The D.B. Cooper mystery has long been a source of fascination and intrigue for many Americans. The unidentified man who hijacked a plane, took ransom money, and then parachuted into the night, disappearing without a trace, has baffled law enforcement for decades. However, new evidence has recently come to light that may shed some much-needed light on this enigmatic case.
In 2016, the FBI officially closed the case, citing a lack of new leads or physical evidence. But in 2020, the children of Richard Floyd McCoy II, a former Army soldier and fugitive who was arrested for a similar hijacking in 1972, reached out to YouTuber Dan Gryder with what they claimed was new evidence.
Gryder, who has been investigating the D.B. Cooper case for 20 years, was invited to the McCoy family property in North Carolina, where he made a startling discovery. In a storage unit belonging to McCoy’s mother, Gryder found a modified military surplus bailout rig that he believes was used by Cooper during the hijacking. This parachute, Gryder claims, is “literally one in a billion” and could be the missing link in solving the case.
The McCoy children share Gryder’s belief that their father was D.B. Cooper, a secret that had long haunted the family. They kept quiet for years, fearing that speaking out might implicate their mother, Karen, whom they suspect was involved in both hijackings.
Gryder documented his findings in a series of YouTube videos, including footage of the parachute discovery. After watching his videos, the FBI took action for the first time since closing the case in 2016. In September 2023, Gryder and Rick McCoy met with FBI agents in Richmond, Virginia, who took the parachute and a skydiving logbook found by McCoy’s sister, Chanté, into evidence.
The unique alterations to the parachute, well-documented by veteran skydiver Earl Cossey, who supplied parachutes for the 1971 hijacking, provide strong evidence linking McCoy to the D.B. Cooper case. The FBI’s recent involvement in the case suggests that this new evidence may finally bring some closure to one of America’s greatest unsolved mysteries.
