# D B Cooper - still? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 15, 2017, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-b-cooper-still/793711 "2017-08-15T13:52:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-b-cooper-still/793711/41 "2018-11-20T21:28:05Z")
Ultra Vires: > [@](#): > > Could they even prosecute him? There were no deaths attributed to him. Was there a federal statute of limitation on hijacking back then? Didn’t he steal 200K by threatening the airplane crew with a bomb? How’s that (legally) any different from robbing someone at gunpoint, which is certainly a crime even if no deaths occurred? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-b-cooper-still/793711/42 "2018-11-20T21:32:55Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > Ultra Vires: > Didn’t he steal 200K by threatening the airplane crew with a bomb? How’s that (legally) any different from robbing someone at gunpoint, which is certainly a crime even if no deaths occurred? Note the phrase “statute of limitation”. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-b-cooper-still/793711/43 "2018-11-20T21:44:33Z")
Do any of the Cooper survived the jump theories attempt to explain why one pack of money ended up in the Columbia, and why none of the other money was ever spent? ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-b-cooper-still/793711/44 "2018-11-20T22:00:14Z")
What if he survived the jump, buried the money, then forgot where he buried it? ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-b-cooper-still/793711/45 "2018-11-21T00:54:10Z")
ftg: > [@](#): > > Note the phrase “statute of limitation”. Note that it is immediately followed by the words “on hijacking.” I imagine that obtaining money by threat of bomb is basically armed robbery. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-b-cooper-still/793711/46 "2018-11-21T02:07:19Z")
[https://web.archive.org/web/20030920153821/http://www.oregonlive.com/special/current/dbcooper.ssf?/special/current/dbcooper\_story1.frame](https://web.archive.org/web/20030920153821/http://www.oregonlive.com/special/current/dbcooper.ssf?/special/current/dbcooper_story1.frame) > [@](#): > > Only a fluke kept the government’s case alive. A day before the statute of limitations ran out in 1976, veteran prosecutor Sack Collins realized no one had filed charges on Cooper. Horrified, he imagined the next day’s headline: “D.B., come home–case dismissed!” > > The prosecutor scrambled to present the case to a Portland grand jury, which handed up a “John Doe” indictment. But Cooper’s whereabouts remains nothing but theories. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-b-cooper-still/793711/47 "2018-11-21T03:15:02Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Remember, they found some of the money in the Columbia river downstream of where he is thought to have jumped. I thought the money was found upstream of where Cooper is thought to have jumped. That is, it would have had to float downstream in one of the tributaries, and then upstream in the Columbia to where it was discovered. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-b-cooper-still/793711/48 "2018-11-21T03:18:11Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I thought the money was found upstream of where Cooper is thought to have jumped. That is, it would have had to float downstream in one of the tributaries, and then upstream in the Columbia to where it was discovered. Upstream??? How does something float upstring? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-b-cooper-still/793711/49 "2018-11-21T03:53:11Z")
> [@K364](#): > > Upstream??? How does something float upstring? It doesn’t. Either Cooper didn’t jump where people thought he did, or he survived the jump and carried some of the money out, or someone found some and then dropped it on the banks of the Columbia, or whatever other theory you want to come up with. Or I’m wrong about where Cooper is thought to have jumped relative to where the money was found. There’s been so much misinformation about this case someone may have gotten this wrong, too. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-b-cooper-still/793711/50 "2018-11-21T05:14:32Z")
I doubt Cooper survived, but out of curiosity: > [@Telemark](#): > > Money eventually goes back through the bill counting machines that check serial numbers. It will show up. When did serial-number scanners come into general use? Not as early as the 1970’s, I’d have guessed, though I’m often wrong. And before such scanners were in use, how thoroughly did the Feds check the serial numbers of notes they removed from circulation? ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-b-cooper-still/793711/51 "2018-11-21T06:33:36Z")
What if he did survive and took his money to Argentina. He lives there and lives off the grid paying American cash. I’m honestly asking, is it for sure the US Treasury would ever see them bills again? How long would it take if so? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-b-cooper-still/793711/52 "2018-11-21T14:04:23Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I thought the money was found upstream of where Cooper is thought to have jumped. That is, it would have had to float downstream in one of the tributaries, and then upstream in the Columbia to where it was discovered. Nope, all downstream. The money was [found](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._B._Cooper#Physical_evidence) downstream from Vancouver, WA, which is in turn downstream from the [Washougal](https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=45.581944&mlon=-122.348056&zoom=12#map=11/45.5881/-122.2981) River basin where the “landing” zone is thought to be. [QUOTE=CarnalK] What if he did survive and took his money to Argentina. He lives there and lives off the grid paying American cash. I’m honestly asking, is it for sure the US Treasury would ever see them bills again? How long would it take if so? [/QUOTE] We’ve been over this again and again in these threads. 1, Bills have a short, finite lifespan. 2. Bills in poor shape get sent to the US Treasury for disposal. (Banks don’t throw money away. They trade the Treasury for new bills.) 3. The Treasury checks serial numbers. 4. None of the Cooper cash turned up this way. Ergo no significant amount of the money was spent. Probably none at all. The “but … overseas …” thing is a canard. Banks are banks. People are people. They don’t just toss old bills. They trade for good ones. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-b-cooper-still/793711/53 "2018-11-21T15:04:44Z")
How many TV crime shows have used the DB Cooper story as a plot? I remember Quincy had a "[ripped from the headlines" version](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0681860/), but how many others? I hated the Leverage episode “solving” the case. it was almost as bad as the one stealing the Spruce Goose. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-b-cooper-still/793711/54 "2018-11-21T19:03:52Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > We’ve been over this again and again in these threads. > > 1, Bills have a short, finite lifespan. > 2. Bills in poor shape get sent to the US Treasury for disposal. (Banks don’t throw money away. They trade the Treasury for new bills.) > 3. The Treasury checks serial numbers. > 4. None of the Cooper cash turned up this way. > > Ergo no significant amount of the money was spent. Probably none at all. > > The “but … overseas …” thing is a canard. Banks are banks. People are people. They don’t just toss old bills. They trade for good ones. So if I pay for my dinner in Argentina with American cash, what’s the approximate time until it reaches the Treasury? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-b-cooper-still/793711/55 "2018-11-21T19:17:31Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > So if I pay for my dinner in Argentina with American cash, what’s the approximate time until it reaches the Treasury? Around 5- 20 years. It’s been nearly 50. Yes, some bills would never get back. But many would, and not single one has gotten back. Ergo- no significant amount of the money has been spent, not in Argentina, not in Mongolia. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2018, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-b-cooper-still/793711/56 "2018-11-22T01:29:32Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > How many TV crime shows have used the DB Cooper story as a plot? I remember Quincy had a "[ripped from the headlines" version](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0681860/), but how many others? > > I hated the Leverage episode “solving” the case. it was almost as bad as the one stealing the Spruce Goose. On _NewsRadio_ it was hinted that Jimmy James (owner of the radio station, played by Stephen Root) was D.B. Cooper. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2018, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-b-cooper-still/793711/57 "2018-11-22T01:48:57Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Nope, all downstream. The money was [found](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._B._Cooper#Physical_evidence) downstream from Vancouver, WA, which is in turn downstream from the [Washougal](https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=45.581944&mlon=-122.348056&zoom=12#map=11/45.5881/-122.2981) River basin where the “landing” zone is thought to be. Not quite as simple as you make it sound. According to [this page](https://citizensleuths.com/flightpath.html) the flight path was several miles west of the Washougal River; and it lays out some of the evidence establishing that path. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2018, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-b-cooper-still/793711/58 "2018-11-22T03:18:11Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > When did serial-number scanners come into general use? Not as early as the 1970’s, I’d have guessed, though I’m often wrong. > > And before such scanners were in use, how thoroughly did the Feds check the serial numbers of notes they removed from circulation? The Fed has to account for Federal Reserve notes turned in, because outstanding notes are a liability on the Fed’s balance sheet. That means the Fed tracks serial numbers of notes that are turned in, because that helps the Fed bean-counters to track the liability: each note turned in is a potential reduction in the Fed’s liability. See here for notes being a liability for the Fed: > **[Federal Reserve liabilities](https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/bst_frliabilities.htm)** > > The Federal Reserve Board of Governors in Washington DC. So it’s not just a local thing that happened at the time of the hi-jacking in local banks. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2018, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-b-cooper-still/793711/59 "2018-11-22T05:28:18Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > The Fed has to account for Federal Reserve notes turned in, because outstanding notes are a liability on the Fed’s balance sheet. > > That means the Fed tracks serial numbers of notes that are turned in, because that helps the Fed bean-counters to track the liability: each note turned in is a potential reduction in the Fed’s liability. > > See here for notes being a liability for the Fed: > > [Federal Reserve Board - Federal Reserve liabilities](https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/bst_frliabilities.htm) > > So it’s not just a local thing that happened at the time of the hi-jacking in local banks. Yep, every bill turned in is checked and rechecked and logged, then shredded. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2018, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-b-cooper-still/793711/60 "2018-11-22T08:11:40Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > The Fed has to account for Federal Reserve notes turned in, because outstanding notes are a liability on the Fed’s balance sheet. > > That means the Fed tracks serial numbers of notes that are turned in, because that helps the Fed bean-counters to track the liability: each note turned in is a potential reduction in the Fed’s liability. > > [Federal Reserve Board - Federal Reserve liabilities](https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/bst_frliabilities.htm) Obviously the Fed counts the notes that are traded in ( :smack: ), possibly examines them briefly for counterfeiting, and perhaps enumerates them by the A-L symbol showing which Fed Bank issued them. _ **But serial-number tracking is not directly necessary for these tasks.** _ I realize that scanning serial numbers is trivial with 21st-century technology, but what about in the 1970’s? If they checked $100-notes manually, did they also check $5’s and $1’s? Does your cite have something to say about that? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-b-cooper-still/793711.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-b-cooper-still/793711.md?page=4)