Part 54, page 155

Transcript

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

FD-350 (Rev. 10-19-77)

(Mount Clipping in Space Below)

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Suspect linked to D.B. Cooper

FULLERTON, Calif. — (AP) — Police today transferred to a Stockton, Calif., jail a man who has been linked to the search for D.B. Cooper, the nation's most fa- mous airplane hijacker.

The man was identified by pol- ice in this Los Angeles suburb as Robert Wesley Rackstraw, 35. Police said he was arrested here last week, reportedly for trying to duplicate a Federal Aviation Ad- ministration pilot's license and medical certificates. Police ar- rested him when the owner of a print shop became suspicious and called the F.A.A.

Fullerton police said there are arrest warrants outstanding in Stockton for Rackstraw on charges of aircraft theft, posses- sion of explosives and fraud.

In nearby Santa Ana, Pete Nor- regard, an F.B.I. agent, said Rackstraw had been sought for questioning in the D.B. Cooper case about a year ago. But Norre- gard added, "The F.B.I. here is not aware of any current investi- gation involving Rackstraw. That case is being handled by our Seattle office."

In Seattle, a F.B.I. spokesman, Ray Mathis, declined comment. "We cannot talk about people we have under investigation," Mathis said.

In February 1978, after return- ing from a year in Iran as a heli- copter pilot, Rackstraw was ar- rested by the F.B.I. in New York on charges of killing his stepfath- er, Philip, and burying the body in Calaveras County in California.

He was acquitted by a Calaver- as County Superior Court. But during the murder investagation, Warren Little, an F.B.I. agent in Stockton, indicated he believed he had established a link between Rackstraw and D.B. Cooper.

The nature of the link is not known.

William Rackstraw, Philip's brother, told the F.B.I. at the time, "I can't really say where Robert was (when the plane was hijacked). He was all over the country and in and out of trouble- wherever he went."

On November 24, 1971, a middle- aged man wearing sunglasses and calling himself "Dan Cooper" boarded a Portland-to-Seattle

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

p.A1 Seattle Times Seattle, Wa.

Date: 2/2/79 Edition: Final

Title:

Character: or /c 4-81 Classification: Submitting Office: Seattle

COPY SENT TO BUREAU

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SUB B, #5. [guess: copy], [illegible]

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SEARCHED......... INDEXED....... SERIALIZED......... FILED...... FEB 1 4 1979 [illegible] b6 [illegible] b7C

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DB Cooper-23084 164-81-Sub B