When I first heard about the discovery of the parachute near Amboy, I thought it possible that it might have been associated with U.S. Army Air Force training that went on in Washington state during the WWII. However, the chute appears to carry the date-stamp of 1946. If the rest of the chute can be found, a serial number should be present and that should determine if the chute was the one used by Cooper, as it is my understanding that the serial number was recorded prior to the chute being given to Cooper.
This case has always facinated me Steve, but I haven't read about it for some time.
Back in February 2007, there was a new poster "leftcoast," who came onto the forum Websleuths discussing the case in earnest. He appears to be someone who was investigating the case and was interviewed on a TV station KOIN 6, around that time. Here is the thread where this poster appears, discussing his investigation.
http://www.websleuths.com/
forums...light=db+cooper
It would be interesting to hear from leftcoast to see how this new discovery ~ if it's determined that the parachute dates to that time ~ fit's into his theories.
I saw this on the local news last night. (I don't live too far from Amboy) It's pretty exciting as I've been fascinated by this case for years. If it turns out that it is indeed Dan Cooper's chute, they can search the area for any human remains and perhaps finally figure out the mystery.
And somewhere there's a bear or porcupine slumbering on a nest of mouldering moola.
You writer you. You just wanted to write "mouldering moola." Admit it 
(That woulda been my motivation, anyway.)
Here's an article from The Oregonian...
http://snipurl.com/22p5p [www_oregonlive_com]
this is an interesting story that i have been following for along time. the FBI says that the parachute itself has no idenifying number, but the harness (which they haven't found yet) does. they are checking with old parachute experts to determine if this could be cooper's chute. if it matches the type they will begin excavating for the harness.
personally i think he died in the jump. if you have ever been in that country you know how rugged it is. cooper was reportedly wearing a pair of loafers when he jumped from the plane. if somehow he managed to keep them on his feet during the jump, he wouldn't have them for long in this country. i wouldn't want to try walking out barefoot.
maybe this is his grave...but then how to explain the money found in the Columbia, which authorities say couldn't have reached its final destination from this point naturally.
the dan cooper-d.b. cooper story is interesting and i may do a blog post on the real d.b. cooper who was a local portland criminal mistaken for the hijacker.
Article in Seattle PI says that the guy who packed the chute is thinking that it's not the one with which Cooper is known to have jumped.
From that altitude & that speed, in that kind of jump rig, he would have probably been sucked into the jet stream and shucked naked as a jay bird, and very likely rendered unconscious from lack of oxygen or whiplash. That was my uncle's opinion at the time the crime was "fresh", and he was a paratrooper with the 101, having jumped feet first during D-Day & Market Garden, so I guess he'd know as well as anyone. Cooper's been dead and dangling from rotten canvas for a very long time.
Now that we know who BTK is, and might finally have an answer re Cooper, that just leaves Jimmy Hoffa's whereabouts...
Unfortunately - LeftCoast, who was investigating this case, on the Websleuths forum died this past December, 2007; but his friend RightCoast is still on it!!
Love your sight Steve!
Niner, I'm sorry to hear that. Thank you for the update. I don't read forums much and was not aware that he had passed.
Do you know if WestCoast has made any comment about the parachute, and where it was found in location to the $$$ that was found near a river?
I read this article last October in New York Magazine . . . really great piece on a possible i.d. of Cooper (if you believe he survived)
http://nymag.com/news/features/39593/
Nancy Collins, your posts always make me laugh!
One of the best TV shows I've seen, the canceled Journeyman, (which featured the great Scottish actor Kevin McKidd), featured a storyline on Cooper. They envisioned Cooper as a Viet Nam war vet.
Andie, the NY mag story was fascinating!
The lifestory of Christiansen and the work environment of Northwest in the 60s was very interesting.
Emily:
I figured Cooper for being a Korean war vet, myself.
Why hasn't the FBI let Earl Cossey, the instructor who provided the orginal parachutes from his skydiving school to Cooper, inspect the one recently found? Apparently Agent Eric Carr has had it for over two weeks and rather he's asking someone in the public to some forward for help? Am I missing something?
Earl Cossey has inspected the shute. Dang, and the mystery lives on....
http://snipurl.com/235yj [www_oregonlive_com]
Well....Mr. Cossey would be the one to know for sure if that was the actual chute Cooper used or not, so that's very disapointing. Thanks for the link, D.P.
Related story re: a "young boy" (at the time) that happened upon the get-away money all those years back:
http://www.postregister.com/Tool...oday=2008-04-
01
"Tattered $20 bills linked to D.B. Cooper skyjacking are going up for auction - By SCHUYLER DIXON - Associated Press
DALLAS -- A boy who found the lone piece of evidence linked to the world's only unsolved skyjacking is now a 30-something father of five who has decided to start selling his treasure.
Brian Ingram was an 8-year-old on a family camping trip when he discovered three bundles of deteriorating $20 bills on the shore of the Columbia River near Portland, Ore., in 1980. The money turned out to be some of the $200,000 ransom D.B. Cooper was carrying when he parachuted from a plane after a 1971 hijacking.
Now Ingram's taking some of his find to auction, offering 15 bills through Dallas-based Heritage Auction Galleries. The live and online auction was announced Monday and scheduled for June 13 and 14.
"My wife and I have discussed it over a few years, and we just decided we wanted to share it with people," said Ingram, 36, of Mena, Ark.
The auction announcement comes after the recent discovery of a tattered, half-buried parachute in the area where Cooper was believed to have landed. The FBI is investigating whether it was one given to Cooper.
In November 1971, a man identifying himself as Dan Cooper, later mistakenly called D.B. Cooper, hijacked a Northwest Orient flight from Portland to Seattle, claiming he had a bomb.
At Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, he released the passengers in exchange for $200,000 and four parachutes and asked to be flown to Mexico. He jumped from the plane somewhere near the Oregon state line.
There was no trace of Cooper until Ingram came upon the $5,880 while brushing his hand over the sand, trying to clear a spot for a campfire. The FBI matched the serial numbers and kept 13 bills in case it ever prosecutes the Cooper case. The Ingrams also had to give some bills to an insurance company that paid the ransom.
Once he sells the first 15, Ingram said he isn't sure how he'll proceed with the rest, other than knowing he'll keep a few. He said he isn't sure exactly how many he has because of their fragile condition.
Although he prefers to stress
the historic and sentimental value of the bills, he recognizes they could be tickets to college for his children, ranging in age from 7 to 14.
"Of course, we hope they can get scholarships," he said, laughing.
Heritage CEO Steve Ivy isn't sure how much the bills will bring. His best guess was somewhere in the hundreds for smaller pieces and somewhere in the thousands for the bigger bills that are more intact.
Ingram and Ivy said announcing the auction after the discovery of the parachute
was coincidental, but Ivy said
it can only help.
"The more people that are aware and the more mystique that's created, the higher likelihood that it will reach yet another potential buyer," Ivy said. "From our standpoint, that's a good thing."
The Cooper bills were authenticated by PCGS Currency, a division of Newport Beach, Calif.-based Collectors Universe Inc. Heritage recently had to refund thousands of dollars after auctioning off bogus Hollywood memorabilia.
The auction house is suing the company that provided it with the phony items."
If "Cooper" did perish (highly likely) during the jump, how could someone disappear from life and no one notice? Even after almost 40 years. Maybe someday we'll all know who and what happened.
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