Plane Jumper DB Cooper ID'd in New Book by Friend

A new book claims to know the true identity of D.B. Cooper, the criminal who jumped from a plane in 1971 and disappeared.

“D.B. Cooper & Me: A Criminal, A Spy, My Best Friend” was released by Carl Laurin, who says Cooper was his best friend. In a news conference Thursday, Laurin presented evidence for his assertions about the infamous hijacker, whom he claims was named Walter “Walt” Raca, MLive.com reported.

A man who called himself Dan Cooper told a stewardess on a Boeing 727 flight in 1971 that he had a bomb, then demanded parachutes and $200,000 to release the plane’s other passengers. He then had the plane take off again for Mexico City, but parachuted out of the plane at 10,000 feet with the money and disappeared.

Publishing company Principia Media helped investigate Laurin’s claims and amassed evidence about Cooper’s true identity for the book, MLive reported. The publisher claims to have information about the flight path and landing zone, witness testimony from a person who spoke with Reca an hour after his jump, information about how the money Reca extorted was spent, two people to whom Reca confessed, and a piece of clothing Reca wore during the jump, WGRZ reported. 

Some of the information includes audio recordings of Reca talking about details of the hijacking that were not released by police, WGRZ reported. 

Others have come forward over the years to claim they knew the identity of the hijacker, but the FBI closed the case in 2016 saying it would reopen it if the parachutes or money were ever found.

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