MCALLEN, Texas -- One man in Texas claims he's the brother of the legendary skyjacker D.B. Cooper.

Robert Cooper claims D.B. Cooper, who also called himself Dan Cooper, is actually his brother, Merlin Gene Cooper, whom even his own family called a con man.

"Certainly the black sheep of the family. He'd take advantage of everybody he came in contact with," he said.

D.B. Cooper boarded a Northwest flight in Portland for a flight to Seattle on the night of Nov, 24, 1971, and commandeered the plane, claiming he had dynamite.

In Seattle, he demanded and got $200,000 and four parachutes and demanded to be flown to Mexico. Somewhere over southwestern Washington, he jumped out of the plane's tail exit with two of the chutes and the money strapped to his body. He was never seen again, alive or dead.

Once a winter Texan, Robert eventually moved permanently to the state. He shared pictures of his brother and sister, and said he's the only one left to tell the story. The truth, he said, is his family members wanted to keep their distance from the man they considered a con artist, who was always looking for a quick buck.

"He never did harm anybody, but he just was able to maintain a lifestyle minimal of work and maximum pay," he said.

Robert said he received word from police three years after the hijacking that his brother had been shot and killed in Oklahoma.

"He was a gambler, too. And I think that was his demise when they shot him. That's what happens to gamblers when they don't pay their bills," he said.

The FBI also talked to Robert about his brother.

"The FBI, when they talked to me, told me the details of finding some of the money. So I think they were sincere," he said.

Robert said his brother's body was eventually brought back to Wisconsin and buried under a grave marker bearing his real name.

Robert said he never heard back from federal investigators, who are still searching for the man Robert says he buried in 1974.