The quest to reveal the identity of "D.B. Cooper" - the alias of the daredevil who hijacked a Northwest Orient flight from Portland to Seattle in 1971 and parachuted out of the plane with $200,000 - has come up empty foralmost 50 years.

But the mystery of the only unsolved skyjacking in U.S. history has fueled a cottage industry of authors, documentary makers and self-appointed sleuths who believe they've done what the FBI could not. Or at least want tomake some money claiming they have.

On Thursday, a whole new theory emerged from Carl Laurin, an 84-year-old pet sitter who lives in DeLand, Fla. Laurin, his Michigan publishing firm announced at a news conference, has written a memoir detailing theconfessions of a longtime friend who supposedly committed the crime: Walter R. Reca, a former military paratrooper and intelligence operative.

One problem: Reca, who lived in Oscoda, Mich., died in 2014 at the age of 80. A second problem: The FBI closed its D.B. Cooper investigation in 2016. A third: Laurin and his publisher, Principia Media, never vetted theirtheories with the FBI. And a fourth issue: The FBI said it would reopen the case only if someone found any items related to the hijacker's parachutes or money, neither of which Laurin could dig up.

To read the complete article, see:
A new 'D.B. Cooper' suspect? Yet another possible identity for the elusivehijacker. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/05/17/a-new-d-b-cooper-suspect-yet-another-possible-identity-for-elusive-hijacker/)

To read earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
D.B. COOPER RANSOM BANKNOTE OFFERED (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v19n35a35.html)
CERTIFYING THE D.B. COOPER RANSOM BANKNOTES (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v19n36a20.html)
D. B. COOPER MYSTERY CONTINUES (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v18n48a43.html)
D.B. COOPER EVIDENCE CLAIMED (http://www.coinbooks.org/v20/esylum_v20n03a20.html)