38^th Annual D.B. Cooper Days

Location:   The Ariel Store

                288 Merwin Village Road

                Ariel, WA 98603

Directions:The Ariel Store is located 10 miles east of Woodland off of Hwy 503. Look for the Merwin Dam sign.

Phone:       360-225-7126

Date:        Saturday, November 29, 2008

Time:        all day

Cost:         free

Events:       D.B. Cooper look-a-like contest,

                 D.B. Cooper Stories, a drawing        

                 every half hour, and coloring activities

                 for children.

Search for D.B. Cooper 'reignited'

Tuesday, January 1, 2008 6:08 AM PST

By Barbara LeBoe

Saying they'd still like to get their man, the FBI released new information Monday that officials hope will finally identify infamous hijacker D.B. Cooper.

Monday, the FBI website included a press release about the new "reignited" Cooper case. Special Agent Larry Carr and new techniques like DNA testing have re-energized the search and now the FBI is asking the public for help, according to the press release.

D.B. Cooper skyrocketed to folk hero status on Nov. 24, 1971, when he hijacked a plane, demanded $200,000 and four parachutes and then bailed out somewhere above Southwest Washington. He was never found, though $5,800 of the money was discovered along the Columbia River by an 8-year-old boy in 1980.

Numerous people have claimed to know who the real Cooper is, but all those suggestions have been eliminated -- some with DNA found on the black J.C. Penny tie Cooper left behind on the plane. It's also unlikely that Cooper is the man's name, though a man named Dan Cooper was listed on the initial flight.

"It's a mystery, frankly," the FBI press release reads. "We've run down thousands of leads and considered all sorts of scenarios. And amateur sleuths have put forward plenty of their own theories. Yet the case remains unsolved."

The Cooper case is the only unsolved airline hijacking case in the nation.

The FBI is asking people to study new photographs and information to see if it "triggers a memory," according to the press release.

The pictures on the website, http://www.fbi.gov/page2/dec07/dbcooper123107.html, include a shot of the black tie Cooper left behind, the money recovered in 1980 and a discarded parachute and its canvas bag that Cooper left in the plane. He asked for four parachutes but only took two.

In addition, agent Carr said the following information should be considered:

n Cooper was no expert skydiver.

"No experienced parachutist would have jumped in the pitch-black night, in the rain, with a 200-mph wind in his face wearing loafers and a trench coat," Carr said. "He also missed that his reserve chute was only for training and had been sewn shut -- something that a skilled skydiver would have checked."

n The hijacker had no help on the ground.

There was no visibility on the ground due to cloud cover, and Cooper never inquired about or demanded particular coordinates -- which would have been needed if he was working with someone on the ground.

n The FBI has a "solid physical description" of Cooper.

Descriptions from the two flight attendants who spent the most time with Cooper produced near identical descriptions, even though the women were interviewed separately in different cities. Officials believe Cooper was in his mid 40s with brown eyes, weighing about 170 to 180 pounds and standing 5-foot 10-inches to 6-foot tall. If he was in his mid 40s then, he's now about 80 -- if still alive.

Carr and other FBI agents believe Cooper likely died in his plunge from the plane, but they'd still like to identify him.

"Maybe a hydrologist can use the latest technology to trace the $5,800 in ransom money found in 1980 to where Cooper landed upstream," Carr said in the release. "Or maybe someone just remembers that odd uncle."

Anyone with information is asked to e-mail the FBI's Seattle field office at fbise@leo.gov.

Cooper's fame and mystery are celebrated every year at the Ariel Store and Tavern east of Woodland, near where many people believe he bailed out of the plane.

This year's party again had a packed bar and hopping dance floor as well as several men claiming to be Cooper -- or at least dressing like him. Jack Elliott, whose mother owns the bar, said an FBI agent attends the event every year just in case.

And while agents believe Cooper died in his attempt, Elliott and many others at this year's gathering said they believe he survived. Asked if he thought he'd ever get a chance to meet Cooper, Elliott replied.

"We had a lot of people here who look like him through the years. ... I might have met him already."

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