Part 54, page 87

Transcript

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

THE UNAILING SEARCH — A helicopter takes off from search headquarters at Woodland, Wash., to scour the area highjacker Dan Cooper might have parachuted into two days before, Nov. 24, 1971. Exhaustive searches at the time brought no results. The flow of

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clues, hints and tips from the publi[c] [has] slowed to a trickle now, and after checking out more than 1,000 suspects the FBI says it knows little more about Cooper than on the stormy night he disappeared.

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SKYDIVER INTO OBSCURITY — This is an artist's composite drawing of the hijacker known as Dan Cooper who leapt into history on Nov. 24, 1971. He parachuted from an airliner somewhere over southwest Washington state with $200,000 in $20 bills and there's been no sign of him since — although for a time he did live on as a folk hero of sorts. (Mobile Press Register AP Newsfeatures Photo)

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164-81-[guess: Sub] B SEARCHED ......... INDEXED ........ SERIALIZED [guess: &] FILED ........ JAN 16 1978 FBI — SEATTLE

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Thanksgiving eve skyjacker still mystery

EDITOR'S NOTE — There's almost a chance that Dan Cooper, who parachuted from an airliner with $200,000 strapped to his body, is still alive. But if he is, the statute of limi- tations for his skylack runs out thanksgiving eve.

By JOE FRAZIER Associated Press Writer PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A mis- erably wet, windy, cold Thanksgiving eve in 1971.

Passengers waited at the Northwest Orient Airlines counter at Portland

on board and the jet, with only the crew and Cooper aboard, headed for Reno on Cooper's orders. Then somewhere over southwest Washington, Cooper, with the 21 pounds of money strapped to him, bailed out. He hasn't been heard from since. If he's alive, and that's a big "if," the five-year statute of limitations runs out this Thanksgiving eve, Nov. 24. Or does it? "We're going ahead on the assump- tion that the statute doesn't apply,

Cooper picked some of the roughest country in the Pacific Northwest. He took two of [guess: the] parachutes with him when he [guess: jumped]. One was a small emergency chute of the type used by stunt [guess: fliers]. Under ideal conditions, someone who knew what he was doing might [guess: track] an ankle or leg with it. The other was a [guess: training] chute used for demonstrations. [guess: The] [guess: panels] had been sewn shut. It [guess: wouldn't have] opened. The next night the [guess: FBI] [guess: contacted] the skyjacking unit. [guess: He] [guess: got a] plane, crew, fuel load, [guess: speed] and altitude.

It has been searched and re- searched in vain. What would it take to find Cooper's remains, assuming they are there? "I'd say it might take 5,000 men five years. I mean, how do you search a [guess: blackberry] thicket higher than your head?" Loggers who work in the area agree [guess: that] cycles, mountain lions or wild [guess: pigs] could make quick work of a body. After five years, they say, you might find a scrap or two of bone, if that. Nevertheless, for a while Cooper was a folk hero of sorts.

There were imitators. Around the world, there were more than a dozen skyjacking attempts patterned after Cooper's. Cooper is the only one not known to have failed. With increased airport security and modification of the Boeing 727 so the rear door wouldn't open in flight, the fad stopped. The flow of clues, hints, and tips from the public about Dan Cooper has slowed to a trickle now. After check- ing out more than 1,000 suspects, the FBI says it knows little more about Cooper than it did on that stormy night [guess: when he leapt into history.]

highway flares. The bomb was red. Dynamite isn't. If the crew members had realized that, they might have called his bluff at the time. Himmelsbach said. "He's lucky he got as far as he did with a plan like that."

Even if the statute holds up, [guess: Cr] [guess: sr] will have problems. The Internal Revenue Service com- putes his tax debt, including penalties and interest, at about $[guess: 518,000]. And the Globe [guess: Indemnity] [guess: Co.], which had to pay $[guess: 180,000] to the [guess: airline], may want to talk to h[guess: im].

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16-E—Press Register Mobile, Sunday, Nov. 14, 197[guess: 6]