Post by hi224 on Nov 22, 2019 1:00:23 GMT
The 48th anniversary of one of the most famous unsolved mysteries in history is this week. The D.B. Cooper hijacking case has had many suspects. A relatively new suspect was recently identified, his name is William J. Smith, a railroader from New Jersey.
D. B. Cooper is an unidentified man who hijacked a Boeing 727 aircraft in the northwest United States, in the airspace between Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington, on the afternoon of Wednesday, November 24, 1971. The man purchased his airline ticket using the alias Dan Cooper but, because of a news miscommunication, became known in popular lore as "D. B. Cooper". He extorted $200,000 in ransom (equivalent to $1,240,000 in 2018) and parachuted to an uncertain fate. Despite an extensive manhunt and protracted FBI investigation, the perpetrator has never been located or identified. It remains the only unsolved case of air piracy in commercial aviation history.
In 2018, William J. Smith (1928-2018) was identified as a suspect in the newspaper The Oregonian. The article can be found here www.oregonlive.com/news/erry-2018/11/e18eba2aa14557/new-suspect-in-db-cooper-skyja.html
William J. Smith was identified by a military analyst who believed Smith was the same man who contacted author Max Gunther in 1972 and appeared in Max Gunther’s 1985 book “DB Cooper: What Really Happened.” William J. Smith served in the Navy as an aerial photographer and gunner, and was believed to have had a grudge against the transportation industry. His picture has been said to closely resemble the witness sketch of the hijacker.
More information can be found about William J. Smith on Wikipedia at: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._B._Cooper#William_J._Smith and at www.dbcooperhijack.com
D. B. Cooper is an unidentified man who hijacked a Boeing 727 aircraft in the northwest United States, in the airspace between Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington, on the afternoon of Wednesday, November 24, 1971. The man purchased his airline ticket using the alias Dan Cooper but, because of a news miscommunication, became known in popular lore as "D. B. Cooper". He extorted $200,000 in ransom (equivalent to $1,240,000 in 2018) and parachuted to an uncertain fate. Despite an extensive manhunt and protracted FBI investigation, the perpetrator has never been located or identified. It remains the only unsolved case of air piracy in commercial aviation history.
In 2018, William J. Smith (1928-2018) was identified as a suspect in the newspaper The Oregonian. The article can be found here www.oregonlive.com/news/erry-2018/11/e18eba2aa14557/new-suspect-in-db-cooper-skyja.html
William J. Smith was identified by a military analyst who believed Smith was the same man who contacted author Max Gunther in 1972 and appeared in Max Gunther’s 1985 book “DB Cooper: What Really Happened.” William J. Smith served in the Navy as an aerial photographer and gunner, and was believed to have had a grudge against the transportation industry. His picture has been said to closely resemble the witness sketch of the hijacker.
More information can be found about William J. Smith on Wikipedia at: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._B._Cooper#William_J._Smith and at www.dbcooperhijack.com
