Part 54, page 199

Transcript

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

FD-350 (Rev. 7-16-63)

(Mount Clipping in Space Below)

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Cooper theory

THE ONLY successful skyjacking in the country occurred almost five years ago when a man who identified himself as Dan Cooper bailed out of a Northwest Orient Airlines jet on a cold November night clutching a suitcase containing $200,000. Not a trace of Cooper or the money has been found since. Cooper bailed out somewhere in the vicinity of Lake Merwin. The FBI and even Army troops literally combed the rugged countryside looking for traces of either the man or the money or both. They turned up nothing. This November, the statute of limitations on the case runs out. If Cooper is still alive, he can come out of hiding and not be prosecuted. Is that likely to happen? Longview FBI Agent Tom Manning doesn't think so. He has put hundreds of hours into the Cooper case. His theory is that Cooper dropped into Lake Merwin and sank out of sight, weighted down by the parachute and the suitcase full of cash. That certainly is as plausible a theory as any we've heard but it will remain a theory until either a person or the money or both turn up.

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(Indicate page, name of newspaper, city and state.) Page 2 The Daily News Longview, Washington

— Sub B

Date: 7/12/76 Edition: afternoon Author: TED M. NATT Editor: TED M. NATT Title: NORJAK Character: CAA-Hijacking or Classification: 164-81-[sub] B Submitting Office: Seattle

Being Investigated COPY SENT TO BUREAU SEARCHED......... INDEXED........ SERIALIZED......... FILED.........

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JUL 23 1976

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DB Cooper-23128

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ATTLE b6 [illegible]b7C