Forty years ago a man who called himself Dan Cooper or DB Cooper hijacked an airplane by claiming he had dynamite. Cooper told the airplane crew that he was carrying a bomb and requested $200,000 and two parachutes. Cooper allowed the pilot to land in Seattle, Washington as planned and released all the passengers on board, after his demands were met, holding only the crew hostage. Cooper than demanded that the plane head back in the air to head to Mexico and the entire crew be held in the cockpit. After the crew was locked in the cockpit, Cooper jumped out of the plane somewhere over Cascade Mountains in Washington. A few years ago, untouched ransom money was found floating in a river leading authorities to believe that Cooper had not survived the jump, but nothing what confirmed. Now the FBI has reason to believe that they may have DNA evidence in the case! Read more after the jump.

@Julie1205

Investigators at the FBI have revealed that they are possibly very close to solving the U.S.’s only unsolved hijacking – forty years after it was committed.

Elusive fugitive Dan Cooper, also known as DB Cooper, commandeered a Northwest flight from Portland to Seattle on November 24 1971 by claiming he was carrying dynamite, but disappeared after jumping from the plane somewhere over Washington.

He was never seen again but his story has been the subject of countless books, movies, TV shows and even a song or two.

But now agents have revealed that they are testing the fingerprints of a new suspect who they are hoping to link to a tie and cigarette butts left on the plane four decades ago.

FBI spokesperson Ayn Dietrich described the lead as “looking like our most promising one to date.

“It comes from a credible lead who came to our attention recently via a law enforcement colleague,” she told UK’s The Telegraph.

A man listed on the flight manifest as Dan Cooper boarded the plane, ordered a whiskey and lit a cigarette before handing a flight attendant a note which read: “I have a bomb in my briefcase. I will use it if necessary. I want you to sit next to me. You are being hijacked.”

The man then told the plane’s captain that he wanted $200,000 and four parachutes in return for 36 passengers who would be allowed to disembark in Seattle.

The FBI authorized the exchange and the flight went airborne again heading for Mexico.

Cooper then jumped from the plane with the money and two parachutes somewhere over the Cascade mountains, Washington.

The unnamed suspect is one of thousands investigated over the years and the FBI are not saying if the person is even still alive.

“Generally the large majority of subjects we look into now are already deceased based on the timing,” Dietrich said.