," he concluded.

A MILD and shortlived cult centered on the daring criminal sprang up in the forms of a recording called "D. Cooper, Where Are You?" and some fast opera- tors made a few bucks by issuing T-shirts with those, and other, words embla- zoned on them. And he be- came involved in a lot of bad jokes by so-called comedi- ans.

But in the ensuing days, D. B. Cooper faded from the public consciousness as oth- ers took a hand trying to ex-

---

tort ransom by hijacking an airplane. Very few of those have been successful and in some cases deaths have re- sulted.

There are several theories as to where D. B. Cooper is today. Some people believe he may be seeing the high spots of Europe or enjoying the salubrious climate of some South American coun- try. Others believe his body may be rotting up in the Washington mountains while 10,000 $20 bills gather mold in a shady glen.

THE FBI is confident that the case ultimately will .be...[illegible]...legend.

---

solved. "Some day one of those marked bills will turn up or somebody will talk. Or a deer hunter will find a skeleton," an FBI agent told this reporter.

But the most far-out theo- ry was advanced by a gov- ernment employe with a rep- utation as a bit of a wag.

"Haven't you heard?" he asked. "Ol' D. B. found himself a nice girl up there in the mountains, a nice Sas- quatch girl and they're busy keeping the Bigfoot story going."

But then, that's another [illegible]

---

DB Cooper-22971

GENERAL STORE at Yale serves as registration headquarters for hikers headed for the rugged country surrounding the spot. One registered hiker, a loner, is missing now, after being warned about danger of area.

---

Cooper Shirt Fad Dies

Wearing a D. B. Cooper shirt these days is about as square as asking a barber for a crew cut.

Alpine Silk Screen Prod- ucts Co. of Portland, made a national stir last winter when it began marketing its "D. B. Cooper Where Are You?" T-shirt. It has not had an order for any for at least two months, according to Dennis Dyer, the firm's sales coordinator.

What's moving fast right now, Dyer said, are "Let's Boogie" and "Feeling Smoovy" shirts.

---

DB Cooper-22972

NORTHWEST LIVING

---

Area Where D. B. Cooper is believed to have jumped is perilous for the inexperienced.

---

DB Cooper-22973