On FD-350: 'FBI agents wield rakes, shovels in treasure hunt' (Oregonian, 2/13/80)
This copy: Part 67 p. 11Also filed at Part 43 pp. 276–277 (primary) · Part 63 p. 30 · Part 65 p. 157 · Part 70 p. 195
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(FD-350), Oregonian: 'FBI agents wield rakes, shovels in treasure hunt'
Document date 13 February 1980
Another copy of this document is the primary, most legible copy: Part 43 pp. 276–277.
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Id: Cooper-Part-67:011-011
Subject: Cooper Files: Cooper-Part-67:011-011 Document: Clipping (FD-350), Oregonian: 'FBI agents wield rakes, shovels in treasure hunt' Id: Cooper-Part-67:011-011 Page: https://cooper.theunsolved.net/documents/Cooper-Part-67%3A011-011 What is wrong (title, date, type, which pages belong together, copies)? What does the scan show?
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FBI 164-81, Vault Part 67 p. 11 (DB Cooper-28203), News clipping, dated 13 Feb 1980 — cooper.theunsolved.net/documents/Cooper-Part-67%3A011-011
FD-350 (Rev. 12-5-78) (Mount Clipping in Space Below)
(Indicate page, name of paper, city and state.) p.C1 Oregonian Portland, Ore. Date: 2/13/80 Edition: Final
Title:
Character: or Classification: Submitting Office: Seattle
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FBI agents wield rakes, shovels in 'treasure hunt'
Story on Page One also
By LESLIE L. ZAITZ of The Oregonian staff
VANCOUVER, Wash. — Guernsey cattle and puzzled fishermen watched with curiosity Tuesday as 20 casually attired FBI agents combed the Columbia River shoreline near here, looking for more of a hijacker's treasure.
The agents, working with garden rakes and shovels, carefully sifted through the sand on what is known locally as Tena's Bar, a sloping beach about nine miles northwest of Vancouver. The beach is owned by New Columbia Gardens Co., which operates a truck and dairy farm behind the beach.
What attracted the searchers was the find Sunday afternoon of a dozen bundles of worn $20 bills, part of the ransom paid more than eight years ago to the legendary "Dan Cooper." A man using that name hijacked a Northwest Airlines jetliner in November 1971 and parachuted out of the aircraft with 21 pounds of cash totaling $200,000.
The bundles on the beach were found by 8-year-old Brian Ingram, who was helping his parents, Harold Dwayne and Patricia Ingram, build a fire for a picnic. The family, which moved to Vancouver recently from Oklahoma, had never heard of the man who was widely known at the time of his crime as D.B. Cooper.
Dorwyn Schreuder, the FBI agent supervising the beach search, said the Ingrams put the money aside after discovering it and continued with their picnic. They reported their discovery to the FBI on Monday.
The site, a popular fishing spot for Vancouver residents, was guarded by agents Monday night and the search started about noon Tuesday.
Agents roped off a section of beach measuring roughly 150 yards long and 30 yards wide. All driftwood was removed, and then began the laborious task of raking through sand at least 6 inches deep.
The Ingrams' find had been about 6 inches beneath the surface, Schreuder said. FBI agents Tuesday afternoon found fragments of at least two other $20 bills. By late Tuesday, several more fragments had been found as deep as 3 feet below the surface.
"We'll be taking some heavy equipment, probably backhoes, in there Wednesday to dig deeper," said Bill Baker, assistant special agent in charge of the Portland FBI office.
Schreuder and other agents at the site said they still supported the long-held FBI theory that Cooper died in his parachuting attempt.
"He's probably not alive today," Schreuder said. "If he were, I think he'd be with his money."
The FBI initially was cautious about disclosing the precise location of the discovery. Operators of the farm said they knew something was unusual when several cars streamed along a road leading through the farmyard to the beach.
"We didn't know what it was about until we heard it on the radio," said one farm employee.
And three fishermen who routinely spend every day but Sundays fishing on the beach initially were confused and then angry.
"These guys wouldn't tell us what was going on," said Ken Davenport of Vancouver. "They asked us to move, but wouldn't tell us who they were or why."
Another fisherman, Mike Haddican, of Vancouver, said they knew something was up "because everybody was getting out of cars with shovels instead of fishing poles."
The Guernsey cows watched the beach show from their pens on a small bluff, scattering occasionally when helicopters chartered by news organizations flew overhead.
Within an hour after the FBI announced where the money had been found, private automobiles streamed down Northwest Lower River Road, a narrow two-lane road leading to the farm. A Clark County sheriff's deputy guarded the entrance, preventing the public from getting to the beach.
FBI agents were to remain on the scene overnight to keep out would-be treasure hunters.
The FBI said how much of the beach would be searched would be determined after the agency consulted with hydrologists and others who could provide expert advice about from where the money may have come.
Only half-joking, Schreuder said the agents "could search all the beach from here to Astoria."
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SEARCHED_____ INDEXED_____ SERIALIZED_____ FILED_____ FEB 25 1980 FBI - SEATTLE
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b6 b7C
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SUBS. B, E, G, [guess: M] FBI/DOJ DB Cooper-28203
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[guess: Sub] [illegible]