After 54 Years, The TRUE Identity Of ‘D.B. Cooper’ Has FINALLY Been Revealed! | HO!!!!

*Fifty-four years ago, a man boarded a plane with a fake name, a briefcase full of wires, and a plan so daring it would haunt law enforcement for generations. Known to the world as “D.B. Cooper,” he vanished into legend after pulling off the most infamous unsolved hijacking in American history. For decades, conspiracy theories flourished, suspects came and went, and the FBI chased shadows. But now, the mystery that captivated the nation has a name—and a face. After half a century, the true identity of D.B. Cooper has finally been revealed.

The Day That Changed Everything: Thanksgiving Eve, 1971

On November 24, 1971, the eve of Thanksgiving, Portland International Airport was bustling with travelers eager to get home. Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305, a short hop to Seattle, was routine—until a man in a dark suit, clip-on tie, and sunglasses sat in seat 18C. He called himself “Dan Cooper.” The flight attendant paid little attention when he handed her a note, assuming it was just another lonely passenger. But when Cooper leaned in and whispered, “Miss, you’d better look at that note. I have a bomb,” the ordinary flight became the stuff of legend.

Cooper’s demands were clear: $200,000 in cash, four parachutes, and a fuel truck waiting in Seattle. He showed the terrified crew his briefcase—inside, what looked like dynamite sticks wired to a battery. The pilot, William Scott, radioed in a hijacking alert. The FBI scrambled. When the plane landed, passengers were released unharmed. Cooper got his ransom and parachutes, and with only a skeleton crew onboard, ordered the plane to take off again, heading south toward Mexico.

Then, somewhere over the rainy forests of Washington state, Cooper opened the rear stairs and jumped into the night—money strapped to his body, his fate unknown.

The Manhunt: A Ghost in the Trees

The search was instant and intense. Hundreds of FBI agents, state troopers, helicopters, and bloodhounds combed the forests near the Washougal River, but there was nothing—no footprints, no parachute, not a single trace. The only clue Cooper left behind was his clip-on tie, found on the plane.

A media error turned his alias “Dan Cooper” into “D.B. Cooper,” and the name stuck. The FBI chased more than a thousand suspects. Some confessed, others were investigated, but none matched the evidence. The ransom bills’ serial numbers were circulated nationwide, but only one breakthrough came—nine years later.

A Break in the Case: The Money in the Sand

In 1980, an eight-year-old boy camping with his family on the banks of the Columbia River found three bundles of twenty-dollar bills, their rubber bands rotted but the serial numbers intact. The bills matched the ransom money given to Cooper. It was the only physical evidence ever recovered. Did Cooper die in the fall? Did he plant the money to taunt investigators? The FBI ramped up their search, diving the river and scouring the area. Still, no parachute, no body, no answers.

With no new leads, the case remained open but cold. In 2016, after 45 years, the FBI officially closed the file, leaving it as one of America’s greatest unsolved crimes—until a relentless investigator took up the challenge.

A Relentless Investigator: Dan Grider’s Breakthrough

Dan Grider, a retired commercial airline captain and YouTuber, became obsessed with the D.B. Cooper case. He pored over flight logs, terrain maps, FBI files, and recreated the jump. In 2023, Grider’s investigation led him to a dusty storage unit in Utah, once owned by a woman linked to the family of Richard Floyd McCoy Jr.—a name long whispered in Cooper circles.

Inside the unit, Grider found a parachute. Not just any parachute, but one matching the military-style rig Cooper requested, with modifications noted in FBI files from 1971. The storage unit’s connection to McCoy was chilling: five months after Cooper’s heist, McCoy hijacked a plane in Denver using nearly the same method. The discovery tied two infamous crimes together—and put McCoy at the center of the mystery.

Who Was Richard Floyd McCoy Jr.?

Richard McCoy Jr. was the last person anyone expected to be D.B. Cooper. A devout Mormon, decorated Vietnam War veteran, helicopter pilot, and family man, McCoy was working toward a law degree at Brigham Young University. To his neighbors, he was polite and deeply religious—the American Dream in a clean-cut uniform.

But in April 1972, McCoy hijacked United Airlines Flight 855 in Denver, demanding $500,000 and parachutes, then escaped by jumping from the plane. The FBI caught him within days, thanks to a handwritten note and fingerprints on a glass of water. McCoy was sentenced to 45 years in prison, but after a daring escape, was killed in a shootout with FBI agents in 1974.

Copycat or Mastermind?

The FBI long dismissed McCoy as a copycat. Witnesses described Cooper as older, with olive skin and dark hair; McCoy was younger, fair-skinned, and lighter-haired. The notes were different, the handwriting changed. But Grider believed these differences were deliberate—a military man like McCoy could easily change his appearance and handwriting to mislead investigators.

McCoy’s expertise in parachuting, his military background, and the uncanny similarities between the two hijackings made him the prime suspect. The parachute found in his family’s storage unit matched FBI descriptions from the Cooper case. Was McCoy the man who vanished into legend as D.B. Cooper?

Family Secrets and a Hidden Parachute

Grider’s investigation didn’t stop at the parachute. He reached out to McCoy’s children, Chanté and Rick McCoy III, but was met with silence. It wasn’t resistance—it was protection. The family had lived under the shadow of the Cooper legend for decades, shielding themselves from the truth.

In a grandmother’s attic in Provo, Utah, Grider found another parachute—canvas, old, weathered, with the same modifications as Cooper’s. Experts confirmed the rig matched FBI files from 1971. This wasn’t just coincidence. It was evidence hidden in plain sight.

The Confession That Changed Everything

After weeks of persistent outreach, Grider finally sat down with McCoy’s children. With their mother passed, they felt it was time to speak. Rick McCoy III quietly admitted, “We never wanted to believe it. But the more we looked at everything… it’s all there. He was Cooper. He had to be. Yeah… we always kinda knew it was him.”

The confession sent shockwaves through the online world. The family’s admission, combined with the physical evidence, offered the confirmation millions had waited for. D.B. Cooper was no longer a ghost—he was Richard Floyd McCoy Jr.

The FBI Returns: DNA and the Final Test

Grider’s viral videos prompted the FBI to reopen the case, retrieving the parachute for forensic analysis. The Bureau planned to exhume McCoy’s body for DNA testing, hoping to match samples to evidence left behind—like Cooper’s tie. It was a race against time, and for the first time in decades, the case was alive again.

The Man Behind the Legend

The revelation that D.B. Cooper was Richard McCoy Jr. doesn’t just solve a mystery—it humanizes the legend. Was the hijacking a thrill, a statement, or a desperate cry for control? Psychologists suggest Cooper’s crime was a way to wrest power from a chaotic world. In the end, the face behind the legend was a man driven by motives, flaws, and quiet desperation.

For McCoy’s family, speaking out was about peace, not legacy. For Dan Grider, it was about honoring the pursuit of truth. The D.B. Cooper case may now be solved in the eyes of many, but its echoes remain. Even with a name, the legend endures—and we’re left to wonder what other secrets lie buried.