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The Mystery Behind D.B. Cooper: Skyjacking and Stolen Money · The Infographics Show Podcast

• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Infographics Show podcast. Today we'll be looking
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  Speaker 1: at the mystery behind D. B. Cooper, the man who
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  Speaker 1: stole money and skyrocketed. But before that, take some seconds
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: and give us a five star rating and a review.
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: We've got only two.
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  Speaker 1: link in the description below to join our free Patreon page.
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: Now, let's start with the story for today.
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  Speaker 1: On a cold, rainy day in November nineteen seventy one,
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  Speaker 1: a man walked into the Portland International Airport, bought a
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  Speaker 1: one way ticket to Seattle, and boarded a Boeing seven
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  Speaker 1: twenty seven under the name Dan Cooper. This seemingly unremarkable
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  Speaker 1: event would soon spiral into one of the greatest unsolved
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  Speaker 1: mysteries in American history, a tale of skyjacking, stolen money,
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  Speaker 1: and a man who simply vanished into thin air.
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  Speaker 2: This man, known to the public as D. B.
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  Speaker 1: Cooper, hijacked Northwest Orient flight three oh five, demanded two
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  Speaker 1: hundred thousand dollars in ransom, and after receiving the money,
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  Speaker 1: parachuted out of the plane, never to be seen again.
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  Speaker 1: His daring escape, shrouded in secrecy and audacity, has puzzled
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  Speaker 1: investigators and captivated the public.
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  Speaker 2: For over fifty years.
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  Speaker 1: But who was dB Cooper, how did he manage to
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  Speaker 1: pull off such an audacious crime, and most importantly, what
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  Speaker 1: happened to him? Join us as we delve into the
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  Speaker 1: mystery behind D. B. Cooper, the skyjacker who outwitted the
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  Speaker 1: FBI and disappeared with stolen money, leaving behind a trail
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  Speaker 1: of intrigue, speculation, and unanswered questions. Segment one the sky
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  Speaker 1: ye Jacking a detailed account. It was November twenty fourth,
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  Speaker 1: nineteen seventy one, the day before Thanksgiving. A man dressed
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  Speaker 1: in a black suit with a white shirt and a
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  Speaker 1: thin black tie walked up to the ticket counter at
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  Speaker 1: Portland International Airport. He was carrying nothing but a black briefcase.
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  Speaker 1: He purchased a one way ticket for twenty dollars to
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  Speaker 1: Seattle on flight three oh five, a short thirty minute flight.
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  Speaker 1: The man was described as calm and polite, a true gentleman.
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  Speaker 1: In appearance, he gave his name as Dan Cooper, though
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  Speaker 1: the world would later know him as D. B. Cooper,
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  Speaker 1: a name mistakenly attributed to him by a news reporter.
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  Speaker 1: As the plane took off with thirty six passengers and
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  Speaker 1: six crew members. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but
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  Speaker 1: soon after the plane reached cruising altitude, Cooper quietly handed
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  Speaker 1: a note to Florence Shaffner, a flight attendant. She assumed
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  Speaker 1: it was just another businessman slipping her a phone number. However,
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  Speaker 1: when she didn't read it right away, Cooper leaned in
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  Speaker 1: and whispered, miss better look at that note.
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  Speaker 2: I have a bomb.
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  Speaker 1: The note, written in neat handwriting, explained that Cooper had
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  Speaker 1: a bomb in his briefcase and demanded two hundred thousand
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  Speaker 1: dollars in cash, four parachutes, two primary and two reserve,
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  Speaker 1: and a fuel truck standing by in Seattle for refueling.
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  Speaker 1: The flight crew was instructed to follow his orders precisely
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  Speaker 1: or he would detonate the bomb. Cooper's plan was in motion,
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  Speaker 1: and there was no turning back. Segment two negotiation and
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  Speaker 1: ransom exchange. The pilots quickly relayed the hijacker's demands to
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  Speaker 1: air traffic control, who in turn contacted law enforcement and
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  Speaker 1: the FBI. As the flight continued towards Seattle. The FBI
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  Speaker 1: scrambled to gather the ransom money two hundred thousand dollars
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  Speaker 1: in twenty bills and the parachutes Cooper requested. At this point,
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  Speaker 1: the passengers on board were unaware of the situation. The
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  Speaker 1: flight attendants remained calm, reassuring them that there was a
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  Speaker 1: minor mechanical issue that needed.
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  Speaker 2: Attention upon landing.
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  Speaker 1: Meanwhile, Cooper sat quietly in his seat, ordering a bourbon
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  Speaker 1: and soda, as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening.
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  Speaker 1: After a tense few hours, Flight three zero five landed
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  Speaker 1: at Seattle Tacoma International Airport. True to his word, Cooper
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  Speaker 1: allowed the thirty six passengers to disembark in exchange for
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  Speaker 1: the ransom money and parachutes. The crew remained on board
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  Speaker 1: and the plane was refueled as Cooper prepared for the
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  Speaker 1: next phase of his plan.
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  Speaker 2: But this is where the mystery deepens.
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  Speaker 1: Rather than making an escape on the ground, Cooper instructed
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  Speaker 1: the pilots to take off again, this time heading toward
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  Speaker 1: Mexico City, flying at a low altitude of ten thousand
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  Speaker 1: feet and keeping the landing gear down. Cooper had a plan,
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  Speaker 1: and it didn't involve staying on the plane much longer.
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  Speaker 1: Segment three the parachute escape. As the plane took off
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  Speaker 1: from Seattle with only the flight crew and Cooper remaining
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  Speaker 1: on board, things began to take a strange turn.
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  Speaker 2: Cooper ordered the crew.
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  Speaker 1: To remain in the cockpit with the door closed. He
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  Speaker 1: then opened the plane's rear airstair a door leading to
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  Speaker 1: a set of stairs that could be lowered. Mid flight,
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  Speaker 1: Somewhere between Seattle and Reno, Nevada, Cooper jumped. He leaped
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  Speaker 1: into the freezing night, armed with a parachute and two
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  Speaker 1: hundred thousand dollars in ransom money strapped to his body.
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  Speaker 2: It was the.
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  Speaker 1: Last anyone ever saw of him. When the crew finally
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  Speaker 1: landed in Reno, Nevada, they discovered that Cooper and.
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  Speaker 2: The money were gone. Search teams combed the.
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  Speaker 1: Area for days, but there was no sign of the
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  Speaker 1: skyjacker or the money. Had Cooper survived the jump or
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  Speaker 1: had he perished in the rugged terrain below. The possibilities
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  Speaker 1: seemed endless, and the mystery had only just begun. Segment four,
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  Speaker 1: The investigation begins. The FBI immediately launched one of the
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  Speaker 1: largest manhunts in US history. Agents scoured the flight path,
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  Speaker 1: tracing the plane's trajectory and estimating where Cooper might have landed.
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  Speaker 1: They interviewed witnesses, tracked down leads and even created a
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  Speaker 1: composite sketch of Cooper based on descriptions from the flight attendants,
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  Speaker 1: but despite their best efforts, Cooper was nowhere to be found.
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  Speaker 1: The FBI also began analyzing the ransom money, which had
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  Speaker 1: been carefully prepared before being handed over to Cooper. Each
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  Speaker 1: of the ten twenty dollars bills had been photographed and
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  Speaker 1: logged in hopes that should Cooper spend any of the money,
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  Speaker 1: it could be traced.
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  Speaker 2: Back to him.
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  Speaker 1: Years passed, but there was no trace of Cooper, no
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  Speaker 1: ransom money turning up in circulation, and no conclusive evidence
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  Speaker 1: of what happened after he jumped. Was he dead, was
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  Speaker 1: he living under a new identity, or had he managed
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  Speaker 1: to escape to another country. The questions mounted, but the
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  Speaker 1: answers remained elusive.
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  Speaker 2: Segment five. Theories and speculation.
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  Speaker 1: Over the years, countless theories have emerged about the fate
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  Speaker 1: of dB Cooper. Some believe he didn't survive the jump,
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  Speaker 1: that he perished in the wilderness, possibly due to the cold.
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  Speaker 2: Or injuries sustained during the fall.
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  Speaker 1: Others think he was a skilled skydiver who meticulously planned
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  Speaker 1: his escape and successfully disappeared One theory suggests that Cooper
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  Speaker 1: may have been a military veteran with parachuting experience, which
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  Speaker 1: would explain his ability to handle the jump under such
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  Speaker 1: dangerous conditions. Another theory points to the possibility that Cooper
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  Speaker 1: had an accomplice on the ground waiting to help him
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  Speaker 1: escape after the jump. Some even speculate that Cooper was
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  Speaker 1: aided by a well organized criminal group, making it easier
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  Speaker 1: for him to disappear without a trace. And then there
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  Speaker 1: are those who believe that Cooper might still be out there,
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  Speaker 1: alive well and enjoying his stolen fortune. Segment six The
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  Speaker 1: breakthrough nineteen eighty discovery of money. In nineteen eighty, a
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  Speaker 1: breakthrough in the case occurred, though it only added more
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  Speaker 1: layers to the mystery.
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  Speaker 2: A young boy.
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  Speaker 1: Named Brian Ingram was digging in the sand along the
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  Speaker 1: Columbia River near Vancouver, Washington, when he unearthed several bundles
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  Speaker 1: of decaying twenty dollars bills. Upon closer inspection, the bills
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  Speaker 1: were identified as part of the ransom money given to D. B.
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  Speaker 2: Cooper. The discovery seemed to suggest that Cooper, or at
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: least the.
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  Speaker 1: Money, had made it to the ground, But how did
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  Speaker 1: the money end up there.
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  Speaker 2: And why was it buried.
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  Speaker 1: The discovery reignited public interest in the case, but unfortunately,
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  Speaker 1: it raised more questions than answers. Had Cooper lost part
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  Speaker 1: of the ransom money during his jump or had he
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  Speaker 1: intentionally hidden it planning to retrieve it later. The FBI's
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  Speaker 1: investigation into the found money yielded few results, leaving the
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  Speaker 1: mystery as unsolved as ever. Segment seven. Suspects and false leads.
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  Speaker 1: Over the decades, several individuals have been suspected of being d. B.
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  Speaker 2: Cooper.
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  Speaker 1: Some have even claimed to be the infamous skyjacker, but
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  Speaker 1: none of these leads have led to a definitive answer.
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  Speaker 1: One of the most well known suspects was a man
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  Speaker 1: named Richard Floyd McCoy, who hijacked a plane in nineteen
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  Speaker 1: seventy two under similar circumstances. McCoy had a history of
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  Speaker 1: skydiving and a military background, leading many to believe that
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  Speaker 1: he was d B.
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  Speaker 2: Cooper.
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  Speaker 1: However, the FBI ultimately ruled him out due to key
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  Speaker 1: differences in the cases. Another suspect, Duyne Weber, made a
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  Speaker 1: deathbed confession to his wife in nineteen ninety five, claiming
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  Speaker 1: that he was D B.
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  Speaker 2: Cooper.
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  Speaker 1: His wife reported this to the authorities, but after an investigation,
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  Speaker 1: the FBI found no conclusive evidence linking Weber to the skyjacking,
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  Speaker 1: and so the case remains unsolved. Despite the hundreds of leads, suspects,
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  Speaker 1: and theories, dB Cooper's true identity and fate continued to
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  Speaker 1: elude investigators.
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  Speaker 2: The legacy of D. B. Cooper.
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  Speaker 1: More than fifty years have passed since D. B. Cooper
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  Speaker 1: pulled off the only unsolved skyjacking in American history. His
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  Speaker 1: daring escape and mysterious disappearance have cemented his place in
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  Speaker 1: popular culture, inspiring books, movies, and endless speculation.
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  Speaker 2: The case of D. B.
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  Speaker 1: Cooper is not just a story of a skyjacker who
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  Speaker 1: stole two hundred thousand dollars. It's a story of human ingenuity,
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  Speaker 1: of risk and reward, and of the human desire to
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  Speaker 1: solve the unsolvable. Cooper's legacy is one of mystery, one that,
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  Speaker 1: even after all these years, continues to captivate the public's imagination.
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  Speaker 2: Will we ever know the truth behind D. B. Cooper?
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  Speaker 1: Perhaps, but until that day comes, his story remains one
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  Speaker 1: of the greatest mysteries in modern history. As we bring
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  Speaker 1: this episode of the Infographic Show Podcast to a close.
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  Speaker 1: We are left with more questions than answers. Who is
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  Speaker 1: dB Cooper? Did he survive the jump, and if so,
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  Speaker 1: where is he now? One thing is for certain. Until
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  Speaker 1: the day the mystery is solved, D B. Cooper's name
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  Speaker 1: will remain etched in history, a symbol of one of
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  Speaker 1: the most audacious crimes ever committed. Thank you for joining
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: us on this journey into the unknown. Do well to
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: give us a five star rating and a review. You
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: can also leave your questions and feedback in the comments below.
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: If you're listening to us on Spotify. This is The
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: Infographic Show Podcast. Signing off, Stay Curious.