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D.B. Cooper: He Hijacked a Plane, Jumped Into a Storm, and No One Ever Found Him
The night before Thanksgiving, 1971. A man in a business suit. A bomb in a briefcase. $200,000 in twenties. And a jump into the freezing darkness over Washington state.
This week on Mugshot Mysteries, we're diving into the only unsolved air piracy case in American history, the legend of D.B. Cooper (or Dan Cooper, because the media got his name wrong from day one).
Join us as we break down how a polite, bourbon-sipping hijacker outsmarted the FBI, traumatized a flight crew with excessive courtesy, and vanished into thin air...literally. We cover copycat hijackings, mysterious money found by an 8-year-old on the Columbia River, deathbed confessions that lead nowhere, and Gabriel's wild CIA theory that... actually kind of makes sense?
From Kenneth Christiansen to Richard Floyd McCoy to Barbara Dayton, we dig into every suspect and theory from the past 50+ years. No blood, no bodies, just pure, unsolvable mystery.
You might hear tiny humans in the background this episode. Crime doesn't stop for bedtime, and neither do we.
Sources:
- FBI Vault: D.B. Cooper (NORJAK) Case Files (vault.fbi.gov)
- Himmelsbach, Ralph & Worcester, Thomas. NORJAK! The Investigation of D.B. Cooper (1986)
- Gray, Geoffrey. Skyjack: The Hunt for D.B. Cooper (2011)
- Forman, Tom (Director). D.B. Cooper: Where Are You? Netflix (2022)
- Smithsonian Magazine: "D.B. Cooper: The Enduring Mystery of the Only Unsolved Airline Hijacking in U.S. History"
- Seattle Times: D.B. Cooper archives (1971-2016)
- The Oregonian: Cooper coverage and Brian Ingram discovery (1980)
- New York Times: Original hijacking coverage (November 1971)
- Tina Mucklow interviews (various, 2011-2020)
- FAA records: Cooper Vane implementation
- Tosaw, Richard. D.B. Cooper: Dead or Alive? (1984)
Send us your theories
Support the show
👀 Want more? Follow us @MugshotMysteries on TikTok and Instagram for case photos, crime scene breakdowns, and stories too wild for the full episode.
⭐ Leave a rating—it helps other true crime obsessives find us.
🎧 New episodes drop weekly on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and everywhere you listen.
Stay curious. Stay suspicious. See you next week with another face... and another mystery
View all episodes
By Kathryn and GabrielThe night before Thanksgiving, 1971. A man in a business suit. A bomb in a briefcase. $200,000 in twenties. And a jump into the freezing darkness over Washington state.
This week on Mugshot Mysteries, we're diving into the only unsolved air piracy case in American history, the legend of D.B. Cooper (or Dan Cooper, because the media got his name wrong from day one).
Join us as we break down how a polite, bourbon-sipping hijacker outsmarted the FBI, traumatized a flight crew with excessive courtesy, and vanished into thin air...literally. We cover copycat hijackings, mysterious money found by an 8-year-old on the Columbia River, deathbed confessions that lead nowhere, and Gabriel's wild CIA theory that... actually kind of makes sense?
From Kenneth Christiansen to Richard Floyd McCoy to Barbara Dayton, we dig into every suspect and theory from the past 50+ years. No blood, no bodies, just pure, unsolvable mystery.
You might hear tiny humans in the background this episode. Crime doesn't stop for bedtime, and neither do we.
Sources:
- FBI Vault: D.B. Cooper (NORJAK) Case Files (vault.fbi.gov)
- Himmelsbach, Ralph & Worcester, Thomas. NORJAK! The Investigation of D.B. Cooper (1986)
- Gray, Geoffrey. Skyjack: The Hunt for D.B. Cooper (2011)
- Forman, Tom (Director). D.B. Cooper: Where Are You? Netflix (2022)
- Smithsonian Magazine: "D.B. Cooper: The Enduring Mystery of the Only Unsolved Airline Hijacking in U.S. History"
- Seattle Times: D.B. Cooper archives (1971-2016)
- The Oregonian: Cooper coverage and Brian Ingram discovery (1980)
- New York Times: Original hijacking coverage (November 1971)
- Tina Mucklow interviews (various, 2011-2020)
- FAA records: Cooper Vane implementation
- Tosaw, Richard. D.B. Cooper: Dead or Alive? (1984)
Send us your theories
Support the show
👀 Want more? Follow us @MugshotMysteries on TikTok and Instagram for case photos, crime scene breakdowns, and stories too wild for the full episode.
⭐ Leave a rating—it helps other true crime obsessives find us.
🎧 New episodes drop weekly on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and everywhere you listen.
Stay curious. Stay suspicious. See you next week with another face... and another mystery