The FBI could've solved the DB Cooper mystery very easily…
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — The Soapbox
ZolotoyRetriever — 1 week ago(March 21, 2026 02:36 AM)
…after 5 years if they had decided to drop all charges (5-year Statute of Limitations clause etc.) and offer him immunity from all prosecution if he just turned himself in. AFAIK this would've been possible - and probably not even controversial, given that nobody was killed or even injured in the actual hijacking. Perhaps a presidential decree would've been necessary, but heck, it was around that same time period, post-Viet Nam War, that the POTUS granted amnesty to Viet Nam era draft dodgers, so, why not grant amnesty to DB Cooper? If I had been the POTUS back then, it's what I would've done.
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元才 — 1 week ago(March 21, 2026 02:53 AM)
I still love DB Cooper and wonder what happened about it all
But I really don't think we're ever going to get an answer
That's part of the mystery
Parachutes found, suitcases with money in them found, trying all the backtracking as to who checked in - it's all there to try and figure out but never really get the answers to.
Things like Loki/The Avengers and others all leaning in on it, that's the fun -
ZolotoyRetriever — 1 week ago(March 21, 2026 04:17 AM)
But I really don't think we're ever going to get an answer
Personally, I think he crash-landed somewhere north of the Columbia River in Washington State. In spite of a lot of ground searches, his body as well as the ransom money he had strapped to him somehow never were found. It's possible (though more and more unlikely with each passing year) that some bones or a portion of the remaining cash will be discovered out in the wilderness somewhere. But he could've landed (and sunk) in a river in that general area, too, which makes it even more unlikely any remains will be found. -
ZolotoyRetriever — 1 week ago(March 21, 2026 05:29 AM)
Oh, he definitely worked it out beforehand. But if you study the case, there were a number of things he had little control over, and was simply taking a huge gamble. For example, he requested parachutes be provided to him, which they were - but provided to him by some outside source over which he had no direct control. A lot of things about those parachutes he was given really puzzle me. Who's to say the chutes weren't deliberately packed incorrectly, thus assuring his jump would not be successful? He also had no prior knowledge of what flight path the pilots would ultimately take when they departed Sea-Tac that night, so he really had no idea where he was when he jumped. He didn't appear to be properly dressed for a night jump in bad weather, either. He left a lot of things to pure chance. My hunch is, he gambled, and he lost.
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元才 — 1 week ago(March 21, 2026 06:06 AM)
It's a good guess, but remember - people weren't as stupid then as they are now
He would have to have taken that flight before, known the alternate routes and had back-up plans in place for changes.
I'm all for that being possible -
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WarrenPeace — 1 week ago(March 21, 2026 02:44 AM)
I think it's cool when criminals get away with it.
I saw a thing on TV where there were a few different family members and friends saying this or that guy they know was DB.
"Please vote to preserve the unique character of Warren…" - Robert Duvall -
ZolotoyRetriever — 1 week ago(March 21, 2026 03:52 AM)
I'm strongly leaning in that direction myself. Although no parachute or dead body was ever found, it's entirely possible his chute malfunctioned or something else went wrong in the jump, and he perished in a spot that somehow eluded human detection in the subsequent search of the area. None of the ransom money ever turned up in circulation either. In 1980, about $6,000 of the ransom money was found buried on a sand bar along the Columbia River near Vancouver, Washington, but my hunch is that this is money he gave to one or more of the flight crew before he jumped - sort of as a "thank you for helping me" gratuity. Said flight crew member(s) decided later to just bury the money and be done with it. (It was buried "naked" too - no protective bag or wrapping was around it. DB Cooper would not have done that with his precious loot that he risked his life for. So, I think it was a disposal operation.)
Schrodinger's Cat walks into a bar, and doesn't. 
