Part 78, page 407

Transcript

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Portion of D.B. Cooper loot found by picnicker

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PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — An 8-year-old boy has uncovered part of a ransom missing since the only unsolved skyjacking in U.S. history — but officials say the whereabouts of the legendary sky pirate D.B. Cooper are still a matter of conjecture.

The three bundles of weathered $20 bills found along the Columbia River are the first evidence uncovered since Thanksgiving eve, 1971, when Cooper bailed out of a jet over southwestern Washington with $200,000 tied to his waist.

It was the first case of a skyjacking for money.

The FBI on Tuesday identified the cash through serial numbers. Bill Baker, special agent in charge of the Portland FBI office, said the money was so decomposed it was impossible to determine how much was there, but he said it came to "several thousand dollars."

"I THINK we can only presume at this time that because the money was found clumped together tightly in what we believe was the manner in which it was originally packed, it lends credence to the theory that at least the money did not make it out." he said. "And from there, I would really leave it to conjecture."

Baker said agents would now renew their search. "Of course, we will generate increased interest now in trying to locate D.B. Cooper or any remains that might be in the area," he said.

Late Tuesday afternoon, agents sifted through sand at the spot where the money was found and discovered several more pieces of $20 bills. The area has been sealed off to the public and the search was to resume today.

The money was discovered Sunday by young Brian Ingram beneath a layer of sand as his family picnicked along the Columbia, five miles northwest of Vancouver, Wash.

HAROLD INGRAM, of Vancouver, told reporters Tuesday he was preparing a fire when his son "ran up and said 'Wait a minute, Daddy.' He raked a place out in the sand and there it was."

Ingram said he didn't give any thought to spending the money.

"It didn't look like I could spend it so I really didn't think about that," he said.

He also said he didn't think about the cash being part of the Cooper loot. But he called the FBI because "I figured if anybody knew what to do it would be them."

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Baker said he presumed the money washed downstream, possibly from a Columbia River tributary in the rugged southwestern Washington mountains, where Cooper is believed to have bailed out.

FBI AGENT Ralph Himmelsbach, due to retire in 17 days after being in charge of the Cooper investigation since the skyjacking, said he still believes there is less than a 50-50 chance Cooper survived.

One theory had Cooper falling to his death in Lake Merwin on the Lewis River near Ariel, Wash. But the Lewis River enters the Columbia downstream from where the money was found.

The nine-year-old mystery began Nov. 24, 1971, when a man calling himself Dan Cooper purchased a one-way ticket and boarded the Northwest Orient Airlines jet at Portland International Airport.

After takeoff, Cooper displayed what an attendant said looked like dynamite. Ordering the pilot to head for Seattle, Cooper demanded four parachutes and $200,000 from the airline.

In Seattle, passengers and two of three attendants were allowed to leave the plane. The money and parachutes were loaded, the plane took off for Reno and somewhere, Cooper jumped out.

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