The Baffling Disappearance of D.B. Cooper: The 1971 Unsolved Hijacking
Few crime mysteries in the past are more mystifying and intriguing than that of D.B. Cooper, a ghostly hijacker who orchestrated an almost miraculous getaway that has never been matched. In 1971, Cooper hijacked a scheduled airliner, extorted money, and parachuted into the night—never to be heard or seen again.

The Hijacking
On November 24, 1971, a man by the alias "Dan Cooper" (later mistakenly known as "D.B. Cooper") boarded Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305, which departed Portland, Oregon, for Seattle, Washington. Cooper, aboard, presented a flight attendant with a note that told her he possessed a bomb in his briefcase. He made demands of $200,000 in cash, four parachutes, and a fuel truck to transport him to Mexico when the plane landed. Having cooperated with the airline, Cooper then freed 36 passengers, while leaving the crew on board.

The Escape:
After Cooper had collected the ransom and parachutes, he instructed the plane to take off once more. He told the crew to maintain low speed and low altitude and have the rear stairs open. On his descent through Washington State's dense woods, Cooper escaped—he parachuted out of the plane, ransom in hand, into the wide-open wilderness. Neither Cooper nor the ransom were ever discovered, despite a thorough search.

Theories and Speculation:
There have been plenty of theories about Cooper's identity and where he may have headed since that night. Some believe that he could have been an experienced skydiver, using his knowledge to survive the jump and evade capture. Others believe that Cooper died as a result of the harsh weather and that his body was never found. Some ransom money was found in 1980 along the Columbia River, adding another twist to the case. In 2016, the FBI shut down the case, officially ending their search for Cooper.

Why It Persists:
Part of the reason D.B. Cooper's story is so captivating is the brazen nature of the crime, but how it has endured in popular culture and oral history. No solid evidence, no body, and no good explanations, this case has made the world guess for more than five decades. Was Cooper an ingenious thief who managed to evade the greatest crime? Or did his bold leap into the night seal his fate, lost forever in the wild?

D.B. Cooper's disappearance is still one of America's most unresolved mysteries—a tale of courage, suspense, and an abiding enigma that will perhaps never be solved.