FBI Gives Up Seach For Skyjacking Suspect DB Cooper

The FBI has decided to close the books on the unsolved case of skyjacker D.B. Cooper.

FBI Closes D.B. Cooper Case

Back in 1971, a man known as D.B. Cooper parachuted out of a plane flying over the Pacific Northwest with $200,000 ransom strapped to his body. Ever since, the FBI has been investigating to determine the true identity of the man in question, hunt him down and hold him accountable for his crimes. However, 45 years later, the bureau is still no closer to finding the answers and have decided to close the case, reported CNN.

“We have arrived at our conclusion today that it was just time to close the case because there isn’t anything new out there,” said Special Agent in Charge Frank Montoya, Jr. “There’s a lot that goes into that decision but really it was just time.”

Over the years, the bureau has had numerous leads and had more than 100 persons of interest. Nothing, however, has resulted in anything concrete that would enable agents to name a suspect.

“Unfortunately, none of the well-meaning tips or applications of new investigative technology have yielded the necessary proof,” the FBI said.

One of the reasons the FBI is shutting down the case is that the agents assigned to it are often pulled off more urgent cases to follow leads that go nowhere.

“If it [a new lead] comes in, we’ve got to follow up with it,”FBI Special Agent Curtis Eng explained. “It takes time and resources away from my other cases, where there are victims now. Where there’s problems and crimes now.”

Cooper’s scheme, on Nov. 24, 1971, started with buying a one-way ticket to Seattle from Portland, Oregon, according to the FBI. Clad in a business suit, Cooper boarded the plane and downed a bourbon and soda. After takeoff, he gave a flight attendant a note that explained that he had a bomb in his briefcase. The threat enabled him to receive $200,000 cash and four parachutes in exchange for the 26 passengers on board. He then had the pilots take off again towards Mexico City. On the way there, he jumped out of the plane with a parachute and the packages of money bound to his body.

“We would loved to have solve this, there’s no question about it. To see justice served. And it doesn’t feel good to acknowledge that this is the only unsolved skyjacking in American history,” Montoya said. “But that happens sometimes — either we’re not able to solve it or much time passes before it can be resolved.”