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Author: Mystery of D.B. Cooper revealed

Posted at 10:43 AM, May 17, 2018
and last updated 2018-05-17 19:28:56-04

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - A 46-year-old mystery that has baffled the world was revealed Thursday afternoon in Grand Rapids.

Principia Media, a book publisher, held an event at the Amway Grand Plaza and announced what they believe is the identity of D.B. Cooper, the man who hijacked a plane in 1971 and then parachuted out with $200,000 to never been seen again. Author Carl Laurin says he believes Cooper was really a former military paratrooper named Walter R. Reca.

Laurin claims to have been Reca's best friend.  He played audio recordings with Reca where he discussed skyjacking details that had not been released in 2008.

On November 24, 1971, a man who said he was Dan Cooper was on a flight from Portland, Oregon to Seattle, Washington. He handed a flight attendant, (a stewardess at the time), a note saying that he had a bomb.  He demanded four parachutes and $200,000.  In Seattle, he let the passengers go in return for the parachutes and the cash and ordered the plane to fly to Mexico.  Somewhere along the flight, he parachuted from the plane and was never seen again.

Principia Media released evidence like documentation how the $200,000 was spent, confessions from Reca to two different people and witness testimony from a person who spoke with Reca within an hour of his jump.

Laurin has a memoir called "D.B. Cooper & Me: A Criminal, A Spy, My Best Friend."