D. B. Cooper - Ongoing Investigation

Ongoing Investigation

In March 2009 the FBI disclosed that Tom Kaye, a paleontologist from the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture in Seattle, had assembled a team of "citizen sleuths" including scientific illustrator Carol Abraczinskas and metallurgist Alan Stone. The group, now known as the Cooper Research Team, is using technology unavailable in 1971 to reinvestigate important components of the case. Using GPS and satellite imagery, they are attempting to determine if the money found by Ingram floated freely to its discovery location over time, or was found elsewhere and reburied. They have reexamined the 727's flight path from Seattle to Reno to more precisely estimate Cooper's landing zone. Using electron microscopy they examined hundreds of particles on Cooper's tie, identifying Lycopodium spores (likely from a pharmaceutical product), and fragments of bismuth and aluminum.

In November 2011 Kaye announced that particles of pure titanium had also been found on the tie. He explained that titanium, which was much rarer in the 1970s than it is today, was found at that time only in metal fabrication or production facilities, or at chemical companies using it (combined with aluminum) to store extremely corrosive substances. The findings suggested, he said, that Cooper may have been a chemist or a metallurgist, or may have worked in a metal or chemical manufacturing plant.