(NewsNation) — D.B. Cooper is at the center of America’s only unsolved hijacking, parachuting from a plane flying at 10,000 feet with $200,000 in cash strapped to his waist in 1971.
Cooper boarded a jet in Portland, Oregon, and hijacked the flight, saying he had a bomb and asking for cash and four parachutes. Once he received the money and parachutes, he let the passengers go, and the flight took off again, heading toward Reno, Nevada, to refuel before continuing to Mexico.
But somewhere near Vancouver, Washington, and Portland, Cooper jumped out of the plane. He was never heard from again, but no body was ever found, leaving Cooper’s fate and his identity a mystery.
Independent investigator Eric Ulis thinks the answer to the mystery may lie with a black clip-on tie from JCPenney.
The tie was one of the items Cooper left on the jet, and in 1971, it didn’t prove to be of much use to investigators. But as technology has evolved, tools like scanning electron microscopes and DNA analysis have made it much more valuable.
“Particles that were pulled from the tie that are unique and rare point to the aerospace sector and specifically a company called Crucible steel that no longer exists,” Ulis said.
The particles can even point to a specific lab in the company, which was headquartered in Pennsylvania.
Ulis said he obtained a DNA profile from a scientist named Tom Kaye, who analyzed the tie in 2009 and 2011.
“It’s very exciting because it gives us the opportunity once and for all, I believe, to eventually figure out precisely who this guy was,” Ulis said.
The investigation is done with a specific type of DNA analysis called metagenomic DNA analysis.
Ulis said he sued the FBI to get access to the clip’s tie and metal spindle but was denied access to the evidence to perform his own analysis.
In the meantime, Ulis says, he intends to move forward with the information from Kaye in hopes of finally revealing Cooper’s identity.