Would the Real DB Cooper Please Stand Up?

Newly unveiled FBI documents offer intriguing details about the elusive case of airline hijacker DB Cooper. The compilation of 398 pages, released recently, sheds light on the agency’s diligent inquiries following tips from individuals claiming they possessed knowledge of Cooper’s fate after he jumped from a Boeing aircraft with $200,000 in ransom in 1971.

Interestingly, one investigation revolved around a suspect reportedly bound to a wheelchair. A document stating, “In this case, the man trapped in a wheelchair (sic) did not hijack the plane,” portrays the often-dry humor of bureaucratic reports.

Known as DB Cooper, this mysterious perpetrator, believed to be a well-dressed, dark-haired man in his mid-40s, took control of a Northwest Orient Airlines flight in Portland, Oregon, on November 24, 1971. He handed a note to the flight attendants asserting that he had a bomb in his briefcase, demonstrating a tangle of wires and red sticks to emphasize his threat.

Upon landing in Seattle, Cooper freed 36 passengers in return for a sum of cash and four parachutes. Subsequently, he instructed the remaining crew to fly towards Mexico City.

The enigmatic hijacker then leaped from the aircraft with parachutes and the ransom, disappearing into the night at an altitude of 10,000 feet while traveling between Seattle and Reno, Nevada. Despite extensive manhunts, the case has remained cold, with the FBI conducting countless interviews and generating a following of true crime enthusiasts eager to piece together the mystery.

The newly disclosed documents reveal a pattern: suspects are identified, investigated, and their photos are shown to witnesses. Many suspect files contain the handwritten term “eliminated,” which reflects the challenges of narrowing down leads. While some prominent figures like Richard McCoy Jr. have surfaced in discussions about Cooper, they are scarcely noted in these records.

Most suspects mentioned appear to be largely anonymous individuals lost to history—like an Alabama man who died of cancer shortly after the hijacking, an airline pilot, and even a Boeing employee.

Yet, one name in the files stands out: Donald Sylvester Murphy. He claimed—at least according to a former Newsweek editor—that he was indeed DB Cooper. However, this assertion was part of a scheme intended to impersonate Cooper and extort $30,000 from the editor.

Murphy took a photo mimicking the widely circulated artist’s rendition of Cooper, complete with a wig and glasses. Notably, he even replicated three $20 bills with serial numbers matching those of the ransom money.

In the end, Murphy and his associates faced prison time for fraud, as reported by the New York Times back in 1973.