Amateur DB Cooper investigators reveal find from latest Vancouver search
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – During a new search effort on Thursday, amateur DB Cooper investigators claim they found a flat sheet, which they believe was used by the escaped plane hijacker in 1971.
A small search team, led by amateur investigator Eric Ulis, searched a "treacherous" tree-and blackberry-lined trench, where they believed Cooper's parachute may have been dumped.
The Vancouver trench was previously unsearched and is one mile from where a portion of DB Cooper's ransom was found in 1980, Ulis said.
On the first day of the latest search, the group found a tattered white sheet, which they believe was bought from Kmart between 1964 and 1967. Ulis says an analysis of the sheet's fibers will be conducted to determine whether they resemble fibers found on Cooper’s clip-on tie, which he said was bought from JC Penney in 1964 or 1965.
Ulis pointed to witness statements from Flight Attendant Tina Mucklow who claims she saw Cooper try to wrap the ransom in a "white material," and other witnesses who saw Cooper carrying a paper bag with unknown contents onto the plane.
“Given the flight attendant account of seeing Cooper use a white material to wrap the $200,000 ransom, the mystery of the paper bag, the age of the white flat sheet, and the location of its discovery, the possibilities cannot be ignored,” Ulis said. “This item is at least 56-years old and was transported to the difficult-to-reach spot, within ½ mile of the 1980 money find, somehow, for some reason, by someone.”
Ulis said the sheet will be displayed at CooperCon 2023 in Seattle, where he will also display the sheet.
The search comes after Ulis claimed new information was revealed by the Seattle air traffic controller who managed the skyjacked Northwest Orient Flight 305, two US Air Force F-106 chase jets, and an Oregon Air National Guard T-33 during the 1971 skyjacking.
“It is clear to me that DB Cooper actually landed much closer to the 1980 money find spot than originally believed,” Ulis said. “I am absolutely certain that the heavy parachute DB Cooper jumped with is still near where the man landed 52 years ago.”