D.B. Cooper mystery -- Did witness see hijacker's parachute?

Ogden Standard-Examiner ^ | May 22, 2010 | Scott Schwebke

[Colofornian]

From the article: "I have a suspect (William "Wolfgang" Gossett) who worked for the military, was a trained military parachuter, had special knowledge of aircraft and CIA operations in Southeast Asia, was obsessed with road flares, and retired from the Army at Fort Lewis, Wash. (near where the D.B. Cooper incident took place)...Cook maintains Gossett, a former ROTC instructor at Weber State who was 73 when he died in 2003 in Oregon, is the elusive hijacker. He described Gossett as the consummate chameleon who eluded authorities despite a string of highly visible jobs that included private investigator, radio talk show host and priest in the Old Roman Catholic Church."

[nmh]

It is an intriguing mystery.

I doubt that Cooper went to visit this lady and told her to shut up. That doesn’t make sense. Why would anyone do that, in person, no less.

[donna]

$200,000 was a lot of money back then.

In 1970 the average income was around $10,000.

[nmh]

Since the guy died, couldn’t they examine his finances and see if he had this kind of money stashed away?

[Domangart]

If you believe this please jump out of a jet at speed and get back to us.

[ransomnote]

I think the writer believes it was the FBI who visited the woman and told her to shut up. He says the FBI was concentrating on a different location and thinks this FBI visitor didn’t want her account to split the search effort because the FBI believed it was close to solving the case.

[Liberty Valance]

[NaughtiusMaximus]

Yay!

[Jaysin]

the more I think about this case, the more I think it is somehow connected to the JFK assassination!

[mason-dixon]

COOL Story Mason Dixon

[carcraft]

The only money that ever turned up where the bills found by the river..I don't think quick cash was the motive!

[donna]

A bet!

[Joe Boucher]

called a forensic accountant, and there can be good money n it if you are good.

[Grut]

"Janet has no reason whatsoever to lie, so I believe her story...."

The problem with this is that some people will lie for no reason.

[ltc8k6]

The crew was ordered to fly to Mexico City, at a relatively low speed of 170 knots (310 km/h; 200 mph), an altitude at or under 10,000 feet with the landing gear down and 15 degrees of flap and with the plane unpressurised.

[ltc8k6]

William Gossett
On August 4, 2008, Canadian Press reported that a Spokane, Washington, lawyer believes that the ransom money is stored in a Vancouver, British Columbia, safe deposit box under the name of William Gossett, a college instructor from Ogden, Utah, who died in 2003. Lawyer Galen Cook says that Gossett matches the sketches circulated by the FBI. Also, Gossett is alleged to have bragged to his sons about the hijacking and shown them a key to the safe deposit box.[52] Gossett is also said to have confessed to two people, including a judge and a lawyer, and his own son also believed his father to be the hijacker.[53] By fleeing from the country, Cooper would be out of law enforcement boundaries. (The value of this is unclear given Canada’s extradition treaty with the United States, though the current treaty came into effect five years after the hijacking.)

From Wiki

[6SJ7]

D.B. Cooper ping.

[Thermalseeker]

If you believe this please jump out of a jet at speed and get back to us.

I recall reading an account of this incident and Cooper apparently instructed the pilot to slow to minimum controllable airspeed just prior to his exiting the aircraft. Exiting the aircraft at that speed, roughly 130-140 knots, wouldn't have been a problem. This is the problem:

Cook said his research has shown winds were blowing from the southeast at more than 60 knots in the Portland area around the time of the hijacking.

Trying to land a parachute in 60 knot winds is suicidal. The chances of surviving a parachute landing in this kind of wind and not getting seriously hurt of killed is slim to none......

[Ticonderoga34]

$200,000 was a lot of money back then.

In 1970 the average income was around $10,000.

According to the inflation calculator, $200,000 in 1971 would be equal to about million dollars today.

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

Bump for reference.