ParrotheadVol

...even though he wasn't alive during the time in question and would have no way of knowing if mom was lying or not.

They may remember a certain feature or characteristic, but I would be highly skeptical of anyone giving a positive ID this many years later of someone they saw only on one occasion.

And there's the problem. No prints or DNA that you are certain are Coopers. How else are you going to put someone on that plane?

So, it's on again? You owe me 10 bucks.

I don't think LD is Cooper, but I also don't think the FBI ever officially said so either. Look, there's an old saying about how if you say something enough times, it becomes the truth. If you say LD and Sheridan were eliminated enough times, people will eventually accept it as fact, even if it isn't true - and for all I know, it may be true, I just haven't seen it if it is. But you will say that, and say it again and then somewhere down the line - a week, a month, maybe a year - but at some point, you will remind us all how Fred Gutt (?) said that Kenny boy had never been eliminated. That's called spin, and you're very good at it. I would assume that to be eliminated, one must first be investigated, but let's not get caught up in details. So, for future reference, LD and Sheridan were both investigated by the FBI and as far as we can tell have never been officially eliminated as suspects even though the case is pretty much closed and no one is being looked at any longer. I'm sure there are plenty of others that we could say the same about. Even though the FBI is most certainly aware of Kenny Christiansen, they never bothered to investigate him and obviously did not consider him a viable suspect. Again, unless there is something there that we are unaware of. That Robert, is my reasoning for pointing these things out. It isn't because I think good ol' uncle LD is DB Cooper. It's just because I like to keep the facts straight and that isn't always easy here in Coppertown is it? Pretty simple, right?

Man, I hate to split hairs here, but I guess I'm going to anyway. There is a difference between being eliminated officially, and "can be said to be eliminated, in my humble opinion". To the best of my knowledge, both LD Cooper and Sheridan Peterson have never been officially eliminated by the FBI, at least publicly. I'm sure there are others. By all means, if I'm wrong, please show me where I'm wrong and I will gladly stand corrected. I just want people to understand, someone isn't eliminated just because Blevins says they are. And yes, I understand that the FBI has moved on from all of these folks and there is no more investigating them. That doesn't mean they were eliminated though.

I'll bet anyone here 10 bucks that this won't stay cancelled long .

No way to know for sure but my guess is that the identity of the hijacker is probably a name we have never heard. Now, there are probably hundreds of names the FBI may have considered that have never been named publicly. I would lean toward it being someone like that before it being someone we know of.

Nothing in that article indicates that LD was eliminated as a suspect at that time. Nothing.

I don't think that's what Bruce was complaining about, unless there was another post that I missed. The one I saw, his complaint was that someone quoted his writing in their book without his permission. Surely as an author yourself, you understand that complaint? I didn't see anything about him complaining of not being paid.

Robert, I do not recall there being any announcements in 2011 that the FBI had dismissed LD as a suspect. I think that is something else that you are mistaken about. Of course, if you can show that to be the case, I will certainly accept that I am wrong on that point. I do recall that there were some media reports around that time that the initial testing they did was inconclusive. But I don't recall a dismissal as a suspect.

Yes, I agree that I am not going to change his mind. However, most of the time when I post things like this, it isn't so much to try and change his mind, but rather for the benefit of others that may read the forum and may not be regular posters. I just think he needs to be challenged on some things, especially if the prospects of a movie naming Kenny as Cooper are real (which I have my doubts about). I've always figured that there were a couple of things about Cooper physically that maybe didn't get released publicly. Perhaps LD was a match to something like that?

No Robert, that is not the email that I was referring to. I went back to the DB Cooper forum and did some digging and found the email. This was a response that Bruce had received after he emailed her asking about a supposed suspect that the FBI had spent the previous 5 years investigating before closing the case. This was her response: "As you know, I can't provide a name because of Privacy Act considerations. However, I will tell you that a tip we received in 2010 provided information on a person the FBI had not previously considered as a match to the NORJAK subject. Every other individual mentioned in tips over the last five or more years was someone the FBI had previously considered, and for whom investigative results did not support further consideration. I would caution you from saying we spent five years investigating, because the effort was much less involved. We received items belonging to the 2010 individual and sent them to our lab for forensic testing against the DNA and fingerprint profiles we have on file. Given much more urgent and higher profile demands on the Lab, only in January 2016 did the Seattle Division receive the results of that testing. It did not confirm a match between the 2010 individual and the hijacker. There was tremendous media attention in 2011 to our investigation. I can't confirm or deny any claims about the identity of the individual we were considering, but I would suggest you review that media coverage." Obviously, she is talking about LD Cooper. This also shows that up until 2016, that he had never been eliminated as a suspect as you claim he had been.

The Troy Bentz story is your attempt to show that the FBI closed the case because they knew "Kenny was the guy and he's dead, so what's the point". Is that not correct?

This is spot on. The email that Bruce Smith posted from Ayn Dietrich Williams after the case was closed confirmed that LD was the focus of the last few years of the case. I'll take it a step further: I also believe that Curtis Eng told Marla that he thought LD was the hijacker and was going to close the case. She even told us all that before it happened. Blevins wants us to believe that Kenny Christiansen is the guy the FBI thought was Cooper before they closed the case. This is obviously not the case. As you stated, I have no idea why the FBI thought they had their man with LD. Perhaps some of the 302's can shed some light on that at some point?

Ok, first and foremost let me get this out of the way: I do not, and never have believed that LD Cooper was DB Cooper. Second, I don't give a shit about attention of the public. Third, I do not sponsor any events. And fourth, you would be hard pressed to find anyone on any of these forums that looks at witnesses and evidence with a more balanced eye than I do. I know you don't agree with that because I don't support your suspect, but that's the truth. You said back there that if they wanted the truth on LD, then they should have spoke to the one person who "knew the truth one way or the other". I was merely pointing out to you, that they did speak to that person and that person backed Marla's story, at least to a degree. You obviously had no recollection of that, or at least didn't recall it. Too bad your memory isn't as good as some of the Kenny witnesses.

Wrong once again. They did speak with her mother and her mother agreed that LD could be the hijacker. She even did a TV interview about it.

Robert, who does the art work on your cartoons?

Robert, as I said above, I've never seen much in the way of evidence that would lead me to consider LD a viable suspect. However, IF he was Cooper, Marla was a child at the time that it happened. Any landing spot for him would be pure speculation on her part even if he was the hijacker. For that reason, I don't look at that as one of the reasons to dismiss her story.

I don't think it was ever established that he had any jump experience. There really isn't that much that we know about him. The FBI called him their "most promising" suspect, but there's really nothing that I have seen that would justify that. They obviously saw something there that peaked their interest, but I have no idea what that was. Marla was actually here on DZ for a short period after her story broke. She wasn't treated very well. Someone brought up some personal stuff that had no place here and she got pissed and left. Can't say that I blame her.

I made my first road trip in a few weeks today (to Alabama of all places, the very week of the Alabama - Tennessee game). I'm a little behind on podcasts, so today I finally got around to listening to the Marla podcast. I gotta say, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'd like to hang out with Marla some time and throw back a few Miller Lites.

The money find is a clear indication that DB Cooper, whoever he was, did not get away with the ransom money. I go back and forth on whether he lived or died, but one thing I'm certain of, is that he didn't get away with the money. Those who have suspects that supposedly spent large amounts of money after the hijacking have to come up with a theory that explains how their suspect can have all this money, but yet some of it wound up in the Columbia. I view it as a needle in a haystack. I've never tried, but I assume that it would be very hard to find a needle in a haystack. But, put a couple hundred thousand needles in that same haystack, and it becomes much easier to find just one needle. Likewise, what is more likely: (1)That all of the money that was in the Columbia was miraculously found?, Or (2) That the money that was found represents only a small fraction of the money that went into the Columbia?

Which is my exact point on why he would not have put the money in a paper bag or some other kind of container. Look, if I were going to plant something in hopes of it being found, the last damn place I would put it would be in a body of water. How many times have you seen cases where someone drops a gun, or a body or some other piece of damning evidence into a body of water? This happens all the time. They put things there to hide them from being discovered, not so that someone finds them. Why not just go scatter a few bills on a river bank if that's your goal? Also the idea that Kenny - and that's your endgame with this theory, let's not kid ourselves - would spend all of this money buying houses and stamp collections and loaning it out to a friend of a friend to buy a house, and still have stacks of bills lying around 4 years later in the same form and sequence he received them is a ridiculous notion in itself. Talk about eating your cake and having it too.

Similar to the Recca account where he gave his buddy some money and he later tossed it. I don't buy that one either, but it makes more sense than an intentional plant.

I have always thought that he offered the change from the $20 as a tip and then later when the money was brought on board, he offered some to Tina after she made a joke about wanting some of it. That's the way I've always understood it to have happened.