Part 43, page 192

Transcript

The scan is the source; the transcript is machine-generated from it.

FD-350 (Rev. 12-5-78)

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

p. A1 Post-Intelligencer Seattle, Wa. Date: 2/14/80 Edition: Final

Title: NORJAK

Character: or Classification: /64-81 Submitting Office: Seattle

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More Of D.B.'s Ransom Found

By Neil Modie

FBI agents yesterday found bits of more $20 bills buried in the sand beside the Columbia River near Vancouver, Wash., and said it was more of the $200,000 ransom collected in 1971 by airline hijacker D.B. Cooper.

Agents speculated earlier in the day that the muck and sand the money was buried in may have been dredge material. But they discounted that theory after a geologist examined the site, about 10 miles northwest of Vancouver.

"His (the geologist's) feeling is that the probabilities are that the material was washed ashore rather than (being in) dredged sand," FBI - Agent Ralph Himmelsbach of Portland told The Post-Intelligencer last night.

Children on a family outing on Sunday found the first half - decomposed packets of $20 bills with which Cooper had parachuted from a Northwest Orient jetliner on Thanksgiving Eve, Nov. 24, 1971.

The total was between $1,000 and $4,000, Himmelsbach said, and serial numbers checked matched numbers on the marked bills given Cooper.

The money was found farther downriver from Vancouver than FBI agents had estimated Tuesday, when they announced the discovery, and it caused Himmelsbach to return to the theory he has had since 1971 that Cooper landed — dead or alive — in the vicinity of Lake Merwin on the Lewis River about 25 miles north of Vancouver.

Himmelsbach, the agent in charge of the investigation since the hijacking took place, said he believes the dozen packets of greenbacks were gradually washed down the Lewis River and into the Columbia River. Then, he said, ocean tides could have pushed them several miles up the Columbia to where they were found.

There was speculation Tuesday that the site was too far up the Columbia for the money to have come from the Lewis River.

However, Himmelsbach said yesterday, "My understanding is that this is tidal water, and if so, there are times that this (river) runs backward. So it could have run upstream that far."

Did Cooper, lightly dressed and buffeted by wind and freezing rain when he parachuted from the airliner, drop the money on the way down?

"That's a good possibility," Himmelsbach said. "There's also the possibility that he just took the money, and neither he nor the money left there (where he landed).

"I feel this is an indication that probably he didn't make it (alive), and it has been my feeling that probably he didn't make it because of the circumstances of the jump and the fact that he didn't have the proper equipment for parachuting," Himmelsbach continued.

"He didn't have a hardhat, goggles, leather gloves, jump suit or jump boots. He didn't have any of those things and he sure needed them all.

"I don't think the fall killed him," Himmelsbach theorized, "but there was that sudden stop. I think probably there was good likelihood he was injured during the fall and didn't have any help . . . and was unable to extricate himself (from wherever he fell). And probably is still there."

Agents continued digging yesterday, and Himmelsbach said he didn't know how long they would continue.

There was no trace at the site of the legendary extortionist nor of his parachute, and Himmelsbach indicated he didn't expect to find such evidence there.

The ransom money was given to Cooper at Seattle - Tacoma International Airport after he threatened to blow up the 727 trijet while on a flight from Portland. At Sea - Tac, he allowed all the passengers and all but four members of the crew to leave, demanded and received the $200,000 and four parachutes, and had the plane depart for Reno, Nev.

The skyjacker bailed out over Southwest Washington.

Sunday's find was particularly satisfying for Himmelsbach, who on Feb. 29 is scheduled to retire from the FBI after a career of nearly 29 years — more than eight of which were spent trying to solve the Cooper caper. The discovery of the money was the first solid break in the case.

"It doesn't increase my (retirement) annuity any, but it does make me happy," Himmelsbach said.

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SEARCHED........... SERIALIZED......FILED...... FEB 15 1980 FBI - SEATTLE

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[guess: SUPS'N] B C [illegible]

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FBI/DOJ

DB Cooper-17397