SKYJACK: The Hunt for D. B. Cooper
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DATE UNKNOWN, 1978, PUYALLUP, WASHINGTON.
Ron Foreman meets Barb Dayton for the first time: interview with Ron Foreman. Barb is depressed: interview with Pat Foreman. Barb confesses to the Cooper hijacking: interviews with Ron and Pat Foreman, The Legend of D.B. Cooper by Ron and Pat Foreman.
AUGUST 2000. PACE, FLORIDA.
Prison records of Duane Weber: provided by Jo Weber, courtesy of Doug Pasternak. Details of Soldier of Fortune magazine: found in Soldier of Fortune, December 1994. Jo Weber’s investigation and memories: interviews with Jo Weber. Details of Robert Kennedy dying near a clip-on tie: Contract on America: The Mafia murder of John F. Kennedy (Shapolosky, 1988).
JULY 26, 1972, BRIGHTON, COLORADO, MCCOY.
Richard Floyd McCoy’s escape from prison, letters to the judge appealing for a reduction in his sentence, and planning another escape: D.B. Cooper: The Real McCoy by Rhodes.
MARCH 1, 2008, CATHEYS VALLEY, CALIFORNIA.
Bobby Dayton and biography of his children: Rena Ruddell. Psychology of hijackers: The Skyjacker by Hubbard. Searching the Dayton ranch: author. Life on the Dayton ranch and interview of Sharon Power conducted by author; poem provided by Sharon Power. Billie Dayton’s recollection of Bobby Dayton and deathbed confession: interviews of Billie Dayton conducted by author.
AUGUST 2000, PACE, FLORIDA.
Jo Weber’s introduction to Bob Knoss: interview with Jo Weber. Jo Weber’s recollection of the paper bag floating on the river: interview with Jo Weber.
MARCH 4, 2008, WOODBURN, OREGON.
Search for the cistern and remaining ransom with Cliff Kluge, and Ron and Pat Foreman: interviews and participation of author. Notes of Barb’s confession: provided by Ron and Pat Foreman. Medical files of Barb Dayton, provided by Ron and Pat Foreman, courtesy of Rena Ruddell. Larry Carr’s discovery of the white parachute: interview with Carr. The discovery of Dan Cooper the comic: interview with Wayne Walker, aka Sluggo. Details of comic book character Dan Cooper: from Les Aventures de Dan Cooper, Volume 1 through 8, Le Lombard Publications. Interview of Albert Weinberg, the Dan Cooper comic book artist, conducted by author with French translation by Valerie Fischer.
AUGUST 10, 1974, LEWISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.
Details of the prison escape, the flight on the lam, bank robberies, and shootout with federal agents: D.B. Cooper: The Real McCoy by Rhodes. Additional details on the shootout: interview with retired federal agent Nick O’Hara.
FEBRUARY 28, 2009, BATTLEGROUND, WASHINGTON.
Following the clues and scientific field work observed by author. The Silver-in-the-Sand theory by Tom Kaye: interview by author. The Missing Minute, by Wayne Walker. Brian Ingram’s recollection of finding the Cooper bills: interview of Brian Ingram conducted by author. Controversy over who found the Cooper bills: interview with Himmelsbach; NORJAK by Himmelsbach; interviews with Pat and Dwayne Ingram. The fallout between Tom Kaye and Warner: interviews of Kaye and Warner conducted by author. Details of the Fazio Ranch and Tena Bar: observed by author. The fallout over the finding of the Cooper bills: interviews of Patricia, Dwayne, and Brian Ingram conducted by author.
SEPTEMBER 15, 2009, NEW YORK.
Skipp Porteous is convinced Ken Christiansen is Cooper: interview by author. Bills were found in the tree on Christiansen’s property: interview with Porteous, and Into the Blast: The True Story of D.B. Cooper by Porteous and Blevins.
Barb Dayton loves to fly: “After She Shelves Her Job, She Opens Her Wings,” The Daily, University of Washington newspaper, date unknown. “All the forces in life converge,” The Skyjacker by Hubbard. Obituary of Richard Floyd McCoy Sr. published in The News & Observer, October 16, 2008.
Bob Knoss questioned: interview with Don Nichols and R.A. Randall conducted by author. Interview of Bob Knoss conducted by author.
Jo Weber speaks: interview of Weber conducted by author. Cyber attacks against Weber found on dropzone.com.
Jerry Thomas’s quest in the Washougal continues: interviews with Jerry Thomas and Charlene Thomas.
Tom Kaye’s theory goes bust: interviews with Tom Kaye. Information about titanium sponge and the history of titanium in airplanes: interview with John Little, curator at the Museum of Flight, and experts from the Mining and Metallurgical Society of America. The rediscovery of silver on the bills: interview with Jerry Warner conducted by author.
Patricia and Dwayne Ingram speak about the Curse: interview with Pat and Dwayne Ingram.
Larry Carr is transferred: interviews with Larry Carr.
Karl Fleming attempts suicide: interviews with Karl Fleming, and excerpts from Son of the Rough South by Fleming.
Details on Bryant “Jack” Coffelt: The Last Lincolns: The Rise & Fall of a Great American Family by Charles Lachman (Union Square Press, 2008). Details on Gossett: interviews with Galen Cook. “A steady third place finisher,” from D.B. Cooper: What Really Happened? by Gunther.
Jake and Black Bag Jobs: interviews with the source conducted by author. Prison records from Washington State obtained by author.
Cabin experience: East Jewett, New York. Phone interview with Jo Weber conducted by author.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book couldn’t have been possible without the participation, bravery, curiosities, memories, wisdoms, and insights of the following sources, most of whom began a conversation with me several years ago and whom I have met in every time zone throughout the country: Lyle Christiansen, Skipp Porteous, and Sherry Hart at Sherlock Investigations; Florence Schaffner and Alice Hancock; Ron Foreman, Pat Foreman and Cliff Kluge; Rena Ruddell; Sharon Power and Billie Dayton; Jo Weber; Ralph Himmelsbach; Jerry Thomas; Charlene Thomas; Brian Ingram, Dwayne Ingram, and Patricia Ingram; Tom Kaye, Alan Stone, Carol Abraczinskas, and Roberta Burroughs. There are others, many dozens of others, who spent hours with me in person, in coffee shops, bars, diners, libraries, conference rooms, on the phone, and over e-mail. Thank you for your help and your perspectives.
I am also fortunate to have had the help of Special Agent Larry Carr, who was courageous in pushing the case forward. Over the past three years, I have also interviewed scores of other law enforcement sources, including retired FBI agents and state troopers, as well as Northwest officials, passengers, the family members of deceased passengers, air-traffic controllers, and many others; thank you all.
Piecing together the final manuscript has been a challenge. Frankie Thomas is a prodigious editor in the making. Her grooming and pruning skills were exemplary, not to mention her insights and patience with fact-checking. Catherine Coreno is a fastidious researcher, and labored through many waves of copy, offering clarity and organization. Valerie Fischer is a great friend, and her French translation skills proved essential once again. Wayne Walker: thanks for helping try to keep the facts straight and helping others try to crack NORJAK. John Little, assistant curator at the Museum of Flight, in Seattle, knows all there is to know about airplanes; his assistance was extroardinary. John Fox, the FBI’s in-house historian, was also helpful in illuminating the history of the Bureau and the era. There were also numerous researchers and aides at the National Archives, Air and Space Museum, Minnesota Historical Society, and New York Public Library who helped me track down materials and information.
At New York magazine, executive editor John Homans sent me on the Cooper hunt and was instrumental in the shaping and the telling of it. Like other writers at the magazine, I am lucky to have an editor with his ear and feel for stories and the characters that drive them. Editor-in-chief Adam Moss and managing editor Ann Clarke: thanks again for granting me the time to work exclusively on this project. Carl Swanson and Carl Rosen and others at the magazine: thanks for your advice and support.
Finally, I’d like to thank the talented staff at Crown Publishers, who have made the experience of writing this book, my first, a memorable one. Sean Desmond, my editor, has an extraordinary sensibility about how to make a book work, from the motives of the characters and the historical context in which they interact
to the typeface of each font. He’s been a tremendous booster and groomer, patient, creative, and inspiring to work with. Stephanie Chan and the editors and designers in the copy, art, and production departments—Mark McCauslin, Linnea Knollmueller, David Tran, Lenny Henderson, and Andrea Peabbles—were also creative and always willing to entertain ideas.
My agent, Richard Abate, saw the potential in this project and worked tirelessly to make it happen. And my friends Allen and Belkis Hersch, and Chris Delahanty and Dina Badami, were gracious enough to let me camp out in their respective retreats to muscle through various parts of the manuscript. Uncle Wayne: thanks for reading another one. Mom and Mags: thanks for putting up with me. And finally, Dan Cooper: thanks for the story.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
GEOFFREY GRAY is a contributing editor at New York magazine. He covered boxing for the New York Times and for programs such as This American Life, writes for other newspapers and magazines, and once drove an ice cream truck. Skyjack is his first book.
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