The mystery and intrigue surrounding the infamous hijacker D.B. Cooper seems as though it will last a little longer. A DNA test conducted by the FBI in D.C. has failed to link a new suspect in the case with a necktie left on the plane Cooper hijacked in 1971.
Marla Cooper of Oklahoma recently came forward and claimed that her uncle, Lynn Doyle Cooper was the hijacker and claimed she remembered seeing him suffering from serious injuries at her parents’ home in Oregon shortly after the daring crime was reported.
FBI Special Agent Fred Gutt says however there is no substantial link between the DNA provided by Marla Cooper and three sets of DNA found on the tie. At the same time, the FBI also cannot completely discredit Cooper’s uncle because none of the DNA on the tie has been confirmed to be that of the hijacker.
“There are some questions about the tie itself,” Gutt says. “Was it a used tie, a borrowed tie?”
The question of “Who is D.B Cooper?” has plagued investigators for decades and hundreds of leads have been checked since his high-flying crime and escape in 1971. Cooper boarded a Northwest Orient Airlines flight the day before Thanksgiving and claimed to have a bomb on board. He allowed the plane to land in Seattle to let passengers off, but demanded a parachute and $200,000 ransom. After taking off again, Cooper jumped from the plane with the money. His body has never been found, nor has the money.
