INVESTIGATION: World's Most Infamous Skyjacker D.B. Cooper 'Was a Green Beret' — With DNA Test Set to 'Prove' His Identity
D.B. Cooper hijacked a Boeing 727 at Seattle-Tacoma airport on November 24, 1971.
June 1 2025, Published 5:30 p.m. ET
Notorious skyjacker D.B. Cooper may finally be unmasked.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the criminal mastermind is suspected to be Richard Floyd McCoy II, a decorated Green Beret who met an untimely end just three years after the infamous 1971 heist.
The New Evidence
Richard McCoy Jr. was convicted of an eerily similar hijacking just a few months after the Cooper case.
According to citizen sleuth and YouTuber Dan Gryder, the FBI is closely examining crucial pieces of evidence linked to McCoy's past, including a parachute and other items discovered at his former residence.
In an unprecedented move, agents are reportedly seeking to exhume McCoy's remains to obtain DNA in an effort to connect him definitively to the unsolved case. The aim, as Gryder revealed, is to compare this genetic material with DNA found on a black J.C. Penney tie left on the plane — a crucial clue that could finally crack the decades-old mystery.
The content maker stated: "I just want the truth out there. I want to explain what truly happened."
D.B. Cooper's Skyjacking
Dan Gryder beside McCoy's grave and headstone.
In a chilling saga that began on November 24, 1971, Cooper hijacked a Boeing 727 at Seattle-Tacoma airport, holding its crew and 42 passengers hostage while demanding $200,000 — equivalent to a staggering $1.2 million today. Once his demands were met, he ordered the pilots to take off before executing a death-defying leap from the aircraft at 10,000 feet and vanishing into the night. While many believe Cooper perished during the jump, the legend has persisted, and so has the elusive question: "Who was he?" This question has baffled authorities for over fifty years, with the FBI vetting more than 800 suspects.
The Investigation
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Gryder said FBI agents contacted him after watching his videos.
McCoy's children are now mulling over whether to grant the FBI access to their father's remains.
The investigation has been rekindled after the former Green Beret's family reached out to Gryder in 2020 following their mother's death.
The YouTuber said: "They agree that their father might have been Cooper but hadn't wanted to come forward earlier, believing their mother knew about the crimes and kept them hidden."
Gryder claims to have unearthed a modified military parachute at the McCoy family farm, believed to have been used for the hijacking, alongside logbooks documenting the suspect's practice jumps leading up to both heists.
"It's definitely authentic to the crime," Gryder exclaimed, as excitement builds around the potential for a solid lead. Rumors about the possible exhumation are intensifying, although it appears the McCoy family is hesitant to disturb their father's resting place.
The online sleuth emphasized the emotional weight involved and pointed out: "Their father died at the hands of an FBI agent who shot him point-blank."
