I have been hanging around this site for about 2 months and signed up a few weeks ago. I almost posted nothing but it is the only active DB Cooper forum I have found. It is really a shame the amount of personal sniping that goes on. I guess that is because it has been talked out for so many years. Not personal judgement, just an observation. Here is an alternate theory. I realize it is not completely original. I do not have some of the fact regarding the search of the plane after it landed to make a more educated supposition. If you can add to the list of absolute facts below, please do.
What we know – absolute facts.
• ‘Dan Cooper’ purchased a ticket and got on flight 305 in Portland
• He demanded $200K and 4 parachutes
• The plane proceeded to Seattle for refueling and to transfer money and parachutes to plane
• All passengers and crew except for 4 crew members were released in Seattle
• Plane took off and headed toward Reno
• During flight the aft stairs were deployed
• Plane landed in Reno and ‘Dan Cooper’ was gone
• The only two pieces of physical evidence ever found on the ground and identified are the aft stair placard and the bundle of money at Tena Bar
What I want to know
• How well was the plane searched after landing in Reno for the possibility that he never left the plane?
• When was the next flight of the N467US plane, or where was it stored while repairing the rear stairs?
• Were all passengers carry-on cases searched when they were released?
• Is there a possible(not necessarily probable) place to hide on the plane and avoid be discovered?
• Is it possible to get to the cargo area from the passenger compartment on that model 727?
• Is it possible to have hidden on the plane in ‘plain sight’ and not been detected? Maybe behind a wall panel or in the floor or ceiling.
The reason for these speculations (and that is all they are) is because if all of his belongings (briefcase, shoes, parachutes, money bag, etc) went out of the plane, it is hard to believe that NONE of it was discovered at some point. If he went splat, then add his body to the list. If he went directly into a lake then there is certainly a chance that is body and chute sank. If that were the case, then it is still hard to believe that his brief case stayed with him for the entire trip down. It stands to reason that it would have been on a different path.
I don’t have the answers for the above questions. If anyone has answers to the questions or blueprints of the 727 that may shed light on some this, I would appreciate it.
My grand THEORY is that he got on the plane, got his parachutes and money and never jumped. I think he had some place on the plane to hide. The Tena Bar money was a plant that was done later. I believe the research on the rubber bands that states they could not have survived for those years outside and still were intact. Also, three bundles of money in one spot seem to be a plant. In my mind, it would be impossible for three bundles to land in the same spot with intact rubber bands on them, especially since they would have been in the environment for nearly 9 years.
