Hey there, DETECTIVES! DETECTIVE WRITER here to tell you all about an unsolved disappearance from 1971, D.B. Cooper.
Now, you’ve probably heard of him from the 2021 Disney+ series, “Loki,” who is portrayed by Tom Hiddleston. But the actual story was actually as mysterious as it sounds.
Fun fact: D.B. Cooper actually purchased his airline ticket with the alias name, Dan Cooper but due to a miscommunication from the news, he was mistakenly identified as D.B. Cooper.
On November 24th, 1971, a man wearing a black attache case arrived at Portland International Airport at the counter of Northwest Orient Airlines. Paying in cash for a one-way ticket for Flight 305 heading to Seattle – Tacoma International Airport by a Boeing 727-100 plane, he claimed his name was Dan Cooper. He was described by eyewitnesses as being in his midforties, dressed in a black tie and white suit, and ordered a bourbon and soda drink while on the flight. It is unclear where he sat, perhaps around 18C or 15D. After the flight took off around 2:50 P.M. Cooper placed his plan in action. He gave the flight attendant closer to him, Florence Schaffner, a note. When she failed to read it because she thought it was his phone number, he warned her to look at it. She has stated that she was forced to sit next to him as he revealed he placed a bomb onboard. It is not known exactly what he wrote in the note but afterwards, he demanded four parachutes, $200,000, and a fuel truck waiting for him in Seattle. The aircraft crew were ordered to follow through with each and every one of Cooper’s demands. Schaffner remembers him as calm, thoughtful, and of reporting him of claiming he did not have a grudge with the airline but simply just had a grudge. Although, the plane had eventually landed in the Seattle Tacoma Airport and Cooper’s demands were met, the plane went back in the air at 7:40 P.M. this time with Cooper and several crew members. Around 8 P.M. Cooper had repeatedly opened the air door and jumped out, never to be seen or heard from again. The FBI has had the case open since but there have been no successful leads as to where Cooper landed or if he even survived.
I hope you have enjoyed this storytime as much as I did, DETECTIVES! Please let me know in the comments if you want to have more storytime! Have a great day, night, afternoon, or evening, DETECTIVES! Stay tuned for next week’s post and until then, keep on sleuthing, DETECTIVES!
Detective Writer 