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quade

DB Cooper

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1 hour ago, Andrade1812 said:

Thanks Fly,

We might as well look at that Campbell CA/Shelton WA suspect too. Any paper trail there?

Shelton Wa

part 18 p 96

part 20 p 226

part 24 p 420

part 29 p 376/377

part 30 p 411

part 32 p 180/209/223/339

part 33 p 120/354

part 35 p 153

part 46 p 317/379

part 52 p 191/195

 

Campbell Ca

part 33 p 88/382

part 50 p 368

part 52 p 191

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The History channel show had some TBAR find footage that I hadn't seen before..

The distance from the Columbia River waterline to the find is about 35 feet,, 40 tops.

 

The slope is 10%. That means the money was 3.5 - 4 ft above the River.

 

You don't need a flood event for the River to reach the money find spot.

 

The claim that ONLY the '72 and '74 flood reached the money spot is false.

 

A high tide or boat wake would reach that spot. This is consistent with reports at the time that the money was found along the high water mark.

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Bundles and packets and packets and bundles... Oh my.

For a long time I thought the money could have only arrived on TBAR in some type of container for the three packets to be found close together.. wrong.

Until I looked for the rubber band evidence,, there isn't any other than there were rubber band frags stuck to the packets which crumbled away when touched. They were NOT intact.

Also, the money was given to Cooper in packets of 100 bills rubber banded into individual bundles. Those bundles had a random number of packets.

 

So,,, if the three packets were rubber banded together into bundles as they were when given to Cooper, how did they get separated before landing on TBAR... easiest answer that fits the evidence..

They didn't, the three packets were most likely rubber banded into a single bundle and landed on TBAR as ONE single bundle (FBI). As the rubber bands holding the bundle (of 3 packets) together deteriorated the three packets separated.

There is no evidence that the three packets arrived on TBAR individually but together.

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21 hours ago, RobertMBlevins said:

Well, everyone has their own theory regarding HOW the money arrived at Tina Bar. And despite all the fluff that has gone on TV or put in a little black dress about it, (so-called 'western flight path') I still believe the money was deliberately placed in the general area by the hijacker sometime AFTER November 24, 1976. 

Many people ignore the fact that when the FBI went around the Statute of Limitations, which was coincidentally...November 24, 1976...that this news was published heavily all over the Great Northwest. In addition, much was made in the weeks and months PRIOR to the Statute running out because it was assumed that Cooper would be free and clear on the day afterward. Whether state charges could be brought against Cooper is another matter, and unclear, but...the newspapers and TV/radio media were going heavy on the idea that Cooper would be free. That's what THEY were saying at the time. 

If you believe Cooper survived the jump, you also have to figure he would subscribe to a Northwest newspaper and watch TV news as well. And if anything popped up on Cooper...you can bet his ears perked up on every word. This conclusion also puts forward another fact:  Cooper, even if he didn't go to the local library and look it up...would have known just like everyone else around here that the Statute was coming up to expiration, and would have looked forward to that day.

So let's say he and everyone are totally blindsided by the FBI going around the Federal stature, and now he realizes that since they have a warrant, even a John Doe warrant...that they can keep renewing that warrant and keep seeking to catch him for the remainder of his life. Must have been crushing to him. A real bummer for sure. One day you are getting ready to toss a party, although you might not tell the attendees the WHY of the party. The next day you know for certain you will be hunted for life. 

As Keanu Reeves said in Speed

I would have done exactly as I believe Cooper did. Try something that might convince the FBI to stop looking for you. Or at least not dedicating so many resources to it. And if this is what he did...it worked, because the FBI started saying they DID think Cooper was now dead, and they DID cut back on the search to a degree. 

On a side note, no changes will be made to the Cooper Party plans right now. We're in a holding pattern. Two more inquiries came in today. I'm beginning to believe we won't have any trouble on attendance, and like my old man used to say:

"Don't change the plan." and "Don't mess with success." 

We're still over six months out on this one, so I told Greg and the other guy to relax. Everything is fine, I said. 

I suppose this is possible.  Anything is possible.

However, if you're DB Cooper this is the last thing you'd want to do.  It's been five years.  The case is cold.  The case is open, but the FBI is not actively searching for clues.  More likely waiting for information to come up and only assigning one agent to the case.

 

Then, the money appears and all of a sudden more agents are assigned to the case, they're looking for clues. Now, the FBI might ask if anyone saw anyone dump anything into the river.  Maybe somebody did.  So, instead of being able to lay low, Cooper would have attracted a whole bunch of attention to himself.

 

That's just not smart.  Not to say it couldn't happen.  Prisons are full of convicts who might have never been caught if they hadn't done something stupid.

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9 hours ago, FLYJACK said:

I get that somebody could have tossed the money but I can't get past the idea that the money was meant to be found.. it was a one in a million find.

If it was discarded it was never meant to be found.

Agree 100%. People bury things and throw things into bodies of water so that they won't be found. If you want something to be found, the last thing you do is toss it into a river or bury it. Robert Blevins isn't the only one to toss that theory out, but it's a stupid theory regardless of who is pushing it.

Can't have it both ways. Kenny hid money in his yard so that no one would find it, then hid more money so that someone would find it.....

Edited by ParrotheadVol

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33 minutes ago, RobertMBlevins said:

Paul Soderlind from NWA had a hand in the creating of the flight path map, and Soderlind is one of the sharpest guys who ever worked in aviation. Not only did he create some commercial flight parameters still in use today, he ended up in the Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame. He and his team definitely had a hand in that map, and I believe it to be accurate. 

Would it be a fair assumption that Mr Soderlind was the (redacted) author of the memo dated 01.09.1972 from Northwest Airlines to the FBI?

720109 notes p272.jpg

720109 notes p273.jpg

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7 hours ago, RobertMBlevins said:

would be better if we saw the map, so you could tell what the writer means when he (or she) says, 'Point A, B, C,' etc. 

This is the map that was attached to Northwest Airlines' memo dated 01.09.1972. Source: FBI, "DB Cooper Part 18 of 52.pdf", page 416, vault.fbi.gov.

I presume that Mr Soderlind signed the memo on behalf of Northwest Airlines. The Captain (redacted) at McChord AFB, as far as I know, has never been identified.

720109 drop zone.jpeg

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1 hour ago, RobertMBlevins said:

It's almost a certainty that Soderlind signed the report. <> on the day of the Cooper hijacking, he was in communication, and heavily involved WITH...the stuff that was going on with all that in Seattle.

Is that Mr Soderlind in the "sled test" photo from WSHS? Third from left, orange shirt?

Norjak00022 - January 6, 1972 cropped.jpg

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These guys are stubborn, Georger has been wrong for ten years now, a packet is a group of 100 bills, rubber banded or bank strapped or both. 

Robert99, a single packet (100 bills) is 1/2" thick, 3 packets is only 1 1/2" thick and could fit in a pocket. IMO, it wasn't put in Cooper's pocket. The bundles were randomized, the number of packets per rubber banded bundle. 

The TBAR money was in order. It was given to Cooper in random sized bundles of packets. Perhaps 3, 4 or 5 packets per bundle.

How does the money end up in order and packets separated but together... IT WAS ALL ONE BUNDLE WHEN IT LANDED ON TBAR.

1063084989_onebundle.jpg.76d43a000b765cc6e9695191d7cf469e.jpg

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3 hours ago, RobertMBlevins said:

<>should go to the source of the picture. 

The Washington State Historical Society published a caption but could not identify the third person from the left. As far as I can determine, the photograph is no longer on the website of the WSHS.

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4 hours ago, DFS346 said:

The Washington State Historical Society published a caption but could not identify the third person from the left. As far as I can determine, the photograph is no longer on the website of the WSHS.

I believe that there is another copy of this picture, maybe on Shutter's site, that identifies all of the people in that photograph.  And there is another photo somewhere that shows Sunderland in the left pilot's seat for the sled tests.

The Captain whose name is redacted elsewhere may be one of the military shown in this photograph and may be the same parachutist that walked down to the bottom of the stairs during the sled tests.

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10 hours ago, Robert99 said:

I believe that there is another copy of this picture, maybe on Shutter's site, that identifies all of the people in that photograph.  And there is another photo somewhere that shows Sunderland in the left pilot's seat for the sled tests.

The Captain whose name is redacted elsewhere may be one of the military shown in this photograph and may be the same parachutist that walked down to the bottom of the stairs during the sled tests.

Since there seems to be a problem with the identifications of some people in these pictures, it may be Al Lee, Chief NWA Pilot at Seattle, who is in the left seat in one of those pictures rather than Sunderland.

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On 11/21/2020 at 9:50 PM, FLYJACK said:

Redacted name Captain Thomas Spangler.

redactednames.jpeg.66e727556c042f283ffee6b964ef861c.jpeg

Many thanks. This makes sense now.

MSgt Wally Johnson, in his interview with the WSHS, positively identified Captain Thomas Spangler as the second person from the left in the crew photo, and added that the second and third persons from the left were "pilot and co-pilot" (he did not specify who had which role).

Neither Wally Johnson nor Agent John Detlor, in their correspondence with the WSHS, could recall the name of the pilot in command, but Detlor recalled seeing the cockpit photo in which the third man from the left in the group photo (with the tan or yellow shirt) was in the left-hand seat. That person looks very much like Paul Soderlind (as in the attached image).

Finally, the man standing on the right in the crew photo, next to the air stair, is surely Harold Anderson.

So my reading of the flight crew on the sled test flight is as follows:

  • Paul Soderlind: pilot in command (LHS)
  • Captain Thomas Spangler: co-pilot or second officer (RHS)
  • Harold Anderson: flight engineer or third officer.

William Scott and William Rataczak do not appear in the crew photo and, as far as I can determine, were not on board the flight.

paul_soderlind-large.jpg

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Hi All,

I'm looking at the FBI's "Unresolved Suspects" list from #52 (p189-).

Fly, can you run a list of references for me for mentions of Eugene OR? I hate to keep asking you, but you're the only one I know who has these files all digitized for word search.

Also, does anyone remember which file went into detail on Richard McCoy? I remember the FBI had interviewed someone connected to McCoy who said he was home in Provo until at least mid-morning on the day of the hijacking, but I don't have it anywhere in my notes.

Also, does anyone know when McCoy checked into his hotel in Vegas on the 25th? And what about the time stamp on the gas station receipt? 

Please and thank you.

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1 hour ago, Andrade1812 said:

Hi All,

I'm looking at the FBI's "Unresolved Suspects" list from #52 (p189-).

Fly, can you run a list of references for me for mentions of Eugene OR? I hate to keep asking you, but you're the only one I know who has these files all digitized for word search.

Also, does anyone remember which file went into detail on Richard McCoy? I remember the FBI had interviewed someone connected to McCoy who said he was home in Provo until at least mid-morning on the day of the hijacking, but I don't have it anywhere in my notes.

Also, does anyone know when McCoy checked into his hotel in Vegas on the 25th? And what about the time stamp on the gas station receipt? 

Please and thank you.

Almost every file mentions Eugene.. hard to pin down

 

There was no timestamp on the gas receipt. The date wasn't precise because of the worker shift and change over of date for the date stamp.

The connection to the Vegas Tropicana Hotel was a collect call to McCoy's residence. They couldn't confirm it was McCoy.

 

 

McCoy part 25 p 35/36/38/39/41/98/108/164/167/232/244/301/303-305

McCoy part 27 p 302 - 357

McCoy part 42, p 395-402

McCoy part 43, p 39-54, 195, 198

McCoy part 45, p 214, 245-248

McCoy part 27 start p 302 ++

 

McCoy gas station

part 27 p 306, 307, 326, 327, 329

 

McCoy Hotel info

part 27 p 307, 331, 332

part 25 p 39/40/107/108/305

Edited by FLYJACK
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