D.B. Cooper: New Wrinkles In The Tale Of A Mystery Skyjacker Who Leaped From A Jet With $200,000

In 1971, a hijacker parachuted from a jetliner over the forests of Oregon and slipped away with $200,000.

The skyjacker, who used the alias “Dan Cooper” in taunting letters to the FBI, was never apprehended.

For crime buffs, the case of the man who became known as D.B. Cooper has remained one of America’s most compelling mysteries.

Now, Los Angeles filmmaker Tom Colbert and a team of investigators are doubling down on claims they have identified the real D.B. Cooper as Robert W. “Bob” Rackstraw, a former Vietnam War soldier who became a university law instructor.

And they are saying parts of Rackstraw's story have connections to Arizona.

In numerous past interviews with police and journalists, Rackstraw has offered coy and conflicting responses while refusing to confirm or deny he is Cooper. In one TV interview, when asked if he was the hijacker, he smiled and said, “Could have been. I can’t commit myself on something like that.”

Now 74 and retired, Rackstraw resides in Coronado, California, where Colbert said he has a yacht named Poverty Sucks.

Reached this week by phone, Rackstraw declined to be interviewed except in person, explaining, “I want to know who I’m talking to.” Many FBI agents concluded Cooper was killed when he jumped from the jetliner. Others, including a legion of self-anointed sleuths, have identified countless possible suspects.Rackstraw at times was among them. Yet the seminal book on the topic, “Skyjacker: The Hunt for D.B. Cooper,” by Geoffrey Gray, does not even mention his name.Gray told The Arizona Republic that Colbert and his team are just one "pocket of obsession" in a "sea of chaos.""While he (Rackstraw) looked like an interesting suspect, there were a thousand interesting suspects," Gray said. "All we have is suspicion right now."The FBI closed its case on Cooper two years ago, just as Colbert aired a History Channel documentary pointing to Rackstraw as the perpetrator. Colbert claims his team now has proof: a hidden code discovered in letters D.B. Cooper sent to the media years ago. One of the encrypted messages purportedly says: “I am 1st LT Robert Rackstraw.”Colbert acknowledges he is working on a new film and has a vested interest in publicity.But he insists his primary goal is to expose the FBI’s failure to do its job, purportedly because Rackstraw became a CIA operative after the hijacking.Colbert sued the bureau last year to obtain the case file.“This is horribly embarrassing for them,” he said in a phone interview, “and the fact that they cut a deal with the CIA is not out yet.”Dennis Roberts, Rackstraw's longtime lawyer, offers a different perspective: "He's not D.B. Cooper, but these people have been driving him crazy for years. They won't leave him alone."