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[helicopter flying]
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[news anchor 1] All these years later,
they're still looking for D.B. Cooper.
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[lilting piano music playing]
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[news anchor 2]
The area has been searched many times
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by the FBI, the Army,
and amateur fortune seekers.
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[news anchor 3]
A lot of people fantasize
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about what may have happened.
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Authorities still don't know
whether he's dead or alive.
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To them, he's a fugitive.
To others, he's a legend.
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Everyone picks an area
that they want to look at.
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Some people go after the money,
some people go after the flight path.
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Everyone's got their own take.
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People really want the answers
to these questions.
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It's just human nature.
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And, invariably,
that takes people down a certain path.
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We're throwing a lot of technology
at these Cooper bills.
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I'm determined to search
where that money was found.
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There's a lot of good reasons
to think he's alive.
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I never wanted to walk away
from this case,
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because… the treasure's too great.
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It's too good a story.
Just to say, "I don't want to do it,
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I don't want to be involved anymore"
is missing out.
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You're sucked into the Cooper vortex.
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[laughs]
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So welcome aboard.
We're going to go for a spin.
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[jazzy scatting, funky music playing]
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[news anchor] Today at the San Joaquin
County courthouse,
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Rackstraw is being kept
in solitary confinement,
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partly because the FBI still believes
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he may be D.B. Cooper.
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[interviewer] Are you willing to state
whether or not you're D.B. Cooper?
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I'm afraid of heights.
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When we learned
that the FBI looked at him in '78, '79,
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we said, "Wow, they had him."
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But they couldn't prove it.
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When I hear about Rackstraw
for the first time in 2011,
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having all the talents we need,
we said, "Let's make the team."
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The Cold Case Team had me as the lawyer,
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had some folks from the military,
had a lot of law enforcement retirees,
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and some intelligence officers.
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[Colbert] We created a 40-member team.
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What makes this team unique
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is that most of our folks
that are involved are over 50,
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and that's when they retire
from public service.
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They love the passion of the hunt.
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They look at it and say,
"Hey, I may not be on the front line,
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but I can provide my expertise."
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And they believed the idea
of, "There's something here."
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[upbeat music playing]
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I pretty firmly believe there's very
few things that can't be solved.
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Here, we've got this evidence
of this guy, Robert Rackstraw.
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If you look at Rackstraw's background,
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he has the training, the capability,
the attitude to pull this off.
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This guy led an interesting life.
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[Colbert]
As a child, he was a troublemaker.
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He was stealing, he was drinking.
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But then he found the military.
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Are you ready?
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[men] Yeah!
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Go!
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His family told us,
"The military saved Bob."
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[bluesy rock music playing]
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♪ Put your feet to the sole
My friends ♪
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♪ And remember those army boots ♪
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♪ Jump around… ♪
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[Sherwood]
I arrived in Vietnam January, 1968.
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Rackstraw showed up in 1969.
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Rackstraw ended up
being a replacement pilot.
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He went through Ken Overturf.
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I first met Robert Rackstraw in Vietnam.
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I was recruiting pilots,
and Robert volunteered for the mission.
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The project was called Project Left Bank.
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Left Bank was a top-secret
radio direction mission
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to locate the enemy target.
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The hazards of being killed
was probably the reason
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why there were so few volunteers
for that mission.
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I believe for Rackstraw,
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that was a thrill.
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He was looking for excitement.
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[Sherwood] He was crazy.
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But, I mean,
I guess you could call him gutsy.
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You know,
because he pulled off some… wild stuff.
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[Overturf]
While I was commander of the platoon,
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we lost one aircraft,
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and all four crew members.
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[no audio]
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I lost Jack Knapp, Boogle, Smitty, Heidi.
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Uh…
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Yes, those were four very good men.
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[man] Aim!
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-Fire!
-[gunshots]
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Aim!
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-Fire!
-[gunshots]
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Aim! Fire!
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[gunshots]
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[Overturf] After Vietnam,
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Rackstraw was assigned
to the Army Aviation Training Center
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at Fort Rucker, Alabama.
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However, shortly after arrival,
he had problems
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when he was disciplined
for domestic violence.
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It was also discovered
that he had falsified
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many of his military records.
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I was disappointed when I found out
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that he was not quite
what he presented himself to be.
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[Sherwood]
Rackstraw was drummed out of the military.
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With all that training this guy had,
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he was gonna make a career
out of military, you could bet on it.
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And he was not happy.
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[Colbert] He wrote an angry letter
to the military, where he says,
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"I would hate to use
the talents the Army gave me,
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because I would be quite an adversary."
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[Kunkel]
Bob Rackstraw was my ex-husband.
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We married in 1974.
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I had just been divorced,
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had two wonderful children.
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He liked my children,
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but we were married barely two years.
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It was kind of a wild ride with him.
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He wasn't the average Joe
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that worked every day,
came home, wanted dinner on the table.
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He liked excitement.
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He would take me to all those places,
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like we were some rich people.
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I trusted him.
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Never asked about his salary.
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But then he opened up
a print shop in San Jose.
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He had forged my name
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so that he could get
a loan for the print shop.
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And of course,
I did not know that at the time.
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[dramatic music playing]
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Robert Rackstraw is
a fascinating character,
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especially in the '70s.
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When I started digging through the records
that we had at the archives,
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I found the court records
for the murder trial.
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[Immendorf] August of 1977,
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I was contacted by a gentleman
with a request to assist him
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by trying to locate his missing brother,
Philip Rackstraw.
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He was quite sure that his brother Philip
may have met with foul play.
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[Van Zant] Robert Rackstraw
had a few failed businesses,
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and he came home to Valley Springs.
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His mother had died of cancer.
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The stepfather was going to help him out,
and they went into business together.
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Heavy equipment, construction,
that type of thing.
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[Colbert] Robert Rackstraw was cheating
the father's clients.
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His stepdad found out about it.
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There were bags of receipts
the dad was taking to an accountant,
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and that evening, the bags were gone.
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Rackstraw became a suspect
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because he had told everybody,
family members,
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that his stepfather Philip
had left for Hawaii.
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[Immendorf]
After a lot of thorough investigation,
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it was pretty clear
that Philip Rackstraw was not in Hawaii.
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I tried to encourage them
to start looking around
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to see if they could find
any evidence of a burial on the property.
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Because the dogs,
they would not leave the property there.
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[Van Zant] There was an indentation,
and so they went to investigate
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on the family property,
where they found his remains.
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He had a bullet
in the back of his head.
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[ominous music playing]
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[Van Zant] Robert Rackstraw would show up
to court in a wheelchair
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and claim Vietnam injuries,
but none could be documented.
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[Colbert]
The visual of a man in a wheelchair,
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sympathetic, verge of crying,
getting up on the stand,
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say, "I didn't kill him,
but I'll find that killer."
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The jury bought it, not guilty.
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[Immendorf] When I met him
for the first time face-to-face,
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I remember being in the courtroom.
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And if looks could kill,
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I swear, he would have liked
to have killed me on the spot.
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I will never forget
the stare that he gave me.
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I believe Bob Rackstraw
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could shoot his dad
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and never turn
his head again to look back.
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I believe that.
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[police sirens wailing]
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The 1970s was a really elaborate decade
for Robert Rackstraw.
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After the murder trial,
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he was awaiting the charges
for keeping explosives,
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and check kiting, and possible fraud.
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[news anchor]
Yesterday, Rackstraw was sentenced
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for writing $46,000 in bad checks.
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A jury convicted him of the charges
after a three-week trial,
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which cost San Joaquin County
hundreds of thousands of dollars.
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Part of the cost,
the price of this car,
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bought by the district attorney
and deliberately blown up to show the jury
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what a desperate man might do
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with explosives police found
in Rackstraw's possession.
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This year, Rackstraw pleaded no contest
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to charges of renting
this plane in Stockton,
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radioing a distress call
from over the ocean just west of Monterey,
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and then, while Coast Guard
rescue planes searched the sea,
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landing in Orange County,
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where he repainted the plane
and altered its identification numbers.
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[Van Zant] He was trying to skip bail
from the explosives charges.
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He conned the whole thing.
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[news anchor] When officers in Stockton
raised the D.B. Cooper question,
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Rackstraw invoked his right
to have an attorney present,
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and the inquiry stopped.
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So at this point,
he is simply an interesting possibility
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facing trial on other charges,
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while the FBI continues to investigate.
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You think it's legit
that you could be one of the suspects?
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One of the thousands?
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00:13:00,364 --> 00:13:02,783
Oh yes, if I was an investigator,
definitely so.
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I wouldn't discount myself.
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I wouldn't, no, or a person like myself.
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Were you in the Washington area
at that time?
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I've been in the Washington area
a number of times.
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The FBI's verified all that.
That's one reason they keep hounding me.
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The FBI absolutely knew
who Robert Rackstraw was,
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and they suspected him
for being D.B. Cooper,
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and they got persuaded
to go down another path.
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They might have, for a good reason
at the time, ruled him out,
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00:13:33,814 --> 00:13:36,275
but the reality is they missed their man.
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00:13:37,234 --> 00:13:41,697
And I'm trying to figure out
what the hell is going on.
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Why did the bureau do that?
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[no audio]
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Why would they protect
somebody that they thought
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quite possibly was the person
that committed this crime?
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[Overturf] We have information
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that Rackstraw had associations
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with the CIA
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on black ops missions.
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Very deep-cover missions.
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[Edward]
The Central Intelligence Agency is tasked
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00:14:15,731 --> 00:14:18,275
primarily with national security interest.
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But most of their activity is overseas
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although they do have
a domestic mission as well.
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To try to find spies.
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There was a fellow that came
into our company area one day,
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driving his Jeep
with machine guns mounted on the back.
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He'd been in the jungle
for quite some time,
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needed some rest and relaxation.
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He identified himself as CIA.
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And he and Rackstraw
just hit it off immediately.
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After a couple of days,
I observe Rackstraw
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departing with the CIA fellow in his Jeep.
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He was gone for at least three days.
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I believe that may have been
his opening in later years
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for an association with the CIA.
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[car horn honking]
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[Van Zant]
He did work for Bell Helicopter in Iran,
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and I'm not sure,
in the 1970s, how you could do that
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without some sort of formal CIA clearance.
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[Immendorf]
This was just before the Shah of Iran
246
00:15:36,019 --> 00:15:37,771
had been overthrown.
247
00:15:37,854 --> 00:15:40,440
The Ayatollah was already in the area.
248
00:15:41,483 --> 00:15:43,777
The Bell Helicopter people
249
00:15:43,860 --> 00:15:48,782
were in the process of training
the Shah's helicopter pilots.
250
00:15:48,865 --> 00:15:50,742
[car horns honking]
251
00:15:52,202 --> 00:15:54,287
[Colbert] He was there in Nicaragua
252
00:15:54,371 --> 00:15:56,248
when Iran-Contra started.
253
00:15:56,331 --> 00:15:57,958
He was involved in all that.
254
00:15:58,041 --> 00:16:00,794
Some call it a scandal, others, a tragedy.
255
00:16:00,877 --> 00:16:04,923
Today's startling revelation
that up to $30 million
256
00:16:05,007 --> 00:16:08,677
from the secret arms deal with Iran
ended up in the hands
257
00:16:08,760 --> 00:16:11,555
of anti-government forces
in Nicaragua, the Contras.
258
00:16:11,638 --> 00:16:15,726
The United States has not swapped
boatloads and planeloads of weapons
259
00:16:15,809 --> 00:16:19,438
for the return of American hostages,
and we will not.
260
00:16:19,521 --> 00:16:22,733
Let's face it, we're talking
about a CIA operative,
261
00:16:22,816 --> 00:16:24,151
not an employee.
262
00:16:24,234 --> 00:16:26,445
He was hired to fly planes.
263
00:16:29,990 --> 00:16:33,035
There must be a half-dozen women
he bragged that he was in the CIA.
264
00:16:33,118 --> 00:16:36,663
We have found police officers
that were told in interrogation
265
00:16:36,747 --> 00:16:39,416
for his local crimes, "You know, I'm CIA."
266
00:16:39,916 --> 00:16:42,836
If we was an operative of CIA,
267
00:16:42,919 --> 00:16:45,422
as many would suggest,
268
00:16:45,505 --> 00:16:48,842
maybe the CIA
just doesn't want to disclose that
269
00:16:48,925 --> 00:16:50,594
for national security reasons.
270
00:16:51,928 --> 00:16:58,477
[Overturf] CIA, within the hierarchy
of the intelligence communities,
271
00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:00,270
trumps the FBI.
272
00:17:02,606 --> 00:17:05,400
CIA tells FBI,
273
00:17:05,484 --> 00:17:07,652
"Don't prosecute this fellow,
274
00:17:07,736 --> 00:17:11,156
'cause he will tell stories
we don't want told."
275
00:17:12,908 --> 00:17:17,829
[Christy] I went to one of my friends,
who was a senior retired intel officer.
276
00:17:18,455 --> 00:17:21,291
And I asked him, "Do you have
any contacts with the CIA
277
00:17:21,374 --> 00:17:22,709
that could tell you
278
00:17:22,793 --> 00:17:25,545
whether he actually did fly
for Iran-Contra?"
279
00:17:27,005 --> 00:17:30,717
He said, "I asked my source
and the answer came back,
280
00:17:30,801 --> 00:17:32,260
'We cannot confirm.'"
281
00:17:32,344 --> 00:17:33,970
Which is code for yes,
282
00:17:34,054 --> 00:17:38,350
'cause the traditional response is,
"We cannot confirm or deny."
283
00:17:38,433 --> 00:17:42,062
But if you just say "confirm,"
"we cannot confirm,"
284
00:17:42,145 --> 00:17:43,563
that's code for, "Yes, he did."
285
00:17:48,360 --> 00:17:51,113
[Gray] In my opinion,
I couldn't find any real reason
286
00:17:51,196 --> 00:17:54,282
to believe that Rackstraw
was a really strong suspect.
287
00:17:57,077 --> 00:18:00,413
Unfortunately, we're missing
the one piece of evidence
288
00:18:00,497 --> 00:18:01,998
that could close the whole deal,
289
00:18:02,082 --> 00:18:04,334
and the one piece of evidence
is those cigarette butts.
290
00:18:06,044 --> 00:18:08,130
[Ulis]
When D.B. Cooper was on the flight,
291
00:18:08,213 --> 00:18:12,342
he actually smoked
eight cigarettes on the jet.
292
00:18:12,926 --> 00:18:16,555
The FBI agents from Las Vegas
had the cigarette butts.
293
00:18:17,139 --> 00:18:20,183
And now we know that would be perfect
for DNA analysis.
294
00:18:20,934 --> 00:18:23,311
But the Las Vegas guys can't find it.
295
00:18:24,104 --> 00:18:28,275
They did really fuck up
in a couple of areas
296
00:18:28,358 --> 00:18:30,777
that really put the truth out of reach.
297
00:18:32,487 --> 00:18:34,072
[no audio]
298
00:18:34,156 --> 00:18:38,869
[Schreuder] I think the FBI response
was all they had at the time.
299
00:18:39,411 --> 00:18:42,372
By that, I mean no stops were pulled.
300
00:18:42,455 --> 00:18:47,043
I mean, cost was not an object,
manpower was not an object.
301
00:18:47,127 --> 00:18:48,628
We got things done,
302
00:18:49,963 --> 00:18:51,381
I think, very efficiently.
303
00:18:54,759 --> 00:18:57,679
[Gray] The first sketch
that the sketch artist put,
304
00:18:57,762 --> 00:18:59,848
the so-called Bing Crosby sketch,
305
00:19:00,765 --> 00:19:04,895
created a ripple effect
of paranoia throughout the country,
306
00:19:04,978 --> 00:19:07,189
because the sketch was so basic.
307
00:19:08,481 --> 00:19:11,776
If you looked at it long enough,
it looks like nobody
308
00:19:11,860 --> 00:19:13,612
and it looks like everybody.
309
00:19:13,695 --> 00:19:16,948
Just an anonymous male.
310
00:19:18,283 --> 00:19:19,451
Like a businessman.
311
00:19:19,534 --> 00:19:21,536
Probably like 90% of people
on a flight back then.
312
00:19:21,620 --> 00:19:23,496
[no audio]
313
00:19:25,540 --> 00:19:29,377
The FBI put this out to the public,
and so many tips
314
00:19:29,461 --> 00:19:32,881
came into their offices,
they couldn't really find a good lead.
315
00:19:34,883 --> 00:19:37,219
It was this canvas of paranoia,
316
00:19:37,302 --> 00:19:39,971
people thinking their closest ones
were D.B. Cooper.
317
00:19:42,974 --> 00:19:44,142
[Mitchell]
He was a hero.
318
00:19:44,726 --> 00:19:47,437
It was a very bad economic time.
319
00:19:48,104 --> 00:19:52,317
Everybody kind of looked at him
in Robin Hood terms.
320
00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:56,029
He was looked up to by everybody,
except a few of us.
321
00:20:00,617 --> 00:20:03,370
I don't know how many hundreds of pictures
322
00:20:03,453 --> 00:20:05,747
amateur sleuths sent me
323
00:20:05,830 --> 00:20:12,462
that that guy thinks that his brother's
uncle's cousin's nephew's dad
324
00:20:12,545 --> 00:20:14,631
on his deathbed said he was D.B. Cooper.
325
00:20:14,714 --> 00:20:17,884
And they'd show me this picture
and say, "Does that guy look like him?"
326
00:20:18,468 --> 00:20:20,929
[Gray] He was your neighbor.
He was your co-worker.
327
00:20:21,680 --> 00:20:24,557
He was that person
that you were in Vietnam with.
328
00:20:24,641 --> 00:20:27,727
He was anyone you wanted him to be.
329
00:20:30,146 --> 00:20:32,607
[Mendez] Every piece of this story
is controversial.
330
00:20:32,691 --> 00:20:34,484
Every fact that you think is a fact
331
00:20:34,567 --> 00:20:37,612
is maybe not quite the fact
that you think that it is.
332
00:20:38,989 --> 00:20:41,992
When I was at CIA as Chief of Disguise,
333
00:20:42,075 --> 00:20:45,287
we would reverse everything
about you that we could reverse.
334
00:20:46,079 --> 00:20:48,415
When I first looked at those sketches,
335
00:20:48,498 --> 00:20:53,378
one of the first things I thought of:
"Is that really what he looks like?"
336
00:20:56,673 --> 00:21:01,386
Who says he wasn't blond?
Who says his swarthy skin wasn't makeup?
337
00:21:01,970 --> 00:21:04,180
He's in a suit and tie,
but it's a great disguise
338
00:21:04,264 --> 00:21:06,641
if you don't wear
a suit and tie every day.
339
00:21:08,059 --> 00:21:10,645
[Rymsza-Pawlowska]
He just looks like an organization man.
340
00:21:10,729 --> 00:21:12,355
He looks conformist.
341
00:21:12,439 --> 00:21:15,400
You know, I mean,
I'm sure if he had not been so clean-cut,
342
00:21:15,483 --> 00:21:18,820
perhaps he wouldn't have been able
to do what he did. I don't know.
343
00:21:18,903 --> 00:21:22,073
One of the flight attendants
I tracked down
344
00:21:22,157 --> 00:21:24,492
said, "I knew he had makeup on."
345
00:21:25,327 --> 00:21:30,290
We had a witness who said,
"He has black hair like it's shiny."
346
00:21:30,790 --> 00:21:32,125
He had dyed his hair.
347
00:21:33,501 --> 00:21:37,130
There's room there
for lots of interesting shenanigans.
348
00:21:38,965 --> 00:21:42,218
One possibility is maybe
there's a guy on the ground.
349
00:21:42,302 --> 00:21:46,389
When you read the air traffic
controller report, flares were seen.
350
00:21:46,473 --> 00:21:50,018
Lit flares in the night sky
on the Oregon side of the Columbia River.
351
00:21:50,602 --> 00:21:53,563
Seeing flares
on the same night of a hijacking,
352
00:21:53,646 --> 00:21:56,524
to me, that's something that should be
looked into, not be discounted.
353
00:21:57,108 --> 00:21:59,652
So the question is,
did he have an extraction team?
354
00:21:59,736 --> 00:22:03,156
He got away with all his money,
his parachutes, his bomb.
355
00:22:03,239 --> 00:22:06,826
Because nothing's ever been found.
And he really did it in a slick move.
356
00:22:06,910 --> 00:22:08,119
Where's that stuff?
357
00:22:08,620 --> 00:22:11,164
I think the person
on the ground scooped it all up,
358
00:22:11,247 --> 00:22:15,919
the parachute, the money,
and D.B., and off they went.
359
00:22:21,591 --> 00:22:24,928
Another option is that
most of the money never left the plane.
360
00:22:27,806 --> 00:22:30,934
$200,000 in $20 bills,
361
00:22:31,017 --> 00:22:33,061
it weighed more than 20 pounds.
362
00:22:33,812 --> 00:22:36,523
I wouldn't jump out of a plane with that.
363
00:22:36,606 --> 00:22:40,568
But how did the money get to Tena Bar?
364
00:22:40,652 --> 00:22:44,406
[news anchor] In 1980, on this sandy
riverbank in Washington state,
365
00:22:44,489 --> 00:22:49,202
an eight-year-old boy on a family outing
found some of D.B. Cooper's loot.
366
00:22:51,079 --> 00:22:53,623
[Mendez] Probably somebody
walked over to that riverbank
367
00:22:53,706 --> 00:22:56,376
and put the money in later.
368
00:22:57,752 --> 00:22:58,670
Just a guess.
369
00:22:59,754 --> 00:23:01,172
There's so many ways this could go.
370
00:23:02,298 --> 00:23:04,134
[mysterious music playing]
371
00:23:10,807 --> 00:23:12,267
[phone ringing]
372
00:23:12,350 --> 00:23:14,269
[Russoniello]
When I looked at the record Tom had,
373
00:23:14,352 --> 00:23:18,106
I was convinced in my own mind
that if I were the prosecutor on the case,
374
00:23:18,189 --> 00:23:19,607
not only would I get an indictment,
375
00:23:19,691 --> 00:23:21,943
but I'd be able to get enough evidence
built up
376
00:23:22,026 --> 00:23:24,446
in order to convict Rackstraw
of the crimes
377
00:23:24,529 --> 00:23:27,073
that were attributed to this D.B. Cooper.
378
00:23:28,741 --> 00:23:31,327
[Zaid]
I don't think there was anything
379
00:23:31,411 --> 00:23:34,873
in almost the decade
that I had been working on the case
380
00:23:34,956 --> 00:23:39,043
that actually pulled us
away from Robert Rackstraw.
381
00:23:39,127 --> 00:23:45,675
It would just add on
to each new piece of evidence against him.
382
00:23:45,758 --> 00:23:48,344
Now, was it ever conclusive?
383
00:23:48,428 --> 00:23:51,639
No, it was never conclusive in that way.
384
00:23:52,307 --> 00:23:54,017
But "beyond a reasonable doubt"?
385
00:23:54,100 --> 00:23:58,646
I would have been comfortable saying,
"Yeah, I find Robert Rackstraw guilty."
386
00:23:58,730 --> 00:24:01,608
Especially with understanding,
as a lawyer, that, you know,
387
00:24:01,691 --> 00:24:04,819
many murderers are convicted
on circumstantial evidence.
388
00:24:06,404 --> 00:24:09,532
-Mic on? Is it working? Test one, two.
-[cameraman] Sounds beautiful.
389
00:24:10,033 --> 00:24:11,159
Okay, great.
390
00:24:12,994 --> 00:24:16,748
[Zaid] Tom's thought was always,
"I'm going to turn this into a book."
391
00:24:16,831 --> 00:24:19,375
"I'm going to turn this
into a documentary."
392
00:24:19,959 --> 00:24:22,587
And so he started
to put together this film crew.
393
00:24:22,670 --> 00:24:27,842
And Jim Forbes was to be
sort of the face and voice
394
00:24:27,926 --> 00:24:29,677
of what we were doing at the time.
395
00:24:30,261 --> 00:24:31,971
-[cameraman] We're rolling.
-We good?
396
00:24:32,055 --> 00:24:34,849
[Forbes] Back in the summer of 2012,
Tom Colbert approached me.
397
00:24:34,933 --> 00:24:37,727
We had worked together
at CBS back in the mid-'80s.
398
00:24:37,810 --> 00:24:39,020
He was very persistent,
399
00:24:39,103 --> 00:24:42,649
and said, "I really have something large
that I'd like you to look into."
400
00:24:43,775 --> 00:24:47,320
When I saw it was D.B. Cooper,
I did an eye roll.
401
00:24:47,862 --> 00:24:50,823
I'm certainly not a D.B. Cooperite,
and never have been.
402
00:24:52,158 --> 00:24:54,369
There was only one thing
that attracted me to this story:
403
00:24:55,078 --> 00:24:56,454
Robert Rackstraw.
404
00:24:56,538 --> 00:24:58,748
There were a lot
of interesting characteristics
405
00:24:58,831 --> 00:25:02,502
about his background,
about his personality, his whereabouts,
406
00:25:03,169 --> 00:25:04,671
that intrigued me.
407
00:25:04,754 --> 00:25:05,922
He just kept…
408
00:25:06,548 --> 00:25:09,217
He was Charlotte, I was on the web.
409
00:25:09,300 --> 00:25:10,760
He was dragging me in.
410
00:25:14,097 --> 00:25:19,227
One of the most exciting moments
for all of us was finding Linda Loduca,
411
00:25:19,310 --> 00:25:20,478
Rackstraw's sister.
412
00:25:22,605 --> 00:25:24,399
[Colbert]
I had a sense they were estranged,
413
00:25:24,482 --> 00:25:27,360
because I didn't see
any communications between the two.
414
00:25:27,443 --> 00:25:28,778
And I sent her a letter.
415
00:25:28,861 --> 00:25:32,615
We got a four-hour interview
with Linda in San Luis Obispo,
416
00:25:32,699 --> 00:25:36,578
most incredible interview,
on why she felt he could be Cooper.
417
00:25:37,161 --> 00:25:40,623
She told me just before sitting down
she had recurring cancer.
418
00:25:40,707 --> 00:25:43,459
And I said, "We don't want to do this."
And she said. "I have to speak."
419
00:25:45,587 --> 00:25:48,965
It got to the point,
for me, when he would talk,
420
00:25:49,048 --> 00:25:52,677
and I would know
that a lot of what he said was not true.
421
00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:55,096
[Forbes] When it was first suggested
to you by an FBI agent…
422
00:25:56,639 --> 00:25:59,559
back in the late '70s that your brother
might be D.B. Cooper, you chuckled.
423
00:26:01,019 --> 00:26:02,103
Yeah, I guess I did.
424
00:26:02,186 --> 00:26:04,981
-I mean, you didn't take it seriously.
-Not really.
425
00:26:05,648 --> 00:26:08,693
Now that you've read
all the evidence we have,
426
00:26:08,776 --> 00:26:10,903
what do you think now
about the possibilities?
427
00:26:12,113 --> 00:26:14,574
Um, I think they're strong.
428
00:26:14,657 --> 00:26:17,368
I mean, thinking about the skill set
and the…
429
00:26:17,452 --> 00:26:21,372
He's just the type of person
to do it, too, I mean, his personality.
430
00:26:21,956 --> 00:26:25,460
He was angry at the time,
and he would have planned this out
431
00:26:25,543 --> 00:26:28,921
and done it
just out of anger at the military
432
00:26:29,005 --> 00:26:30,715
and everyone around him, um…
433
00:26:31,424 --> 00:26:34,469
But I think there's a strong--
a very strong possibility
434
00:26:34,552 --> 00:26:35,553
he's D.B. Cooper.
435
00:26:36,262 --> 00:26:40,016
The one thing that has thrown me
through this, when I'm looking at that,
436
00:26:40,099 --> 00:26:42,101
is that the stewardess--
437
00:26:42,185 --> 00:26:46,064
and again, there's nervousness
when you're trying to describe,
438
00:26:46,147 --> 00:26:48,524
but the one that saw him
without dark glasses on
439
00:26:48,608 --> 00:26:50,109
said he had brown eyes.
440
00:26:50,193 --> 00:26:52,028
Bob did not have brown eyes.
441
00:26:52,111 --> 00:26:54,238
And we've looked into that as well,
442
00:26:54,322 --> 00:26:59,243
and I forget what the confusion is,
and I won't-- Do you want to offer?
443
00:26:59,327 --> 00:27:02,997
[Colbert] Just quickly, there is
a green-brown context to his eyes.
444
00:27:03,081 --> 00:27:03,956
Mm-hmm.
445
00:27:04,040 --> 00:27:06,876
[Colbert] And the woman,
who had only moments to look--
446
00:27:06,959 --> 00:27:09,796
-Right.
-She went off the glasses and said brown.
447
00:27:09,879 --> 00:27:11,839
But-- and there are some pictures,
he looked brown,
448
00:27:11,923 --> 00:27:14,592
but there are also some, I showed you,
the ones where he looks green.
449
00:27:14,717 --> 00:27:17,929
-Yeah.
-So it's how you catch him in the light.
450
00:27:18,012 --> 00:27:20,264
Yeah, that's true. That's absolutely true.
451
00:27:20,348 --> 00:27:23,351
So, you know, just kind of go,
"Okay, he doesn't have brown eyes."
452
00:27:23,434 --> 00:27:24,936
But, yeah, I understand.
453
00:27:25,019 --> 00:27:27,021
[dramatic music playing]
454
00:27:34,278 --> 00:27:37,281
In May of 2013,
the decision was finally made.
455
00:27:37,365 --> 00:27:39,867
They're going to approach
Rackstraw directly.
456
00:27:39,951 --> 00:27:40,868
That's it right there.
457
00:27:40,952 --> 00:27:43,454
[Zaid] You know, they took a camera crew
out there
458
00:27:43,538 --> 00:27:48,251
to try and do, you know,
a very on-the-cuff surprise interview.
459
00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:54,507
[Colbert]
I have surrounded myself
460
00:27:54,590 --> 00:27:57,051
with powerful representatives
of their fields,
461
00:27:57,135 --> 00:27:59,387
from cameramen
to investigative individuals.
462
00:27:59,470 --> 00:28:02,682
I was counting on these folks
to cover me out in the field.
463
00:28:02,765 --> 00:28:06,436
[Forbes] My original reach-out
to Rackstraw was via phone
464
00:28:06,519 --> 00:28:08,771
in the first week of November of 2012.
465
00:28:08,855 --> 00:28:10,857
And I painted the picture
of what we were doing.
466
00:28:10,940 --> 00:28:14,610
"We're doing a retrospective
41 years later on D.B. Cooper."
467
00:28:14,694 --> 00:28:17,071
"I know you were one
of the many suspects."
468
00:28:17,155 --> 00:28:18,823
"I know you were exonerated,
469
00:28:18,906 --> 00:28:21,534
or dropped as a suspect,
if not exonerated."
470
00:28:22,118 --> 00:28:24,954
"And I'd like to discuss
that experience with you."
471
00:28:25,788 --> 00:28:29,041
At the end of the conversation, I said,
"We'd love to come do an interview."
472
00:28:29,125 --> 00:28:31,544
He said okay. And he kept stalling.
473
00:28:32,211 --> 00:28:33,087
And kept stalling.
474
00:28:33,171 --> 00:28:36,466
So I finally said,
"Tom, if you want to move forward,
475
00:28:36,549 --> 00:28:37,800
we gotta get answers."
476
00:28:37,884 --> 00:28:40,803
"We need to go down and talk to him."
477
00:28:42,305 --> 00:28:45,308
If you can keep letting us know
what's going on, that'd be great.
478
00:28:45,391 --> 00:28:46,309
[walkie-talkie chirps]
479
00:28:46,392 --> 00:28:47,518
[man on radio] Stand by, Jim.
480
00:28:47,602 --> 00:28:49,228
[Forbes] Here he is. Here he is.
481
00:28:49,312 --> 00:28:51,731
Target is at the place of business
with the dog.
482
00:28:51,814 --> 00:28:53,399
He's getting out of the car now.
483
00:28:54,275 --> 00:28:55,485
Tom, you should be pulling up.
484
00:28:59,655 --> 00:29:01,699
[Colbert] Dear God, give me strength.
485
00:29:02,867 --> 00:29:03,951
Give me courage.
486
00:29:04,786 --> 00:29:07,163
"Bob, look, I got a question for you."
487
00:29:07,246 --> 00:29:08,664
"Hey, I got a question for you."
488
00:29:10,249 --> 00:29:11,751
"I got a question for you."
489
00:29:12,418 --> 00:29:15,129
Frankly, I've dreamed of the approach.
490
00:29:15,213 --> 00:29:18,257
All these months and months and months,
I couldn't get out of my head,
491
00:29:18,341 --> 00:29:20,259
"I just want to face this guy
492
00:29:20,343 --> 00:29:23,638
and tell him who he is,
what he is, and what we want."
493
00:29:23,721 --> 00:29:26,098
Thank God Jim Forbes
and others convinced me
494
00:29:26,182 --> 00:29:28,601
to be a little more objective
in the approach.
495
00:29:28,684 --> 00:29:31,479
I'm pretty comfortable with facing danger,
496
00:29:31,562 --> 00:29:34,357
but I realize now with a family,
as most of us,
497
00:29:35,191 --> 00:29:36,359
you have to be cautious.
498
00:29:37,693 --> 00:29:39,070
My primary mission was,
499
00:29:39,153 --> 00:29:41,697
I was there to offer him a potential movie
500
00:29:42,281 --> 00:29:45,618
and a book on his story
that he could be involved with.
501
00:29:46,494 --> 00:29:49,121
[Forbes] On the first day,
Tom originally went and spoke with him.
502
00:29:50,581 --> 00:29:52,500
He wanted to sit down with him.
503
00:29:53,876 --> 00:29:57,839
Do a two-camera, eye-to-eye interview,
as we are doing right now.
504
00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:01,425
And peel back the layers of the onion.
505
00:30:02,176 --> 00:30:03,386
And look in his eyes.
506
00:30:03,469 --> 00:30:05,847
-I'm Bob.
-Bob, nice to meet you.
507
00:30:05,930 --> 00:30:08,307
You know, I've been wanting to meet you
a long time.
508
00:30:08,391 --> 00:30:09,267
Okay.
509
00:30:10,393 --> 00:30:12,478
Oh for Christ's sake! Tom, yeah.
510
00:30:12,562 --> 00:30:14,897
I wasn't going to let you
stand me up for lunch, pal.
511
00:30:15,898 --> 00:30:17,191
Got a second? Can we sit down?
512
00:30:17,275 --> 00:30:19,610
Uh, yeah, let me take care
of this gentleman here.
513
00:30:19,694 --> 00:30:22,196
[whispering] Bob Rackstraw,
your life's about to change.
514
00:30:23,281 --> 00:30:25,992
Well, look, it's so great
to meet the real guy, you know?
515
00:30:26,075 --> 00:30:27,159
[laughing] Yeah.
516
00:30:27,243 --> 00:30:29,704
I wanted to ask you, first, a question.
517
00:30:29,787 --> 00:30:32,039
I kind of want to ask you why
you're in the middle of this.
518
00:30:33,249 --> 00:30:36,502
You remember Jim Forbes, right?
You know I work with him now and then.
519
00:30:36,586 --> 00:30:38,212
-Yeah.
-Well, this is one of those times.
520
00:30:38,296 --> 00:30:41,632
Jim has told me
he has found 54 of your old friends
521
00:30:42,425 --> 00:30:46,429
from San Francisco,
to traffickers up in Portland,
522
00:30:46,512 --> 00:30:49,307
to college classmates at OSU.
523
00:30:49,390 --> 00:30:51,642
We've got ten hours of tape
on these folks,
524
00:30:51,726 --> 00:30:55,146
and they have told us
a very intriguing story about you.
525
00:30:55,229 --> 00:30:57,940
[Rackstraw] Wait a minute.
Are you saying that 54 individuals
526
00:30:58,024 --> 00:31:00,109
said that I was D.B. Cooper?
527
00:31:00,192 --> 00:31:02,695
[Colbert]
We have all these people onboard,
528
00:31:02,778 --> 00:31:04,780
and we're about to go with a documentary.
529
00:31:04,864 --> 00:31:06,949
That's the bad news,
but there's good news.
530
00:31:08,075 --> 00:31:10,995
And it starts
with a $20,000 cashier's check
531
00:31:11,871 --> 00:31:13,539
to get you to tell your true story.
532
00:31:14,957 --> 00:31:17,585
And then it becomes your book,
533
00:31:17,668 --> 00:31:20,504
it becomes your documentary,
and it becomes your movie.
534
00:31:20,588 --> 00:31:21,839
We've got a hotel room.
535
00:31:21,923 --> 00:31:24,216
You sit down, you tell your story,
you get this check.
536
00:31:24,926 --> 00:31:28,554
Then you get between,
according to my attorney in Hollywood,
537
00:31:29,221 --> 00:31:32,224
between a quarter and half-million dollars
by the end of the year.
538
00:31:33,726 --> 00:31:37,813
The book's out, the documentary is out,
causes a bidding war for the movie.
539
00:31:37,897 --> 00:31:40,107
The price goes up, we all make more money.
540
00:31:41,067 --> 00:31:44,654
And also,
this is not just about Hollywood.
541
00:31:44,737 --> 00:31:46,656
I've got two attorneys for you in DC.
542
00:31:47,448 --> 00:31:49,951
Nobody's going to get a jury
to convict a legend
543
00:31:50,034 --> 00:31:52,244
who pulled a stunt where no one was hurt.
544
00:31:52,328 --> 00:31:54,246
We're not here to make arrests--
545
00:31:54,330 --> 00:31:58,376
You know that I wasn't D.B. Cooper,
so what the hell is the story all about?
546
00:31:58,459 --> 00:32:01,045
All your friends have given us information
and we'd like to--
547
00:32:01,128 --> 00:32:03,339
-you to straighten this out.
-Is that the Google glasses?
548
00:32:03,422 --> 00:32:05,967
-[Colbert] No, it's not Google glasses.
-What are they?
549
00:32:06,050 --> 00:32:07,593
-[Colbert] They're my glasses.
-Oh, okay.
550
00:32:07,677 --> 00:32:10,137
[Colbert] So anyway,
we're going to set you up to sit down--
551
00:32:10,221 --> 00:32:11,305
No cameras in there?
552
00:32:11,389 --> 00:32:12,765
[Colbert] Cameras? Come on, Bob.
553
00:32:12,848 --> 00:32:13,891
[laughs]
554
00:32:13,975 --> 00:32:16,268
Jesus. You got cameras on?
555
00:32:16,352 --> 00:32:18,604
-No, but if you feel more comfortable--
-I'll take 'em off.
556
00:32:18,688 --> 00:32:21,023
You want me to take my glasses off?
You want to see me?
557
00:32:21,899 --> 00:32:23,609
-You want to see me? Okay.
-Yeah.
558
00:32:23,693 --> 00:32:26,112
[Rackstraw]
But anyway, back to your contract offer.
559
00:32:26,821 --> 00:32:28,364
When you're looking at that,
560
00:32:28,447 --> 00:32:32,451
when I first looked at it, basically,
it was: you wanted everything, uh,
561
00:32:32,535 --> 00:32:35,162
that my name, and me as a person.
562
00:32:35,246 --> 00:32:37,373
[Colbert]
That's what a life story is in Hollywood.
563
00:32:37,456 --> 00:32:38,833
You can't just pick a sliver.
564
00:32:38,916 --> 00:32:42,128
Yeah, well, as far as I'm concerned,
Hollywood can take a flying leap.
565
00:32:42,211 --> 00:32:44,588
But the $20,000, that's two months rent.
566
00:32:44,672 --> 00:32:48,217
If you can't cough up more than 25 grand,
shit, what does it say about the rest?
567
00:32:48,300 --> 00:32:50,720
[Colbert]
I will tell you, if you're D.B. Cooper,
568
00:32:50,803 --> 00:32:52,346
I'll pay you 20 grand.
569
00:32:52,430 --> 00:32:55,182
[Rackstraw] No, I'm not. So, I'm not.
I mean, get that in your head.
570
00:32:55,266 --> 00:32:56,225
[Colbert] Yeah. Yeah.
571
00:32:56,308 --> 00:32:58,811
[Rackstraw] They brought a stewardess
into jail when they held me.
572
00:32:58,894 --> 00:33:01,439
-And she said, "No, that's…"
-Let me see if I can reach Jim.
573
00:33:01,522 --> 00:33:02,982
That's when the FBI backed off.
574
00:33:03,899 --> 00:33:06,318
[Colbert]
I wasn't surprised with the way he acted.
575
00:33:06,986 --> 00:33:09,238
I have lost my objectivity on this
years ago,
576
00:33:10,114 --> 00:33:13,868
and I know who he is in my heart,
so I expected him to listen.
577
00:33:15,411 --> 00:33:17,580
I wouldn't expect
an innocent man to listen.
578
00:33:18,831 --> 00:33:21,959
And he listened because he wanted
to see how much I knew.
579
00:33:22,043 --> 00:33:24,128
[Rackstraw]
There's an upper level and a lower level.
580
00:33:24,211 --> 00:33:26,505
[Ulis]
Look at it from Rackstraw's perspective.
581
00:33:27,089 --> 00:33:29,800
Here's a guy
who obviously had a colorful past,
582
00:33:29,884 --> 00:33:32,094
had a couple run-ins with the law,
583
00:33:32,178 --> 00:33:34,513
but he did his time, so to speak.
584
00:33:34,597 --> 00:33:38,017
And apparently lived very clean
after he did his time.
585
00:33:38,100 --> 00:33:41,520
So he's got decades
of being a solid citizen.
586
00:33:42,855 --> 00:33:46,233
And then years later, all of a sudden,
587
00:33:46,317 --> 00:33:48,611
he's the subject of, you know,
588
00:33:48,694 --> 00:33:52,239
drive-by kind of interviews
and things of that nature.
589
00:33:53,783 --> 00:33:57,286
In the processes of this whole thing
being put together,
590
00:33:57,369 --> 00:33:59,455
he was arguably harassed.
591
00:34:00,247 --> 00:34:03,459
[Forbes] I said, "Bob, here's the deal.
We'll come back tomorrow with cameras,
592
00:34:04,043 --> 00:34:05,795
and let's sit down and do an interview."
593
00:34:06,754 --> 00:34:09,256
"Because no one should tell
your story except for you."
594
00:34:10,257 --> 00:34:13,260
And he said, "Okay, I'll call you."
I said, "You got to call by 9:00 tonight."
595
00:34:13,344 --> 00:34:15,679
"We're gonna be here
nine o'clock tomorrow morning."
596
00:34:15,763 --> 00:34:17,765
"I'm telling you."
And he said, "No, no, I will."
597
00:34:18,682 --> 00:34:22,436
And we shook hands very firmly,
and I looked him in the eye,
598
00:34:22,520 --> 00:34:24,105
and I said, "You're not gonna call, Bob."
599
00:34:24,730 --> 00:34:25,898
Okay, we're en route.
600
00:34:27,858 --> 00:34:30,361
Okay, we're approaching
the traffic circle.
601
00:34:33,989 --> 00:34:37,243
The other half of the approach
was Jim Forbes,
602
00:34:37,326 --> 00:34:39,161
with the confrontation of the facts.
603
00:34:39,870 --> 00:34:40,871
That wasn't my job.
604
00:34:40,955 --> 00:34:42,581
My job was to convince him,
605
00:34:42,665 --> 00:34:44,375
and I think it's more in my personality.
606
00:34:45,626 --> 00:34:47,086
In my background, I hate…
607
00:34:48,838 --> 00:34:50,381
what some people call ambush interviews.
608
00:34:50,464 --> 00:34:52,424
There was no ambush,
because we said we'd be there.
609
00:34:52,508 --> 00:34:56,053
Sometimes you have no choice,
especially with a public official
610
00:34:56,137 --> 00:34:58,806
who's ducking asking pertinent questions.
611
00:34:58,889 --> 00:35:00,391
Bob was a private citizen,
612
00:35:00,474 --> 00:35:03,435
but he was a very public private citizen
years ago.
613
00:35:04,145 --> 00:35:05,104
Um…
614
00:35:05,187 --> 00:35:08,399
And we had reason to believe
there was the possibility
615
00:35:09,358 --> 00:35:10,818
that he was D.B. Cooper.
616
00:35:10,901 --> 00:35:14,655
-So if he draws, drop or punch him?
-Yeah.
617
00:35:15,197 --> 00:35:16,782
-Uh, well, it's up to you.
-[both laugh]
618
00:35:16,866 --> 00:35:19,285
-Depends how close you are to him.
-Yeah, right.
619
00:35:19,869 --> 00:35:20,995
[man] The thing with the…
620
00:35:21,078 --> 00:35:22,621
-Are you guys rolling?
-Yeah.
621
00:35:24,707 --> 00:35:27,960
I got ten rounds now.
I have two more clips.
622
00:35:28,460 --> 00:35:30,087
-That's enough.
-You're good. You know…
623
00:35:30,171 --> 00:35:32,298
If I can't hit him in one round,
two rounds never hurts.
624
00:35:32,381 --> 00:35:34,300
Yeah, you know,
you're better than that.
625
00:35:35,217 --> 00:35:37,094
-You're trained.
-Good to know.
626
00:35:37,178 --> 00:35:38,429
[cell phone rings]
627
00:35:38,512 --> 00:35:40,514
-Hello?
-[man] I got him.
628
00:35:40,598 --> 00:35:43,392
They should be there
in about three minutes, four minutes.
629
00:35:43,475 --> 00:35:44,310
Okay.
630
00:35:44,393 --> 00:35:46,395
[dramatic music playing]
631
00:35:59,575 --> 00:36:02,119
[Forbes]
I see it. He's inside the box hanging out.
632
00:36:02,620 --> 00:36:05,247
-[man] Which box?
-[Forbes] You see the open box down there?
633
00:36:07,166 --> 00:36:08,459
Bob, it's Jim Forbes.
634
00:36:12,463 --> 00:36:15,007
Come on, Bob, let's do this the right way.
Come out and talk to me.
635
00:36:15,090 --> 00:36:16,967
Why are you hiding in a storage bin?
636
00:36:21,222 --> 00:36:23,641
Innocent men don't hide
in storage bins, Bob.
637
00:36:24,308 --> 00:36:26,727
Just imagine the visuals of this, Bob.
638
00:36:27,811 --> 00:36:29,563
I've got some easy questions…
639
00:36:31,398 --> 00:36:34,068
and you're hiding
in a storage bin to avoid them.
640
00:36:35,986 --> 00:36:37,488
So do the simple thing
641
00:36:38,280 --> 00:36:40,282
and come out and talk,
and we're done.
642
00:36:43,285 --> 00:36:46,372
All right, finally.
He got the call from Tom, I guess.
643
00:36:53,545 --> 00:36:56,507
-[Colbert] Did you talk to Tom, Bob?
-[Rackstraw, on phone] That I did, yeah.
644
00:36:57,424 --> 00:37:00,052
-Tom, I just--
-I'm not gonna argue with you.
645
00:37:00,135 --> 00:37:02,429
I'm not either, so why don't we do this
the right way?
646
00:37:02,513 --> 00:37:05,391
Okay, well, you have your way,
I have my way.
647
00:37:05,474 --> 00:37:08,018
Well, I've been trying your way
for the last six months.
648
00:37:08,102 --> 00:37:10,729
No, you haven't, and I've also
turned it on to the attorney,
649
00:37:10,813 --> 00:37:13,065
and he said, "Don't talk to Jim.
He's one of those--"
650
00:37:13,148 --> 00:37:15,067
"He'll make up stories
and do things sideways."
651
00:37:15,150 --> 00:37:16,485
And I said, "Okay, I won't."
652
00:37:16,568 --> 00:37:20,531
So without making up stories,
let me ask you a simple question.
653
00:37:20,614 --> 00:37:23,951
-Are you the person who boarded a flight…
-What did I just tell you?
654
00:37:24,034 --> 00:37:26,203
…on November 24th, 1971,
655
00:37:26,996 --> 00:37:28,831
identifying yourself as Dan Cooper?
656
00:37:28,914 --> 00:37:30,749
-Maybe I did.
-Did you hijack the plane
657
00:37:31,542 --> 00:37:33,877
when it was coming out of Seattle
toward Reno?
658
00:37:33,961 --> 00:37:35,796
-Did you jump out--?
-Maybe I wasn't clear, Jim.
659
00:37:35,879 --> 00:37:36,797
Maybe I wasn't clear.
660
00:37:36,880 --> 00:37:40,384
-Are you that person? Are you D.B. Cooper?
-Don't try and play junior Dan Rather.
661
00:37:40,467 --> 00:37:42,094
Bob, do me a favor?
662
00:37:42,177 --> 00:37:44,430
Go on in the shop and just lock the door.
Do that for me?
663
00:37:44,513 --> 00:37:45,347
Yeah.
664
00:37:45,431 --> 00:37:47,308
Now? Go on.
665
00:37:47,391 --> 00:37:48,767
[Forbes] Bob, are you D.B. Cooper?
666
00:37:49,518 --> 00:37:52,146
Bob, we have eyewitnesses
that have you in Astoria
667
00:37:52,229 --> 00:37:56,567
and Corvallis, Oregon,
from the time of your discharge in 1971
668
00:37:56,650 --> 00:37:58,986
to the time of the hijacking.
Were you there?
669
00:37:59,069 --> 00:38:01,864
Bob, after your acquittal for murder,
670
00:38:02,614 --> 00:38:04,867
why did you steal a plane?
671
00:38:08,162 --> 00:38:10,789
Why did you run, Bob,
if you're not guilty?
672
00:38:15,794 --> 00:38:17,421
[Gray]
This is one of the biggest manhunts
673
00:38:17,504 --> 00:38:19,256
in the history
of American law enforcement.
674
00:38:19,840 --> 00:38:23,719
So you could say that the only
more famous person than D.B. Cooper
675
00:38:23,802 --> 00:38:25,137
is the person who finds him.
676
00:38:26,096 --> 00:38:30,142
And with that fame and attention,
come the glory and the gold.
677
00:38:30,809 --> 00:38:34,938
[Forbes] I know we're driving you crazy
and I don't mean to, and I'm sorry.
678
00:38:35,689 --> 00:38:36,857
No, I don't. I have no--
679
00:38:36,940 --> 00:38:38,776
Give me space or my fangs
are gonna come out.
680
00:38:38,859 --> 00:38:40,235
And I'll tell all four of you that.
681
00:38:40,319 --> 00:38:42,654
[Forbes] I know you can see
that it looks pretty bad
682
00:38:42,738 --> 00:38:46,075
that he won't answer these questions
and that he's hiding,
683
00:38:46,825 --> 00:38:48,952
and he needs you
to tell him to get out of here.
684
00:38:50,496 --> 00:38:52,247
Just worried
about his blood pressure, man.
685
00:38:53,582 --> 00:38:57,211
He said… You probably heard
about the blood pressure.
686
00:38:57,961 --> 00:39:00,089
Man, I don't want to kill the fucking guy.
687
00:39:01,507 --> 00:39:02,966
I'm worried about him.
688
00:39:03,050 --> 00:39:05,094
It's hot. He has poor health.
689
00:39:06,220 --> 00:39:09,181
Now, this is serious,
and I'm really concerned.
690
00:39:10,349 --> 00:39:13,143
I'm not here to cause him ill health.
691
00:39:15,437 --> 00:39:18,607
It was a very unfulfilling exchange.
692
00:39:19,358 --> 00:39:20,859
Not at all what I wanted.
693
00:39:21,693 --> 00:39:25,447
It actually didn't close any doors,
it opened others in my mind.
694
00:39:26,198 --> 00:39:29,701
It didn't put out any flames,
it ignited others in my mind.
695
00:39:30,994 --> 00:39:32,329
He was crazy evasive.
696
00:39:33,330 --> 00:39:35,582
[Colbert] What I was hoping for,
what I had dreamed for,
697
00:39:35,666 --> 00:39:37,000
for two years now,
698
00:39:37,084 --> 00:39:41,255
and that is a sit-down with this guy
where we could talk man-to-man.
699
00:39:41,964 --> 00:39:45,843
And I feel as best
as I could have expected came off.
700
00:39:46,385 --> 00:39:48,971
We feel like we've solved this case.
701
00:39:49,721 --> 00:39:54,518
It's now just for the posterity of saying,
"Yes, we solved the D.B. Cooper case,"
702
00:39:54,601 --> 00:39:59,022
but really to show that the methodology
that we put together works.
703
00:40:02,109 --> 00:40:03,944
We knew we had the right guy.
704
00:40:07,197 --> 00:40:10,993
[Ulis] I'm of the opinion
that a lot of what we've seen recently,
705
00:40:11,076 --> 00:40:14,788
with respect to Colbert
and his group and Rackstraw,
706
00:40:14,872 --> 00:40:16,790
is tremendously flawed.
707
00:40:17,541 --> 00:40:20,335
I think he just wants
to be known as the guy
708
00:40:20,419 --> 00:40:22,254
who solved the D.B. Cooper mystery.
709
00:40:22,880 --> 00:40:24,631
The fame or whatever
that comes along with it,
710
00:40:24,715 --> 00:40:27,509
the cash, perhaps that's part of it.
I don't know.
711
00:40:27,593 --> 00:40:30,971
Maybe it's just the ability
to be part of a Wikipedia page
712
00:40:31,054 --> 00:40:34,224
that says, "This guy solved the case."
I'm not really sure.
713
00:40:34,308 --> 00:40:38,604
But I think, ultimately,
that's what drives him.
714
00:40:38,687 --> 00:40:42,024
That's my opinion.
Ultimately, that's what has driven him,
715
00:40:42,107 --> 00:40:45,110
and the problem is,
it has clouded his judgment.
716
00:40:56,788 --> 00:40:58,415
[interviewer] As you mentioned yourself,
717
00:40:58,499 --> 00:41:02,002
your background suggests
that you could have been D.B. Cooper.
718
00:41:02,085 --> 00:41:03,003
Could have been.
719
00:41:04,213 --> 00:41:05,172
Could have been.
720
00:41:06,590 --> 00:41:09,301
[Zaid] Whether or not
Rackstraw was D.B. Cooper,
721
00:41:09,384 --> 00:41:14,139
he enjoyed the whole fantasy
722
00:41:14,223 --> 00:41:17,100
that he is thought to be D.B. Cooper.
723
00:41:18,560 --> 00:41:21,730
[Burrough]
Look, everybody who starts down this path
724
00:41:21,813 --> 00:41:23,273
starts with curiosity.
725
00:41:23,815 --> 00:41:26,068
They come to their beliefs,
whatever they may be,
726
00:41:26,151 --> 00:41:30,030
and they invest more and more time
perpetuating their beliefs.
727
00:41:30,113 --> 00:41:33,075
And what you find, by and large,
is that at some point,
728
00:41:33,158 --> 00:41:37,162
they stop looking for answers
and they're looking for confirmation
729
00:41:37,246 --> 00:41:40,707
of their own beliefs
that they have generated about this.
730
00:41:41,208 --> 00:41:43,377
That's what confirmation bias is,
731
00:41:43,460 --> 00:41:47,256
is looking for things
that you believe confirm your notion.
732
00:41:52,803 --> 00:41:56,223
There's too much evidence that lines up.
It was definitely Rackstraw.
733
00:41:56,807 --> 00:42:01,478
We're looking for the facts.
That's what my team reminds me every day.
734
00:42:01,562 --> 00:42:06,316
Not to get tied up
in the hocus-pocus aspects of mysteries.
735
00:42:06,400 --> 00:42:07,734
Focus on the facts.
736
00:42:09,152 --> 00:42:11,822
I have people come up to me
and say, "You're obsessed."
737
00:42:11,905 --> 00:42:12,906
I'm driven.
738
00:42:13,949 --> 00:42:16,743
[Gray]
This case is a marathon, it's a sacrifice,
739
00:42:16,827 --> 00:42:18,704
it's a gauntlet, it's a pit.
740
00:42:19,329 --> 00:42:22,416
The closer you are involved in it,
the harder it is to get out.
741
00:42:27,212 --> 00:42:29,214
[dramatic music playing]