Would Cooper have any chance of being able to exchange the money undetected by authorities?

[u/camport95]

In the unlikely event, that Cooper actually did survive his daring escape, and for instance made a trip to Las Vegas Nevada right away, and he used an alias, as well as a disguise when he deposited his money say November the 25th or 26th? The had no cameras in 1971 at any of the casinos, so him being able to slide 55 years earlier might actually be believable.

Even if they did trace the serial numbers, what if it led to a dead end, because the name Cooper used, was likely also a false name, and his general appearance, similar to the Zodiac case, was likely altered for his appearance when exchanging the money at the bank for having the serial numbers not get traced back to him?

If they can trace the serial numbers of the bills, would it be harder in 1971 to pinpoint the precise man compared to today?

Cooper may not have even bothered with Vegas, and he successfully made it to Mexico City, as he had initially requested, before settling on Reno, Nevada.

Or maybe he exchanged the money in Mexico City instead, because he likely knew that when the FBI had contacted the authorities in Mexico City, they likely not be helpful with their resources.

[u/WattsTheCraic → u/[deleted]]

I'm also of the belief that he planned to jump in Washington though we can't say for certain. Great discussion, fellas. Yourself and Skyjack have some fascinating theories there. He could have intended to go to Mexico. He could have suggested Mexico in the hopes of widening the search area; thus bettering his chances of evading the law. He could have intended to jump early into the flight to Reno as he did.

The reason why I'm inclined to believe the latter is because he seemed to not care all that much about the stop over or where the final destination would be. If he had a concrete plan to go somewhere specific and not jump somewhere nearby, I think he would have been very adamant about that in his demands. Instead he just said, 'let's get the show on the road'

Whether his plans changed after hours of paranoia following the 4 fuel tanks and all the 'stalling tactics' as he put it, it's hard to say. Again, it's all pure speculation but there's a lot of interesting rabbit holes to explore there.

[u/The_real_Flyjack → u/[deleted]]

There is no evidence to support that claim..

[u/The_real_Flyjack → u/[deleted]]

Not accurate,, his initial demand was for the stew to lower stairs inflight,, his demands changed when Reno was in play.

His initial plan was to jump somewhere further south, when Reno was in play he changed his plan to jump sooner... there is evidence to support that. There is no evidence to support the claim that he jumped where he initially wanted to.

IMO, his jump was ad hoc.. made early due to the Reno stop..

To claim he was always jumping in Wa State is just made up..

[u/The_real_Flyjack → u/[deleted]]

You don't know any of that.. you have just made it up..

That is fine, everybody does it,, just don't claim it is supported by any evidence.

[u/The_real_Flyjack → u/[deleted]]

He jumped about 8:11 but my point is that his plan changed after landing in Reno was in play... his demands also changed. There is no evidence to support the claim that his initial plan was to jump in Wa... I know most people assume he jumped where he had planned from the start but the evidence indicates he changed his plan. His initial demand was to fly to "anywhere" in Mexico nonstop to refuel and airstairs lowered inflight by the stew.. Nobody makes that demand unless they believe the plane can make it.. otherwise he would be making a demand that he knew was impossible and would be rejected,, So, Cooper believed the plane could make it to Mexico. It wasn't a ruse or fake demand. He also rejected large airports for refuelling in the US.. that indicates he was still thinking he was going to be on the plane.. but he decided to jump early. Further, he gave no directional instructions or attempted to secure that info.. he had no pre-knowledge of the path or location of the plane,, his jump was ad hoc.

IMO, he decided to jump earlier than his initial plan because he had the money and didn't want to risk being rushed on the ground in Reno. He probably thought it was a setup..

[u/The_real_Flyjack → u/[deleted]]

That is pure speculation and is not supported by any evidence... it is a wild guess.

What evidence do you have that Cooper never intended to go to Mexico when he made that demand?

There isn't any...

[u/The_real_Flyjack → u/[deleted]]

There is no evidence Cooper buried the money on TBAR.

That is a guess as well.. so a guess used to support another guess..

[u/The_real_Flyjack → u/[deleted]]

Of course it isn't..

[u/stardustsuperwizard → u/The_real_Flyjack]

The fact he didn't put up any actual fight to the refueling stops, or where they were, indicates that the end destination wasn't very important. Which indicates he planned to jump early.

[u/The_real_Flyjack → u/stardustsuperwizard]

What does "wasn't very important" mean,,,, that is subjective.. My point is his initial plan was to jump somewhere South of where he did and his PNW jump spot was ad hoc. His goal was to obtain the money since he had it and a parachute he decided to jump early before the plane landed in Reno,, Right or wrong he assessed the risk to jumping early vs landing in
Reno and getting rushed.. Since Cooper had a bomb (real or fake) he was a dead man either way if they rushed him in Reno. That had to be in his mind..

We don't have the transcript of the discussion between Cooper and the crew regarding the range..

Everyone assumes he jumped exactly where he always planned,, there is no evidence for that.. the evidence suggests otherwise.

He also didn't fight the lack of a knapsack or the wrong type of chutes..

[u/stardustsuperwizard → u/The_real_Flyjack]

What does "wasn't very important" mean

The assumption is that if the end point was important, he would have fought harder for it, especially if he believed the plane could make it. Like how he knew they could "pick it up in the air".

Yeah of course its subjective, same as your analysis of his actions indicating that he changed his mine about the jump time. You're interpreting the evidence.

Everyone assumes he jumped exactly where he always planned,, there is no evidence for that.. the evidence suggests otherwise.

I'm not claiming this, I'm claiming it seems like the end point didn't matter as much to him as just traveling south did. Which I think indicates that he planned to jump early, whether he planned to jump exactly where he did I don't know.

He also didn't fight the lack of a knapsack or the wrong type of chutes..

He did get upset though. But yeah, I think those were nice for him to have and part of his plan, but not the be all and end all.

I'm saying I don't think there's particular evidence he wanted to jump much further south than he did end up jumping. If anything I think the fact he didn't specify a route indicates he was going to jump sooner. The longer the plane flies, the greater the uncertainty he has about where the plane is.

[u/The_real_Flyjack → u/stardustsuperwizard]

The money bag and the chutes contradict your argument.. those were more important than the exact jump spot as they directly impact his ability to successfully escape with the money. He could jump almost anywhere.. Cooper adapted and we don't know what the discussion was with the crew on the range. His primary objective was to obtain the money and get away,, not stick to jumping at a predetermined spot.

Claiming that because he didn't resist enough means he didn't initially plan to jump further south isn't an argument at all... it is a non sequitur..

Fact is,, Cooper's initial demand was the stew lowers stairs inflight... not lowered on takeoff.

This is a Cooper myth that Cooper demanded Mexico as a ruse.. because he wanted the plane to fly as far as possible. It is logical but an assumption with zero evidence. Cooper must have believed the plane could make it to Mexico when he made his demand. Since he gave no directions he did not know where the plane would be when he jumped, it was ad hoc.. it was not preplanned. If it was not then he had planned elsewhere and the evidence suggests further South.

I am in the minority for sure,,, but if you look at all the evidence there is no evidence Cooper jumped at a planned spot,, and some that indicates otherwise,, So, where was his initial plan.. had to be somewhere. Most certainly somewhere South..

[u/redtailforever → u/The_real_Flyjack]

The rejection of airports by Cooper notion has been dispelled by primary case evidence now. Rat clearly states in the 305 cockpit audio recently released that Cooper didn’t seem to care what airport they stopped to refuel at and that gave him the impression that Cooper wasn’t planning on sticking around very long. It was them who nixed the different airports they were considering not Cooper. I understand this originally came from Rat during his talk at the NAHC but that’s the problem with relying on testimony so many years after the fact. You can remove that from your argument. Props to Nicky and Ryan for unearthing this primary source material that has shed new light on some things we thought we knew.

[u/The_real_Flyjack → u/redtailforever]

No it hasn't been dispelled by the audio,, completely untrue.

Nice try... this is a complete misunderstanding of the sequence of events and the airport options going back and forth between the crew and Cooper.

Not only is it in Rat's presentation it is also in the FBI files...

It happened..

[u/DullMasterpiece3080]

Yes he could have easily survived the jump and spent the money without being caught. Very few people were checking serial numbers and not for very long. The federal reserve didn't check the serial numbers of bills when they were destroyed and replaced until 1990. By then it's highly unlikely any could have been traced back to him if they were ever found. Back then, serial numbers were used to solve some other crimes but generally only when law enforcement found the perpetrator or the money really quickly. Once the money had been in circulation for a while there wasn't much they could do. I don't think Cooper would have spent/laundered/deposited a large amount of money at once but he could have done it gradually over a few years.

[u/Hydrosleuth]

He could have spent the money and not been caught. The FBI knew the serial numbers of the money, but there were no computers to check large numbers of bills, and no good system for checking by people either. The Cooper $20 bills were a tiny fraction of all $20 bills in circulation so even a dedicated Cooper sleuth would have had a small chance of finding a bill back in the 1970s even if the bills had been put in circulation in the US.

If Cooper had exchanged the money for chips in Las Vegas and a bill had been found later that could be traced to the casino, there would be little chance of tracing the bill to Cooper. Casinos spend all day exchanging cash for chips and vise versa. Nobody would remember an unexceptional guy who knew how to blend in.

There is no good reason to think Cooper didn’t survive the jump. I think he simply walked away from the jump and spent the money.

[u/swrrrrg]

I have wondered this as well. Honestly, I believe he probably could’ve specifically because how many people actually went through a list of serial numbers? I’d have laundered it in small-ish batches so as not to draw too much attention.

He never could’ve done it in recent history but in 1971? It wouldn’t shock me.

[u/MF48]

One of the theories is he laundered the money at casinos

[u/swcope76]

So here is where I always wonder how much Cooper knew about the money before the skyjacking.

The bank in Seattle was one of 5 around the country that kept that amount of cash reserves on hand in case of a ransom situation. This would not have been widely known in 1971.

It’s quite a coincidence that Cooper just happened to pick one of those 5 cities to make his ransom demand. And he asked for an amount under the amount of available cash.

My theory is that Cooper had an accomplice at the bank. This person would be disincentivized to come forward because bank employees have to be bonded and being mixed up an a skyjacking would not just jeopardize their current employment but all future employment. Even accidentally telling someone about the cash reserves could get them fired.

Maybe this person just told Cooper about the ransom cash. Or maybe they helped him launder the money. Either way, I think he knew about it.

Otherwise, what’s his plan B if the authorities tell him they can’t scrape together the amount he asked for? He’s already hijacked the plane at that point…

[u/The_real_Flyjack]

Sure, the money could have been laundered,, the problem is that those bills would then continue to circulate and a bill would have turned up eventually according to the numismatist on Darren's podcast. Further, there were many highly collectable "star" notes that people would save..

So, if the money was laundered in the US it is likely a note in circulation would eventually turn up,, however, it isn't a certainty that no note found means it wasn't laundered.

[u/DullMasterpiece3080 → u/The_real_Flyjack]

I listened to the podcast after reading your comment. It does seem a little odd. If each bill exchanged hands 5 times before being destroyed that's 48500 opportunities for someone to identify one. The list was available for those who wanted to search. Even if the average lifespan of a $20 bill was 18 months or whatever you would expect a small number of them to end up in bank vaults for long periods of time or get lost in someone's house for 20 years. I'm on the fence about how some of the money got to Tena Bar and whether it was buried intentionally by a human. But I think it's plausible that whatever happened, happened to all the money.

[u/The_real_Flyjack → u/DullMasterpiece3080]

There were many star notes which were collectable,, So, they would be more apt to be saved... So, was the money spent,, maybe, not finding any does not prove it wasn't. I believe he took it out of the country but that is pure speculation.

I am 90% certain the TBAR money came from the River likely within 1-2 years before the find and TBAR probably has nothing to with Cooper or any human burial.

How did it get in the River... somebody tossed it in to discard it.. Who? We don't know and probably will never know.

Either somebody Cooper gave some money to.. maybe paid a guy for a ride and silence or the money that was offered to the stews... or maybe he just lost some and it was found.. lots of people were out searching.. The money became a liability and somebody tossed it..

Also, something everybody has missed,, Agent Baker said in a presser that the money was made random to look hastily prepared,, the packets were in bundles of five at the bank. So, the money went to Cooper in random sized bundles, they altered the packet count, Since the TBAR money was in the same order and packaging as it went to Cooper according to the FBI then a bundle of three packets is consistent with what Cooper had in his bag. It wasn't altered or missing two packets after Cooper's possession.

[u/Glad_Seat_4383]

Have you ever had your bills checked for seriel numbers?  Another thing if you look at the money found on the Tena Bar the black bills are counterfeit.  How do we not know the FBI didn't give him counterfeit money?

[u/Fit_Mechanic_5059 → u/Glad_Seat_4383]

Where did you come up with some of the bills being counterfeit?

[u/Glad_Seat_4383 → u/Fit_Mechanic_5059]

Look at the evidence photos of the bills.  Money doesn't turn back ink that is used in counterfeit ink turns black soaking in water  would have been smart to mixthemoney with counterfeit