Town celebrates legend of D.B. Cooper

ARIEL, Wash. – Thirty-six years after he jumped from a passenger plane with $200,000 in cash, the legend of D.B. Cooper lives on.

Some think he's dead while others think he's alive and living in Reno.

Those theories are a big part of D.B. Cooper days – a yearly celebration in Ariel.

Cooper hijacked a 727 on Nov. 24, 1971. He traded hostages for cash and parachutes and jumped into the night somewhere over Cowlitz or Clark counties.

The search for Cooper was based in Ariel - located along State Route 503 - so the town hosts a big party every year to keep the legend alive.

This year the crowd was full of D.B. Cooper look-a-likes, bowls of D.B. Cooper stew and a man whom the FBI interviewed as a possible suspect.

Cooper has never been found, although in 1980 an 8-year-old found $5,800 in the Columbia River downstream from Vancouver, Wash.

A check of the serial numbers confirmed it was Cooper's money. It remains the only evidence ever found.

Learn more about D.B. Cooper by clicking here.