Home Home Culture New Details Emerge After Decades About America’s Most Mysterious Fugitive

New Details Emerge After Decades About America’s Most Mysterious Fugitive

New Details Emerge After Decades About America’s Most Mysterious Fugitive
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WASHINGTON: The case of one of America’s most enigmatic criminals, D.B. Cooper, has been reopened decades after the mysterious hijacking that captured the public’s imagination.

D.B. Cooper famously hijacked a plane in 1971, extorted a ransom, and then parachuted out of the aircraft, vanishing without a trace — a mystery that has never been solved. Now, the FBI has decided to revisit the case, prompted by the discovery of a parachute that may be linked to Cooper’s daring escape.

According to U.S. media reports, the FBI’s renewed investigation comes after a parachute was found on the property of Richard Floyd McCoy Jr., a suspect in the D.B. Cooper case. McCoy had been linked to a similar hijacking case and had been arrested years earlier for a hijacking incident with strikingly similar details.

The parachute was discovered by researcher Dan Gratzer, who has been investigating the D.B. Cooper case for over two decades. Gratzer found the parachute on McCoy’s family property in North Carolina, fueling further speculation that McCoy may have been involved in the infamous hijacking.

Despite an extensive manhunt, Cooper was never found, and authorities have been unable to confirm where or when he jumped from the plane. Although a few $20 bills were discovered years later near the Columbia River, no solid leads ever emerged. Some experts speculate that Cooper may have died after jumping, but no concrete evidence has ever surfaced to support that theory.

During the initial investigation, the FBI questioned over 800 individuals by 1976 and discovered evidence in the Columbia River in 1980 that suggested the hijacker had dropped the ransom money. In 2016, the FBI officially closed the investigation, citing that resources were being redirected to more urgent matters.

One of the key figures in the case is Richard Floyd McCoy, who was arrested in 1972 for a similar hijacking in which he also extorted money and parachuted from the plane. However, at the time, the FBI did not believe the two incidents were related, despite the striking similarities.

The reopening of the case and the new evidence have reignited public interest in D.B. Cooper’s legendary heist, keeping the mystery alive even after more than 50 years.

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