DB Cooper was the name given to the unidentified man who hijacked a Boeing 727 aircraft in the airspace between Oregon and Washington State, US, on the afternoon of November 24, 1971. He extorted $200,000 (£150,000) in ransom and parachuted to an uncertain fate, which the FBI probed for 45 years with no luck. However, his true identity may have been exposed by a soldier studying a letter he sent taunting federal agents on March 28, 1972.
Rick Sherwood served three tours in the US Army during the Vietnam War, earning two Bronze Stars for his code-breaking work.
However, he never expected to use his skills again.
That changed though, when Tom Colbert, a California-based TV producer, came calling.
Mr Colbert had suspected Mr Cooper was a man named Robert Rackstraw, who had served alongside Mr Sherwood in the Army.
DB Cooper’s identity may have been identified (Image: WIKI)
Rick Sherwood is a retired veteran (Image: CBS)
He used the terminology of ‘lacky’ – there’s something there, that could be his name
Mr Sherwood analysed a letter that had apparently been sent to the FBI from Mr Cooper which purposely included a disguised confession.
He said in 2018: “I wrote down everything about the military.
“Vietnam, top-secret, 371st – our unit, 11th GS – his company using the alphabet code where each letter gets a numerical value.
“This is what was used and the letter broke everything open.
“[At the bottom of the letter] he wrote seven of the letter ‘C’ which adds up to 21, or ASA – Army Security Agency.”
Rick Sherwood says he’s cracked the code (Image: CBS)
Robert Rackstraw alongside DB Cooper (Image: CBS)
In the letter, DB Cooper writes: “And please tell the lacky cops, DB Cooper is not my real name,” which Mr Sherwood says is the key piece of evidence.
He added: “He used the terminology of ‘lacky’ – there’s something there, that could be his name.
“It equals 269 – ‘I’m Lt. Robert W. Rackstraw’ also equals 269.
“Game, set, match, I’m sure [that’s him].”
Jack Schafer, a retired FBI agent and behavioural analyst, admitted the link is very strong.
He said in 2018: “I think certainly there’s a strong circumstantial case now, especially the link between the decoded messages and Rackstraw.”
However, Mr Rachstraw, who is now retired in California, refutes the claims.
Asked to tell “his story” to Mr Colbert, he replied: “Sure you’d love to hear it, so would the FBI and the secret indictment.”
Investigators also questioned Rackstraw about the Cooper case in 1978 and eliminated him as a suspect.
When Mr Colbert first publicly named and linked Rackstraw to the hijacking, the veteran’s lawyer called the accusations “the stupidest thing I ever heard”.
DB Cooper hijacked a plane and took £150,000 (Image: WIKI)
Mr Sherwood says there is a code in the letter (Image: CBS)
An FBI spokeswoman also revealed the agency is no longer actively investigating the case.
She said: “The FBI has received an immense number of tips provided by members of the public, but none to date have resulted in a definitive identification of the hijacker.
“The tips have conveyed plausible theories, descriptive information about individuals potentially matching the hijacker, and anecdotes — to include accounts of sudden, unexplained wealth.
“In order to solve a case, the FBI must prove culpability beyond a reasonable doubt, and, unfortunately, none of the well-meaning tips or applications of new investigative technology has yielded the necessary proof.”