A man by the name of Daniel Cooper bought a one-way plane ticket for $20 on Wednesday, November 24, 1971. He bought the tickets on Northwest Airlines on flight 305 from Portland, Oregon to Seattle, Washington. At the time, he was described as holding a briefcase and a paper bag, and in his mid-40s. It was also described that he was wearing an overcoat, a business suit, brown shoes, a white shirt, and a black-tie.
Right before the plane took off, he had ordered a bourbon and soda from the flight attendant. Around 3:00 pm, after the plane had already taken off, Cooper handed the flight attendant a note, which she just slipped into her pocket. But Cooper told her that she better look at the note because he had a bomb. He then continued to tell her that the bomb was in his briefcase and told her to sit down next to him, which out of fear she did. (I mean do you blame her) Cooper then proceeded to open the briefcase and revealed several red sticks inside, covered in an array of wires.
Cooper then told the flight attendant to write everything he told her because he had a couple of demands to not set the bomb off. The note said
"I want $200,000 by 5 pm in cash exclusively in $20 bills, put in a knapsack. I want two back parachutes and two front parachutes. When we land, I want a truck ready to refuel. No funny stuff or I'll do the job." FBI agents assembled the ransom money from several Seattle-area banks and Seattle police obtained the parachutes from a local skydiving school.
Cooper allowed all the passengers and some of the crew the exit the airplane once his demands were met. The remaining crew he had told to refuel the plane and make a course for Mexico City, but to stay below 10,000 feet. Cooper put on a pair of dark wraparound sunglasses during the flight that would eventually make it into the official sketch of his, and become famous with anyone investigating the case. Somewhere in between Seattle and Reno, Nevada, just a little after 8 pm, Cooper jumped out of the rear door of the plane with two of the parachutes and the money. After that, he was never seen again.
Despite a huge manhunt and over 45-years of searching, no conclusions have been made about the man's identity or his fate after he jumped, Many people think perhaps he didn't survive his jump from the plane because the parachutes he had couldn't be steered. Plus his clothing and footwear weren't suitable for a rough landing. He had also jumped into a wooded area at night - a dangerous proposition for a seasoned pro, which evidence suggests Cooper was not.This theory was given a boost when a young boy in 1980 found a rotting package full of 20 dollar bills ($5,800 in all) that matched the ransom money serial numbers
This has ended up being one of the greatest cold cases in FBI and US History
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