A tattered parachute found in a rugged region of northwest Washington state may yield clues to the fate of the robber behind a daredevil high-altitude hijacking 37 years ago, reports said late last month.
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that a parachute found on rural land was being examined to see if it belonged to hijacker D.B. Cooper, who leapt from a commercial jet in 1971 after collecting a US$200,000 (NT$6 million) ransom.
FBI investigators have said for years that Cooper most likely did not survive the jump from over 3,000m, but the hijacker’s body has never been found.
PHOTO: AP
The recently discovered parachute is believed to be similar to the one Cooper used and was dug up by a man plowing land at his property in Clark County, FBI agent Larry Carr told the newspaper.
“If D.B. Cooper had pulled his chute not long after that jump, he would have landed in that area,” Carr said. “Is this D.B. Cooper’s parachute? We don’t know yet.”
The case is often described as the world’s only unsolved hijacking, and began when a man traveling as Dan Cooper threatened to blow up a plane flying from Portland to Seattle.
Cooper demanded US$200,000 and four parachutes, which were given to him after the plane landed at Seattle airport. After the plane took off Cooper made his getaway.
None of Cooper’s ransom money ever found its way into circulation although nearly US$6,000 (NT$180,900) was found along the banks of the Columbia River in 1980.(AFP)
上個月底有報導指出，華盛頓州西北部一處崎嶇地區發現了一個破爛的降落傘，而那可能為三十七年前一起驚心動魄的高空劫機案主嫌的下落帶來線索。
《西雅圖郵報》報導，在偏遠地區發現的這個降落傘已送檢，以確認它是否為迪比庫柏所有；一九七一年，庫柏在拿到二十萬美元的贖金後，從一架民航客機上一躍而下。
多年來，美國聯邦調查局調查員都表示，從三千多公尺高空跳下的庫柏極可能難逃一死，但他的遺體一直都沒有被尋獲。
聯邦調查局幹員賴瑞．卡爾對《西雅圖郵報》表示，日前一名男子在他克拉克郡的自家田地上耕種時挖到了這個降落傘，這個降落傘據信和庫柏逃脫時使用的降落傘極為相似。
「假使迪比庫柏在跳下不久後就拉開降落傘，那他就會降落在那個地區，」卡爾說：「但這是迪比庫柏的降落傘嗎？我們還不確定。」
這個案子常被形容為全世界唯一未破案的劫機事件，事件的起頭是一個自稱丹．庫柏的男子揚言要炸毀一架從波特蘭飛往西雅圖的飛機。
庫柏要求二十萬美元的贖金和四個降落傘，他在航機降落西雅圖時拿到了贖金和降落傘；航機再起飛後，庫柏就逃脫了。
庫柏勒索的贖金鈔票未曾在市面上流通過，但一九八Ｏ年時，有人在哥倫比亞河堤邊發現了當中近六千美元（新台幣十八萬零九百元）。（法新社�翻譯：袁星塵）
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