John Jefferson
A pair of North Carolina siblings believe their late father is the elusive D.B. Cooper skyjacker who infamously leaped out of an airplane with $200,000 in cash during the 1971 heist.
Chanté and Rick McCoy III claim their father, Richard McCoy Jr., is the fugitive, after allegedly finding the suspect’s parachute hidden in their home, Cowboy State Daily reported. The case remains unsolved 53 years later.
The unknown thief who used the name Dan Cooper took passengers and crew hostage aboard Northwest Orient Flight 305 before jumping out and disappearing somewhere between Seattle and Reno, Nevada. Wearing a business suit, he passed a note to the flight attendant stating he had a bomb in his briefcase and wanted her to sit with him.
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Authorities said he then opened his briefcase to show a bunch of wires and colored sticks. He allegedly told the flight attendant to take a note to the captain demanding four parachutes and $200,000 in $20 bills.
The case would prompt one of the longest and most exhaustive investigations in FBI history. The McCoys told the Daily that the FBI searched the North Carolina home and took possession of the parachute in 2023.
They also said they provided investigators with a sample of their father’s DNA. They said they waited until their mother’s death in 2020 to come forward because they feared she could be implicated in the crime because the alleged parachute used by the suspect was inside the house.
The McCoy siblings said they’ve known the truth about their father for years, but talking about it remained taboo in their family.
Aviation YouTuber Dan Gryde, who has seen the parachute, believes it’s the one used in the heist, according to the outlet.
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“That rig is literally one in a billion,” Gryder told the siblings, the New York Post reported.
A stash of money was found buried along the Columbia River near Portland, Oregon, in 1980, but the FBI continued its manhunt. The case remains the only unsolved skyjacking in U.S. history, with many interesting candidates topping the list of suspects.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the FBI.
Richard McCoy has long been one of several suspects by the FBI after he pulled a similar hijacking in Utah five months after the D.B. Cooper incident. He was sentenced to 45 years in prison for the Utah crime but later broke out of a federal prison in Pennsylvania with three other inmates.
Two of the escapees were caught within days, but McCoy died three months later in a shootout with the FBI in Virginia Beach, Virginia, the Daily reported.
In 2016, the FBI said it would no longer actively investigate the case, citing the number of personnel and man hours it would take and the lack of credible leads.
“Every time the FBI assesses additional tips for the NORJAK case, investigative resources and manpower are diverted from programs that more urgently need attention,” the agency said.
Several possible suspects have emerged over the years, but they were never tied to the crime. Sheridan Peterson, who was chief among the suspects because of his love for skydiving and taking physical risks, died in 2021.
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