The following article appeared in the November 21, 1979 edition of The Daily of the University of Washington only weeks after Barb's confession to us. There are many similarities to this story, but there are a lot of discrepancies also. She gave us a copy of this in the 1980's, telling us that many of the details were gathered using ESP and some were wrong but many details were right on.
We aren't sure what Barb's purpose was in sharing this with us. Was Barb talking to others about Cooper at the same time she was talking to us? Was her pride in accomplishing the jump too strong for her to keep it inside? Was she changing some of the details with each telling to make the story less believable if any of her confidants went to the FBI? Or were the people she was talking to, including us, getting some of the facts wrong? Are there clues in the story she told us combined with clues in this article that would lead us to the true facts and ultimately prove that she was Cooper? She was always fond of puzzles and it would be just like her to leave us to figure out the whole story ourselves? Or was she simply living in a dream world and getting some of the details confused with each telling? As time went on, we became convinced that Barb was D.B. Cooper and she left it to us to unravel the details.
Due to the poor quality of the image, I will retype it under the images.
By Clark Humphrey and Brian Guenther
Eight years ago this Saturdaym a man who signed a ransom note as Dan Cooper jumped off a 727 and into prosperity. Despite professional and amateur searches, no trace of Dan "D.B." Cooper or his $200,000 has been found in the southwest Washington area where the Federal Bureau of Investiagtion says he jumped.
In 1976, a day before the statute of limitations would run out, Cooper was indicted on charges of air piracy and extortion.
Two weeks ago, two amateur investigators reasserted their claim that Cooper hasn;t been found in Washington because he really landed in Oregon. They say they know because they talked to him.
Harry Sigman and William McCombs claim to have been tracking Cooper down for over two years. Sigman, 58, is a retired efficiency expert. McCombs, 26, is a building inspector.
They won't give many details on how they came to their alternate account of the skyjacking. They do say it was pieced together from legwork and some telepathy on the part of McCombs, an ESP aficionado.
"A lot of people are probably thinking we're crazy", says McCombs. They won't share the identity of their suspect. They say it's because they don't want him to go to jail. They want President Carter to pardon him.
They will say that Cooper is now 55 and living in the Puyallup area. They say he's a licensed pilot and an expert skydiver. They also claim that in the late 60's, the Internal Revenue seized his property for back taxes. (Barb was not living in Puyallup, but she was flying out of Puyallup. She lost her home due to taxes in the 60's.)
This caused the breakup of his family, they say, and caused him to seek revenge against the U.S. Government. "The system took D.B. for everything he had", Sigman said, "He wanted to get back at the system."
Despite this, Sigman said, "He is an American and a good, loyal one. If not, any enemy country would offer anything for what he knows about skydiving." (An overstatement, but Barb was a very loyal American, but was angry with society.)
Sigman said Cooper is a genius "with superhuman mental and physical powers." He also said that Cooper is "the only living American hero we have in this country."
. . .
Here is how Sigman and McCombs claim Cooper pulled the caper off.
"He selected a Boeing 727", Sigman said, because of the rear exit... He selected Northwest Orient Flight 305... for two reasons: one, because Seattle is the last stop on the route, so there would be fewer passengers and ...."
They then say he flew a private plane down his Seattle-to-Mexico route , scouting jump sites. He chose some flat farmlands east of Woodburn, Ore.
"He could line up the cities of Portland, Salem, and Woodburn," Sigman said. When the plane was directly over Woodburn, he would be on the jump site and jump." The site is just a few miles west of the Cascades. "On a day that the winds would be from the east, the mountains would stop the wind from entering the jump site landing area, thus making a safer jump."
"He knew the FBI did not believe he would jump under extreme weather conditions, and with this in mind, the FBI was all set up to get him when he landed in Reno for refueling", Sigman said.
The day after the private flight he drove to Woodburn, got the phone numbers of some motels, scouted the jump site, and dug a hole where he'd hide the money and parachutes. He checked the Greyhound schedule from Woodburn, then drove to Portland to buy an advance ticket for flight 305, a ticket with no specific date.
"Each day he was in contact with the weather bureau in Portland, checking on the direction of the wind.," according to Sigman. "It wasn't until Nov. 24 that he go the easterly wind he wanted. He reserved a Woodburn motel room under an assumed nam. He drove there, checked in, and got a bus to Portland."
His equipment consisted of a briefcase containing two red plastic cylinders and blue connecting wires, a .32 revolver, a pair of dark sunglasses, a Bic pen, and a piece of paper.
"Cooper's M.O. called for a Bic, as he never left anything to chance. It is a fact this pen always writes the first time. " He also carried a nylon bag and nylon rope."
From Portland, he took a cab to the airport. "When the call is given to board flight 305, said Sigman, "Cooper moves behind the last male passenger, Michael Cooper. He shows his ticket to the person at the gate and he writes the name Cooper on his passenger ticket."
D.B. then sat at the rear of the second-class section and wrote his skyjack note, signing it Dan Cooper.
"In demanding four chutes," exclaims Sigman, "he conveys to the FBI without words, that he may be taking a hostage. This ensures the chutes delivered will be working chutes. "
The only error in his entire plan was when he folded the note and handed it to a flight attendant. Instead of reading it, she "thought he was making a play for her and put it in her pocket."
Cooper had a difficult time getting her to come back, but finally got her attention and showed her the fake bombs. The attendant told the Captain who told Sea-Tac, but not the passengers, that a hijacking was underway. Cooper ordered the plane to circle the airport until the money and chutes were ready.
He refused an offer of four military-style parachutes and demanded civilian ones.
"Anyone who knows anything about parachuting knows that you cannot make a freefall with a military chute," said Sigman, who claims to have been a paratrooper in the Army. "The FBI should have known they had an expert jumper on their hands," he added.
When civilian chutes were promised, he let the plane land and the passengers go free. Cooper ordered a crew member to bring the chutes and money inside. He ordered the plane to take off for Mexico at an altitude of 10,000 feet and a speed of 200 miles per hour.
Cooper opened the rear door over southwest Washington, but only as a ruse. He stuffed everything into the nylon bag, which he tied with the nylon rope. He attached the rote to a strap on one of the chutes. At Woodburn, he jumped. It was a freefall of 9000 feet, and a chute jump of 1000 feet. Said Sigman, "Only an expert could gauge his time and distance in the dark. "
When he landed it was rainy and cold but above freezing.
He left the stuff in the hole, changed clothes, and walked to the motel where his car was parked. He drove to his landing site, retrieve the stuff, and went home in time to watch the plsnr landing at Reno on TV.
. . .
Although Sigman and McCombs think they have found Cooper --- "We're sure of it," McCombs said--- the FBI has different ideas.
The pair produced several newspaper accounts: "Cooper story doubted," "FBI discounts Cooper story," and "FBI Not Jumping at D. B. Cooper" were among the headlines.
But, Sigman added, "The FBI finally gave our story credibility last month." They went to Sigman's South Tacoma appartment with an arrest warrant Sigman said, "and you don't show up with an arrest warrant for a dead man."
This is not the only alternative explanaqtion around. One version in a 1976 novel, "King of the Midnight Blue" by Darrell Bob Houston. Another was an interview printed in 1972 by a Los Angeles weekly newspaper, which later found the Cooper it had interviewed to be a fraud.
...
This Saturday, the Ariel Store (a tavern, acutally) will hold its fourth annual D.B. Cooper Party. There will be skydiving demonstrations, heaping bowls of Logger Stew, and people exchanging Cooper tales.
"It's probably the biggest day of the year around here," said Ariel Store owner Dave Fisher. When told of Sigman and McCombs claim that Cooper jumped over Ariel....