The Cooper File Marked “Destroyed”

Transcript

1. 01

   D.B. Cooper was never found; his true identity and fate remain unknown.

2. 02

   On November 24th, 1971, a man calling himself Dan Cooper bought a one-way ticket.

3. 03

   Shortly after takeoff, Cooper handed flight attendant Florence Schaffner a note.

4. 04

   The note said he had a bomb and wanted the attendant beside him.

5. 05

   Cooper demanded $200,000 and four parachutes for the passengers' safe return.

6. 06

   After receiving the money, Cooper jumped from the back of the plane with a parachute.

7. 07

   The investigative case file is held at the National Archives in Seattle.

8. 08

   In a records search, the FBI located one active file.

9. 09

   The FBI withheld that entire active file under FOIA Exemption seven(A).

10. 10

    Then the search found an entry for another potentially responsive file—marked destroyed.

11. 11

    The file had been disposed of under FBI retention plans and disposition schedules.

12. 12

    Sometimes a mystery grows inside the gap between what existed and what survives.

13. 13

    On February 10th, 1980, eight-year-old Brian Ingram found three deteriorating packs of the ransom's $20 bills.

14. 14

    But the FBI said destroyed records could not be reviewed for responsiveness.

15. 15

    The 2016 OGIS letter stated that the FBI investigation still remained open.

Sources

• D.B. Cooper. U.S. Attorney’s Case File for the skyjacking case involving the alias “D.B. Cooper,” dated 1971. | National Archivesarchives.govprimary
• D. B. Cooper - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.orgsecondary
• Society for American Archivists' article "Highlights from the National Archives’ Nationwide Holdings" | National Archivesarchives.govsecondary
• of GOVERNMENTarchives.govprimary
• $5,800 of airplane hijacker D. B. Cooper’s ransom money is found near the Columbia River on February 10, 1980. - HistoryLink.orghistorylink.orgsecondary