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He's dead, and he died in or shortly after the jump. Other than the money that the kid found near the Columbia River, none of the bills given to him as ransom

He's dead, and he died in or shortly after the jump. Other than the money that the kid found near the Columbia River, none of the bills given to him as ransom have ever been found in circulation, anywhere. Whatever fortune he received from the FBI was not beneficially used by him, or anyone else he could have paid with it.

bogomipz 10y ago
You can not state that as fact. You do not know that. Nobody knows what this person's fate was. That was a theory that was bandied about by the FBI. And it was convenient theory for them given that they could not solve the crime.
GCA10 10y ago
I'm with you 99.999% of the way. When no remains or money are found, that's the logical conclusion. It's a parlor game at best to conjure up some scenario where he gets out, minus the money -- and stays incognito ever after. There are loose parallels to the fates of the three guys who escaped from Alcatraz in 1962, and whose bodies were never found. http://www.npr.org/2012/06/12/154766199/50-years-later-mystery-of-alcatraz-escape-endures http://www.npr.org/2012/06/12/154766199/50-years-later-myste... and also: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30349106 http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30349106 Survival theories end up getting very contrived in both cases. The rational side of me votes "Dead," but I can still be lured into reading an occasional speculative piece that tries to go somewhere with the last sliver of doubt. In Cooper's case, the potential landing area was so vast & rugged that I'm guessing even the stubborn souls at the FBI couldn't pull off anything resembling an effective, quadrant-by-quadrant search for remains. Would bones left out in the open still be identifiable? Or are they most likely dust by now?
- colejohnson66 10y ago
  Regarding Alcatraz, the Mythbusters have shown it to be possible to do what they supposedly did (paddle to shore). How they would've managed to survive with no money leads me to agree that they probably died.
  - 24gttghh 10y ago
    Hmm, escaped convicts without any money...
superuser2 10y ago
>none of the bills given to him as ransom have ever been found in circulation, anywhere How extensive really is surveillance of bill serial numbers? I mean, sure, he couldn't show up to close on a house with suitcases fully of those bills, but if it's not every routine deposit at every bank, seems possible that he could have spent it slowly.
- pkaeding 10y ago
  I don't know how often serial numbers are checked, but I imagine that if those bills had been in circulation, they would have been retired by now (banks will take damaged/worn-out bills out of circulation to be replaced). I'm sure that the serial numbers are recorded when bills are taken out of circulation, so if the DB Cooper money was circulating, the FBI would have heard about it.
- mavelikara 10y ago
  The bills go through Federal Reserve bank offices. It is possible that a surveillance for such bills are implemented there.
- Spooky23 10y ago
  Considering that every letter sent through the post office is scanned, interpreted by computer and stored, it's not unreasonable to assume that serial numbers are at least scanned when they return to the Federal Reserve. Beyond the police angle, metrics on how quickly money is circulating is probably useful data for Fed economists.
gerbilly 10y ago
>none of the bills given to him as ransom have ever been found in circulation, anywhere. It seems unlikely that in 1972, or even today, you could inspect anything but a minute portion of the cash in circulation. He definitely could have spent it without it being detected, especially overseas.

bogomipz 10y ago

You can not state that as fact. You do not know that. Nobody knows what this person's fate was. That was a theory that was bandied about by the FBI. And it was convenient theory for them given that they could not solve the crime.

GCA10 10y ago

I'm with you 99.999% of the way. When no remains or money are found, that's the logical conclusion. It's a parlor game at best to conjure up some scenario where he gets out, minus the money -- and stays incognito ever after. There are loose parallels to the fates of the three guys who escaped from Alcatraz in 1962, and whose bodies were never found. http://www.npr.org/2012/06/12/154766199/50-years-later-mystery-of-alcatraz-escape-endures http://www.npr.org/2012/06/12/154766199/50-years-later-myste... and also: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30349106 http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30349106 Survival theories end up getting very contrived in both cases. The rational side of me votes "Dead," but I can still be lured into reading an occasional speculative piece that tries to go somewhere with the last sliver of doubt. In Cooper's case, the potential landing area was so vast & rugged that I'm guessing even the stubborn souls at the FBI couldn't pull off anything resembling an effective, quadrant-by-quadrant search for remains. Would bones left out in the open still be identifiable? Or are they most likely dust by now?

colejohnson66 10y ago
Regarding Alcatraz, the Mythbusters have shown it to be possible to do what they supposedly did (paddle to shore). How they would've managed to survive with no money leads me to agree that they probably died.
- 24gttghh 10y ago
  Hmm, escaped convicts without any money...

superuser2 10y ago

>none of the bills given to him as ransom have ever been found in circulation, anywhere How extensive really is surveillance of bill serial numbers? I mean, sure, he couldn't show up to close on a house with suitcases fully of those bills, but if it's not every routine deposit at every bank, seems possible that he could have spent it slowly.

pkaeding 10y ago
I don't know how often serial numbers are checked, but I imagine that if those bills had been in circulation, they would have been retired by now (banks will take damaged/worn-out bills out of circulation to be replaced). I'm sure that the serial numbers are recorded when bills are taken out of circulation, so if the DB Cooper money was circulating, the FBI would have heard about it.
mavelikara 10y ago
The bills go through Federal Reserve bank offices. It is possible that a surveillance for such bills are implemented there.
Spooky23 10y ago
Considering that every letter sent through the post office is scanned, interpreted by computer and stored, it's not unreasonable to assume that serial numbers are at least scanned when they return to the Federal Reserve. Beyond the police angle, metrics on how quickly money is circulating is probably useful data for Fed economists.

gerbilly 10y ago

>none of the bills given to him as ransom have ever been found in circulation, anywhere. It seems unlikely that in 1972, or even today, you could inspect anything but a minute portion of the cash in circulation. He definitely could have spent it without it being detected, especially overseas.