Part 47, page 53

Transcript

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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