S1E6 What Happened to D.B. Cooper? With Comedian Jonesy

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:00:05] Hello and welcome to episode number six of the unofficial official story. I'm Koji, the so-called chief of the show.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:00:11] Hello, listeners, and I'm Dwayne the class clown, I guess.

Jennifer Field: [00:00:15] Hi, I'm Jennifer. The Fearless Investigator.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:00:18] This is a podcast where we tell you the official story. We're going to take a look at the paranormal conspiracies, unexplained phenomena, cryptids and even true crime.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:00:26] In this episode, we're asking the question What happened To D.B.Cooper?

Jennifer Field: [00:00:29] And by end, we'll tell you what really maybe happened.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:00:33] But first, we have a guest, Jonesy.

Jennifer Field: [00:00:36] Woo. 

Dwayne Perkins: [00:00:36] Hoo. Jonesy is my homeboy. Jonesy is an actor and comedian seen on drunk history. Gotham and the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt podcast with A.F. News is a daily news show with over 1000 episodes. That's crazy. I didn't Know that.

Jonesy: [00:00:50] I'm so excited to be here.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:00:51] How's your how's your quarantine going? And oh, I'm not. How was your quarantine? I guess it's done now.

Jonesy: [00:00:56] It was horrible. I mean, Needless to say,

Dwayne Perkins: [00:01:00] Right?

Jonesy: [00:01:01] But I was able To stay creative with the podcast doing that. And the news got crazy. The weird news got just it was bananas.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:01:08] And also, You know, you're a karaoke guy. So I don't know, man, I just want that hit you

Jonesy: [00:01:13] That hit me hard, man. I mean, I just I'm still dying to do some karaoke. In fact, today I was going to mention it to you. If you knew of any of any place, we could get on the mic because man, I've been dying to do karaoke. I mean, we lost a lot of things during the pandemic, but no one's talking about the lack of karaoke and that's, you know, that's a real bummer.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:01:29] Can I be that guy who says it correctly?

Dwayne Perkins: [00:01:32] Ka-ra-o-ke? Yeah, you can. Because you're Japanese.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:01:36] Ka-ra-o-ke?

Dwayne Perkins: [00:01:37] So Jonesy. Anyway, you were asking me about places where Ka-ra-o-ke?

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:01:44] So Jonesy why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself? Where are you from?

Jonesy: [00:01:47] I'm from Massachusetts originally. I made my way out to the West Coast because I just love sports, and I just love to be able to be outdoors all the time and play sports.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:01:58] You saying that's why you moved here?

Jonesy: [00:01:59] That's a big reason why I moved here was the weather. I like my outdoors activities. 

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:02:04] And you're a comedian.

Jonesy: [00:02:04] Yes, and I can do that as well out here. 

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:02:06] How did you get into comedy?

Jonesy: [00:02:07] I got into comedy because of roommate in college was doing some standup. I went with him. I don't know if you've ever been to a comedy open mic, but it's just awful. I mean, what you witnessed go down there, you know, it was just, it's just the worst like shit. I could at least do better than all of these, these open micers, you know, and that was kind of helping my roommate with his bits, too. So I sort of like I had a sort of an inside glimpse into how you rework a joke, you know, and I would help him and then I'd go back with him and I'd see him Try out the Revision. And then I was like, OK, OK, I see how. 

Dwayne Perkins: [00:02:38] That's Crazy. 

Jonesy: [00:02:38] I had already been singing in bands, so I knew how to be on a stage without freaking out. So I thought I would try this stand up. And then I really caught the bug and ended up not doing music anymore and just devoting myself to stand up comedy, which brought me to New York City, which brought me subsequently Out here,

Dwayne Perkins: [00:02:55] Much to the chagrin of his Band members during a show When they were like, So we're not going to sing. No, no, I'm just going to do my acting.

Jonesy: [00:03:03] Yeah, I Apologize. Random access from Newton, Mass.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:03:07] That's a good name. That was the name Random Access

Jonesy: [00:03:09] It was one of them. Random access. Yeah,

Dwayne Perkins: [00:03:11] I was in a band Called File Allocation Table, so it's kind of I just made me think of computers, just the Random access. What's crazy is that Rosie, we had Rosie Tran on the show that almost mirrors how she started comedy except it was her boyfriend.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:03:27] Yeah, yeah. I mean, it could have been your boyfriend. I mean,

Jonesy: [00:03:29] Yeah, it could have been.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:03:30] Roommate could be another word for sure. Yes. Right, right, right.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:03:33] Like, I started comedy because a guy I went to college with after the summer break, he was like, Oh, I did comedy last summer, and I was like, You did comedy. You know, he was funny enough,

Jonesy: [00:03:41] So you didn't actually need to go to the open mike to see all the bad comedy going down. You made the judgment off for Just one sample. You're like, You did it. You're not funny at all. I feel like I could do this.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:03:52] Yeah, he was funny, just not in writing jokes kind of way. Even though I introduced myself as a class clown. When I tell people is like in high school, I wasn't a class clown. I wrote for him, You know what I mean? Which is not exactly true, but it's the writing and telling of the jokes. A lot of people can be funny around a water cooler, but they can't write a joke that strangers will listen to, and

Jonesy: [00:04:12] You have to create the context of the the bits and the jokes. And that takes other qualities, storytelling qualities And this sort of thing. And so it's a whole other muscle. That's why I hardly ever works out when someone says my friend is so funny, he should do standup. He's funny around you and your friends, right? This is a different thing.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:04:30] That's the equivalent Of people who are told at a dinner party that they that they make good food and that they, you know, they should be a rat. They should open a restaurant that's like the worst. That's like the worst reason to start a restaurant, right?

Jonesy: [00:04:41] It's the same thing. Same thing. Exactly.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:04:43] Yeah, man, because you don't get to do it on your terms like comedy. I hate this analogy, but it's kind of like like if you ever hear like male porn stars talk because every guy is like, Oh, you get paid to have sex, I could do that, but it's like, can you be ready at a moment's notice any time? Second, take.

Jonesy: [00:04:58] Sure.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:04:58] You know, like this?

Jonesy: [00:04:59] Yeah,

Dwayne Perkins: [00:05:00] Other people in a room, I'm sure, you know, then then it starts. You start to think, Oh, maybe, maybe I. That cut off. Yeah.

Jonesy: [00:05:06] All right.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:05:09] Well, what do you guys think? Should we get into it?

Jennifer Field: [00:05:11] Yeah,

Dwayne Perkins: [00:05:12] Word.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:05:12] One of the things we all watch to give us deep background on this subject was a documentary on HBO called The Mystery a D.B. Cooper. We highly recommend you watch that. We'll put the link in the show notes. Ok. Here are the facts.

Jennifer Field: [00:05:23] All right, so the date in question is November 24th, 1971. Yes, that is Thanksgiving ish, right? So this was a Thanksgiving incident and the location was Portland, Oregon. A man named Dan Cooper mistakenly reported as D.B. in the press buys a one way plane ticket to Seattle on Northwest Orient Airlines, which is a horribly named airline. So glad it's not around anymore.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:05:53] I was wondering If that's racist.

Jonesy: [00:05:54] Yeah, I thought it was odd, too.

Jennifer Field: [00:05:58] Yes. Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305. A couple of interesting notes back then you didn't need to show ID to board a plane back then. Like what? Or to buy a ticket. And this flight only cost $18 and 12 cents.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:06:13] Well, back then you could just smoke.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:06:14] Yeah, yeah.

Jonesy: [00:06:14] My uncle has stories about heroin in the bathroom. No, no problem on the plane. I used a junky on the plane. No problem. You could fix up. Shoot up in the bath. It's like this kind of stuff was happening.

Jennifer Field: [00:06:29] Yeah, I guess they could have done more. They could have smuggled drugs.

Jonesy: [00:06:32] They could have done more. Of course,

Jennifer Field: [00:06:33] It could have been dealing and stuff. Wow.

Jonesy: [00:06:36] Times are so different. I mean, it sounds like it was the wild wild west on these airlines. It's back in the day you just got. You don't even need to give you a real name.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:06:44] Isn't that crazy.

Jonesy: [00:06:45] Imagine not giving your real name.

Jennifer Field: [00:06:46] It is believed that Cooper was in his forties. Ok, he wore a white shirt and a black JCPenney tie, one of those skinny ties?

Dwayne Perkins: [00:06:55] Yeah. Forty-five minutes after the plane took off, Cooper ordered a drink and handed one of the flight attendants to stewardesses, a note saying that he had a bomb in his suitcase and that he wanted her to sit with him.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:07:04] Yeah, back then it was.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:07:05] It was stewardess. It was stewardess 

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:07:05] Because I think that they really pushed the whole idea. 

Dwayne Perkins: [00:07:08] They really leaned into that didn't they. That's crazy. 

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:07:11] Serving dudes.

Jonesy: [00:07:12] Yeah, I mean, you could have been a stewardess on the Orient Air. I mean, the times have really changed. Now you can't even say that. In fact, you got to cut this out that I just said that my career is over.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:07:25] And so he proved and proceeded to show that he was serious by revealing wires and colored sticks in his briefcase, indicating, of course, a bomb. Then he had her write a note demanding 200000 and twenties, which in today's money would be about worth one point two million and four parachutes. Stewardess took the note to the captain who notified the authorities. The flight landed in Seattle, where the passengers were exchanged for the money. Some of the crew stayed on the plane.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:07:49] One of the crazy things about that that whole deal is that the other passengers didn't know what happened, right? We watched the documentary on HBO,

Dwayne Perkins: [00:07:56] Till they got off. 

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:07:56] And they didn't know till they got off, and I think they were pretty excited about it. And one of the things that really threw me off about the D.B. Cooper thing is that how hijacking has changed so much now. If we were on a plane that was being hijacked, the first thing somebody would say is we got to storm the cockpit and bring this plane down before, like they crashed into some the Sears Tower or whatever

Dwayne Perkins: [00:08:16] Or they would. I had a joke about it, about this. I did it like twice, maybe four Times on stage. It was kind Of too close to nine 11. The joke was like, You know, I feel bad for the just the regular hijackers now. You know, the guy was just one of the guys who just wanted to hijack a plane and go to Cuba, meet their brother, because now you can't hijack a plane anymore because people think you're going to fly into a building. So no matter what weapons you got, they have to like, we got to we got to take one for the team and it's going to rush you. And you can't just be like, No, no, no, guys, this is a regular hijacking, and I can just relax. Getting down to South America, like No one's going to get hurt. So you just Did what they said Back then.

Jonesy: [00:08:50] This was eye opening to me. The pilot had to come up with an excuse, and you remember what he said?

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:08:55] What did they say?

Jonesy: [00:08:56] They said that we have an engine situation that's going to require us to burn some fuel. That was what it was. We're going to have to burn fuel, so we're going to taxi. And so they taxied right. And that is just such like an innocuous statement that we're going to burn fuel. It's like such a simple thing. It makes me think like whatever announcement now that I hear from the pilots now, like, that's I'm never going to feel better like this. Like, if anything, delays in the pilots says, we got a little delay because and they say, I'm never Going to believe it because of how Slick in this instance. They could just say something so simple like that, and we all just take it. It's like,

Dwayne Perkins: [00:09:32] But at the same time, they're not supposed to be like, Hey, you know, welcome aboard. I'm really not in a great state of mind right now arguing with my wife. I think we'll be fine. I'm super tired. But anyway, welcome aboard flight. I mean, it's like,

Jonesy: [00:09:46] Yeah, of course they couldn't. Of course they couldn't.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:09:48] They have to instill confidence.

Jonesy: [00:09:49] So my point is they could say anything and I don't know, like it doesn't even have to make sense, like, Hey, we got to burn some fuel. Like, why would you have to burn some fuel? They could just say anything.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:09:58] Getting back to the documentary, the pilot he Was like, You know, I was taught Not to fib. I'm like, dude, you are not this. I mean, maybe, but I'm just thinking you served in the military and you're a commercial pilot.

Jonesy: [00:10:10] Yeah, yeah,

Dwayne Perkins: [00:10:11] Probably like banging eight flight attendants. Meanwhile, you're acting like you're a Mayberry over here. You know, he's like, Well, I was told not to lie, but I had to lie that day.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:10:23] Although the other thing about the documentary was funny was that one of the other passengers he thought that this older guy was hitting on the stewardess and he was like, Well, was she? Is she so receptive to this guy? And then later he finds out that's the hijacker. But it was just so funny that that was the first thought that I. 

Jonesy: [00:10:38] Sure. 

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:10:38] I just wonder what was going on on the flights that, you know, I mean, I think that was happening all the time, right, where they were just trying to like, well, she the girls girl.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:10:45] She put the note in her pocket initially because she just thought he was like trying to hit on her. And he had to like, Hey, he had to be like, Hey, read it. It's not my phone number. Please read it.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:10:55] What a different time where you could just sexually harass people Wherever you went.

Jonesy: [00:10:58] People just assumed that you weren't hijacking. They assumed that you were sexually harassing.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:11:01] When was America great again?

Dwayne Perkins: [00:11:05] Right, right. What does that mean?

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:11:06] Not to even mention the race issue, right?

Jonesy: [00:11:09] Sure, sure.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:11:09] It's like gender wise, it just seemed like a terrible time. The plane then headed toward Mexico City, but somewhere between Reno and Seattle, the rear stairs were lowered and is believed that Cooper jumped out of the plane. Military planes and helicopters were scrambled to follow the hijacked plane. A thousand troops were sent to search for Cooper in the days following the hijacking, but no trace of Cooper or the money at the time was ever found. The FBI considered more than 800 suspects during their investigation, clearing all but two. One of the most popular subjects was Richard Floyd McCoy, who was arrested for a similar hijacking but was cleared because he didn't match the physical description and, according to the FBI, other reasons as well. And one of the things that the documentary watch on HBO, they had like a bunch of suspects, right? Jonesy said to our guest. What? Who is Your favorite?

Jonesy: [00:11:51] Well, I didn't believe Any of them were the D.B. Cooper, but my favorite one was the the man who had transitioned into a woman. I forget her name. 

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:11:58] Because she, Like she jumped out of planes and she was a good pilot that was like seemed like the only. And she kind of resembled D.B. Cooper. It was weird right there.

Jonesy: [00:12:05] Everybody resembled D.B. Cooper. Like, it seemed like it was just like everybody was like. And then I parted my uncle's hair to the side and I bingo like, really? You're parted your uncle's hair and bingo. D.b. Cooper, they're just like, I just put glasses on my dog and whoa. Bingo. I think my dog was D.B. Cooper.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:12:26] Jennifer, who is your favorite?

Jennifer Field: [00:12:27] The first one was it Weber, the one that had multiple identities.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:12:32] Dwayne Weber. 

Jennifer Field: [00:12:32] Yeah, the first lady had memory problems. Those are the most entertaining, but I was actually most convinced by the McCoy option because, you know, it was an FBI agent that was a corroborating. That story is. 

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:12:45] And Who is that guy with her?

Dwayne Perkins: [00:12:48] It was that there was a memory guy, but I think he just was a guy who was interested.

Jonesy: [00:12:51] I thought he Was the filmmaker at first.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:12:53] No, no. It's weird, dude.

Jonesy: [00:12:55] Who's this guy? Just glomming onto her and her story? Everybody wants a piece of the D.B. Cooper legend

Dwayne Perkins: [00:13:01] Kind of had a very Harold and Maude Maude kind of. Yeah, kind of. Yeah, my favorite was definitely would be Webber as well. Yeah, just because you believed her. Well, that's the thing. It all hinges on you believing her. But in terms of how he went about his business and having the aliases and the lockbox and all of that, that seemed to be the most, most viable.

Jonesy: [00:13:22] How about how about she doesn't? She kept saying, Well, I don't want to ask any questions, you know, I don't ask any, and I don't know. It took me up to the woods and disappeared all morning came back, covered in blood. I didn't ask any questions. She just doesn't ask questions. I don't know. He told me that he jumped out of a plane. I didn't ask any questions. He bought two brand new vehicles on a Thursday. I didn't ask any questions,

Dwayne Perkins: [00:13:42] But I think that's that's how it was back in those days in terms of male. I know husband and wife relationship, you know what I mean? It wasn't like there were no cell phones, so it wasn't like, Now you know,

Jonesy: [00:13:52] This is back when the doctor told you your wife's medical situation and you made the decision. Do I tell my wife she's dying or not?

Dwayne Perkins: [00:14:01] Right, right. And it's sort of like

Jonesy: [00:14:02] Back then, yes. So now I'm just making fun. But like, you know, at some point, lady,

Dwayne Perkins: [00:14:06] Like today, if you go to the supermarket and your wife thinks it should take about 15 minutes and it takes 20, you're like, What the hell are you? And you're getting pages and beepers. And it was just,

Jonesy: [00:14:16] We could just find a happy medium here,

Dwayne Perkins: [00:14:18] Right? Exactly, exactly.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:14:20] She was beautiful, though back in the day.

Jonesy: [00:14:22] Yeah, those photos. Yeah, yeah.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:14:23] No, he he came up. 

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:14:24] He was Old.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:14:25] He came up.

Jonesy: [00:14:25] Yeah, I feel like she is she. She could have asked more questions. She was quite Lovely.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:14:30] He came up. 

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:14:31] My favorite subject. It wasn't any of one, but it was more of the idea that a lot of these people seem to like on their deathbed confessed that they were D.B. Cooper. I'm just wondering, like, did you like, think your whole life you're just going to be like at that moment when you're going to die? The last thing you're Fucking going to say s, I Was D.B. Cooper. The last thing you're saying is a lie, right?

Dwayne Perkins: [00:14:48] The thing is only Dwyane Weber confessed it on.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:14:51] No. But at the end, they talked about how a lot of people confessed on their deathbed.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:14:55] Not the suspects you mean other people and other people will highlight it.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:14:57] Yeah, not the people highlighted that people are constantly confessing that there were D.B. Cooper to their loved ones. You had to preplanned that show. You had to think about that at some point, and you must really hate your family to like, say that you're D.B. Cooper because then like, I mean, my grandfather, I never met my grandfather, but if I met him, he told me his D.B. Cooper, I would like go on this rabbit trail to convince myself he was fucking D.B. Cooper, because I don't want to believe that he's a liar.

Jonesy: [00:15:18] I recommend the documentary to listeners, for sure. Not only does it give you just a crap load of information about this case like a lot, which is very fascinating, but it also shows you some sort of psychological phenomena that has become part of certainly the American culture where we just want to attach ourselves to legends. How many people confessed to being the Night Stalker? How many people confessed to being the Unabomber that weren't? What is it about these people that what is missing in their life like, what hole are they trying to fill that they have to just lie and pretend that they like this fantasy, that they're these people that Did some sort Of crazy action?

Dwayne Perkins: [00:15:56] It's like everyone's so afraid to be normal. It gets to the point where if you're a person who is OK being normal, that almost makes you extraordinary because you're OK being normal, you know what I mean? But no matter what kind of notoriety you receive in your life, you're going to be a footnote. Historically, no matter what, unless you're like Jesus, Buddha, Muhammad Moses, oh, everyone else is Going to be a footnote. It doesn't matter If you're a king, you are going to be a footnote.

Jonesy: [00:16:18] Kobe Bryant is going to be a footnote. Everybody's going, sorry, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Kobe Bryant is going to be a footnote.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:16:26] No. Historically, two hundred years after you live, you're a footnote. That's it.

Jonesy: [00:16:30] This is all going to be dust. This is going to be no record of anything

Dwayne Perkins: [00:16:35] Like Napoleon is is a little bit more than a footnote. Even Napoleon in 200 years is a footnote.

Jonesy: [00:16:40] Yeah, and they're not able. Of course, they can't see that. They cannot see that they're there in this other weird place.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:16:46] You're saying the tiktok influencers are not going to be famous 40 years from now? Is that what I'm hearing?

Jonesy: [00:16:51] Yeah I was saying that

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:16:55] You have to think about this for a while.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:16:57] Right?

Jonesy: [00:16:58] And it's like they got bit by the I don't know, the attaching myself to the legend bug, you know, to the point where there's one that that woman who swears her uncle was D.B. Cooper. It's like, Lady, your last name is Cooper.

Jennifer Field: [00:17:10] Yeah.

Jonesy: [00:17:10] Like, can you like your uncle's last name? Is Cooper, like starting from the bottom? You think D.B. Cooper is using the last name Cooper? It's like, Come on, man. I mean, how much are you going to drink the Kool-Aid just to be a part Of this legend? It just Defies logic. What is going on there? People have confessed to being Jack the Ripper. So many people in that guy in the doc, he opens up the FBI, vault him. What does he find? All this correspondence, all these letters of people saying, My neighbors, D.B. Cooper, I'm D.B. Cooper. Like thousands and thousands of letters, probably half of which are accusations of I know someone's D.B. Cooper or I am D.B. Cooper. That's a lot of people saying that they are D.B. Cooper or their neighbor is or their relative is. This is just too much.

Jennifer Field: [00:17:51] That's another reason we picked this particular true crime case for our podcast because it is it's significant. In that way. It's become almost some sort of a living legend like some of the other enigmas that we've been talking about. So six letters were sent to newspapers, allegedly from D.B. Cooper. But most are considered hoaxes, and only two of the letters letters number five and six are generally considered to be possibly from Cooper. Ok, so in the fifth letter mailed to the New York Times, L.A. Times and The Washington Post read, Sirs, I knew from the start that I wouldn't be caught. I didn't rob Northwest Orient because I thought it would be romantic, heroic or any of the other euphemisms that seem to attach to situations of high risks. I'm no modern day Robin Hood. Unfortunately, I do only have 14 months to live. My life has been one of hate, turmoil, hunger and more hate. This seemed to be the fastest and most profitable way to gain a few fast grains of peace of mind. I don't blame people for hating me for what I've done, nor do I blame anybody for wanting me to be caught and punished, though this can never happen. Here are some, not all of the things working against the authorities. I am not a boasting man. I left no fingerprints. I wore a toupee. I wore putty makeup. They could add or subtract from the composite one hundred times and not come up with an accurate description. And we both know it. I've come and gone on several airline flights already and am not holed up in some obscure backwoods town there. Neither I a psychopathic killer? As a matter Of fact, I've never even received a speeding ticket. Thank you for your attention. 

Jonesy: [00:19:22] I mean, the contradiction In there is clear I am not a boasting man, but let me sit down at my typewriter and type out three hundred words of boasting.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:19:30] The reason I included this in our research sounded the most the way I would imagine him, right?

Dwayne Perkins: [00:19:35] Right.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:19:35] I don't know if you guys felt like this felt real.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:19:37] Well, it's one of these things where in most cases, the cops will not tell the press everything. So if the fingerprints or the makeup, even the toupee, but the toupee? I don't know. Maybe no one knows that, but the fingerprints and makeup thing. That's something that they Would know that they Wouldn't share with the press. So anyone who knows it must know either they took a lucky guess or they have some, some insight into the crime. Some believe that Cooper could not have survived the conditions of the jump or the landing. Consider he jumped during a storm with 200 miles per hour winds, which that's crazy, which makes opening the chute rather difficult. So did the chute even open. And even if he got the chute open, the parachute was not the kind he could steer, and the landing would have been in a heavily wooded area in the middle of the night, proof that he might not have survived. The jump comes from a young boy in 1980 who found a package of rotting 20s five thousand eight hundred to be exact in the Columbia River in Washington state that matched the serial number from the ransom that Cooper got.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:20:33] Let's examine some of the theories if you could have survived the fall. This part was found on the Citizen Sleuth website. The link will be shown in the show notes. Did Cooper die on the job? Experienced skydivers believe he would have died if it was his first jump, but could have made it if he had been made six to seven jumps before. Was Cooper an experienced skydiver? Signs that he was experienced include turning down instructions for the parachute, asking for a military parachute and putting it on like he knew what he was doing. Sounds like he was a novice include. He asked for front to back parachutes. He picked a non-steerable military parachute and he took a nonfunctional reserve chute.

Jennifer Field: [00:21:06] In 2016, the FBI formally called off the search for D.B. Cooper, and it remains today the only unsolved commercial hijacking in American history. This begs the question What happened to D.B. Cooper?

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:21:19] Now that we have the facts, we'll take a quick break, and when we come back, we'll tell you what we think may have actually really happened.

Jennifer Field: [00:21:28] People always ask us how they can start a podcast, and one of the first things we tell people is that they should host their show on BuzzSprout like we do.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:21:36] Whether you're looking for a new marketing channel, have a message you want to share with the world, or just think it would be fun to have your own talk show. Podcasting is an easy, inexpensive and fun way to expand your reach online.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:21:47] BuzzSprout is hands down the easiest and best way to launch, promote and track your podcast. Your show can be online and listed in all the major podcasts directories within minutes of finishing your recording.

Jennifer Field: [00:21:57] Following the link in the show notes, Let's buzzsprout know that we sent you. You'll get a twenty dollars Amazon gift card if you sign up for a Paid plan, and Most importantly, you'll be helping support our show.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:22:09] Now that we've discussed the facts, let's workshop our ideas. Dwayne, I think you've been chosen to go first, so why don't you tell us your theory?

Dwayne Perkins: [00:22:15] The suspect that was the most credible was Dwyane Weber. He had aliases. He just seemed to fit that part, and he said it on his deathbed, which means he didn't want to get caught right. My theory is that he got away. He never jumped out of the airplane. He worked for the airline and he knew a lot about planes. So he sends the flight attendant to the cockpit. So both the pilot and the co-pilot there in the cockpit, along with the flight attendant. And he says, I can't open a thing. He opens it. They hear like a close again and like, Oh, he must have jumped. But he could have. If he knew enough about the plane, he could have hid inside somewhere. You know what I mean? Just through the parachute out, hidden inside somewhere they landed. Wait a few weeks and then just get off the plane.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:22:53] Wait a few weeks. 

Dwayne Perkins: [00:22:54] Or a few days or days. He's got a few days,

Jennifer Field: [00:22:57] Maybe hit in the cargo.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:22:59] See, I was talking to talking to Jonesy. I know a lot of magicians and I'm not a magician. But once you know magicians and I've been backstage doing a lot of magic shows and you get to see where the trick is, how they do the trick, you realize that it's always some some sort of sleight of hand. Look this way, but it's over there, right? And I just think if he was going to plan it out, why would he do it on the day where it was rainy and all that it was to make people think he died? So I think he didn't jump out of the plane, he didn't get away and maybe he didn't get all the money.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:23:26] Wow,

Jennifer Field: [00:23:27] That is impressive.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:23:29] Good job.

Jennifer Field: [00:23:30] Wow.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:23:30] I like the magician part that made it more real to me.

Jonesy: [00:23:33] Yeah, I've seen a lot of magic magic tricks, guys. But this next trick, we're all going to go to the Burbank airport, right? I'm going to show you guys something that's going to blow your mind.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:23:42] And I've been watching like Lupin on Netflix and reading the Lupin books. My my translation is horrible because it's a French book. I may have to like, spend a few more bucks and get a better translation, but it's all sleight of hand. It's all trickery, it's all that kind of stuff. So to me, it's like that would be the ultimate, because once you ask for the parachutes, everyone's mind is fixated on that.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:24:02] You're going to jump out. That's a good one.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:24:04] Now, one Of the thing I was going to say, and I didn't think about it till just now, the fact that that pilot was like, Well, I usually don't lie, but I had to this time. No one's that like, you know, Gomer Pyle goober ish. So but the Other option is that when a pilot And co-pilot got on the plane, so maybe this wouldn't happen because you have to give the ticket. But what if there was never like the pilot? The co-pilot never got into the cockpit. He just got on the plane as D.B. Cooper.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:24:27] It was an inside job,

Dwayne Perkins: [00:24:28] Inside job, so everyone got off except the two pilots and the flight attendant. And so they just opened the parachute. They opened the thing through the stuff out, kept the money hid it somewhere, and they said they got jumped out. The co-pilot was never in the cockpit. He was sitting there as D.B. Cooper until everyone got off and then just took that all that makeup off.

Jennifer Field: [00:24:46] I would hope The FBI investigators. This makes so much sense. I would hope that they would have like looked into this, maybe, and they just didn't have the right evidence. It's just so fascinating.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:24:55] Jennifer, let's hear your theory.

Jennifer Field: [00:24:56] Hey, my theory is that it was the the little boy that found the money. It was his dad that was was D.B Cooper Because he wanted. 

Dwayne Perkins: [00:25:04] That's solid.

Jennifer Field: [00:25:05] He wanted that validation. They like to, you know, that human need For. 

Dwayne Perkins: [00:25:09] Always go back to the scene of the crime kind of thing.

Jennifer Field: [00:25:11] Yeah,

Dwayne Perkins: [00:25:12] That's really dope.

Jennifer Field: [00:25:13] So it kind of I was just thinking of like, you know, those stories you hear where the parents put the kid up to something because they're trying to, like, get some money out of it or get attention like I was reading. This is also dark, but some pedophilia in the entertainment industry stuff. And like how I was just reading about the parent, you know, like kind of taking advantage of a situation, embellish, making the kid embellish something,

Dwayne Perkins: [00:25:39] OK

Jennifer Field: [00:25:39] For the purposes of fame and money for their family. So that's what I think happened. So I guess there's still a mystery there. We don't probably fully have the answers, but I think it was a little boy's dad that found the money.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:25:51] I like that when that act immediately put the microscope back on him.

Jennifer Field: [00:25:56] Yeah, but like, they obviously had it all, like planned out to get out of that because they would have, you know, we would have had a suspect there. So I don't know what they Did to get the Fbi off their scent, but they obviously did.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:26:08] I have two theories. I'm going to cheat this this month. Nice. My first one is really fast. So right. When D.B. Cooper jumped out of the plane, he was abducted by a UFO. He never landed because he had just stayed in the.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:26:24] Right, right, right.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:26:24] So that's like my First one. 

Jonesy: [00:26:25] What's your Was your second. He lands in the woods and he's killed by kill by Sasquatch. Is that your second one?

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:26:30] No, no, no. My second one, a hundred years from now. They figure out how to do time travel. And so one of the ways that everybody the first thing everybody wants to do.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:26:36] I Love this.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:26:37] Go ahead is to go back and beat D.B. Cooper, right? And so they can get the $1.2 million. 

Dwayne Perkins: [00:26:41] So different people have been D.B. Cooper.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:26:43] They're always D.B. Cooper, and they always go back. I mean, it has to be a dude or a person. 

Dwayne Perkins: [00:26:47] And the day before. 

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:26:48] They go back to the day before Thanksgiving, they got on the plane. They act like D.B. Cooper, and then they stay on the plane and then they jump out. And then when they jump out, they come out with $200000, and it's an easy way to always make money.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:26:59] It's like right now you can go to a website and buy ransomware and Just take over a small Municipality, and you don't even have to be a programmer. You just take it over. They pay you in bitcoin and then boom, you give them the system back. So two hundred years in the future, someone's like, I'll send you back in time. You can be D.B. Cooper and you get the money and then wait, you live from nineteen seventy one on?

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:27:19] No, you're right. When you jump out of the plane, you come back. I got this idea because Loki, if you guys have been watching Loki on Disney Plus, he actually did it. Yeah. D.b. Cooper. And he has always kind of coming in and out. So that's where I got this idea from time travel.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:27:32] But the thing is, it has to be why only that? Why, why not fix the 19, 16, whatever it was, World Series or bet on secretariat? Like why is it always. 

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:27:41] I think you're asking too many questions. Don't go. Yeah. All right, Jonesy, let's hear yours.

Jonesy: [00:27:47] My theory is he survives the jump. He makes his way up to Canada. He loses some of the cash because he lands in a river, makes his way up to Canada and starts a business. When you think of the Portland area and you think of that area, what kind of businesses do you come to mind?

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:28:01] Pot. 

Jonesy: [00:28:02] Pot

Dwayne Perkins: [00:28:02] Raincoat sales, Raincoat sales

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:28:04] Donuts

Jonesy: [00:28:05] Donuts. You didn't say obvious thing, coffee guys. Absolutely. Now I did a little research here. There's a coffee company in Canada called Parachute Coffee. Ok?

Jennifer Field: [00:28:19] No way

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:28:20] We'll put a link on the show notes. Guys,

Jonesy: [00:28:21] Parachute coffee.com. Now it gets deeper. I'm going to show you this is this is D.B. Cooper on a coffee mug. 

Dwayne Perkins: [00:28:30] At Parachute Coffee?

Jonesy: [00:28:31] Yes,

Dwayne Perkins: [00:28:31] Just in general,

Jonesy: [00:28:32] Nah just in general, but I also want to show you the likeness between D.B. Cooper and the founder of Parachute Coffee. This is Yehya. You see, you see how they look so similar. That's how you can. I see? You see. I mean, it's the nicest spitting. It's almost the spitting image.

Jennifer Field: [00:28:48] Oh my god.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:28:49] D.b. Cooper.

Jonesy: [00:28:50] Those ears. I mean, clearly.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:28:53] Say his name again. So everyone can really?

Jonesy: [00:28:55] Yeyya

Dwayne Perkins: [00:28:55] what's his last name?

Jonesy: [00:28:57] It doesn't say it says he's Egyptian, which just Makes the the D.B. Cooper disguise all the more impressive.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:29:04] Yeah, he's wearing putty,

Jonesy: [00:29:05] And that just shows you. You can even look like an Egyptian and just easily walk on a plane back back in the day,

Dwayne Perkins: [00:29:09] Right? Right.

Jonesy: [00:29:09] Whereas now you Yehya might get stopped and you know, but yeah, the semblance is there. Parachute coffee. I mean, all the clues are there. That's what happened.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:29:17] I was thinking you're going to say something about Starbucks. And when Starbucks got started. No, wait. Starbucks started in seventy one.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:29:23] I'm pretty sure.

Jonesy: [00:29:24] Really?

Dwayne Perkins: [00:29:24] Yeah.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:29:25] Wait, when did this start? November and seventy one.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:29:27] Yeah, yeah.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:29:27] Oh my goodness.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:29:28] But it was March 31st.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:29:29] That's how you trick him. I mean, he did it like on November twenty fifth,

Dwayne Perkins: [00:29:32] Right? You get you get like a loan. You start it, you pay it back. Yeah, yeah, that's really funny. Yeah.

Jonesy: [00:29:38] I don't even know if I said his name. I apologize. 

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:29:45] Well, we're at that part of the show where we have to decide which story is the actual story. And from this point on, it'll be the story in history.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:29:52] We all have great stories this week. I like your Time Travel one a little more than you UFO one, the father of the kid who found the money parachute coffee. I'm kind of leaning toward Weber, but he never jumped and it's either Weber or the pilot. Mine works with all yours as well, except yours, yeah, mine mine. You didn't have, you know, like because it's more of the howthan who you.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:30:11] Which one do you want To go with?

Jonesy: [00:30:12] I like Dwayne's. I like him hiding in the in the wheel rut or something. I don't think he would stay. I think he would get off in Reno, Though. 

Dwayne Perkins: [00:30:19] He had to wait until it was clear.

Jonesy: [00:30:20] Sure, sure. But as soon as the plane starts rolling again, he just can pop out and land in the Reno tarmac and bust out right that way. And back then, I just assumed there's no fences around the airports either, so you could just walk to it.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:30:32] Yeah, why would they have fences? You could just get on the plane?

Jonesy: [00:30:34] Yeah. I mean, there's No I mean, there's nothing you just you just strangers walking on the tarmac probably was a regular thing,

Dwayne Perkins: [00:30:42] Right? In that case, do you think it was Weber or who? If you if the. 

Jonesy: [00:30:46] Weber. 

Dwayne Perkins: [00:30:46] Yeah, OK. Not not the pilot.

Jonesy: [00:30:48] No, I like the Weber story and I like he knew about planes, knew a place to hide right and was able to get in there.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:30:53] Jennifer, which one do you like to go with?

Jennifer Field: [00:30:55] I'm a sucker for time travel, so I was. I like Koji's, time travel one. And the reason I think Dwayne, when you were like, Well, why don't they just pick the bet on such and such a World Series? I think it's because in the future, everyone just loves the D.B. Cooper story, and they're like, Hey, I get to like, you know, try my parachuting skills and it's like a fun like adventure.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:31:15] Right, right? Two of us, at least some watching Loki. You don't change history. You keep the is it the prime directive or whatever it is, you can't change anything so you time travel without upsetting or creating a new timeline.

Jennifer Field: [00:31:26] Right.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:31:26] Keep doing this one thing again. So that's kind of cool.

Jennifer Field: [00:31:28] No butterfly effect.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:31:30] But then whoever did, then it gets to be like Terminator, because whoever was D.B. Cooper, the first Time that guy Now lives a different life. So you kind of take his place. You know what I'm saying?

Jennifer Field: [00:31:40] Yeah.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:31:40] You can't think too much about it, right? My my favorite one is is Joneses, but I like it with Starbucks. 

Dwayne Perkins: [00:31:47] I do too.

Jonesy: [00:31:48] Yeah, like the Starbucks twist.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:31:49] Yeah, that the Starbucks that they actually started at Starbucks. But he landed whoever it was landed and he got made his way up to Seattle and he opened this business. He got a loan. But he's the kind of person that doesn't like loans. He doesn't like credit, and he really was trying to think of ways to pay it off. And he's like, probably a former military guy, maybe fought in Vietnam, and he wanted to make some money and he got $200000 out of it, which was a lot at the time. And there's only one store.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:32:12] Yeah, I Think we can make a Starbucks. 

Jennifer Field: [00:32:14] Starbucks it is. 

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:32:16] Starbucks. Ok, so that's the I think Starbucks. If if any executives at Starbucks are listening, they should change their mind. We figured it out, but they should change their about and they could cite this episode.

Jennifer Field: [00:32:28] All right, and that is the official story.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:32:31] We'll take another break, and when we return, we'll be doing some improv. This podcast is a labor love for all of us, and as you know, we aren't on a network, so everything we do comes out of our own pockets. If you love what you're hearing and want to make sure we keep going. Please consider supporting us on Patreon and we'll have a link in the show notes. Ok. This month, we're going to do a little improv here. And our guest Jonesy is going to be D.B. Cooper. We're going to have Jennifer be his wife. We're going to have Dwayne be the newscaster. And the scenario is a D.B. Cooper just got home. And Jennifer, the wife of D.B. Cooper, is watching the news report action. 

Dwayne Perkins: [00:33:08] Breaking news today. A Northwest Orient flight was hijacked. The man apparently parachute and was not caught again. We're waiting for further information from the FBI.

Jennifer Field: [00:33:18] Hi, honey, do you see this on the news?

Jonesy: [00:33:20] Yeah, you got any ice. Oh yes, in the fridge.

Jennifer Field: [00:33:23] Wait, what happened? Oh my goodness.

Jonesy: [00:33:25] Yeah, yeah,

Jennifer Field: [00:33:27] You are bruised from head to toe.

Jonesy: [00:33:30] Smell me. I smell like pine.

Jennifer Field: [00:33:32] Hmm, I Actually like that. Yeah. Where's your tie that I got you? The tie that I bought you for your birthday?

Jonesy: [00:33:38] Damn it the tie. Yeah, that little clip on thing. Yeah. Yeah, it's

Jennifer Field: [00:33:44] Here. Here, let me ice you down.

Jonesy: [00:33:46] Oh, this is great. This is great. Look, this is going to sound crazy, honey. But I I got an idea for a business, and maybe you could help me flush this idea out. I'm thinking all of a sudden, I'm just I'm thinking coffee is the way to go. I had some great coffee recently and I'm thinking, You know what? I can do better than this.

Jennifer Field: [00:34:02] You just hit your head. What? Where is this coming from? Coffee? Can you just explain to me why you are all beat up and ripped apart and you're just soaking wet? Come here. Come here. Let me just dry you off here.

Jonesy: [00:34:14] This is great, honey. Thank you. I appreciate that. No need to worry. This is this new. I've been doing this new work. I've heard of CrossFit. I don't think anyone's heard of it. Yet, it's going to be a big thing at some point.

Jennifer Field: [00:34:23] Crossfit.

Jonesy: [00:34:24] Yeah, CrossFit, you really get in a good workout. It's very dangerous, but it's putting me in shape. I'm going to have abs at the end of this.

Jennifer Field: [00:34:30] Oh my gosh. Ok, so honey. So tell me more about this coffee thing. You don't even like coffee.

Jonesy: [00:34:35] I know it's it's odd, but I, you know, I saw so many people just drinking it at the airport. I thought, You know what? This is it. This is the future here.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:34:44] Apparently, we got a little more information in here. Apparently, the suspect ordered seven cups of coffee. He just felt northwest, had the best coffee and reportedly told the flight attendant he didn't Previously enjoy coffee.

Jonesy: [00:34:56] I haven't slept at all, by the way, honey, I just want to let you know, Wait, I've been up 36 hours straight.

Jennifer Field: [00:35:00] Look at the TV screen. That guy looks like you. Wait, I mean, what's going on here?

Jonesy: [00:35:08] Really, my nose isn't that thin. Now if you could help me, honey, I really I really want to get down to the brass tacks here. I'm thinking of thinking of coming up with the name for this coffee joint. How does how does it top flight coffee sound to you?

Jennifer Field: [00:35:23] Oh, it would have to be, You know, fit for Hollywood, fit for the stars, you know? Sure. Sure thing. Something that the elite and the hip will drink, right? We want to Take it mainstream.

Jonesy: [00:35:35] What about Maybe like parachute Coffee?

Jennifer Field: [00:35:39] Oh, parachute parachute coffee.

Jonesy: [00:35:41] Yes, this could be it like it came from above. It's the best coffee.

Jennifer Field: [00:35:45] Yes. Get you high as a parachute.

Jonesy: [00:35:49] Get you high. Absolutely. Because coffee does get you well on some level, it gets you High, right?

Jennifer Field: [00:35:54] Yeah, I mean, you certainly are right now. So, yeah, Oh my gosh.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:35:58] No information from the FBI. If he's not caught, it looks like D.B. Cooper got away with two hundred thousand bucks,

Jennifer Field: [00:36:05] Honey. Yeah. Wait, so what's OK? I'm sorry. This is, are you? This is fascinating news report, by the way. I just. 

Jonesy: [00:36:13] Don't let it distract you, honey. Look at this cash I got. It's a little wet.

Jennifer Field: [00:36:16] Oh my gosh

Jonesy: [00:36:17] is our clothes line long enough to hang this many bills?

Jennifer Field: [00:36:21] Is that Two hundred thousand Dollars?

Jonesy: [00:36:23] Well, I dropped about six grand back there. What are we going to do with this? I just told you what we're going to do with it. We're starting a coffee company, honey. Help me come up with the name. I'm leaning towards highjacked coffee. Highjack coffee. No, no baggage. Coffee.

Jennifer Field: [00:36:38] Sure.

Jonesy: [00:36:38] Tarmac brew.

Jennifer Field: [00:36:39] I like that one, too. I mean,

Jonesy: [00:36:42] What about propulsion caffeine?

Jennifer Field: [00:36:43] Yeah. Ah, we could have the propulsion roast. We could have many different roasts.

Jonesy: [00:36:47] Yes.

Jennifer Field: [00:36:48] Yes. Ok?

Jonesy: [00:36:49] Now you are feeling me?

Jennifer Field: [00:36:50] I'm feeling this. But wait, where Did you get all this money?

Jonesy: [00:36:53] You're a housewife, and This is 1971. You're not supposed to ask so many questions.

Jennifer Field: [00:36:58] That's right. I love you. I love you. I'm honey.

Jonesy: [00:37:01] I'm asking a lot of questions.

Jennifer Field: [00:37:02] I should just be happy.

Jonesy: [00:37:03] You know anybody in the brewing industry.

Jennifer Field: [00:37:05] You know, my uncle, I forgot he's in Seattle. I think, right?

Jonesy: [00:37:10] Perfect place to start a coffee business. Seattle. It's always raining. People want to be indoors sipping something warm.

Jennifer Field: [00:37:16] But you know, we do have to come up with a name. I like this idea of tarmac brew and a parachute roast and such, but we need to get something a name. I love names.

Jonesy: [00:37:27] You do love names. You're always great at coming up with names. What was it? Was it your isn't your favorite book Moby Dick?

Jennifer Field: [00:37:34] I love. I love Moby Dick. Yes. Starbucks SBUX. Starbucks Starbucks was

Jonesy: [00:37:44] A character in that book.

Dwayne Perkins: [00:37:45] Yes, perfect. Exactly.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:37:47] And scene that was painful. 

Jonesy: [00:37:51] Who was Starbucks in that.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:37:52] Yeah. And that's where it comes from, right?

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:37:57] Thank you, Jonesy, for coming on the show. How can people follow you and what are you working on?

Jonesy: [00:38:01] I'm working on my podcast five days a week. We're to A.F. News. I do three weird news stories from around the world, and on Friday, I only do weird news from Florida. Florida Friday, if the mainstream news you find a bit depressing, which I think most of us do, you know, round up your news day with some weird AF news, have a laugh and especially check out the Florida Friday Stories, which is the most popular episode. So that's basically what I'm working on. You can follow me at Funnybones on Instagram,

Dwayne Perkins: [00:38:26] And thank you all so much for listening. There are hundreds of thousands of podcasts out there, and we're honored you've chosen ours to listen to.

Jennifer Field: [00:38:34] Please check out our website. Unofficial official story dot com for our show notes or to hear our past episodes.

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:38:40] Be sure to come back next month where we'll be answering the question. What really happened on 9/11?

Jennifer Field: [00:38:45] Hmm. Did the towers fall by detonation or

Dwayne Perkins: [00:38:49] The people who run and own towers where they are not there that day?

Koji Steven Sakai: [00:38:53] Did they even fall down at all? That's going to find that out next month.