A Gallery of Ghosts: The Enduring Search for Suspects
Over the five decades since the hijacking, the FBI investigated more than a thousand potential suspects. The profile was broad: a man with possible military paratrooper training, knowledge of the local terrain, and a desperate need for money. The list of names that have been publicly linked to the case is long and varied, each a chapter of circumstantial evidence and compelling storytelling. It is vital to approach these theories with caution, as no suspect has ever been definitively proven to be D.B. Cooper.
While the FBI officially closed its active investigation in 2016, the court of public opinion remains very much in session. Here are a few of the most prominent individuals who have been considered:
Richard McCoy Jr.
Just five months after the Cooper hijacking, a Vietnam veteran, skydiver, and Brigham Young University student named Richard McCoy Jr. pulled off a strikingly similar crime. He hijacked a United Airlines flight, demanded $500,000, and parachuted out over Utah. The parallels were so strong that many believed he was Cooper. However, McCoy was quickly caught, tried, and convicted. The FBI formally ruled him out as a Cooper suspect, citing differences in physical descriptions provided by the flight attendants and a solid alibi for his whereabouts on Thanksgiving Eve, 1971. McCoy was later killed in a shootout with law enforcement after a prison escape.
Duane Weber
In 1995, a woman named Jo Weber came forward with a stunning claim: her late husband, Duane, had confessed to being Dan Cooper on his deathbed. “I’m Dan Cooper,” he allegedly told her. Duane Weber was a World War II army veteran who had spent time in prison and bore a resemblance to the composite sketches. Jo recalled a trip they took to the Columbia River area and a knee injury he claimed was from jumping out of a plane. While the story was compelling, the FBI found no direct evidence to connect him to the crime. A DNA sample from Weber’s old belongings did not match the partial DNA profile recovered from Cooper’s tie.
L.D. Cooper
In 2011, a woman named Marla Cooper claimed that her late uncle, Lynn Doyle “L.D.” Cooper, was the famous skyjacker. She recalled her uncle returning to his Oregon home for Thanksgiving in 1971, bloody and injured, claiming it was from a car accident. She also remembered him and another uncle plotting something secretive involving a lot of money. L.D. Cooper was a logger and Korean War veteran who knew the Washington terrain. The FBI took her story seriously, but once again, a DNA test was inconclusive, and the evidence remained purely circumstantial.
Robert Rackstraw
One of the more recent and heavily publicized suspects is Robert Rackstraw, a Vietnam veteran with extensive paratrooper and explosives training. A team of private investigators led by author Thomas J. Colbert has championed the theory that Rackstraw was Cooper, producing a book and documentary series outlining their case. They point to Rackstraw’s military background, his criminal history, and what they interpret as coded messages in letters he sent to news outlets. The FBI, however, has stated publicly that it investigated and ruled out Rackstraw as a suspect decades ago. This highlights a common tension in true crime: a compelling media narrative does not always align with the official investigative record.
These names represent just a fraction of the possibilities. The truth is, without the rest of the money, a parachute, or a body, every suspect theory remains just that—a theory, built on a foundation of coincidences and personal testimony.
