Eight Raleighs

Sometimes you guys argue back and forth, it's good to pin someone down on their precise position!

As we sit here today, on a scale of 1 being least likely and 100 being most likely, how likely do you think it is that one of the Rem-Cru "persons of interest" is Cooper?

Arguably the folk legend would grow if it is established that he survived and lived another 10, 20, 30 years. It would just be a different legend, I suppose.

I have a philosophical question: Do you and your fellow Remcru investigators anticipate feeling at least a wee bit of wistfulness if you indeed crack the Cooper case? He is one of the last true American folk heroes. And that status is largely dependent upon the fact that the man is a phantom, a wisp. (I would add that the folk hero status is also highly and perhaps mostly dependent upon persons such as yourself and everyone else here who is trying, without avail, to identify Dan Cooper.)

The conspiracy theories strike me as mostly utter nonsense. Dan Cooper was almost certainly Pacific Northwest resident who hijacked an airplane in order to secure $200,000. He acted alone. Short of legitimate evidence indicating otherwise, everything else strikes me as an embellishment intended to kill time or as a grift.

The Cooper case over the last 20 years (or maybe more) makes for a great case study in how people will selectively cherry-pick "evidence" to push a particular conclusion, in this case the veracity of their "suspects." Such a book would make a fine addition to the Cooper oeurve. Perhaps I'll take it on myself!

It does complicate things quite a bit. However, if you realized or suspected that your husband or father or brother was hijacker D.B. Cooper, you might hold off on reporting that person missing in the event he turned up alive, right?

Is it your belief that Cooper died in the jump? (Or shortly thereafter.)

He’s drinking with his right hand in the GIF. That said, just a short while ago, my wife and I were playing Scrabble. I was drinking with my left hand and playing with my right - the drink was set to my left so as not to interfere with the game play. So it’s not like people exclusively use their dominant hand.

OleMissCub has speculated that Cooper was left-handed, including on Darren S.’s podcast.

Do you find it bothersome that Milton appears to be right-handed?

No fighting on D.B. Cooper Day!

Unquestionably. I view what has been performed thus far as an entry point to 1. identifying a possible suspect; and 2. then seeking out more “actionable” evidence.

I suspect these guys would like nothing more than to set up a wide-ranging, airtight scientific inquiry, given unlimited time and resources. Short of that, they are working with what they have.

I try not to get too much into the "profiling" part of this - the science is the science. But it is difficult to believe that a successful scientist would risk his freedom, not to mention life and limb, to skyjack a passenger jet. You can appreciate why it is difficult for some to wrap their heads around.