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Tonight on History's Greatest Mysteries.

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Ready to find D.B. Cooper?

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Do you think that he could be D.B. Cooper?

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Yeah, I do.

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I think I've pinpointed where it is.

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This could be our smoking gun.

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They've got to take this back and reopen it.

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It's a mystery that's confounded law enforcement

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for 48 years.

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On November 24, 1971,

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a man who would become known as D.B. Cooper

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hijacks a plane and then jumps out,

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taking with him a ransom of $200,000.

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I'm Lawrence Fishburne,

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and tonight, who is D.B. Cooper?

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And how did he escape?

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Neither his identity nor his body

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has ever been recovered.

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It's impossible.

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Or is it?

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Can investigator Eric Eulis finally close

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the only unsolved skyjacking in U.S. history?

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Eric and his team will re-examine the plane's

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alleged flight path.

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They'll search alternate landing sites for fresh clues

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and profile a possible suspect.

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Tonight, a search for new answers

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to one of history's greatest mysteries.

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Who is D.B. Cooper?

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D.B. Cooper investigator Eric Eulis

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is on his way to Washington State,

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but his research and investigation

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started 12 years earlier in Arizona.

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I've always had a fascination with aviation,

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which is what I believe ultimately drew me into the case.

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Here was a man who developed a cult-like following

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over the years, despite the fact that nobody

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really knew anything about the guy at all.

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He became a legend overnight.

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I think D.B. was like the coolest guy in America.

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He did the ultimate crime.

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Eventually, I found the case was being hijacked

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by conspiracy theories and so forth.

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And I just ended up getting sucked into this D.B. Cooper vortex.

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And ultimately, I decided that I was going to undertake

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an investigation of my own into the case.

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Over the years, more than 1,000 suspects have been scrutinized.

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When this case happened in the 1970s,

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the era of DNA was not upon us.

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And agents really didn't look out to preserve

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this evidence in the way that we do now.

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In order to identify where the FBI and others

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went sideways with this case,

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I knew that I was going to have to personally read

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all 20,000 pages of redacted FBI files regarding the case.

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Thanks to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed in 2016,

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every few months, the FBI releases files

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from the case in chronological order.

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This constant drip of new information and new sources

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is key to Eric's theory about what really happened

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on Northwest Flight 305.

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The night of the skyjacking,

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we know a man boarded Northwest Orient flight

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in Portland, destined for Seattle.

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He bought the ticket with $20 bill at the airport.

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There was no ID required,

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so he gave the name Dan Cooper to the ticket agent.

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He would end up taking a seat in the very back role of the jet,

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18E, to be exact.

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The flight attendants recall D.B. Cooper being a guy

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who was in his mid-40s,

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dressed as a business person wearing a black suit,

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wearing loafers with a skinny black tie,

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and a raincoat.

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And he would later put on a pair of dark sunglasses

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as the jet was about to take off.

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On the other side of the plane,

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he had a black attaché case.

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As the plane starts taxing toward the runway,

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D.B. Cooper hands one of the flight attendants,

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Florence Schaffner, a note,

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which says that he has a bum.

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36 passengers got off the jetliner in Seattle last night,

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left aboard four crew members,

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and the hijacker dressed in a business suit

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demanding $200,000,

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with the full ransom collected from Seattle banks,

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and the pressure to board, the plane headed for Reno.

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What many people don't know is that Reno

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was not the intended destination.

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Cooper actually requested that the plane fly to Mexico nonstop,

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but the problem is that he wanted the jet to fly

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with the landing gear down.

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He wanted the jet to fly with the flaps down.

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He wanted the jet to fly at a very slow speed

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and not fly over 10,000 feet in altitude.

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So there was simply no way that they could fly nonstop

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to Mexico City.

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They would need to refuel somewhere,

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and they decided Reno.

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According to Eric,

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Cooper's request to be flown to Mexico was a ruse.

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Seven minutes after the plane left Seattle,

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the flight crew received an alert.

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The rear air stairs were activated.

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The Boeing 727 was unique

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in that it had air stairs that would deploy

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from the back bottom of the fuse lodge.

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In fact, it's these air stairs

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that the passengers actually boarded the jet with.

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Roughly 27 minutes after the air stairs deployment alert,

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the crew experienced a cabin pressure disturbance.

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At approximately 8.12 p.m.,

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the pilots experienced what they described

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as a pressure bump on the plane.

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What felt like a popping in the ears.

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This pressure bump was created

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when D.B. Cooper jumped off the back air stairs

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and the air stairs snapped back up

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into the bottom of the fuse lodge.

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That bump holds the key to everything.

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Estimating where and when that bump took place is key.

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It determined the area in which FBI, Air Force,

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and local law enforcement members

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looked for Cooper in a coordinated ground search

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that lasted for months.

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The FBI never found anything,

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and their original search area,

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and my research indicates that the reason they came up empty-handed

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is because they were actually searching in the wrong place.

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Why were they searching in the wrong place?

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Because the flight path was off.

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Understanding that pressure bump

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and identifying the correct search area

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will allow us to ask the basic fundamental questions.

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To test his theory about the plane's path,

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Eric is meeting with the person charged

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with tracking Flight 305 on the night of the hijacking.

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The air traffic controller on duty, Cliff Ammerman.

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My name is Cliff Ammerman,

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and I'm a retired air traffic controller.

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I worked at the Seattle Center Air Route Traffic Control

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from 1969 until 1998.

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Did the FBI or law enforcement at all ever reach out to you?

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Never did.

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I never got a request like that at all.

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What did you know about 305?

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I mean, I assume you knew it was a Skyjack jet.

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We knew it was a hijacking.

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We didn't have a flight plan on it

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because nobody knew exactly what the routing was going to be,

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so we were told just follow him,

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keep everybody else away from him.

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It became fairly obvious that he was on Victor 2-3.

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Now, Victor 2-3 is one airway

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in a low altitude airway structure that's nationwide.

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It's a system of ground-based navigational aids

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that pilots can follow,

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and it allows them to hold a track over the ground.

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Just like when you're on an interstate 5 in a car,

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Victor 2-3 is a highway in the sky.

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The first priority here when tackling this case

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is trying to figure out the path that the jet took.

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Can you gauge how precisely you could identify

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the exact location of Flight 305?

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Yeah, what I'm looking at is a map on a video screen.

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Aircrafts are being presented in what would look to you

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like an equal sign,

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and on the leading slash,

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the aircraft itself could be any place on that line,

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so it could be in the center, it might be at the left side,

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the line that might be at the right side.

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We don't know.

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Any idea of roughly what kind of distance

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you're looking at there?

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I would guess four to five nautical miles long that line is.

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How do you know that he's actually within Victor 2-3

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if you've got sort of that much play there?

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Sure, sure.

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It's very uncertain just exactly where the airplane was

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within that target area that we're seeing,

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so where's the airplane actually?

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There's quite a bit of variance in there.

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Indeed, the jet could have actually been a handful of miles

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outside of this Victor 2-3 airway

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and not have been noticed by any button.

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It seems to indicate that the jet indeed took a path

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that was more along the western side

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to lines it up with the money find and all that good stuff.

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That is not at all consistent with the official version

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of the flight path.

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The pilot of Northwest Thru of Five

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also said that they were not looking far enough west.

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Well, that confirms it for me.

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Yeah.

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That's an area that they should have looked,

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but they didn't look.

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Convinced the plane was actually eight miles west

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of the original FBI search zone,

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Eric and his team head up to a remote wilderness refuge

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that's never been searched.

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They're looking for any evidence of D.B. Cooper,

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including possible remains of his parachute.

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Hey, hey, how's it going?

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It's going well, Eric Eulis.

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Hey, Ryan.

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To maximize the time he'll have on the ground,

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Eric first takes to the sky to see how closely his search

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lines up with an area known as Tina Barre.

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In 1980, the FBI found important evidence there.

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A child has led the FBI to the start of a trail

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it hopes will help them solve the eight and a half year old

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mystery of Skyjacker D.B. Cooper,

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the first rake in the only unsolved airplane hijacking

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in United States history came on a Columbia River Beach

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along the Oregon-Washington border where an eight-year-old boy

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dug up the shreds of $3,000 on Sunday.

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The money was found about 20 miles from the FBI's

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original search zone.

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Also, it was found about eight or nine miles against the current

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along the Columbia River.

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So there was no possible way that the money just washed the shore.

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The bundles of 20s were found just below the surface of the sand,

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neatly stacked upon each other with the original rubber band

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still intact.

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So by all appearances, it looks like somebody actually

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buried those three packets of 20s.

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Since it's impossible to know the precise altitude at which Cooper

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pulled his parachute ripcord, Eric plans to search a wide area

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the FBI missed.

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The first is an island a few miles north of Tina Barre.

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So we're going to be searching if this one area is actually part of the

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refuge, thought being that Cooper could have landed in some of that

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passenger land on the island or landed a little closer to the town itself.

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It's up for debate.

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The second zone is an extended meadow along the tree line

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on the west side of the train tracks.

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If Cooper landed there, Eric believes he could have walked south

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along these train tracks, crossing over from the mainland at the river

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S-bridge to Tina Barre.

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Eric thinks Cooper might have buried the ransom here temporarily and then fled.

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The third zone, private properties across from the refuge

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provide access to a large untouched ravine which could have given

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perfect cover for D.B. Cooper.

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Part of what has guided me to these three specific search areas

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is that they're pristine and largely untouched in the last 50 years.

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Eric, you look good to meet you.

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I'm thinking about, you know, the 12 years of research I have put into this case.

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This is what I have been waiting for, the opportunity to actually get boots on the

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ground and dig through the brush and look for those missing parachutes.

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Look for any sign of D.B. Cooper.

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Eric Eulis has investigated the D.B. Cooper case for 12 years.

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The pilot of Northwest 305 also said that they were not looking far enough west.

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Convinced the FBI misjudged the hijacked plane's flight path,

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Eric's assembled a team to look for new evidence.

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They hope to find something to reopen this cold case.

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Hey, guys, how you doing?

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Alex Gull with Archeological Services.

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This area was home to thousands of Native Americans, villages.

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So in order for the project to have special access to the refuge,

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it needed an archaeologist to join the project and that archaeologist is me.

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Given the terrain, it's going to require a lot of luck.

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00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:05,000
Accompanying Eric on his mission, geophysicist Colin Miazka,

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00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:11,000
who will help examine any ground disturbance or man-made materials left behind by the Skyjacker.

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00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:15,000
With my geoscience background, you look for man-made objects.

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In this case, though, there's a very small object in a very big area,

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00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:21,000
so it's incredibly challenging.

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00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:26,000
There's just so much ground to cover and the only real best way to do that

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00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:29,000
is by physically walking over the area.

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00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:33,000
Who wouldn't want to be the person responsible for solving a 50-year-old case

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00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:36,000
that the FBI gave up on, essentially?

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00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:39,000
He's also enlisted the help of local search and rescue volunteers,

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00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:42,000
Jason Koe and Barry Wells.

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00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:45,000
Both have a vast knowledge of the area.

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00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:49,000
I was here when the event happened and there was a lot of theories going around.

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00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:52,000
So today, what we're going to be doing is getting on the boats.

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We're going to be traveling along Lake River up to the Columbia River.

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Then once we're on the Columbia River, we're going to go upstream a little bit.

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This area we're talking about here was not part of the original search area.

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00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:06,000
And obviously, the fact that it's a refuge as well and is off limits to people,

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00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:10,000
essentially, provides a real opportunity where this stuff would have never been found.

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00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:12,000
Ready to find D.B. Cooper?

283
00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:16,000
With restrictions in place to protect local wildlife,

284
00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:20,000
Eric and his team must also contact a state environmental expert

285
00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:23,000
before they can begin their search on the island.

286
00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:25,000
Hey, Brent, how you doing?

287
00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:26,000
Good, Earth.

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00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:29,000
We'll work our way north, see if we can actually get over to where you are,

289
00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:34,000
because I think the refuge is where we want to start versus the DNR land,

290
00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:37,000
and then we'll go from there.

291
00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:40,000
Let's give these guys over on this shoreline here.

292
00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:42,000
Landfall. There we go.

293
00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:46,000
Right now we're on Washington Department of Natural Resources land,

294
00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:51,000
and basically at the tree line there is where the wildlife refuge starts.

295
00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:56,000
They'll be limited in the tools they can use and are forbidden to dig anything up

296
00:15:56,000 --> 00:15:59,000
or remove any evidence from the refuge.

297
00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:03,000
If you want to go over some of these maps that I pulled...

298
00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:05,000
This is 1970.

299
00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:07,000
So this is 70.

300
00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:10,000
Compared to now, the footprint...

301
00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:11,000
It looks pretty stable.

302
00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:13,000
It looks pretty consistent.

303
00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:20,000
So the only thing that might give us a little pause is the 1996 aerial.

304
00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:23,000
I know there was quite a bit of flooding in 96.

305
00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:27,000
So it looks like to me that this area here is actually underwater.

306
00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:33,000
In 1996 there was actually a very big flood in the area.

307
00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:36,000
In reality, if the parachutes were in that area,

308
00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:39,000
they could have easily been swept out to the Columbia River

309
00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:41,000
and out to the Pacific Ocean.

310
00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:45,000
I believe that the parachutes were placed a little bit further inland,

311
00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:48,000
which wasn't affected nearly as much.

312
00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:50,000
So you said the parachute was white and the...

313
00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:52,000
The parachuted sauce was green.

314
00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:53,000
That's correct.

315
00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:56,000
It always helps me to know what colors to be looking for.

316
00:16:56,000 --> 00:17:01,000
Eric's team is looking for D.B. Cooper's missing parachutes and other evidence,

317
00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:06,000
including his attaché case, ransom notes, or unrecovered money.

318
00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:12,000
They must notify local authorities and the FBI immediately if they find anything.

319
00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:17,000
But Eric's search permit for the refuge is limited and will expire.

320
00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:21,000
We'll just start working off in this direction and put our way through.

321
00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:26,000
A little bit of rain.

322
00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:32,000
I think we got to go a little further down to the open field, basically.

323
00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:36,000
I was surprised to see how he was dressed as a businessman.

324
00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:40,000
You bring up a great point because a lot of people said, you know,

325
00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:43,000
who in their right mind would jump into the middle of the woods

326
00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:46,000
wearing loafers and a tie?

327
00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:49,000
And I've always argued nobody.

328
00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:55,000
I believe that the evidence clearly shows that D.B. Cooper intended to jump

329
00:17:55,000 --> 00:17:59,000
initially in the outskirts of Seattle.

330
00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:03,000
After the skyjacking, flight attendant Tina Muklow told authorities

331
00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:07,000
that D.B. Cooper was visibly frustrated and complained to her

332
00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:10,000
about how the money was delivered.

333
00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:17,000
He made me feel very sure that we had a very real and horrifying threat.

334
00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:21,000
When the money showed up, it was not in a knapsack as he requested.

335
00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:27,000
It was actually just delivered in a white, open-top canvas bank bag.

336
00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:30,000
Didn't have any zippers, didn't have any snaps, didn't even have a handle on it.

337
00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:35,000
Cooper needed to figure out a way to secure the top of that bank bag.

338
00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:39,000
If he didn't, the force of the free fall would have immediately ejected

339
00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:42,000
all of the cash out of that bag.

340
00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:46,000
It was also reported by co-pilot Bill Radicek

341
00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:49,000
that Cooper had difficulties lowering the air stairs.

342
00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:52,000
He called us on the interphone and requested that he was having trouble with the stairs.

343
00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:54,000
I can't get the stairs down.

344
00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:59,000
Eric believes these delays forced Cooper to jump into rougher terrain than originally planned.

345
00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:04,000
I think that's really ground zero as far as searching for D.B. Cooper's parachutes

346
00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:06,000
if he landed in this area.

347
00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:10,000
And basically we need to start right around here where these sticker bushes are

348
00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:14,000
but start working our way down around to the south.

349
00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:16,000
Along the edges.

350
00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:21,000
To ensure a thorough ground search, the team walks at arm's length from each other

351
00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:24,000
searching in a traditional grid pattern.

352
00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:26,000
Let's move.

353
00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:31,000
That looks like an unpenetrable wall back there.

354
00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:34,000
Somebody ain't gonna try that.

355
00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:37,000
Looks pretty thick in front of us, sir.

356
00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:40,000
This stuff is brutal.

357
00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:43,000
Yikes.

358
00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:47,000
Yeah. That looks prime spot to dump a parachute.

359
00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:49,000
Exactly.

360
00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:54,000
Eric believes Cooper left his parachute behind wherever he landed.

361
00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:57,000
All the soil around here is pretty packed clay out.

362
00:19:57,000 --> 00:20:01,000
There's no way he's digging more than whatever you can kick with his boot.

363
00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:03,000
Right. It's dark too, right?

364
00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:04,000
Yeah.

365
00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:06,000
So he's not gonna go too far in there?

366
00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:07,000
No.

367
00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:12,000
Although the parachute may have deteriorated, metallic and nylon material could have survived.

368
00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:13,000
Alex found some...

369
00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:14,000
Let's check it out.

370
00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:18,000
Really the first sign of human activity I've seen in here.

371
00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:19,000
Oh yeah.

372
00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:21,000
This could be promising.

373
00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:30,000
Searching on federally protected land on an island along the Washington, Oregon border,

374
00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:37,000
investigator Eric Eulis and his team make what they hope is a significant discovery.

375
00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:38,000
Alex found some...

376
00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:39,000
Let's check it out.

377
00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:43,000
Really the first sign of human activity I've seen in here.

378
00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:44,000
Oh yeah.

379
00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:46,000
This could be promising.

380
00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:51,000
I don't know anything about parachutes and the kinds of shroud lines they would use.

381
00:20:54,000 --> 00:21:01,000
The problem is the color of the shroud lines were either white or light pink.

382
00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:03,000
And so that would not be part of...

383
00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:04,000
Okay.

384
00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:06,000
D.B. Cooper's parachute.

385
00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:08,000
This area is clear.

386
00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:22,000
After ten grueling hours, the team ends the search for the day.

387
00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:27,000
With the restrictions that we have from the refuge, limiting the number of people that

388
00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:34,000
we can actually search with and seeing how vast this area is and how dense the growth

389
00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:40,000
is that we have to fight through, it just made me realize how difficult this search

390
00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:42,000
is actually going to be.

391
00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:52,000
With only a few days remaining to search what he believes is the landing area, Eric reviews

392
00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:55,000
the mystery of D.B. Cooper.

393
00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:58,000
There are really two parts to the D.B. Cooper mystery.

394
00:21:58,000 --> 00:22:02,000
There's the part that relates to what actually happened.

395
00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:06,000
All these years later, they're still looking for D.B. Cooper.

396
00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:12,000
Everything FBI special agent Larry Carr has on Cooper fits in one battered box, mostly

397
00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:14,000
what Cooper left on the plane.

398
00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:19,000
And there is this other part that relates to who the guy actually was.

399
00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:20,000
D.B. Cooper came from someone.

400
00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:21,000
He came from somewhere.

401
00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:24,000
You know, he just didn't miracle himself here.

402
00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:28,000
And so someone has information.

403
00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:34,000
During the 45 years that D.B. Cooper skyjack in case remained open, the FBI investigated

404
00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:37,000
more than a thousand possible suspects.

405
00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:40,000
Some simply matched the crime sketch.

406
00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:43,000
Others confessed on their deathbeds.

407
00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:46,000
Hospitalized here in Florida with kidney disease.

408
00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:49,000
Dwayne Weber motioned to his wife to come close.

409
00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:52,000
He says, I have a secret to tell you.

410
00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:53,000
I said what?

411
00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:56,000
He says, I'm Dan Cooper.

412
00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:58,000
Even a woman was investigated.

413
00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:00,000
Pilot Barbara Dayton.

414
00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:05,000
Eric's determined to provide a definitive answer about one person of interest.

415
00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:10,000
A man DNA tested in 2003, but never publicly eliminated.

416
00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:14,000
Eric believes this man could be D.B. Cooper.

417
00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:17,000
His name is Sheridan Peterson.

418
00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:23,000
He actually became a suspect within one week of the skyjacking.

419
00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:29,000
However, it wasn't even until 2003, the FBI was actually able to interview him.

420
00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:34,000
That FBI agent was a woman named Mary Jean Friar.

421
00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:41,000
And what she told me when I first reached out to her has completely changed the trajectory in my case.

422
00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:42,000
I'm Mary Jean Friar.

423
00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:46,000
I'm a special agent with the FBI from 1985 to 2006.

424
00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:55,000
In 2003, I received a communication from the Seattle office to locate and interview Sheridan Peterson,

425
00:23:55,000 --> 00:24:01,000
who was residing in Santa Rosa and obtain a voluntary DNA sample.

426
00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:10,000
In late 2007, the FBI announced that they had a partial DNA profile that they got from D.B. Cooper's clip on tie.

427
00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:13,000
This is the tie we got the DNA from.

428
00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:23,000
This could explain why the FBI had Mary Jean Friar obtain a DNA sample from Sheridan Peterson to compare it against the partial DNA profile.

429
00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:28,000
When I met with Sheridan Peterson in 2003, it was special because it was a historic case.

430
00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:35,000
During my training at the FBI Academy, we had instructors that came in and talked about it.

431
00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:41,000
Sheridan's alibi since I talked to him in 2003 was always that he was present in Nepal for his children's birth.

432
00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:45,000
He was saying he wasn't in the country, so he couldn't have been D.B. Cooper.

433
00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:51,000
He did show me his birth certificates of his kids, but his wife could have very easily given birth without him there.

434
00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:59,000
Sheridan worked in the department that literally wrote the flight manual for the Boeing 727 jet.

435
00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:01,000
He worked as a smoke jumper in Montana.

436
00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:03,000
He's an expert skydiver.

437
00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:06,000
He's a former Boeing employee.

438
00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:18,000
Then in 1966, Sheridan found himself in Vietnam working as a refugee advisor until August of 1970 when he and his wife moved to Nepal.

439
00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:30,000
There is nothing that Sheridan can point to that proves unequivocally that he was in Nepal at the time that the skyjacking took place, with the exception of his second wife.

440
00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:38,000
The problem is, according to Sheridan, his second wife died in 1977.

441
00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:46,000
Sheridan Peterson was interviewed for a program related to D.B. Cooper, and there are some inconsistencies in there.

442
00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:50,000
There are things that he stated that just don't add up.

443
00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:54,000
There are two things that I found that could rule Sheridan out as a suspect.

444
00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:57,000
There's some discrepancy with respect to eye color.

445
00:25:57,000 --> 00:26:07,000
Specifically, Sheridan has blue eyes, and the FBI's very first description of D.B. Cooper had him having brown eyes.

446
00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:19,000
However, very quickly after they put out the initial description for D.B. Cooper, the FBI updated the description and described D.B. Cooper as possibly having brown eyes.

447
00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:27,000
The second being, we know that D.B. Cooper definitely smoked cigarettes. In fact, he smoked eight cigarettes during the skyjacking.

448
00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:32,000
I have never been able to prove that Sheridan Peterson was ever a smoker.

449
00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:37,000
Erics asked Mary Jean to help secure an interview with Sheridan.

450
00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:42,000
Her goal? Get him to request his DNA test results.

451
00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:53,000
Now, we can't use DNA to prove that he was D.B. Cooper because the profile that the FBI has is only a partial DNA profile.

452
00:26:53,000 --> 00:27:07,000
But if we can get Sheridan Peterson to actually request to get his DNA comparison results from the FBI, we may actually be able to prove definitively that he wasn't D.B. Cooper.

453
00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:16,000
Erics and his team of investigators continue their hunt.

454
00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:22,000
Yesterday, they searched a remote island. Today, they're searching an extended meadow area.

455
00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:31,000
None of this land has been searched before because the FBI used a different flight path to calculate its search area in 1971.

456
00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:39,000
If Erics can find any evidence that D.B. Cooper landed here, it might lead to finally identifying the skyjacker.

457
00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:47,000
All right, so today we're continuing to search for the missing parachutes. We've got our survivalist with us as well, Dan.

458
00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:51,000
I'm Dan Barrett. I am a backcountry guide in the United States.

459
00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:58,000
I'm not an expert on D.B. Cooper himself, but to me it seems like it's a survival situation. I'm looking forward to this search. This is going to be awesome.

460
00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:07,000
There are several copycat jumps that took place after Cooper's jump. Every single person who did it survived.

461
00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:13,000
Although every copycat jumped, every single person who did it survived.

462
00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:18,000
Although every copycat jumper survived, none of them got away with the crime.

463
00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:27,000
Most notable, a man named Richard Floyd McCoy, who in 1972 remained free for two days before being arrested.

464
00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:36,000
It seems that the real challenge comes once he hits the ground, how he gets out of the area.

465
00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:41,000
Were these tracks in place at that time? Yes, they were.

466
00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:46,000
We're on top of the BNSF railway tracks.

467
00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:56,000
If D.B. Cooper landed in this area, the railroad tracks provide a perfect corridor that he could have used to get to Tina Bar, where the money was found.

468
00:28:57,000 --> 00:29:06,000
You would think looking into what the train schedule was like that night. If he landed, started walking for 20 minutes, half hour, I'm sure a train would have gone by.

469
00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:15,000
There was a railroad conductor who was driving down the tracks that night who actually did report to the FBI that there was somebody on the tracks.

470
00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:33,000
And it's important to remember that as the conductor is bringing this to the attention of the FBI, the FBI actually thinks that D.B. Cooper landed six or seven or eight miles east of the railroad tracks.

471
00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:42,000
Today we're going to be doing half of the meadow because there's just too much territory to cover in one day. Tomorrow we'll deal with the other half.

472
00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:46,000
That said, the search starts right here.

473
00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:53,000
There's gonna be four of us that are gonna have to work as the actual line search of these guys. They're gonna be a little bit more independent.

474
00:29:55,000 --> 00:30:01,000
Look along the edge here. That's due north. We need to work our way further north.

475
00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:09,000
It's more of like a pin point, so then it'll open up. It'll make it really sensitive, so you'll pick up everything. And then you can kind of do your criss cross.

476
00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:12,000
If I left it on that, it would be like, woo, exactly.

477
00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:23,000
If somebody is landing in some place like this, I'm in all this thicket, that'd be pretty brutal. I mean, I just don't see how you land in something like this without getting injured.

478
00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:32,000
On the night D.B. Cooper jumped, moderate wind gusts upwards of 11 miles per hour were reported on the ground with sporadic rainfall.

479
00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:38,000
When Cooper hit land, he would have experienced ground temperatures dropping into the 30s.

480
00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:40,000
This is swampy right here.

481
00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:45,000
Is it dry over there, Jason, or?

482
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:48,000
Yeah, if you come around the north side, follow the grass.

483
00:30:52,000 --> 00:30:54,000
Can I go forward and back a little bit?

484
00:30:57,000 --> 00:30:59,000
This could be promising. Bound it.

485
00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:07,000
Yeah, if you come around the north side, follow the grass.

486
00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:17,000
Eric Ulus and his search team are in a protected wildlife refuge in southwest Washington, searching for evidence that D.B. Cooper landed here.

487
00:31:17,000 --> 00:31:24,000
Halfway through searching a large meadow area, they uncover something that could be connected with this unsolved mystery.

488
00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:26,000
I think I've pinpointed where it is.

489
00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:30,000
Cooper's NB-6 parachute had stainless steel parts.

490
00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:32,000
This must have been old.

491
00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:36,000
So a hit on the metal detector is encouraging news.

492
00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:39,000
Yeah, looks good.

493
00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:45,000
See, there are two separate objects or one slightly stretched out, like the backpack I think would be.

494
00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:47,000
Alright, we got something underground.

495
00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:52,000
Wow. So what does that mean as far as the size of the piece?

496
00:31:52,000 --> 00:32:03,000
With any metal detection, it's hard to get size until you start digging it up, because you could have something really small that's really conductive right at surface,

497
00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:06,000
and that's going to give you a really solid response.

498
00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:12,000
But if you have something larger that's at depth, it'll give you a smaller response.

499
00:32:12,000 --> 00:32:15,000
So it's just how close the object is to the sensors.

500
00:32:15,000 --> 00:32:26,000
Although the metal detector registered a strong hit, the size of the object, how conductive it is, and how close it is to the surface can all influence the strength of the signal.

501
00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:31,000
It seems really pinpointed at that little soft spot right there.

502
00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:35,000
I mean that's a robust signal. I mean clearly there's something down there.

503
00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:40,000
Well and maybe...

504
00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:41,000
Oh, there we are.

505
00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:43,000
Oh, wire.

506
00:32:43,000 --> 00:32:48,000
What kind of wire though? Parachute pull cord?

507
00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:56,000
So the wire has to stay in the ground, so let me try to see if I can sell servers in here and give Mark a really quick call.

508
00:32:57,000 --> 00:33:15,000
Mark Meltzer is an expert skydiver. He's going to know this parachute inside and out, so he's the perfect person to reach out to to see if he recognizes this piece of wire, and if he thinks it has anything to do with a parachute.

509
00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:23,000
Hey Mark, yeah it's Eric. So we found what appears to be like a wire buried, kind of half buried in here.

510
00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:34,000
Is there any sort of wire? It's a little heavier gauge wire. Anything like that in the parachutes, either the reserve or the main that is consistent with that?

511
00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:39,000
In a pilot's shoot there's a spring. It's not stranded, it's solid wire, but it's springy.

512
00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:46,000
So what kind of gauge are we talking about relative to like the size of a hanger, for example?

513
00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:47,000
About the same.

514
00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:53,000
Okay. Is it okay if we take a picture and send a picture to you and just kind of get your impression?

515
00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:54,000
Yeah, that's fine.

516
00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:55,000
Okay.

517
00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:57,000
Hold on a second here Mark.

518
00:33:57,000 --> 00:33:59,000
Is it rusted?

519
00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:09,000
I mean it's not shiny, but it doesn't appear to be rusted to me, but let me send this over to you. Hopefully it lets me send it out to you here.

520
00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:13,000
And then you can just shoot me a call back as soon as you have a chance to take a look at it.

521
00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:15,000
Alright, thanks Mark.

522
00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:20,000
There's an old road in here too, about 100 yards in.

523
00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:22,000
Got a gate on it even.

524
00:34:22,000 --> 00:34:26,000
Let's see what kind of metal they use on the fencing here.

525
00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:29,000
That's what it looks like actually, right there.

526
00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:31,000
That's what it looks like.

527
00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:36,000
Yeah, as you can see down there, that's how they secure the posts together and make them stand up.

528
00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:42,000
Yeah, it looks just like that. It looks just like that, exactly like that.

529
00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:45,000
At least we have an idea of what it is now, so.

530
00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:47,000
Yeah, that appears to be the case.

531
00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:53,000
I was hoping that we would have found something a little bit more concrete at this point.

532
00:34:53,000 --> 00:35:00,000
We've only got one more day left to search the refuge, then it's on to searching the private property.

533
00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:10,000
While Eric and the team call it a day, retired FBI agent Mary Jean Friar is in Santa Rosa.

534
00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:14,000
She's spoken with Sheridan Peterson, Eric's key person of interest.

535
00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:20,000
And now, she says she has even more reason to believe he could be D.B. Cooper.

536
00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:26,000
In September, I received communication from Sheridan Peterson, which was very strange.

537
00:35:26,000 --> 00:35:32,000
I've never had another person I've ever interviewed in my 21.4 years ever contact me again.

538
00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:40,000
And he sent me two messages about things that were upsetting him and signed them both D.B.

539
00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:49,000
I think Sheridan loves the stimulation, the engagement, the thrill of him being a suspect is D.B. Cooper.

540
00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:51,000
Do you think that he could be D.B. Cooper?

541
00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:52,000
Yeah, I do.

542
00:35:53,000 --> 00:36:00,000
To prepare for her meeting, Mary Jean watches an interview Sheridan did for a 2016 documentary.

543
00:36:01,000 --> 00:36:05,000
In it, Sheridan acknowledges he sky jumped at Issaquah Skyport,

544
00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:11,000
the place that supplied the parachutes D.B. Cooper requested during Flight 305 skyjacking.

545
00:36:12,000 --> 00:36:16,000
Oh, I was the most obvious suspect of anyone.

546
00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:22,000
I had jumped in Issaquah and I had got my instructor's license there.

547
00:36:22,000 --> 00:36:30,000
And that is where the guy got the parachutes and I had worked for Boeing.

548
00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:33,000
He's building a very good case against himself.

549
00:36:33,000 --> 00:36:35,000
She said, where were you?

550
00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:39,000
And I said, I was in Nepal.

551
00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:43,000
Oh, in Nepal. Come on, you can think of a better one then.

552
00:36:43,000 --> 00:36:44,000
No, I did not say that.

553
00:36:45,000 --> 00:36:48,000
Then they didn't keep track of people going back and forth from the country.

554
00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:51,000
If he was there, that's great, but that doesn't prove that he was there.

555
00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:55,000
And I told him, I said, he had four parachutes.

556
00:36:55,000 --> 00:37:00,000
He had one parachute with a red X across it. That was a reserve.

557
00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:02,000
Another reserve was perfectly good.

558
00:37:03,000 --> 00:37:05,000
Which reserve did you take?

559
00:37:05,000 --> 00:37:08,000
The one that was Daisy changed. I remember that one.

560
00:37:08,000 --> 00:37:10,000
This is interesting that he's so detailed.

561
00:37:10,000 --> 00:37:13,000
It took more than taking the right parachute.

562
00:37:13,000 --> 00:37:18,000
It also meant that the person would have to know those stairs come down on the 727.

563
00:37:18,000 --> 00:37:20,000
I wouldn't know what to do.

564
00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:21,000
That's what I'm saying.

565
00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:24,000
So anybody saying that you would have been a great TV cooper,

566
00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:26,000
not if you didn't know how to get off the airplane.

567
00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:27,000
Oh, yeah.

568
00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:32,000
That made him nervous when that conversation didn't know about the stairs

569
00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:34,000
and he's kind of fidgeting with his cup.

570
00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:37,000
And did you ever hear from Mary Jean again?

571
00:37:38,000 --> 00:37:44,000
She came back for some reason and told me that there's no match.

572
00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:46,000
Well, it's very fortunate for me.

573
00:37:46,000 --> 00:37:50,000
I'm about to go see Sheridan Peterson for the first time since 2003.

574
00:37:50,000 --> 00:37:55,000
And I'm hoping that maybe at this point he's finally ready to accept

575
00:37:55,000 --> 00:37:57,000
that he's going to tell us that he's DB Cooper.

576
00:37:57,000 --> 00:37:58,000
Don't take it to your death.

577
00:37:58,000 --> 00:38:00,000
Set the record straight.

578
00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:04,000
Put this to rest so that everyone can appreciate what you did and got away with

579
00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:06,000
and not let anyone else take credit for it.

580
00:38:12,000 --> 00:38:14,000
With their permit expired at the refuge,

581
00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:17,000
Eric and his team arrive at their final search zone,

582
00:38:17,000 --> 00:38:20,000
a ravine on private property.

583
00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:22,000
It's on Lake River,

584
00:38:22,000 --> 00:38:25,000
and Eric believes Cooper could have used it for cover

585
00:38:25,000 --> 00:38:27,000
as he made his way to Tina Barre,

586
00:38:27,000 --> 00:38:30,000
where some ransom money was uncovered in 1980.

587
00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:31,000
How's it going, man?

588
00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:32,000
Good. Good to see you.

589
00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:33,000
Good to see you as well.

590
00:38:33,000 --> 00:38:34,000
Yep. Yep.

591
00:38:34,000 --> 00:38:35,000
How you doing?

592
00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:36,000
Good morning.

593
00:38:36,000 --> 00:38:37,000
So my name's Eric.

594
00:38:37,000 --> 00:38:42,000
Barry, I want to thank you very much for getting these group of people together.

595
00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:44,000
And why don't you give me an idea of who we've got here?

596
00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:46,000
Because clearly we have two different teams.

597
00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:49,000
We have, as you see by the different colors of blue and the red.

598
00:38:49,000 --> 00:38:52,000
So I'm with the Southwest Washington Search and Rescue.

599
00:38:52,000 --> 00:38:56,000
And these folks here in the red are with the Clark County Sheriff's Office.

600
00:38:56,000 --> 00:39:01,000
How many of you have actually heard of DB Cooper or haven't heard of DB Cooper

601
00:39:01,000 --> 00:39:03,000
or are familiar with the case?

602
00:39:03,000 --> 00:39:05,000
I think I know what you guys are.

603
00:39:05,000 --> 00:39:07,000
I think it would be more surprised if somebody hadn't heard about it.

604
00:39:07,000 --> 00:39:08,000
Yeah.

605
00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:10,000
I'm not.

606
00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:12,000
I'm from the East Coast.

607
00:39:12,000 --> 00:39:16,000
So I read a little bit about it and thought it was interesting.

608
00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:20,000
And being here with the rest of the team is exciting and it's fun.

609
00:39:20,000 --> 00:39:25,000
So hopefully we do come across something and get to learn a little bit more

610
00:39:25,000 --> 00:39:27,000
about the Pacific Northwest legend.

611
00:39:27,000 --> 00:39:34,000
There's a lot of evidence that suggests that DB Cooper landed somewhere in this vicinity.

612
00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:37,000
We did some searching on the refuge side of Lake River.

613
00:39:37,000 --> 00:39:40,000
Now it's time to focus on this side of Lake River.

614
00:39:40,000 --> 00:39:44,000
My thought is that Cooper, you know, if he landed in this area here,

615
00:39:44,000 --> 00:39:50,000
would have, you know, walked his way down to the ravine looking for a path out of the area,

616
00:39:50,000 --> 00:39:53,000
a path toward the railroad tracks.

617
00:39:53,000 --> 00:39:57,000
Today's search will cover over 12 acres.

618
00:39:57,000 --> 00:39:59,000
So they've doubled their search team.

619
00:39:59,000 --> 00:40:05,000
Each member is outfitted with a GPS tracker and monitored from a mobile command center.

620
00:40:05,000 --> 00:40:07,000
All right, folks, we ready.

621
00:40:07,000 --> 00:40:12,000
If evidence of DB Cooper is here, Eric's confident his team can find it.

622
00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:19,000
Right side good.

623
00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:20,000
Right good.

624
00:40:20,000 --> 00:40:21,000
Left side.

625
00:40:21,000 --> 00:40:22,000
Left side good.

626
00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:23,000
Okay, moving.

627
00:40:23,000 --> 00:40:24,000
All right, slow methodical.

628
00:40:24,000 --> 00:40:27,000
Just follow this ravine straight down.

629
00:40:27,000 --> 00:40:29,000
Low and slow, folks.

630
00:40:29,000 --> 00:40:30,000
Low and slow.

631
00:40:30,000 --> 00:40:34,000
Make sure you're clear under trees and things like that.

632
00:40:34,000 --> 00:40:36,000
Look up every once in a while.

633
00:40:36,000 --> 00:40:38,000
Yeah, look behind you too.

634
00:40:38,000 --> 00:40:41,000
You can break as much as you need to.

635
00:40:41,000 --> 00:40:43,000
We got permission.

636
00:40:43,000 --> 00:40:44,000
Keep going.

637
00:40:44,000 --> 00:40:45,000
Keep going.

638
00:40:45,000 --> 00:40:46,000
Keep going.

639
00:40:46,000 --> 00:40:49,000
Think, where would I hide a parachute?

640
00:40:49,000 --> 00:40:52,000
One other thing to consider as I look at these trees up here,

641
00:40:52,000 --> 00:40:59,000
one of the premier suspects in this case was actually a smoke jumper.

642
00:40:59,000 --> 00:41:01,000
If he happened to land in this type of environment,

643
00:41:01,000 --> 00:41:04,000
he would have known exactly what to do and how to handle the situation.

644
00:41:04,000 --> 00:41:07,000
If he had caught up in these trees, you know, 60, 70 feet up,

645
00:41:07,000 --> 00:41:09,000
we know that he had a pocket knife on him.

646
00:41:09,000 --> 00:41:12,000
He actually used that to cut some of the shroud lines.

647
00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:14,000
So he would have figured out a way to get down.

648
00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:17,000
It wouldn't have been an issue for him.

649
00:41:17,000 --> 00:41:18,000
Oh, yeah.

650
00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:19,000
Something.

651
00:41:19,000 --> 00:41:20,000
They got something.

652
00:41:20,000 --> 00:41:22,000
They're digging in something over there, Eric.

653
00:41:22,000 --> 00:41:23,000
I'm not sure.

654
00:41:23,000 --> 00:41:24,000
Eric, you want to come over here?

655
00:41:24,000 --> 00:41:25,000
Yeah.

656
00:41:25,000 --> 00:41:26,000
Hold on.

657
00:41:26,000 --> 00:41:27,000
Right holding.

658
00:41:27,000 --> 00:41:30,000
Yeah, it's just the same area.

659
00:41:31,000 --> 00:41:33,000
What is this?

660
00:41:33,000 --> 00:41:35,000
The wine bottle.

661
00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:37,000
Might be a piece of aluminum.

662
00:41:37,000 --> 00:41:39,000
Yeah, I think that's all it is.

663
00:41:39,000 --> 00:41:40,000
You got some cork on it.

664
00:41:40,000 --> 00:41:43,000
Yeah, it's definitely like a top of a wine cork.

665
00:41:43,000 --> 00:41:47,000
I know the guy was drinking, um, had a bourbon on the flight.

666
00:41:47,000 --> 00:41:50,000
You know, this is one of those things I'm just curious to be...

667
00:41:50,000 --> 00:41:51,000
Took a couple.

668
00:41:51,000 --> 00:41:53,000
Yeah, yeah, I mean, he never had a couple of mini-bos with him.

669
00:41:53,000 --> 00:41:54,000
He had a couple of mini-bos with him.

670
00:41:54,000 --> 00:41:58,000
You don't know, so it'd be kind of a bit of just to save for the heck of it,

671
00:41:58,000 --> 00:42:03,000
but it seems unlikely that there's any significance, but...

672
00:42:04,000 --> 00:42:08,000
It gives you an idea of how sensitive this instrument is.

673
00:42:08,000 --> 00:42:09,000
Yeah.

674
00:42:09,000 --> 00:42:10,000
All right.

675
00:42:10,000 --> 00:42:11,000
Let's continue.

676
00:42:11,000 --> 00:42:12,000
Pocket that and we'll continue, yeah.

677
00:42:12,000 --> 00:42:14,000
So, I look like something from a plane.

678
00:42:20,000 --> 00:42:22,000
Cabinet or something?

679
00:42:22,000 --> 00:42:24,000
Hey, Eric.

680
00:42:24,000 --> 00:42:25,000
Yeah.

681
00:42:25,000 --> 00:42:27,000
You want to come here for a second?

682
00:42:28,000 --> 00:42:29,000
Yeah.

683
00:42:29,000 --> 00:42:32,000
Large metal box that I assume somebody's filled it with rocks,

684
00:42:32,000 --> 00:42:35,000
but I just want to make sure that you don't have any...

685
00:42:35,000 --> 00:42:36,000
You see it anywhere?

686
00:42:36,000 --> 00:42:37,000
This right here.

687
00:42:37,000 --> 00:42:38,000
Oh, yeah.

688
00:42:38,000 --> 00:42:40,000
Yeah, that's the kind of thing that...

689
00:42:41,000 --> 00:42:42,000
I don't know how it ended up here,

690
00:42:42,000 --> 00:42:44,000
but it's certainly not associated with the parachute.

691
00:42:44,000 --> 00:42:47,000
Yeah, it's not associated with anything that would have fallen off the airplane.

692
00:42:47,000 --> 00:42:48,000
Nothing I'm aware of, yeah.

693
00:42:48,000 --> 00:42:49,000
It doesn't...

694
00:42:49,000 --> 00:42:52,000
It's certainly much bigger than the Ateche case would have been.

695
00:42:52,000 --> 00:42:53,000
It looks just to appear.

696
00:42:53,000 --> 00:42:57,000
It looks to me just like a, you know, large metal box.

697
00:42:57,000 --> 00:42:58,000
Just a little metal box, yeah.

698
00:42:58,000 --> 00:43:00,000
Yeah, okay.

699
00:43:00,000 --> 00:43:01,000
All right.

700
00:43:01,000 --> 00:43:03,000
Good to check out, though.

701
00:43:06,000 --> 00:43:09,000
Although they've yet to find definitive evidence,

702
00:43:09,000 --> 00:43:12,000
the search team has recovered a few items of interest,

703
00:43:12,000 --> 00:43:14,000
including this small gauge wire,

704
00:43:14,000 --> 00:43:17,000
which could have been part of the NB6 parachute.

705
00:43:17,000 --> 00:43:21,000
They also found nylon rope hanging from a tree

706
00:43:21,000 --> 00:43:26,000
and aluminum that could be from beverages served on Flight 305.

707
00:43:28,000 --> 00:43:31,000
A few, you know, false positives, so to speak.

708
00:43:31,000 --> 00:43:36,000
It helps keep a little fresh in your mind that this is a very real case.

709
00:43:36,000 --> 00:43:38,000
This guy really did exist.

710
00:43:38,000 --> 00:43:40,000
He really did jump somewhere in this area.

711
00:43:40,000 --> 00:43:43,000
Those parachutes are somewhere in this vicinity.

712
00:43:43,000 --> 00:43:45,000
It's just a matter of finding them.

713
00:43:51,000 --> 00:43:54,000
Investigator Eric Eulis is on the last day of his search

714
00:43:54,000 --> 00:43:58,000
for evidence that could solve the mystery of D.B. Cooper.

715
00:43:58,000 --> 00:44:02,000
Eric believes the FBI got it wrong,

716
00:44:02,000 --> 00:44:05,000
and Cooper actually landed eight miles west

717
00:44:05,000 --> 00:44:08,000
of law enforcement's original search zone.

718
00:44:08,000 --> 00:44:10,000
If he can find any sign of Cooper,

719
00:44:10,000 --> 00:44:15,000
it would prove he survived the jump and may be alive today.

720
00:44:18,000 --> 00:44:22,000
I wonder what this area looked like 48 years ago.

721
00:44:22,000 --> 00:44:24,000
I think it looked just like this.

722
00:44:24,000 --> 00:44:30,000
The ravine the team's searching has remained untouched by loggers for 50 years.

723
00:44:30,000 --> 00:44:35,000
Eric believes decades of overgrowth could have helped preserve evidence.

724
00:44:35,000 --> 00:44:37,000
There's an awful lot of vegetation,

725
00:44:37,000 --> 00:44:41,000
and this is exactly the kind of area that we would expect to find something

726
00:44:41,000 --> 00:44:44,000
if he was in this area and happened to stash it.

727
00:44:44,000 --> 00:44:47,000
It wouldn't be fun to land a parachute in and get caught up.

728
00:44:47,000 --> 00:44:49,000
This is actually a pretty long property.

729
00:44:49,000 --> 00:44:51,000
Is it a long line?

730
00:44:51,000 --> 00:44:53,000
Yeah, we're about a fifth of the way right now.

731
00:44:53,000 --> 00:44:55,000
Oh, wow.

732
00:44:56,000 --> 00:44:59,000
Watch your right, folks. Don't out walk your flanks.

733
00:44:59,000 --> 00:45:04,000
Hey, Joe. See that big tree on the other side of that ravine right there?

734
00:45:04,000 --> 00:45:05,000
That one right there?

735
00:45:05,000 --> 00:45:08,000
So once we get to that, we want to spread out to the right.

736
00:45:08,000 --> 00:45:09,000
Okay.

737
00:45:09,000 --> 00:45:10,000
There we go.

738
00:45:10,000 --> 00:45:11,000
All right.

739
00:45:11,000 --> 00:45:12,000
There you go.

740
00:45:12,000 --> 00:45:13,000
There you go.

741
00:45:13,000 --> 00:45:15,000
Yeah, and then catch it if you fall.

742
00:45:15,000 --> 00:45:16,000
There you go.

743
00:45:16,000 --> 00:45:17,000
All right.

744
00:45:17,000 --> 00:45:19,000
So let's do it again.

745
00:45:19,000 --> 00:45:20,000
All right.

746
00:45:20,000 --> 00:45:21,000
There you go.

747
00:45:23,000 --> 00:45:27,000
So $200,000 in 1971, what would be the value of that today?

748
00:45:27,000 --> 00:45:30,000
It would be $1.2 million today.

749
00:45:30,000 --> 00:45:33,000
So it'd be a millionaire, and today's the dollar.

750
00:45:33,000 --> 00:45:35,000
All of that for $1 million.

751
00:45:35,000 --> 00:45:37,000
The FBI's never been able to prove one way or the other

752
00:45:37,000 --> 00:45:40,000
whether any of the ransom was spent.

753
00:45:40,000 --> 00:45:43,000
If D.B. Cooper did actually spend this money,

754
00:45:43,000 --> 00:45:47,000
my research indicates that there would be approximately 50 of those bills

755
00:45:47,000 --> 00:45:51,000
still out there in circulation today.

756
00:45:51,000 --> 00:45:59,000
There is a very strong chance that someone out there right now has one of those bills,

757
00:45:59,000 --> 00:46:01,000
but they just don't know it.

758
00:46:01,000 --> 00:46:05,000
As you can see here, this is not a complete $20 bill.

759
00:46:05,000 --> 00:46:13,000
In fact, I estimate that what we're looking at is only about 25% of the original bill.

760
00:46:13,000 --> 00:46:18,000
After a difficult grid search, the team finally reaches the ravine.

761
00:46:18,000 --> 00:46:21,000
Okay, guys, you're going to have to a little slower,

762
00:46:21,000 --> 00:46:24,000
it's a little bit more brushier here for both sides, so...

763
00:46:24,000 --> 00:46:31,000
From here, Eric believes Cooper could hear trains running on the BNSF railway tracks,

764
00:46:31,000 --> 00:46:34,000
tracks leading to Tina Barre.

765
00:46:34,000 --> 00:46:37,000
Look at it right here, right in front of you.

766
00:46:37,000 --> 00:46:40,000
There's some white something here.

767
00:46:40,000 --> 00:46:42,000
I don't know.

768
00:46:42,000 --> 00:46:44,000
Yeah.

769
00:46:48,000 --> 00:46:50,000
The material is interesting.

770
00:46:50,000 --> 00:46:55,000
We have a parachute expert, and I'm going to ask him about it.

771
00:46:55,000 --> 00:46:56,000
Where'd you find it?

772
00:46:56,000 --> 00:46:59,000
Just right under the log here.

773
00:47:06,000 --> 00:47:09,000
It looks like a mixed material, some of which could be under parachutes.

774
00:47:09,000 --> 00:47:13,000
It's a mixed material, so it's a very good idea to have the expert,

775
00:47:13,000 --> 00:47:15,000
and he'll be able to tell us definitively.

776
00:47:15,000 --> 00:47:17,000
Something with tension.

777
00:47:17,000 --> 00:47:19,000
This had to be on something with some serious tension.

778
00:47:19,000 --> 00:47:23,000
The team sets up a GPS locator on the spot where the cloth fragment was found.

779
00:47:23,000 --> 00:47:27,000
To provide coordinates, they can plot on a map.

780
00:47:27,000 --> 00:47:33,000
The situation we find ourselves in right now is rare, unique, and a very limited time.

781
00:47:33,000 --> 00:47:36,000
So we just cannot afford to pass up on situations like this.

782
00:47:36,000 --> 00:47:39,000
We're just working with here, because this may be it.

783
00:47:39,000 --> 00:47:44,000
This may be the one final golden opportunity to figure out once and for all

784
00:47:44,000 --> 00:47:46,000
what happened to D.B. Cooper.

785
00:47:46,000 --> 00:47:49,000
We'll get it checked out. We'll see what the expert says.

786
00:47:49,000 --> 00:47:51,000
We'll see.

787
00:47:51,000 --> 00:47:56,000
Could this fabric be part of D.B. Cooper's missing parachutes?

788
00:47:58,000 --> 00:48:02,000
It appears to be nylon and canvas, which looked very durable.

789
00:48:02,000 --> 00:48:04,000
It resembled a piece of a parachute.

790
00:48:04,000 --> 00:48:07,000
It certainly looked like it could be, but I'm not sure.

791
00:48:07,000 --> 00:48:10,000
So now that we've got the piece in hand, we've marked where we found it,

792
00:48:10,000 --> 00:48:13,000
we'll present it to our parachute expert, Mark Meltzer,

793
00:48:13,000 --> 00:48:18,000
and he'll be able to tell us definitively whether or not this is a piece of a parachute or not.

794
00:48:20,000 --> 00:48:26,000
To learn more about the fabric he found, Eric heads to L.A. to meet with Mark Meltzer.

795
00:48:26,000 --> 00:48:29,000
Not only is he very knowledgeable about the Cooper case,

796
00:48:29,000 --> 00:48:33,000
he's also got something like 1,500, 2,000 parachute jumps.

797
00:48:33,000 --> 00:48:38,000
Gives us the opportunity to give him that piece of evidence that we found during the search,

798
00:48:38,000 --> 00:48:41,000
see if he thinks it could have possibly come from a parachute,

799
00:48:41,000 --> 00:48:45,000
either the main parachute or the reserve parachute or something else.

800
00:48:45,000 --> 00:48:49,000
He actually personally knows Sheridan Peterson.

801
00:48:49,000 --> 00:48:56,000
I wanted to start out talking to you a little bit about D.B. Cooper's skill level with respect to parachutes,

802
00:48:56,000 --> 00:49:00,000
giving everything you know about this case specifically in skydiving in particular.

803
00:49:00,000 --> 00:49:06,000
What indicates to me that he probably had some experience with military parachute gear is

804
00:49:06,000 --> 00:49:14,000
the type of main parachute rigs that were brought to him were either Navy NB6 or NB8 containers and harnesses,

805
00:49:14,000 --> 00:49:19,000
and parachute instructions were brought to the plane, printed instructions on how to use the gear.

806
00:49:19,000 --> 00:49:20,000
He didn't need them.

807
00:49:20,000 --> 00:49:28,000
Tina Muclow, the sort of person who spent the most time with Cooper, noted Cooper taking out a packing card out of one of the parachute rigs,

808
00:49:28,000 --> 00:49:33,000
and to me that's a huge clue that Cooper was most likely a skydiver.

809
00:49:33,000 --> 00:49:38,000
I mean skydivers know what a packing card is, nobody else does, it's very well concealed.

810
00:49:38,000 --> 00:49:46,000
So if Cooper actually found the packing card and knew how to put on an NB8 or NB6, that's very telling.

811
00:49:46,000 --> 00:49:51,000
I think we'll find something that may or may not be related to a parachute.

812
00:49:51,000 --> 00:49:52,000
You'd like to see it?

813
00:49:52,000 --> 00:49:53,000
I'll take it out.

814
00:49:53,000 --> 00:49:55,000
Let's get this open here.

815
00:50:06,000 --> 00:50:13,000
Well it's interesting in that it has sort of a ripstop weave in the fabric material here, the porous fabric material.

816
00:50:13,000 --> 00:50:21,000
It has nylon webbing, and I see nothing in the materials that's inconsistent with the late 60s, early 70s.

817
00:50:27,000 --> 00:50:33,000
Investigator Eric Eulis is in Los Angeles, meeting with parachute expert Mark Meltzer.

818
00:50:33,000 --> 00:50:37,000
He hopes Mark can shed light on a piece of possible evidence.

819
00:50:37,000 --> 00:50:40,000
I'm looking for the missing parachute.

820
00:50:40,000 --> 00:50:45,000
We did find something that may or may not be related to a parachute.

821
00:50:57,000 --> 00:51:04,000
Well it's interesting in that it has sort of a ripstop weave in the fabric material here, the porous fabric material.

822
00:51:04,000 --> 00:51:06,000
It has nylon webbing.

823
00:51:06,000 --> 00:51:11,000
A ripstop weave is commonly found in fabrics made to resist tearing.

824
00:51:11,000 --> 00:51:16,000
Yarns are interwoven at regular intervals in a crosshatch pattern.

825
00:51:16,000 --> 00:51:25,000
I see nothing in the materials that's inconsistent with the late 60s, early 70s, but it's not the right color for military parachute gear.

826
00:51:25,000 --> 00:51:31,000
This is a turquoise blue, and it apparently has leather over sewn on the perimeter of the thing.

827
00:51:31,000 --> 00:51:38,000
There is no leather on the type of gear that Cooper jumped, but it does have components in common with parachute gear.

828
00:51:38,000 --> 00:51:46,000
It has nylon webbing, it has some sort of ripstop weave fabric, but I can say with 100% certainty that this was not from D.B. Cooper's parachute gear.

829
00:51:46,000 --> 00:51:52,000
So you've pretty much established that it's absolutely not related to the parachute that he jumped with.

830
00:51:52,000 --> 00:51:57,000
What's the possibility that there's some sort of relation to the dummy reserve parachute?

831
00:51:57,000 --> 00:52:02,000
That's an interesting question, Eric. I've seen some crude things done to those training reserves.

832
00:52:02,000 --> 00:52:10,000
The only thing you want to do is have it be able to be deployed and packed up really quickly so they cut panels out, they sometimes cut some of the suspension lines off.

833
00:52:10,000 --> 00:52:17,000
It doesn't have to be done to FAA specs, and so I can't definitively say this wasn't part of the training reserve.

834
00:52:17,000 --> 00:52:20,000
I think it's unlikely, but I certainly can't rule it out.

835
00:52:20,000 --> 00:52:30,000
This is very exciting for me because there's a possibility that this piece could be part of the modification that was made to the dummy reserve parachute.

836
00:52:30,000 --> 00:52:43,000
You personally know Sheridan Peterson. What are your overall impressions of Peterson as they pertain to the possibility of this guy being the real D.B. Cooper?

837
00:52:43,000 --> 00:52:51,000
Sheridan Peterson is absolutely a qualified candidate. There is no aspect of that jump that he wasn't a master of.

838
00:52:51,000 --> 00:52:58,000
He knew how to jump into wilderness and egress. Do I think he's D.B. Cooper? I just don't know.

839
00:53:02,000 --> 00:53:10,000
To further his investigation, Eric Eulis next visits Claire Peterson, Sheridan Peterson's first wife.

840
00:53:10,000 --> 00:53:15,000
He hopes she may have some insight into whether Sheridan could have pulled off the skyjacking.

841
00:53:15,000 --> 00:53:21,000
She also has details about Sheridan's second wife, the key person who could cooperate his alibi.

842
00:53:21,000 --> 00:53:31,000
Sheridan has three children, all grown with Claire. They were married in the 50s and divorced in 1962,

843
00:53:31,000 --> 00:53:36,000
which is right before Sheridan moved up to Seattle and got the job at Boeing.

844
00:53:36,000 --> 00:53:45,000
Actually, Sheridan started working at Boeing in May of 1962, so they went their separate ways right before that.

845
00:53:45,000 --> 00:53:50,000
This is going to be fascinating to speak with Claire about her time with Sheridan.

846
00:53:50,000 --> 00:53:59,000
Sheridan, Claire Peterson, was interviewed by the FBI in 1974 about Sheridan and about this case.

847
00:53:59,000 --> 00:54:10,000
At that time, Sheridan was living in Asia, so she knew as of 1974 that Sheridan was a suspect in the D.B. Cooper skyjacking.

848
00:54:10,000 --> 00:54:19,000
Sheridan was 45 at the time of the skyjacking, and Eric believes his appearance is similar to the original sketch of D.B. Cooper.

849
00:54:19,000 --> 00:54:27,000
Sheridan lived in Seattle prior to the skyjacking and was photographed in a suit and tie while posing as a skydiver.

850
00:54:27,000 --> 00:54:33,000
As a Boeing employee, it's also likely that Sheridan knew the inner workings of the Boeing 727.

851
00:54:33,000 --> 00:54:40,000
And finally, Eric does not believe that Sheridan's alibi can be cooperated for the time of the skyjacking.

852
00:54:50,000 --> 00:54:53,000
Hi Claire. Hi Eric Eulis.

853
00:54:53,000 --> 00:54:55,000
Hi Eric. How are you?

854
00:54:55,000 --> 00:54:56,000
Fine, thank you.

855
00:54:56,000 --> 00:54:57,000
Good to meet you.

856
00:54:58,000 --> 00:55:03,000
Claire agreed to help Eric obtain a DNA profile from one of their children.

857
00:55:03,000 --> 00:55:09,000
It will be compared to the DNA from D.B. Cooper's tie left aboard Flight 305.

858
00:55:09,000 --> 00:55:15,000
If it's a match, Eric could finally have the answer to the mystery of D.B. Cooper's identity.

859
00:55:16,000 --> 00:55:25,000
First of all, Claire, thank you very much for taking the time to sit down with me and talk a little bit about your life and your life with Sheridan.

860
00:55:25,000 --> 00:55:32,000
Can you describe just the nature of your relationship during that seven years with Sheridan?

861
00:55:32,000 --> 00:55:40,000
Well, the relationship was bumpy. He did have tirades of anger.

862
00:55:40,000 --> 00:55:48,000
I don't think he could control it. So I knew there was a time when I was going to have to say goodbye to him.

863
00:55:48,000 --> 00:55:53,000
And that's the way it went. Something had to be done because I didn't want to get hurt.

864
00:55:53,000 --> 00:56:03,000
In terms of being clever and deceptive when there's something that he wanted or what have you, did you detect any of that in him?

865
00:56:03,000 --> 00:56:05,000
The ability to be deceptive?

866
00:56:05,000 --> 00:56:12,000
I think he was deceptive, yes, in a way that would work for him.

867
00:56:12,000 --> 00:56:21,000
As Eric speaks with Claire Peterson, former FBI agent Mary Jean Friar is en route to visit Sheridan Peterson.

868
00:56:21,000 --> 00:56:28,000
In 2003, she interviewed him as a person of interest and collected a DNA sample.

869
00:56:29,000 --> 00:56:35,000
This is the first time they've met since then.

870
00:56:35,000 --> 00:56:48,000
I was glad you reached out to me on Twitter when you sent me the message that you wished I was still in the FBI because you had things that were happening to your computer.

871
00:56:48,000 --> 00:56:52,000
Do you remember that in September?

872
00:56:52,000 --> 00:56:54,000
With your book.

873
00:56:54,000 --> 00:56:58,000
You signed it, DB.

874
00:56:58,000 --> 00:57:01,000
Because I thought I didn't use you.

875
00:57:01,000 --> 00:57:05,000
Yeah, you did amuse me. Twice you signed DB.

876
00:57:05,000 --> 00:57:12,000
Yeah, I was so surprised to find you.

877
00:57:12,000 --> 00:57:15,000
It's been a long time since we've seen each other.

878
00:57:15,000 --> 00:57:18,000
Yes, it has. That was 20 years ago.

879
00:57:18,000 --> 00:57:20,000
A long time ago.

880
00:57:20,000 --> 00:57:24,000
I was in a high sting of aircraft.

881
00:57:24,000 --> 00:57:27,000
That wasn't me.

882
00:57:27,000 --> 00:57:31,000
There were easier ways to get 200,000, I would say.

883
00:57:31,000 --> 00:57:34,000
I'm surprised that you guys are still interested.

884
00:57:34,000 --> 00:57:36,000
They never caught the guy.

885
00:57:36,000 --> 00:57:38,000
The FBI gave up on it and closed it.

886
00:57:38,000 --> 00:57:40,000
Oh, did they?

887
00:57:40,000 --> 00:57:43,000
The fact that people think that you could be D.V. Cooper makes sense.

888
00:57:43,000 --> 00:57:48,000
D.V. Cooper was a gangster. He was a thief.

889
00:57:48,000 --> 00:57:51,000
That was $200,000.

890
00:57:51,000 --> 00:57:53,000
Also, he wanted to blow up a plane.

891
00:57:53,000 --> 00:57:56,000
He would have killed a lot of people.

892
00:57:56,000 --> 00:57:58,000
Do you think the bombs are real?

893
00:57:58,000 --> 00:58:01,000
Oh, they weren't real, no.

894
00:58:01,000 --> 00:58:04,000
How do you know that?

895
00:58:04,000 --> 00:58:09,000
Retired FBI investigator Mary Jean Friar is meeting with Sheridan Peterson.

896
00:58:09,000 --> 00:58:14,000
A man she interviewed in 2003 has a person of interest in the D.V. Cooper case.

897
00:58:14,000 --> 00:58:16,000
Do you think the bombs are real?

898
00:58:16,000 --> 00:58:22,000
No. The FBI found and proved that the bombs weren't real.

899
00:58:22,000 --> 00:58:25,000
They did? I didn't hear that.

900
00:58:25,000 --> 00:58:31,000
Oh, yeah. Once he had jumped there, he left the stuff behind.

901
00:58:31,000 --> 00:58:34,000
He only left the tie behind.

902
00:58:34,000 --> 00:58:40,000
The only items recovered from the hijack plane were a long skinny black clip on tie,

903
00:58:40,000 --> 00:58:44,000
a gold tie clip and eight cigarette butts.

904
00:58:44,000 --> 00:58:49,000
It's believed Cooper jumped with everything else, including the handwritten notes

905
00:58:49,000 --> 00:58:52,000
exchanged between he and the flight attendants.

906
00:58:52,000 --> 00:58:54,000
Why would he do that?

907
00:58:54,000 --> 00:59:00,000
I feel that my personal opinion that he ended up in the Columbia River.

908
00:59:00,000 --> 00:59:06,000
That money, all of Rotten and everything, was in the sand along the bank,

909
00:59:06,000 --> 00:59:08,000
north of the doll.

910
00:59:08,000 --> 00:59:11,000
Actually, I think the money was buried, not lost.

911
00:59:11,000 --> 00:59:13,000
Buried?

912
00:59:13,000 --> 00:59:19,000
Because it was like in a stack in the sand, not like just drifted there.

913
00:59:19,000 --> 00:59:26,000
If he jumped in a just, in a tire that he was wearing, he was crazy.

914
00:59:26,000 --> 00:59:28,000
And I'm not crazy.

915
00:59:28,000 --> 00:59:30,000
That took a lot of guts to do what he did.

916
00:59:30,000 --> 00:59:34,000
Oh, yeah, I think so. Yeah.

917
00:59:36,000 --> 00:59:38,000
You know, your life story is fascinating.

918
00:59:38,000 --> 00:59:42,000
Can we start after your first wife, Claire?

919
00:59:42,000 --> 00:59:48,000
Yes, right after my first wife, I took a sabbatical in the Philippines.

920
00:59:48,000 --> 00:59:53,000
I was just an English teacher, and I met Zinni.

921
00:59:53,000 --> 00:59:56,000
She lived in a very poor area.

922
00:59:56,000 --> 01:00:02,000
She wasn't well educated, but I married a Zinni.

923
01:00:02,000 --> 01:00:06,000
We had two children, and then I went to Vietnam.

924
01:00:06,000 --> 01:00:11,000
It was an express purpose of writing a documentary on the Vietnam War.

925
01:00:11,000 --> 01:00:14,000
You know, I needed a passport.

926
01:00:14,000 --> 01:00:16,000
Oh, I have those passports.

927
01:00:16,000 --> 01:00:18,000
Can we see them?

928
01:00:18,000 --> 01:00:20,000
Yeah, I'll get them.

929
01:00:20,000 --> 01:00:23,000
This is all your travel everywhere?

930
01:00:23,000 --> 01:00:26,000
Well, I'm not sure it's all of them, but...

931
01:00:26,000 --> 01:00:28,000
You keep everything. I love that.

932
01:00:28,000 --> 01:00:32,000
So here's Catman due in August of 71.

933
01:00:32,000 --> 01:00:37,000
Now, after August of 71, then where'd you go?

934
01:00:37,000 --> 01:00:40,000
Oh, I went back to Vietnam.

935
01:00:40,000 --> 01:00:42,000
Yeah, I remember that.

936
01:00:42,000 --> 01:00:49,000
I went back and I left the family in Malaysia in Penang.

937
01:00:49,000 --> 01:00:51,000
Your wife died in 1977?

938
01:00:54,000 --> 01:00:56,000
Well, yeah.

939
01:00:56,000 --> 01:00:59,000
I don't want them to know where I am.

940
01:00:59,000 --> 01:01:02,000
I don't want them to know anything.

941
01:01:03,000 --> 01:01:09,000
Back in Idaho, Eric Euless continues his meetings with Sheridan's first wife, Claire.

942
01:01:09,000 --> 01:01:16,000
He was not money crazy, but he did not want to work, but, you know, he wanted to have a living.

943
01:01:16,000 --> 01:01:23,000
And I knew he wanted to go to Asia, and it looked like he was doing what he wanted to do.

944
01:01:23,000 --> 01:01:28,000
So you were made aware at some point that he, like, headed to Asia?

945
01:01:28,000 --> 01:01:32,000
I did know that he left and he went overseas.

946
01:01:32,000 --> 01:01:35,000
And was there any contact with him while he was over there?

947
01:01:35,000 --> 01:01:42,000
Probably a couple of letters, and then, but for years and years, no contact.

948
01:01:42,000 --> 01:01:50,000
One thing that was intriguing that we talked about related to his second wife.

949
01:01:50,000 --> 01:01:55,000
And you're talking about a wife that he led me to believe was alive.

950
01:01:55,000 --> 01:02:01,000
What did he say to you in 2007 that made you think she was still alive?

951
01:02:01,000 --> 01:02:07,000
I met his daughter, their daughter, and she wanted to see her mother,

952
01:02:07,000 --> 01:02:12,000
and she wanted to see her, that her mother got over here to the United States from the Philippines.

953
01:02:12,000 --> 01:02:13,000
What year was this?

954
01:02:13,000 --> 01:02:15,000
Well, this was 2007.

955
01:02:15,000 --> 01:02:20,000
So you talked, you had a conversation with Sheridan about this right here at your house, where we are right now.

956
01:02:20,000 --> 01:02:21,000
Yes.

957
01:02:21,000 --> 01:02:22,000
What did Sheridan say about that?

958
01:02:22,000 --> 01:02:24,000
Well, I asked Sheridan, why don't you send for her?

959
01:02:24,000 --> 01:02:26,000
Why don't you see that she can get here?

960
01:02:26,000 --> 01:02:32,000
And he laughed, and what he said was, oh, she wants to bring her entire family over with her.

961
01:02:32,000 --> 01:02:37,000
Clearly, you're under the distinct impression that his second wife, at least as of 2007,

962
01:02:37,000 --> 01:02:39,000
is alive and well, and is living in the Philippines.

963
01:02:39,000 --> 01:02:40,000
Is that correct?

964
01:02:40,000 --> 01:02:41,000
Exactly.

965
01:02:41,000 --> 01:02:48,000
According to Sheridan, his second wife had passed away in 1977.

966
01:02:49,000 --> 01:02:52,000
Well, he's lying about something.

967
01:02:52,000 --> 01:02:59,000
If he is possibly Dan Cooper, she would know.

968
01:02:59,000 --> 01:03:07,000
Well, that's what I started to really think, perhaps, it was he who did it.

969
01:03:07,000 --> 01:03:17,000
He had the knowledge and probably, he probably had the courage to do something like that.

970
01:03:17,000 --> 01:03:25,000
Look, I read Eric's work, and I have to ask you, I want to know how you knew the reserve parachute was Daisy Chained.

971
01:03:25,000 --> 01:03:27,000
I, Daisy Chained it.

972
01:03:27,000 --> 01:03:29,000
You, Daisy Chained it?

973
01:03:29,000 --> 01:03:30,000
Yeah, I, Daisy Chained it.

974
01:03:30,000 --> 01:03:35,000
We used it there at Issaquah for years.

975
01:03:35,000 --> 01:03:40,000
Sheridan Peterson worked at the Issaquah Skydive Center in the early 1960s,

976
01:03:40,000 --> 01:03:46,000
the same place that would later provide parachutes used by Cooper in his escape.

977
01:03:46,000 --> 01:03:51,000
Our Daisy Chained it, so they throw it down and out, see.

978
01:03:51,000 --> 01:03:54,000
The reserve, I put the red X on it.

979
01:03:54,000 --> 01:03:56,000
You hadn't been to Issaquah in five years.

980
01:03:56,000 --> 01:03:59,000
How did you know that that's the same reserve you made?

981
01:03:59,000 --> 01:04:01,000
Well, I was sure it was.

982
01:04:01,000 --> 01:04:03,000
Why would they change it?

983
01:04:03,000 --> 01:04:05,000
Who gave it to him?

984
01:04:05,000 --> 01:04:06,000
Lynn Emmerich.

985
01:04:06,000 --> 01:04:10,000
Yeah, that's why Lynn Emmerich figured it was me.

986
01:04:10,000 --> 01:04:15,000
Lynn Emmerich worked at Issaquah Skyport at the same time as the hijacking.

987
01:04:15,000 --> 01:04:23,000
But the others no longer think that I'm a DB Trooper.

988
01:04:23,000 --> 01:04:25,000
And there's still that DNA out there?

989
01:04:25,000 --> 01:04:27,000
Yeah, you still have my DNA.

990
01:04:27,000 --> 01:04:29,000
It's still there, yeah.

991
01:04:29,000 --> 01:04:31,000
I've never heard that it was cleared.

992
01:04:31,000 --> 01:04:33,000
But I thought you said there.

993
01:04:33,000 --> 01:04:35,000
No, because I never found out.

994
01:04:35,000 --> 01:04:38,000
But you can find out yourself.

995
01:04:38,000 --> 01:04:40,000
I can send you the form.

996
01:04:40,000 --> 01:04:42,000
You just make the request and they'll tell you.

997
01:04:42,000 --> 01:04:48,000
There was a little part of me that was hoping you were going to confess to being DB Cooper today.

998
01:04:48,000 --> 01:04:49,000
A little part of you?

999
01:04:49,000 --> 01:04:50,000
Yeah.

1000
01:04:50,000 --> 01:04:54,000
Oh, she really is an FBI.

1001
01:04:54,000 --> 01:04:55,000
Yeah.

1002
01:04:55,000 --> 01:05:03,000
I just hope that whoever it is, that takes some credit for it before they die, if they're still alive.

1003
01:05:03,000 --> 01:05:06,000
Because it's quite the accomplishment.

1004
01:05:06,000 --> 01:05:14,000
And so many people have claimed it or tried to steal it from this person saying, oh, I was DB Cooper or on their deathbed or family members will come out.

1005
01:05:14,000 --> 01:05:23,000
But it would be nice if the person doesn't let it go unsolved.

1006
01:05:23,000 --> 01:05:25,000
All right, listen, I have to say goodbye.

1007
01:05:25,000 --> 01:05:26,000
Yeah.

1008
01:05:26,000 --> 01:05:27,000
Hey.

1009
01:05:27,000 --> 01:05:28,000
Yeah.

1010
01:05:28,000 --> 01:05:30,000
All right, you take care of yourself.

1011
01:05:30,000 --> 01:05:31,000
Yeah.

1012
01:05:31,000 --> 01:05:32,000
I will send you that form.

1013
01:05:32,000 --> 01:05:33,000
All right.

1014
01:05:33,000 --> 01:05:34,000
All right.

1015
01:05:34,000 --> 01:05:37,000
Then we can put this to rest unless you want to confess to me.

1016
01:05:37,000 --> 01:05:38,000
Huh?

1017
01:05:38,000 --> 01:05:39,000
Unless you want to confess to me.

1018
01:05:39,000 --> 01:05:41,000
Oh, I got to get on my knees.

1019
01:05:41,000 --> 01:05:42,000
Yeah.

1020
01:05:42,000 --> 01:05:43,000
While I hit sister.

1021
01:05:43,000 --> 01:05:44,000
You take care of yourself.

1022
01:05:44,000 --> 01:05:46,000
I'll remember this forever.

1023
01:05:46,000 --> 01:05:47,000
Oh, well, good.

1024
01:05:47,000 --> 01:05:48,000
I will too.

1025
01:05:55,000 --> 01:06:03,000
12 years after he began his obsessive search into DB Cooper, Eric Ulysses in Arizona, meeting with one of the only researchers ever to begin.

1026
01:06:04,000 --> 01:06:09,000
He was given access to Cooper evidence by the FBI.

1027
01:06:09,000 --> 01:06:17,000
Eric hopes that he will finally learn if the man he believes could be DB Cooper really is.

1028
01:06:17,000 --> 01:06:20,000
Tom Kay is a rock star in the DB Cooper world.

1029
01:06:20,000 --> 01:06:29,000
And the reason the guys are rock stars because he actually got special access to the evidence in 2008 as well as 2011.

1030
01:06:29,000 --> 01:06:39,000
Knowing this, it only makes sense to see if Tom Kay happened to extract some of DB Cooper's DNA while testing the tie.

1031
01:06:43,000 --> 01:06:45,000
Eric, how you doing, man?

1032
01:06:45,000 --> 01:06:46,000
Good to see you.

1033
01:06:46,000 --> 01:06:47,000
Good to see you.

1034
01:06:47,000 --> 01:06:48,000
Come on in.

1035
01:06:48,000 --> 01:06:57,000
Back in 2008, I was approached by a Cooper group that was looking for somebody to analyze the money that was found on Tina Barr and had been buried there for a long time.

1036
01:06:57,000 --> 01:07:11,000
Then we went back to the FBI in 2011, and by that time we were working with Special Agent Curtis Ang, and he allowed us then to have access to the tie specifically so we could do a series of tests, and we also vacuumed the tie for particles.

1037
01:07:11,000 --> 01:07:17,000
What we found that was really amazing is we found metallic titanium on the tie.

1038
01:07:17,000 --> 01:07:29,000
Titanium is used to manufacture aircrafts and is found at plane manufacturing plants like the Boeing facility, where Sheridan worked from 1962 to 1964.

1039
01:07:29,000 --> 01:07:43,000
There were very few applications for commercially pure titanium back in 1971, and I know that some of my research has actually shown that indeed the 727 itself specifically the engine has commercially pure titanium.

1040
01:07:43,000 --> 01:07:54,000
At that time, titanium wasn't very common. It was used primarily in aerospace and also in the chemical industry, so it goes a long ways towards narrowing down criteria for DB Cooper.

1041
01:07:54,000 --> 01:07:59,000
Now we knew how vitally important the particles were on the tie, and we knew what we were looking for.

1042
01:07:59,000 --> 01:08:06,000
We hooked up a vacuum to a filter like this. This is a sterile filter inside of a sterile jar.

1043
01:08:06,000 --> 01:08:15,000
We had a small nozzle coming out the end here, and then we hooked a vacuum to the back end of this, and we vacuumed the tie, including the knot of the tie.

1044
01:08:15,000 --> 01:08:22,000
The tie knot seems like the most logical place to look, the place that would have been touched the most by DB Cooper.

1045
01:08:22,000 --> 01:08:32,000
This filter that remains unopened to this day has particles from DB Cooper's tie in it, but most importantly it also has Cooper's DNA in it.

1046
01:08:32,000 --> 01:08:38,000
The thing is there's only one shot with the DNA here. I will never see that again. It is destroyed in the process of getting the DNA.

1047
01:08:38,000 --> 01:08:48,000
I think that the lab that's been appropriated for this job is a good one, and it'll do a good job. The extent of the job that it can do, nobody knows yet, not even the lab.

1048
01:08:48,000 --> 01:09:01,000
Tom, I want to thank you for entrusting us with this very viable DB Cooper evidence. We're going to take it, send it right off to the lab, see what they can find out, and I'll get back to you with the results as soon as I have something.

1049
01:09:01,000 --> 01:09:04,000
Alright Tom. Let's go get them.

1050
01:09:04,000 --> 01:09:18,000
While Eric waits to send the MVAC tie sample to a Florida lab specializing in older forensics cases, former FBI agent Mary Jean Friar receives an unexpected call from Sheridan.

1051
01:09:18,000 --> 01:09:23,000
When I met with Sheridan Peterson, I thought it was intriguing and kind of confusing.

1052
01:09:23,000 --> 01:09:27,000
They evidently found the guy that made the highs.

1053
01:09:27,000 --> 01:09:29,000
No, they never caught the guy.

1054
01:09:30,000 --> 01:09:32,000
The FBI gave up on it and closed it.

1055
01:09:32,000 --> 01:09:33,000
Oh, it does that.

1056
01:09:33,000 --> 01:09:40,000
During the interview, I thought it wasn't him. And then when he pulled out the passports, I said, oh, I think it might be him.

1057
01:09:40,000 --> 01:09:48,000
So here's Catmandu in August of 71. Now you didn't have these when I interviewed you way back when.

1058
01:09:48,000 --> 01:09:55,000
There was two faded stamps for Nepal for Catmandu. One ended late on 1971 before the hijacking.

1059
01:09:55,000 --> 01:10:04,000
And then the other one started in April of 1972. By the time the interview was over, I walked out thinking, I don't know anymore.

1060
01:10:04,000 --> 01:10:06,000
I'm totally confused.

1061
01:10:06,000 --> 01:10:15,000
Probably about a month after I was up in Santa Rosa, I called Sheridan and I asked him, I thought you were going to do the paperwork and follow through with the DNA filing.

1062
01:10:16,000 --> 01:10:23,000
He said, oh, you told me that I wasn't D.B. Cooper and I don't think I'm going to do it.

1063
01:10:23,000 --> 01:10:32,000
And then that was it. The conversation ended. And I hung up thinking, oh my God, now that makes me really suspicious.

1064
01:10:32,000 --> 01:10:38,000
He just wants to keep it till he dies, which is probably how it's going to play out.

1065
01:10:39,000 --> 01:10:53,000
Five weeks later, Eric arrives back in California. He's set up a video conference meeting with a senior analyst at the lab comparing D.B. Cooper's DNA to one of Sheridan's daughters.

1066
01:10:53,000 --> 01:10:59,000
If his theory is right, he may finally learn the true identity of D.B. Cooper.

1067
01:10:59,000 --> 01:11:05,000
When I first embarked upon this investigation, I had no idea where it's going to take me.

1068
01:11:05,000 --> 01:11:14,000
I had no idea who I was going to encounter, let alone that I'd find a suspect who couldn't be ruled out by the known facts.

1069
01:11:14,000 --> 01:11:21,000
According to Sheridan, his second wife had passed away in 1977.

1070
01:11:21,000 --> 01:11:25,000
Well, he's lying about something.

1071
01:11:25,000 --> 01:11:34,000
I've often said that I believe with 98% certainty that Sheridan Peterson could be D.B. Cooper.

1072
01:11:34,000 --> 01:11:41,000
But there's always been that missing 2% because truthfully, I've never been able to find a smoking gun.

1073
01:11:41,000 --> 01:11:46,000
There's an awful lot riding on what the lab comes back with.

1074
01:11:47,000 --> 01:11:52,000
Eric Euless readies himself for DNA results that could break the case wide open.

1075
01:11:52,000 --> 01:12:00,000
He'll be speaking to an analyst at the lab, cast with testing a sample taken directly from the Thai Cooper left behind on the plane.

1076
01:12:00,000 --> 01:12:10,000
Should DNA be found within the sample, the results could reopen a near 50-year-old case and confirm Eric's suspicions about a person of interest.

1077
01:12:10,000 --> 01:12:12,000
How are you?

1078
01:12:12,000 --> 01:12:13,000
I'm good, how are you?

1079
01:12:13,000 --> 01:12:15,000
I'm doing well.

1080
01:12:15,000 --> 01:12:19,000
Well, my name is Samantha Wanzak and I currently work at DNA Labs International.

1081
01:12:19,000 --> 01:12:22,000
We're a private laboratory out of Deerfield Beach in Florida.

1082
01:12:22,000 --> 01:12:29,000
But we have clients in over 40 states, so it's very easy to go back to any cold case and find more work to be done.

1083
01:12:29,000 --> 01:12:32,000
So for this case, I was actually the reporting analyst for it.

1084
01:12:32,000 --> 01:12:38,000
And how did you tackle this material that I sent you to try to ascertain whether or not there's any DNA or not?

1085
01:12:38,000 --> 01:12:45,000
Due to the size of the filter, we actually cut it up with teeny tiny chunks and then sent the whole filter for extraction.

1086
01:12:45,000 --> 01:12:48,000
That's the first stage of the DNA testing process.

1087
01:12:48,000 --> 01:12:51,000
We then try to determine how much DNA of any is present in the sample.

1088
01:12:51,000 --> 01:12:55,000
If we have enough DNA, we'll then send it forward for amplification.

1089
01:12:55,000 --> 01:12:59,000
When you have cases that are old, typically you'll see a sample will be degraded.

1090
01:12:59,000 --> 01:13:04,000
That DNA is just going to break apart over time and you're just not going to have as much intact DNA.

1091
01:13:04,000 --> 01:13:07,000
But I was very surprised with the results.

1092
01:13:07,000 --> 01:13:11,000
So there was DNA in the filter.

1093
01:13:11,000 --> 01:13:16,000
We did end up with a profile from one male individual.

1094
01:13:16,000 --> 01:13:19,000
Is there some way to quantify the strength?

1095
01:13:19,000 --> 01:13:24,000
I mean, is it one of these things where one out of a billion people would match this particular profile?

1096
01:13:24,000 --> 01:13:27,000
Like how strong is it? What can it tell us?

1097
01:13:27,000 --> 01:13:36,000
Typically, once you have over 20 locations, you would have to see hundreds, thousands, millions of planet Earths with our same current population

1098
01:13:36,000 --> 01:13:38,000
to expect to see that profile one time.

1099
01:13:38,000 --> 01:13:42,000
So once you have over those 20 locations, it usually becomes very rare.

1100
01:13:42,000 --> 01:13:54,000
So what you're telling me is that we are the very first people outside of the FBI to actually have D.B. Cooper's DNA profile.

1101
01:13:54,000 --> 01:13:57,000
I'm anxious to find out what that means.

1102
01:13:57,000 --> 01:14:04,000
What can it tell us in comparison to DNA profile from one of Sheridan Peterson's daughters?

1103
01:14:04,000 --> 01:14:06,000
Does it match?

1104
01:14:09,000 --> 01:14:13,000
She is not the biological daughter of the male donor that we found.

1105
01:14:13,000 --> 01:14:17,000
Wow. That's stunning.

1106
01:14:17,000 --> 01:14:24,000
I mean, that's really remarkable given everything I know about this guy.

1107
01:14:24,000 --> 01:14:26,000
It's a game changer, obviously.

1108
01:14:26,000 --> 01:14:36,000
The one thing that's very encouraging to me, though, is that we have a very solid DNA profile from the tie.

1109
01:14:36,000 --> 01:14:46,000
Getting a DNA profile is so important because it can provide assurance to me and others that this case is actually solvable.

1110
01:14:46,000 --> 01:14:51,000
I do very much appreciate all the effort that you folks put into this.

1111
01:14:51,000 --> 01:14:59,000
And I'm just very grateful that we've got a solid DNA profile and I'm grateful that we have some resolution with respect to Sheridan Peterson.

1112
01:14:59,000 --> 01:15:02,000
So again, thank you very much for your efforts and your time.

1113
01:15:02,000 --> 01:15:05,000
Please feel free to contact me with any additional questions that you have.

1114
01:15:05,000 --> 01:15:07,000
We will do that.

1115
01:15:09,000 --> 01:15:16,000
Now armed with new information from the lab, Eric calls Agent Mary Jean Friar to share the results.

1116
01:15:17,000 --> 01:15:23,000
Right now, I want to give Mary Jean a call and I want to let her know what I have learned.

1117
01:15:23,000 --> 01:15:33,000
Because Mary Jean has really helped move my investigation forward and I'm sure she's going to want to know what I've learned about the DNA.

1118
01:15:33,000 --> 01:15:37,000
Hey Mary Jean, how are you doing? It's Eric Hulis calling.

1119
01:15:37,000 --> 01:15:38,000
I'm here.

1120
01:15:38,000 --> 01:15:40,000
I've got a DNA update.

1121
01:15:40,000 --> 01:15:44,000
Finally have some results from the lab in Florida.

1122
01:15:44,000 --> 01:15:51,000
They did come up with a full DNA profile and it's from a male.

1123
01:15:51,000 --> 01:15:53,000
I'm getting really excited.

1124
01:15:53,000 --> 01:15:58,000
My stomach is like a knot because I'm hoping that it's him.

1125
01:15:58,000 --> 01:16:04,000
They proved 100% that the DNA does not match.

1126
01:16:04,000 --> 01:16:06,000
Oh, damn!

1127
01:16:06,000 --> 01:16:10,000
Sheridan Peterson is not D.B. Cooper.

1128
01:16:10,000 --> 01:16:16,000
Last conversation I have with Sheridan, his point blank refused to go forward with the DNA.

1129
01:16:16,000 --> 01:16:23,000
I am absolutely convinced that the DNA that we have is D.B. Cooper's DNA.

1130
01:16:23,000 --> 01:16:28,000
So if anybody matches this DNA profile, all 20 points, that's your guy.

1131
01:16:28,000 --> 01:16:30,000
There's absolutely no doubt about it.

1132
01:16:30,000 --> 01:16:34,000
Can we run it in databases and find him or is this a lost cause at this point?

1133
01:16:34,000 --> 01:16:43,000
They actually can utilize it to run through the CODIS system, but of course that involves, you know, law enforcement getting involved and the courts getting involved.

1134
01:16:43,000 --> 01:16:52,000
Eric, I think what you've done is more than the FBI ever did and I would think this is enough that if we need law enforcement, they've got to take this back when we open it.

1135
01:16:52,000 --> 01:16:59,000
This is damn good evidence. This is better than they've ever come with and maybe they can actually solve this case with your help.

1136
01:16:59,000 --> 01:17:03,000
I honestly believe we will eventually figure out who this guy was.

1137
01:17:03,000 --> 01:17:05,000
Thank you very much.

1138
01:17:05,000 --> 01:17:16,000
After narrowing down Cooper's possible landing site and eliminating an FBI person of interest, Eric's even more determined to continue his mission.

1139
01:17:16,000 --> 01:17:27,000
I feel very empowered at the moment. I feel more motivated than ever because having this DNA profile provides an outstanding blueprint.

1140
01:17:27,000 --> 01:17:42,000
As I continue to pursue this case, I am now actually armed with precisely what I need to determine who D.B. Cooper was and more importantly, to prove it.

1141
01:17:42,000 --> 01:17:46,000
Time in a D.B. Cooper case has served as a double-edged sword.

1142
01:17:46,000 --> 01:17:57,000
In one sense, you have, you know, first-hand witnesses that pass on and memories fade, but in another sense, we have advances in science and technology.

1143
01:17:57,000 --> 01:18:14,000
And I think when all is said and done, time is going to be our friend because I firmly believe that this DNA profile is ultimately what's going to break this case wide open and is what is going to solve this case.

1144
01:18:14,000 --> 01:18:19,000
The identity of D.B. Cooper has haunted investigators for nearly five decades.

1145
01:18:19,000 --> 01:18:27,000
Who is this mysterious hijacker? And will we ever finally discover his true identity? I'm Lawrence Fishburne.

1146
01:18:27,000 --> 01:18:30,000
Thank you for watching History's Greatest Mysteries.