An amateur investigator claims he found a piece of evidence that could solve the case of D.B. Cooper, one of America’s greatest mysteries. The FBI closed its investigation into the 1971 plane hijacking back in 2016.
Cooper is a pseudonym for a man who hijacked a plane over the Pacific Northwest. During the incident, Cooper told authorities he had a bomb and asked for $200,000 and four parachutes.
Authorities handed Cooper the money and the parachutes after the plane landed. After the plane took off again, people who were still on the flight said he jumped out of the plane with the money and a parachute. Despite years of searching, he was never seen again.
Dan Gryder claims he found a modified parachute rig in North Carolina belonging to Richard McCoy, saying the rig is “literally one in a billion.”
A jury convicted McCoy, a former Green Beret, of hijacking a plane the year after the Cooper incident. Like Cooper, he demanded cash and parachutes as a ransom.
McCoy never admitted to the Cooper hijacking. McCoy later escaped prison after his conviction. FBI agents shot and killed him in 1974.
McCoy’s children believe their father is Cooper. They reached out to Gryder to give him evidence for his investigative series on YouTube.
Wyoming news outlet Cowboy State Daily reported they stayed quiet for decades until their mother died, believing law enforcement could charge her.
Their report also states Gryder and McCoy’s son spoke with FBI agents and allowed them to search McCoy’s family property last year.
After the search, the McCoy family turned over the parachute and a skydiving log from their father that lines up with the timeline of both hijackings.
However, the FBI hasn’t publicly confirmed or denied whether they have formally reopened the case.
