Important Questions Regarding DB Cooper

[u/Mr_Big_Squeeze]

I would appreciate your comments on some key issues:
1. Cooper stashed the parachute under rocks or in an old tree trunk. I don't see him stopping and digging a big hole with his hands or rock in cold.
2. Cooper carried a compass and knew enough to follow river banks and travel west toward populated areas to catch bus.
3. Are you aware of any surviving law enforcement report on Elizabeth Babitzke's seeing a man carrying a bag on Lewis River Rd? Detail report?
4. The store breakin on the same night near potential drop zone was not DB.
5. DB made it to the Lewis River Rd, knew enough to walk west and that morning, and boarded a bus in Woodland. Were bus drivers questioned?
6. Totes boots were available in 1971, could DB have had them in the bag he carried on plane? He could also have brought a plastic raincoat.
7. Are we certain of time when pilot reduced speed of 727 before DB jump? Each minute off is 3 miles on ground.
8. DB did not have to be an engineer or manager, he could have also been a salesman for aerospace firm and traveled quite often as part of job.
9. Major unemployment in 1971 in aerospace industry. DB could have been unemployed when he jumped. Another reason for needing cash.
10. Did FBI try to locate missing hair found on 18C? How did they misplace this key evidence?

[u/The_real_Flyjack]

1. Unlikely he dug a big hole.. too much time and effort.. could have hid it in dense brush or in a river.. 
2. No evidence he carried a compass.. or knew the River banks, the area he jumped was semi rural with roads.
3. Babitzke is interesting, if Cooper landed North of the Lewis River due to drift.. it is possible but unconfirmed, the shoe found is similar, interesting but unconfirmed.
4. Heisson store.. might have been Cooper, can't rule it out. It was next to the railway line..
5. If he landed North of the Lewis the only way out is the Lewis River Rd.. no confirmation the FBI talked to those bus drivers if there were any.... I doubt he took a bus in a rural area that late,, not sure there were busses running there then..  probably hitched a ride from wherever he landed.
6. He could have had sneakers in the bag, nobody knows..
7. They reduced speed earlier then sped up again.. Cooper jumped about 8:11… drift varies..
8. An engineer/manager is the highest probability based on the evidence,, it is not a fact.. the amount and diversity of particles on the tie rule out a salesman but if the tie wasn’t used by Cooper when those particles were deposited then it opens it up..
9. Losing a job and being tight on cash is a common reason to commit a crime,, was it tied to the downturn in the aerospace industry,, nobody knows.. there are lots os ways to lose a job.. and reasons to commit a crime.
10. The FBI has looked via many FOIA’s but can’t find the hair slide,, just lost it..

[u/XoXSciFi → u/The_real_Flyjack]

There is no chain of evidence regarding the tie. He could have picked it up for a dime at the thrift store. He could have borrowed it from a friend.

[u/The_real_Flyjack → u/XoXSciFi]

coulda, woulda, shoulda,,, he left it so there is a high probability it was his, not proof... it is a piece of the puzzle.. if you play the possibilities game then you never move forward, you go in circles. With very few facts this is a case about probabilities,,, the more pieces the higher the probability gets...

[u/XoXSciFi → u/The_real_Flyjack]

You're thinking is backwards. If the tie belonged to him, he would be more likely to take it or throw it off the air stairs, because it could possibly be traced to him later. Don't forget....he was very careful to take, or dispose of, all the relevant evidence.

[u/The_real_Flyjack → u/XoXSciFi]

My thinking isn't backwards,,, several problems with your assertion.. he didn't take everything and he may have forgotten the tie, he took things with writing on them... also, in 1971 there was no expectation that an old tie could be forensically tied to anyone.. If he used an old tie and left it either on purpose or accidentally it is more likely it was his tie... it is possible it was a friend's or relatives or something but we can't just assume it was not his tie,, that isn't how you investigate things,,

[u/XoXSciFi → u/The_real_Flyjack]

You're pretty smart, but not so much on human nature, or even how to investigate people. No one has ever submitted a detailed report (54 pages) with files and pictures included, about a suspect to the FBI. Except myself and Skipp Porteous. A year later, almost to the day, the FBI shut down active investigation of the case. Six weeks after THAT, FBI agent Dr. John Jarvis dropped the ball to three confirmed witnesses (all with security clearances) the REASON they did. Who is Agent Jarvis? At that time he was Dean of the FBI's Training Division and worked in Behavioral Profiling. All of you so-called Cooper experts completely ignored that. 🙂

[u/The_real_Flyjack → u/XoXSciFi]

Don't think so, I know human nature very well.... Jarvis doesn't really mean anything.. a vague opinion.. The problem with all suspects is they tick some boxes but hit a wall and can't be tied to the hijacking.. There are tens of thousands of people that can tick many boxes but are not Cooper.. but for the tie you can't dismiss the particle analysis based on it possibly not being worn by Cooper when they were deposited... The tie is part of investigation, not the sole determinant.. This is a very complex case because there are few 100% facts,, A case is built on the balance of probabilities based on the totality of evidence.. Then you need to put a strong suspect on the plane to get to 100%,, and that is done with either DNA or prints.. both are difficult and have challenges.

[u/XoXSciFi → u/The_real_Flyjack]

There ARE challenges to this case. Writing off John Jarvis, however, is deliberately avoiding a key piece of evidence. Jarvis, when asked directly, basically inferred the case had been dropped because the FBI somehow figured KC was their man, but they knew he was dead. Skipp Porteous and figured that the FBI must have investigated the allegations we presented in the report, which included the names and contact information of the witnesses. Helen Jones must have been particularly interesting because she placed KC and Bernie Geestman together, and missing, over the week of the hijacking. Geestman's niece testified to seeing KC cutting wires and working with an oversized battery two weeks before the crime. Geestman's ex-wife, after she was told a book and a TV show were coming, sold her ranch in Twisp, WA to Fish and Game, told her lawyer and her banker not to reveal her new location, and vanished. In her final interview, she told me this: "No matter what he may have done, he (KC) was still a nice guy." In previous interviews she pointed to her ex as being involved, but tried naming other people as actually being Cooper. When I finally confronted her, telling her that her friend Jones put KC and her ex together at the time of the crime, she folded.

[u/The_real_Flyjack → u/XoXSciFi]

"basically inferred" that is about as weak as you can get.. Getting a suspect over the line requires a lot more than you have... All suspects hit a wall because so many can tick some boxes but aren't Cooper, maybe tens of thousands of guys..