What has always puzzled me is the amount of money he asked for. $200,000 was a lot of money in 1971 but the amount seems oddly specific.
It was almost like he figured he was owed money plus interest and rounded it at $200,000.
The insider angle is interesting too.
Maybe Cooper had to double the amount he demanded in order to pay off his insider?
Maybe some law enforcement officer found a dead/injured Cooper in the woods and kept the loot?
Maybe Cooper went to Florida instead of Mexico to throw the FBI off his trail?
Maybe he made it to some accomplice and drove to Mexico and spent the rest of his life sitting beachside sipping his favorite adult beverage?
So many possible outcomes to the story.
This was before the computer age and instant communications so anything is possible and feasible.
They found some money in woods a few years later. FBI said it matched some of the Serial numbers. Now we know the FBI is usually full of Sh*t I would like to see the reports. Why would the FBI close an investigation which was going nowhere? They could have left it open.