D.B. Cooper Cold Case Update: Does New Letter Confirm Suspect And Possible FBI Cover-Up?

An amateur group calling themselves Citizen Sleuths have revealed the contents of a letter, allegedly from D.B. Cooper, the notorious skyjacker, proving he was alive after hijacking the Northwest Orient plane, never to found again. The leader of the group has shared the letter, and even claims that there is evidence of a possible FBI cover-up. What do we know now?

According to author and filmmaker Tom Colbert, there is a new letter, believed to be from D.B. Cooper, that now became available to the public, due to the Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.

The FBI may have closed the unsolved D.B. Cooper case over a year ago after claiming that they had “exhaustively reviewed all credible leads,” but the 46-year-old hijacking mystery still remains newsworthy. Yet, Colbert, who is leading Citizen Sleuths, the “amateur group” of 40 active participants who are trying to solve the skyjacking case, are determined to solve this cold case.

Colbert told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that this letter is from D.B. Cooper and that the memo attached to the said letter indicates “proof” of an “FBI cover-up.”

The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and the Seattle Times all received a carbon-copy letter from what they believe is D.B. Cooper. The letter obtained from Citizen Sleuths was from The Washington Post.

The writer of the letter appeared to taunt law enforcement, stating that they would never catch them.

“I knew from the start that I wouldn’t be caught.”

He claims he did not do this for “romantic” or “heroic” reasons.

“I didn’t rob Northwest Orient because I thought it would be romantic, heroic or any of the other euphemisms that seem to attach themselves to situations of high risk.”

Clearly addressing the claims that he was a “modern-day Robin Hood,” he continues to deny he had a bigger message in his skyjacking. He does state that he doesn’t have much more time to live, but does not reveal why.

“I’m no modern-day Robin Hood. Unfortunately (I) do have only 14 months to live.”

What is curious, is that he expressed a past of hate, yet appeared to claim that the skyjacking was all about the money.

“My life has been one of hate, turmoil, hunger and more hate; this seemed to be the fastest and most profitable way to gain a few fast grains of peace of mind.”

Claiming he was not a “psychopathic killer,” nor “holed up in some obscure (sic) backwoods town,” he claimed the authorities would not find him, although he claimed he was living in plain sight.

“I don’t blame people for hating me for what I’ve done nor do I blame anybody for wanting me to be caught and punished, though this can never happen.”

The letter writer claims that he was not a “boasting” man, but he knew he would never get caught as he did not leave fingerprints, and he disguised himself with a toupee and “wore putty make-up.”

“They could add or subtract from the composite a hundred times and not come up with an accurate description.”

Appearing to taunt authorities, the letter writer boasted that he is not in the system, and the authorities have never dealt with him.

“As a matter of fact I’ve never even received a speeding ticket.”

Attached to the letter and envelope, was an FBI memo to FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. Because many individuals at The Washington Post handled the documents, fingerprints could not be obtained.

“Efforts were made by (Washington Field Office) to preserve the letter and envelope for latent fingerprints. However, both were handled by an unknown number of individuals at The Washington Post prior to being obtained by WFO.”

What was reportedly curious is that the number “717171684” was typed on the bottom left side of this particular letter, next to the words “Wash Post.” The FBI “agents couldn’t figure out the significance” of these numbers.

According to Fox News, FBI agents in Seattle wrote in another memo that the letter appears to have been written on “government stock, “noting that it resembles the carbon copy of the airtel material used by the Field Offices.”

According to Colbert, this letter is evidence that the FBI has been covering up some important details of the case.

“This letter proves to me that there’s been a cover-up and continues to be a cover-up on this case.”

For years, people have seen the sketches of D.B. Cooper with and without sunglasses, taken from the information given by the Northwest Airlines (Northwest Orient at that time) flight crew, and passengers on Flight 305.

The skyjacking occurred on November 24, 1971, Thanksgiving eve, on a plane that was two-thirds full with passengers heading home for the holiday. The scheduled Boeing 727 flight between Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington was a mere 30 minutes long and barely enough time to serve soft drinks, so D.B. Cooper, a.k.a. Dan Cooper worked fast.

The skyjacker approached a flight attendant with a note that he had a bomb. He wanted $200,000, and four parachutes. He released the passengers from the plane when he obtained both.

Then, the flight crew took D.B. Cooper on a flight path from Seattle to Mexico City, flying low per his request. With the assistance of a flight attendant, he was escorted to the stairs of the plane and he walked down the stairs and dramatically deplaned, never to be seen again. Many assumed he died as the conditions were quite cold, and he was wearing a “thin” suit.

The D.B. Cooper skyjacking has remained a cold case for years, although there have been a few findings along the way.

The Inquisitr reported that in 1980, a boy vacationing near Vancouver, Washington found $6,000 dollars of the hijacking money.

Then, the Citizen Sleuths found evidence on the J.C. Penney clip-on tie Dan Cooper wore had “particles that there was cerium, strontium sulfide, and pure titanium.” This indicates that the skyjacker had to have worked for some sort of aeronautics company, as “titanium was used in the Super Sonic transport.”

EXCLUSIVE: DB Cooper's escape may have been COVERED UP by the FBI https://t.co/RorZcNAboL

— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) November 19, 2017

What will this letter reveal? Surely, the Citizen Sleuths will not be taking much time out for Thanksgiving, but instead investigate the path of where this letter will lead them. It would be quite a feat if this amateur group of sleuths manage to solve one of the most famous cold cases in American history.

[Featured Image by FBI/AP Images]