News clippingFD-350 clipping, The Columbian, 'No hunt set for skyjacker' re Boeing 727 decal find19 January 19791 page
newspaper_clippingLegibility: high

Part 54, page 136

DB Cooper-23062Serials SE 164-81

Document date 19 January 1979

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FBI 164-81, Vault Part 54 p. 136 (DB Cooper-23062), News clipping, dated 19 Jan 1979 — cooper.theunsolved.net/parts/Cooper-Part-54/pages/136

Transcript

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(Mount Clipping in Space Below)

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No hunt set for skyjacker

See related story, Page 11. By COLUMBIAN STAFF, AP

An FBI agent here said this morning that the piece of plastic decal found by a Kelso hunter last November could have dropped from any Boeing 727, not necessarily the one hijacker D.B. Cooper bailed out of Thanksgiving eve 1971.

John Gordon of the bureau's Vancouver office said, "There is no positive proof that the decal came from the Cooper plane."

An FBI spokesman in Seattle, speculated Thursday that the decal may have fallen off the Cooper plane when the craft was used for a re- enactment of the hijacking six weeks after it occurred.

"We noticed the decal was missing after that, but not before," the spokesman said.

A spokesman added that the placards, used to give emergency directions for the rear door on 727s, have been known to fall off under normal conditions.

Earlier this week Cowlitz County

Sheriff Les Nelson disclosed the discovery of the decal last November by Carroll Hicks, a self-employed welder from Kelso who was elk hunting when he found the bit of debris.

"It's one in a million that any other plane could have lost it in the area in which D.B. Cooper jumped," Nelson said.

But while the 10-inch square decal has stirred wide interest, Gordon expressed doubt it would help solve the mystery behind the case.

"It's interesting, but I don't think it will help us find Cooper," he said of the decal.

Gordon said the FBI has no plans to resume the search for Cooper and the $200,000 that left the airplane with him.

Cowlitz County officials have indicated they do not plan to search for Cooper, either, but they did say they hope to encourage people to "keep their eyes open," when they are in the area the decal was found, about 12 miles east of Kelso.

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

p.1 Columbian Vancouver, Wa.

Date: 1/19/79 Edition: Final

Title:

Character: or 164-81- Classification: Submitting Office: Seattle

COPY SENT [to] BUREAU

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DB Cooper-23062