FBI greatest mystery case

D.B. Cooper is an infamous figure in American criminal history, known for his audacious hijacking on November 24, 1971. Cooper boarded Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305 in Portland, Oregon, posing as a businessman. Shortly after takeoff, he handed a note to a flight attendant, indicating he had a bomb and demanded $200,000 in ransom, four parachutes, and a fuel supply to reach Mexico. The airline complied with his demands, and the plane landed in Seattle, where Cooper released the 36 passengers in exchange for the money and parachutes.

After the exchange, Cooper instructed the flight crew to take off again, flying toward Mexico. During the flight, he lowered the landing gear and, shortly thereafter, jumped out of the plane with the ransom money and a parachute, disappearing into the night. Despite an extensive FBI investigation that lasted over five years and involved thousands of leads, Cooper’s identity and fate remain a mystery.

In 1976, the FBI officially closed the case, though it was re-opened periodically as new evidence emerged. In 1980, a boy discovered a decaying package containing $5,800 of the ransom money buried along the Columbia River, which further fueled speculation about Cooper’s fate. The case has spawned numerous theories and legends, making D.B. Cooper one of the most captivating unsolved mysteries in American history. To this day, amateur sleuths and conspiracy theorists continue to speculate about his identity and what ultimately happened to him after his daring escape.