Amateur D. B. Cooper Sleuth to Launch New Search in ‘Treacherous’ Ditch For Infamous Hijacker’s Parachute

A self-described D.B. Cooper expert will lead a search next week for the infamous hijacker's parachute in a "treacherous" area west of Vancouver near the spot where thousands in cash from the heist was discovered in 1980, according to a report.

Cooper disappeared on Nov. 24, 1971, with $200,000 in ransom money by leaping out of a plane he hijacked mid-flight, disappearing into the distance and launching a mystery that is unsolved nearly 52 years later. 

Cooper, his parachute, his briefcase and his clothing have never been found despite decades of exhaustive searches. 

Amateur sleuth Eric Ulis and a small team will begin a search Thursday of a "treacherous" tree-and-blackberry filled trench where he believes Cooper dumped his parachute.

It's close to where Brian Ingram, who was 8 when Cooper disappeared, discovered about $6,000 in $20 bills linked to Cooper's ransom in 1980 on the banks of the Columbia River. 

“It is clear to me that D.B. Cooper actually landed much closer to the 1980 money-find spot than originally believed,” Ulis told KOIN. “I am absolutely certain that the heavy parachute DB Cooper jumped with is still near where the man landed 52 years ago.”

"We are searching in the correct area and will find the parachute," he said. 

Ulis told the station that he will reveal his findings next month at CooperCon in Seattle. CooperCon is advertised as the "world’s only annual event focused on the legendary 1971 skyjacking and mystery."

Cooper, dressed in a black business suit, hijacked Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305 after it departed Portland, Oregon, to Seattle. 

He told a flight attendant that he had a bomb, showing her a briefcase full of wires and red sticks, and demanded a ransom of $200,000 and four parachutes. 

After receiving the cash in exchange for releasing 36 passengers in Seattle, the plane with Cooper and some crew aboard took off for Mexico City with a fueling stop in Reno, Nevada.

After about a half-hour into the flight, Cooper opened the aircraft's rear door and jumped out over southwestern Washington and disappeared.