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D.B. Cooper Is A Vietnam Vet, Lives In San Diego, According To Author Thomas J. Colbert

By Inquisitr Staff
Published on: 03:56 PST, Oct 14, 2016

The infamous air piracy case of D.B. Cooper has been solved, according to one author, Thomas J. Colbert. Colbert claims to have solved the D.B. Cooper mystery in a book titled The Last Master Outlaw that was published back in June. With the help of FBI agents, Colbert investigated the D.B. Cooper case for five long years, before finally coming to the conclusion that D.B. Cooper is actually a Vietnam veteran who’s currently living in San Diego.

In a new exclusive report by Radar Online, Thomas J. Colbert, who boasts over 30 years of journalism experience, beginning in 1980 with an internship at a CBS news station in Los Angeles, reveals who he believes D.B. Cooper really is. The D.B. Cooper case is nearly 45-years-old and remains a cold case to this day. The identity of D.B. Cooper could never be determined after he managed to hijack a Boeing 727 in 1971, as it was in flight somewhere between Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington.

D.B. Cooper quietly made off with $200,000 during the hijacking, before he escaped via a parachute and disappeared forever, despite an extensive manhunt and FBI investigation. The D.B. Cooper case was finally closed in July of this year, as reported by the Inquisitr on July 13. The FBI reportedly explained on July 12 that they had “formally closed” the D.B. Cooper cold case — also known as NORJAK — after exhausting all credible leads for over four decades. In an official statement, the office of the FBI Public Affairs division thanked the public for the many tips they provided over the years, but went on to say those tips never resulted in a “definitive identification” of the real D.B. Cooper.

The hijacker purchased his one-way ticket at the Portland International Airport as the alias Dan Cooper for the flight that took off on the eve of November 24, 1971, but he eventually just became known as D.B. Cooper, mainly because of continuous “news media miscommunication.” Evidence and expert opinion suggested that D.B. Cooper probably didn’t survive the jump from the midsize Boeing jet aircraft that can reach flying heights of nearly seven miles high. But Thomas J. Colbert believed otherwise, saying that he’s “dead certain” that D.B. Cooper is really a rogue ex-Army pilot and Vietnam veteran who currently lives in San Diego, California, on a 45-foot yacht.

In Colbert’s 371-page book, he outlines how he uncovered over 100 new pieces of evidence in the D.B. Cooper case, working alongside a cold case team led by former FBI agents. Colbert, a “determined citizen sleuth” went on to say in the exclusive Radar Online interview that the evidence was collected in five countries and 21 states over the course of five years. According to Colbert, the real D.B. Cooper had six careers, three families, three airplane escapes, and more than 20 identities.

So, who is D.B. Cooper? Thomas J. Colbert strongly believes the “infamous skyjacker” is really 72-year-old Robert Rackstraw.

“I’m convinced that we have the culprit. There’s just too much evidence against him!”

And Rackstraw’s second wife also allegedly believes that Colbert solved the D.B. Cooper case. Linda McGarity says there’s a “good likelihood” that her former husband is D.B. Cooper, and that all the pieces “just come together.”

So, who exactly is this Robert Rackstraw that Colbert claims is the real D.B. Cooper? A two-part History Channel special titled D.B. Cooper: Case Closed?, that aired on July 10, two days before Colbert’s book, The Last Master Outlaw, was even published, features Colbert and his theory about D.B. Cooper’s true identity.

Robert Rackstraw reportedly pulled off the hijacking months after he was forced to resign from the Army for allegedly falsifying personal records. Colbert even claims that Rackstraw admitted he was D.B. Cooper in 1979 when he was on trial for check fraud, forgery, and possessing explosives illegally. Rackstraw then reportedly survived a plane crash in Monterey Bay, and became a cocaine supplier with a street crime partner in Portland, Oregon. According to Colbert, drug runners claimed, when interviewed, that Rackstraw’s partner was D.B. Cooper, when, in fact, Rackstraw himself was D.B. Cooper.

“Their cocaine supplier had been bragging for a year that he was Cooper. But he was actually Rackstraw’s secret crime partner!”

Colbert’s case against Robert Rackstraw as the real D.B. Cooper is being called one of the strongest cases established, so far, that might finally solve the D.B. Cooper air piracy mystery. But what do you think?

A Portland grand jury decided in 1976 that the case against D.B. Cooper has no statute of limitations, saying that former prosecution of the real D.B. Cooper can continue, “should the hijacker be apprehended, at any time in the future.”

[Featured Image by Associated Press/AP Images]

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