WANTED: D.B. Cooper - DEAD or...DEAD?
One cannot study the Cooper case without considering he might have died the night of the jump. Guest blogger Jude Morrow, author of the historical fiction novel “Dan Cooper” (available on Amazon), is a major proponent of the “Dead Camp.” He weighs in….
In the DB Cooper vortex, those of us who believe the infamous hijacker died are often viewed as pariahs. There’s a cultural yearning for this Robin Hood-esque figure to have defied the odds, “stuck it to the man,” and disappeared into legend with $200,000 in tow. Theories abound, suggesting Cooper was a military-trained parachutist or a skilled skydiver. But despite over five decades of speculation, the one person who never spoke about his fate is the hijacker himself. That silence is telling.
Let’s start with the facts. The FBI records show Cooper had a 24-foot canopy parachute and a cotton drawstring bag tied to himself filled with cash. For context, that canopy was small, not designed for a smooth descent with an unbalanced load like a sack of money. Every known copycat hijacker who attempted similar feats landed injured, even when equipped with better gear. Sure, they lived—but they also ended up in prison or dead shortly afterward. So why do we assume Cooper alone defied the odds, stuck a perfect landing, and disappeared into history?
The romantic notion that a middle-aged man with no evident precision-jumping experience leapt into the pitch-black night, with no idea where he was landing, and walked away unharmed is far-fetched. Add to this that he was reportedly drinking and had taken Benzedrine earlier that day. The truth is far less glamorous: a desperate man, likely without military or skydiving expertise, chose an incredibly risky escape method.
Some suggest, “If he died, he’d have been found.” This rhetoric doesn’t hold water. People vanish all the time. Amelia Earhart’s crash didn’t result in immediate wreckage discovery. Planes crash, ships sink, and individuals disappear without a trace every year. Cooper’s disappearance, while audacious, fits this pattern.
So, what likely happened? Cooper could have landed hard, been injured, and succumbed to exposure in the wilderness. He might have lost the money—perhaps even thrown himself into the Columbia River out of despair. The three packets of cash found years later could have drifted from his jacket pocket.
Even if he survived the jump, consider his circumstances. This was not a man with a loving family waiting for him at home. He was desperate for money and didn’t care if he lived or died. His lack of a wedding ring or ties suggests a man with little to lose. If he lived, he probably told no one—not because of a master plan, but because he had no one to tell.
Dan Cooper wasn’t a daring mastermind. He was a vulnerable, desperate man who vanished as audaciously as he appeared. Whether he lived or died, his legacy is one of futility: a middle-aged man who came from nothing, did something extraordinary, and disappeared into nothing once more.
-Jude
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