A plane hijacking in 1971 has been a mystery after a man, named by the FBI as DB Cooper, successfully hijacked a Boeing 727 before escaping.
On November 24, the man threatened to have a bomb onboard in a note to a flight attendant.
He then requested $ 200,000 (£132,000), which would have an approximate value of £970,560 today.
As well as asking for food for the crew and four parachutes, he then released everyone on the flight apart from three pilots and one flight attendant.
The plane took off again, where Cooper then leapt from the plane as it flew over Portland with a parachute and the money, and was never found.
Despite a thorough investigation, all the authorities knew of him was that he called himself Dan Cooper whilst boarding the flight with a one-way ticket and was wearing a dark suit and described as a businessman.
Whilst many believe he died after jumping, his identity was never confirmed but new evidence may have revealed who the man is.
In 1980, a letter was allegedly sent by Cooper to various news publications such as The New York Times and the Washington Post, stating: “I knew from the start that I wouldn’t be caught.”
An investigative team has appeared to crack the code thanks to a nine-digit number on the bottom of the letter and have found who the man is.
They believe it is Robert W. Rackstraw, a Vietnam War veteran after linking the numbers and letters to army units that the man served in during the war.
Shockingly, the suspected man is still alive and living in San Diego at the age of 74, despite being investigated by the FBI in 1970s.
The investigative team, led by filmmaker Tom Colbert, told Oregon Live that he wouldn’t be investigated again by the FBI due to “embarrassment and shame” due to the mystery being solved my amateur investigators.
Dorwin Schreuder, former FBI agent who was part of the case in the 1980s told SeattlePI: “The circumstances of those codes being what Tom says they are, that he says nobody but him would know these units and these figures, if it’s true that’s pretty hard to argue against.
“Rackstraw might be his guy.”
Many have disputed the claim of his identity after he wasn’t picked out of a line up of mug shots when he was being investigated over 40 years ago.
He would also have been 28 at the time of the hijacking, and D.B. Cooper was said to be middle-aged.
The 74-year-old has denied that he is DB. Cooper.
Other clues over the years has included a parachute strap as well as a small amount of $ 20 bills near Columbia River.
