SKYJACK: The Hunt for D. B. Cooper

by Geoffrey Gray

  THE JUMP

  Quote: “Bombproof.” Found on newsprint in the wallet of insurance salesman and D.B. Cooper suspect Duane Weber.

  Nixon quote: whitehousetapes.net.

  JULY 6, 2007. NEW YORK, NEW YORK.

  Skipp Porteous, Sherry Hart, and Sherlock Investigations: Jesus Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, by Skipp Porteous; interviews with Skipp Porteous and Sherry Hart.

  Kenneth, Lyle, and Donna Christiansen: interviews with Lyle Christiansen; entries from A Cute as a Bug’s Ear by Donna Christiansen.

  The quote from the sociologist (“He comes off as a kind of curious Robin Hood …”) is from Dr. Otto Larson and appeared in the Seattle Times, “Hijacker of Jetliner Steals Public Fancy Here,” Ross Anderson, November 28, 1971.

  Quotes from sheriff and agent in newsclips following hijacking, FBI file.

  Information about D.B. Cooper FBI file: author reporting, FBI agent Larry Carr.

  Near death of treasure hunter John Banks, NORJAK, by Ralph Himmelsbach.

  Journalist’s suicide attempt and electroshock treatments: Son of the Rough South by Karl Fleming (Public Affairs, 2005).

  Charles Manson quote: transcripts of the Manson trial.

  Quote from Richard Nixon (“If I’m assassinated …”): 1973 Nervous Breakdown: Watergate, Warhol, and the Birth of Post-Sixties America by Andreas Killen (Bloomsbury, 2006).

  Statistics on American skyjackings: Federal Aviation Administration newsletter, January 24, 1971.

  Passages on psychology of skyjackers: The Skyjacker: His Flights of Fantasy by David G. Hubbard, M.D. (Macmillan, 1971).

  Kenneth Christiansen: military records, interviews with Lyle Christiansen.

  Lyrics: “D.B. Cooper, Where Are You?” by Judy Sword.

  NOVEMBER 24, 1971. ABOARD NORTHWEST 305.

  The description of the events aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 305, and of the FBI’s response on the ground, is drawn from the FBI files, including interviews with Florence Schaffner, Tina Mucklow, Alice Garley Hancock, Harold E. Anderson, William John Rataczak, William A. Scott, Dennis Eugene Lysne, Hal V. Williams, Robert B. Gregory, George R. Labissoniere, Cord Harms Zrim Spreckel, William W. Mitchell, Nancy House, Earl J. Cossey, and others. Conversations between pilots, air traffic controllers, Northwest officials, and FBI agents are quoted from Teletype reports and transcriptions of various radio communications on the night of the hijacking and found in FBI files and NORJAK. In addition, the author conducted interviews with Schaffner, Hancock, passengers Mitchell, Larry Finegold, Floyd Kloepfer, Patrick Minsch, and others, and interviews with retired agents Himmelsbach, Bob Fuhrman, and John Detler and others; the families of passengers Les Pollart, captain William Scott, and detective Owen McKenna.

  Details about Alaska airline jet crash: aviation-safety.net; news clips.

  Fear of flying: from The New York Times—“Pills, Drinks and Will Power Banish Fear of Flying” by Robert Lindsey, March 5, 1970; “Final Exam for First Afraid-to-Fly Graduating Class: Puerto Rican Flight” by Paul J. C. Friedlander, March 1, 1970; “Pacific Backs Ads on Fear of Flying,” May 9, 1967; “Advertising: Stan Freberg Tackles Fear” by Philip H. Dougherty, April 28, 1967; and “Some of the Best People Are Afraid of Flying” by Diane Ouding, August 12, 1973.

  Northwest stewardess uniform: Northwest Orient (Gallery Books, 1987) by Bill Yenne, Flight to the Top (Viking Press, 1986) by Kenneth D. Ruble, and uniformfreak.com.

  History of stewardesses: Come Fly With Us! (Collector’s Press, 2006) by Johanna Omelia and Michael Waldock; Sex Objects in the Sky (Follett Publishing, 1974) by Paula Kane with Christopher Chandler.

  The United ad (“And someone may get a wife”) appeared in the November 11, 1966, issue of Life magazine; National’s “Fly Me” campaign: Time magazine, “Fly Me,” November 15, 1971; National’s “I’m going to fly you like you’ve never been flown before” commercials: Time magazine, “Fly Me Again,” June 24, 1974.

  National boycott: Working the Skies: The Fast-Paced, Disorienting World of the Flight Attendant by Drew Whitelegg; The Other Women’s Movement: Workplace Justice and Social Rights in Modern America by Dorothy Sue Cobble.

  Air America: Air-Britain Digest; “The CIA’s Airlines: Logistic Air Support for the War in Laos, 1954 to 1975” by Martin Best, date unknown; and usmcpress.com/heritage/air_america.htm.

  John Little, aviation historian and Museum of Flight Assistant Curator, provided information on the Boeing 727 and the habits of airline pilots in the 1970s.

  Playboy’s Miss October 1971 and Miss November 1971: freeweb.hu/playmate/html/7110.html, and freeweb.hu/playmate/html/7111.html.

  Details on Hump pilots and missions found in The Hump Express, published during World War II.

  Guidelines for stewardesses: reprinted in Come Fly With Us!

  AUGUST 25, 2007. NEW YORK, NEW YORK.

  Kenneth Christiansen: military records, Christiansen’s letters home during the war, and interviews with Lyle Christiansen.

  Historic currency calculations made at futureboy.us.

  Shemya: Northwest Airlines: The First 80 Years by Geoff Jones.

  Bikini Island: bikiniatoll.com/history.html.

  NOVEMBER 24, 1971. ABOARD NORTHWEST 305.

  Lewis and Clark: passage appears in The Lewis and Clark Journals: An American Epic of Discovery (2003), edited by Gary Moulton. Dark Divide: Where Bigfoot Walks: Crossing the Dark Divide (Mariner Books, 1997) by Robert Michael Pyle.

  Vietnam War Facts: Nixonland by Rick Perlstein (Scribner, 2008).

  Tornadoes: Time magazine, “Devastation in the Delta,” March 8, 1971.

  Los Angeles earthquake: California Geology, “The 1971 San Fernando Earthquake,” April/May 1971.

  Animal attacks at the Detroit zoo: Time magazine, “Animal Farm,” June 28, 1971.

  Police deaths, counterculture protests, the Attica prison riot, and Nixon’s speech: Nixonland.

  MAY 27, 1969. SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

  Robert (Barbara) Dayton: medical files of Barbara Dayton; letters and postcards of Robert Dayton; interviews with Ron and Pat Foreman, Rena Ruddell, and Sharon Power; The Legend of D.B. Cooper by Ron and Pat Foreman.

  Himmelsbach: interviews with Himmelsbach; NORJAK by Himmelsbach; Paul Cini, recounted in NORJAK; news clips.

  Nyrop and life at Northwest Orient: interviews with former Northwest employees. “A bit to the left of Genghis Khan,” appeared in “Nyrop, NW and That Aid Pact” by Robert Samuelson, Washington Post, September 17, 1972.

  Bahamas Charter Jet transcript: Nashville Scene, “A Nashville Hijacking 38 Years Ago Set the Standard on How Not to Handle Hostage Negotiations,” August 27, 2009.

  Skyjacking history: The Sky Pirates (Scribner, 1972) by James A. Arey.; 1973 Nervous Breakdown: Watergate, Warhol, and the Birth of Post-Sixties America (Bloomsbury, 2006) by Andreas Killen.

  Ethiopian Air skyjacking: Washington Post, “Birdwatcher, Wife Subdued Hijacker,” December 9, 1972. Sacramento skyjacking: Newsweek, “Skyjacked—And Alive to Tell the Tale,” July 17, 1972.

  The FAA’s secret psychological profile of hijackers can be found in the Report of Proceedings of the National Conference Seeking Solutions to the International Hijacking Problem, July 17, 1970, compiled by the Airline Passengers Association.

  AUGUST 25, 1977. HILTON AIRPORT HOTEL, ATLANTA, GEORGIA.

  Duane Weber’s employment history from 1952 to 1974, as it appeared on a 1974 résumé; his awards and letters of commendation from Life Investors, Annualized Life, Annualized A&H, Michigan Life Insurance Company, Interlock Screw and Bolt Corporation, and American Income Life; and interviews with Jo Weber.

  NOVEMBER 24, 1971. ABOARD NORTHWEST 305.

  FBI interviews with passengers, stewardesses, Northwest officials, pilots, and others; author interviews with passengers; FBI files and documents; Teletypes and transcriptions between pilots, crew, and law enforcement; passenger statements following hijacking in newspaper reports.

  DECEMBER 7, 1942. COVE CITY, NOR
TH CAROLINA.

  Details from Richard Floyd McCoy’s childhood, family life, and schooling at Brigham Young University from D.B. Cooper: The Real McCoy, by Bernie Rhodes. Details on McCoy’s military record: court documents and exhibits from McCoy’s 1972 criminal trial.

  NOVEMBER 24, 1971. ABOARD NORTHWEST 305.

  FBI interviews with Northwest officials Hal Williams, Dennis Lysne, Mucklow, FBI summary reports, transcriptions of radio communications, Himmelsbach, NORJAK by Himmelsbach.

  Clyde Jabin: Information on Jabin’s goof of Cooper’s name comes from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, November 27, 2007. Another explanation for the error comes from Himmelsbach, who claims an agent gave the reporter the initials of Daniel Barry Cooper, who was ruled out on the night of the hijacking after police located him.

  THE HUNT

  Letters from alleged Cooper suspects to FBI, from FBI files.

  AUGUST 24, 2007. APPROACHING PORTLAND.

  Trip taken by the author; interviews with Himmelsbach, NORJAK.

  NOVEMBER 25, 1971. WEST LINN, OREGON.

  Accounts of the day after: interviews with Himmelsbach. The re-interviewing of the witnesses: FBI files. Search of the plane in Reno: FBI files. Quotes from Walter Cronkite come from footage of the broadcast, courtesy of Vanderbilt Television News Archive.

  SEPTEMBER 3, 1969. SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

  Medical procedures come from the medical files of Barbara Dayton. History of Bobby Dayton: interviews with Ron and Pat Foreman, Rena Ruddell, Sharon Power. Postcards and letters of Bob Dayton, from The Legend of D.B. Cooper by Ron and Pat Foreman.

  NOVEMBER 26, 1971. WOODLAND, WASHINGTON.

  Details of search headquarters found in local news accounts and FBI summary reports. Details of the radio communications and pressure bump controversy: FBI files.

  Ralph Himmelsbach: interviews with Himmelsbach; NORJAK by Himmelsbach.

  The passages about local reactions to the hijacking, including quotes and descriptions of local suspects, are drawn from a variety of newspaper sources, including the Seattle Times, “Amateurs Hunt Dollars, Not Hijacker,” November 27, 1971; the Seattle Times, “Money Seekers Join Hunt for Hijacker in State,” November 27, 1971; the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, “Sketch Made of Hijacker” by Dick Clever, November 28, 1971; the Seattle Times, “Hijacker of Jetliner Steals Public Fancy Here” by Ross Anderson, November 28, 1971; The Columbian, “D.B. Cooper, R.I.P.” November 19, 1976; The Barometer, December 3, 1971, classified ads; the Oregon Journal, “D.B. Cooper Record Scores In Gresham” by Dennis McCarthy, December 30, 1971; The Columbian, “A Party for D.B. Cooper” by Bob Burnett, November 28, 1976; the Seattle Times, “$200,000 Question: Who Pushed on Door at Midnight?” by Dave Birkland, November 28, 1971.

  MARCH 1995. WEST FLORIDA REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER, PENSACOLA, FLORIDA.

  Jo Weber: The death of Duane Weber and its aftermath are drawn from interviews the author conducted with Jo Weber. The passage and details concerning Soldier of Fortune magazine refer to the December 1994 issue of Soldier of Fortune. Details about money left in a bucket: “Skyjacker at Large” by Douglas Pasternak, U.S. News and World Report, July 24, 2000.

  NOVEMBER 27, 1971, SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

  Details of agents’ investigation into parachutists: FBI summary reports. Investigation into the parachutes the hijacker was given: FBI interviews with rigger Earl Cossey. Boeing layoff statistics: “SEA-TAC International Airport: Part 3-Boeing Bust to Deregulation” by Walter Crowley, historylink.org. FBI investigation into Air America connection: FBI summary reports.

  FALL SEMESTER 1971, BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY, PROVO, UTAH.

  McCoy’s medical condition: D.B. Cooper: The Real McCoy by Rhodes. Passages on skyjacker psychology: The Skyjacker by Hubbard. Mormon articles: Lds.org. Details about McCoy’s home life and idea to hijack an airplane: The Real McCoy by Rhodes and news reports from McCoy’s criminal trial.

  NOVEMBER 29, 1971. SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

  Details about the first sketch composed: FBI files. Details about the Towncraft tie: FBI files. A list of suspects: FBI files. Accounts from those detained: “Hijacker’s ‘Twin’: Looks, Hobby Plague Seattle Sky Diver” by Don Hannula, Seattle Times, December 5, 1971; “The Hijacker is Everywhere” by Dick Lyall, Seattle Times, December 15, 1971; the letter “I am no Robin Hood,” from “Only 14 Months to Live,” Los Angeles Times, December 14, 1971.

  AUGUST 24, 2007. WOODBURN, OREGON.

  Interview of Himmelsbach conducted by author. Details of the hijacker’s description: FBI files. “A beautiful but moody woman,” from D.B. Cooper: What Really Happened? by Gunther.

  DECEMBER 5, 1971. WOODLAND, WASHINGTON.

  Teletypes from agents about the search: the FBI files. Details about suspects and descriptions and investigations of leads: FBI files. Himmelsbach’s concern about copycats: interviews with Himmelsbach, NORJAK. Everett Holt: “Accused Hijacker Bluffed, FBI Says,” the Hartford Courant, December 27, 1971. Billy Hurst: FAA reports. Merlyn St. George: “FBI Identifies Slain Hijacker Through Prints,” the Hartford Courant, January 28, 1972. Stanley Speck: “Hijack Suspect in San Diego Case Arraigned,” the Los Angeles Times, April 10, 1972.

  FEBRUARY 18, 1970. UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON.

  Dayton medical files, including psychological evaluations, surgical and nurses’ notes. The Legend of D.B. Cooper by Ron and Pat Foreman. Interviews with Sharon Power, Rena Ruddell, Ron Foreman, Pat Foreman.

  JANUARY 6, 1972. MCCHORD AIR FORCE BASE.

  Experiment with the aftstairs and SR-71 search: FBI files. The discovery in the cistern: “Young Woman’s Body Discovered” by Steve Erickson, The Oregonian, March 30, 1972. Army search: FBI files and Bureau Teletypes.

  APRIL, 1995. PACE, FLORIDA.

  Discovery of “Dan Cooper”: interviews with Jo Weber. Summarization of hijacking: D.B. Cooper: What Really Happened? by Gunther. Memories and experiences of Jo Weber: interviews conducted by author. “Bloodiest forty-seven acres” and conditions inside Missouri State prison at Jefferson City: “The Wall” by J.J. Maloney, Crime Magazine, May 15, 2003. Experiences of James Earl Ray: “James Earl Ray” by Maloney, Crime Magazine; Truth at Last: The Untold Story Behind James Earl Ray and the Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. by John Larry Ray and Lyndon Barstein (Lyons Press, 2008). Conversation of Duane Weber’s family members: audiotapes provided by Jo Weber. “Crook, I guess,” recounted in “Smooth Talker at Beach Faces Robbery Counts” by Dick Morgan, the St. Petersburg Times, July 29, 1957.

  AUGUST 25, 2007. SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

  Ken Christiansen’s history and childhood: interviews with Lyle Christiansen. Larry Carr and current information and theories on the case: interview with Larry Carr.

  APRIL 7, 1972. PROVO, UTAH.

  Richard McCoy’s hijacking of United Airlines Flight 855, and his parachute jump, his escape, and capture: D.B. Cooper: The Real McCoy by Rhodes. The response from neighbors: “FBI Captures Student, ‘Evidence’ in Skyjack,” the Salt Lake Tribune, April 10, 1972; “FBI Holds $499,970 in Skyjack Ransom,” the Salt Lake Tribune, April 11, 1972; additional news clips about McCoy’s arrest: Salt Lake City Deseret News.

  AUGUST 26, 2007. SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

  The trip to Bonney Lake: conducted by author. Ken Christiansen’s habits: interviews with Lyle Christiansen. Details of Bonney Lake home: observed by author. Interviews with Christiansen neighbor and Kennth MacWilliams conducted by author. Hubbard “for these men, to command a woman,” The Skyjacker, by Hubbard. Tracking down stews: Hancock, Schaffner, and Mucklow, interviews conducted by author. Mucklow (“He was never cruel or nasty”), “Search Pressed for Hijacker,” Seattle Times, November 27, 1971.

  JUNE 29, 1972, SALT LAKE CITY, MCCOY ON TRIAL.

  McCoy in court; the feds lay out their case; Rhodes attempts to get McCoy’s confession: D.B. Cooper: The Real McCoy by Rhodes. McCoy’s escape: Deseret News.

  NOVEMBER 23, 2007, SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

  Carr’s report on the
evidence: interview with Carr. First encounter with the evidence: author. Lyle’s response to Kenny’s motive: interview with Lyle Christiansen.

  FEBRUARY 12, 1980, PORTLAND, OREGON.

  Names of suspects: FBI file. Himmelsbach struggles with case: interviews with Himmelsbach, NORJAK, by Himmelsbach. Indictment: “ ‘Dan Cooper’ Has One Year to Go Before Statute of Limitations Runs Out,” The Columbian, December 25, 1975. Money is found: NORJAK, by Himmelsbach; D.B. Cooper: Dead or Alive? by Tosaw; interviews with Patricia and Dwayne Ingram.

  NOVEMBER 23, 2007, SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

  Larry Carr takes the investigation into cyberspace: interview with Carr. Carr’s exchange (under the name ‘Ckret’) on dropzone.com was posted November 6, 2008, and November 7, 2008. Details on dropzone.com: interviews and research conducted by author. Jerry Warner (Georger): interviews conducted by author. Cooper Days: “A Party for D.B. Cooper” by Bob Burnett, November 28, 1976; interviews with bar owner Donna Elliott; lyrics found on newspaper clips on the walls of Ariel Tavern. Ron Foreman and Cliff Kluge present Barbara Dayton: interview by author.

  THE CURSE

  Snowmman quote (“Jo, you’re seeing Jesus in the Toast”) posted on dropzone.com, November 4, 2008.

  DECEMBER 2008, SIERRA VISTA, ARIZONA.

  Tom Kaye gets the money and biography of Tom Kaye: interviews with Tom Kaye. A description of the ranch in Sierra Vista: observed by author.

  AUGUST 1988, WASHOUGAL, WASHINGTON.

  Living in the woods, biography of Thomas: interviews with Jerry Thomas. Titles, military posts and certificates, copies provided by Thomas. Presenting the canvas bag to Himmelsbach: interviews with Thomas and Himmelsbach.