D. B. Cooper, the infamous sky jacker, has been called "a Northwest folk hero", "Jesse James" and "Billy the Kid". But until now, he hasn't been called a she. This devoted exploration by close friends with the help of family is a story that will leave you wondering. Was Bobby/Barbara Dayton D. B. Cooper?

Put on your detective hat and uncover the facts and myths about the D. B. Cooper hijacking. Topics discussed include the details behind the Flight 305 hijacking, the history of the airline industry and hijackings, air safety and security measures at the time, the hunt for Cooper, confessions from people claiming to be Cooper, and theories about what happened to Cooper and who he was. Features include a Tools and Clues section that highlights research tools, technology, and investigative methods, a timeline, a glossary, selected bibliography, further readings, places to visit, source notes, and an index. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Essential Library is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.

He has been called "a Northwest folk hero," "Jesse James," and "Billy the Kid." But until now, he hasn't been called a she. Contrary to popular belief, D.B. Cooper not only survived the infamous hijacking on November 24, 1971. He also committed the high-flying caper as a woman. Cooper's real name was first Bobby, then Barb, Dayton. "Cooper" had gender reassignment surgery in December 1969. In 1971, he pulled his buccaneering swipe dressed as a man and walked away as a woman. Bobby/Barb lived to the age of 76 and died of natural causes on February 20, 2002

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The true, unsolved story of D. B. Cooper’s 1971 airplane hijacking, one of the greatest cold cases of the twentieth century, by an author featured in D.B. Cooper: Where Are You?!, now streaming on Netflix “Here is writing and storytelling that is vivid and fresh—a delectable adventure.”—Gay Talese “I have a bomb here and I would like you to sit by me.” That was the note handed to flight attendant Florence Schaffner by a mild-mannered passenger now known as D. B. Cooper on a Northwest Orient flight in 1971. It was also the start of one of the most astonishing aviation whodunits in the history of American true crime: how one man extorted $200,000 from an airline before parachuting into the wilds of the Pacific Northwest, never to be seen again. The case of D. B. Cooper is a modern legend that has obsessed and cursed his pursuers for generations with everything from bankruptcy to suicidal despair. Now, with Skyjack, Geoffrey Gray obtains a first-ever look at the FBI’s confidential Cooper file, uncovering new leads in the infamous case. Starting with a crack tip from a private investigator, Gray plunges into the murky depths of the decades-old mystery to chase down new clues and explore secrets of the case’s most prominent suspects, including Ralph Himmelsbach, the most dogged of FBI agents, who watched with horror as a criminal became a counter-culture folk hero; Karl Fleming, a respected reporter whose career was destroyed by a D. B. Cooper scoop that was a scam; and Barbara Dayton, a transgender pilot who insisted she was Cooper herself. With explosive new information, Skyjack reopens one of the great cold cases of the twentieth century.

Discover the mysterious, controversial, and sometimes downright eerie history of flights that didn't end as planned. The history of aviation is full of accounts of history's most spectacular flights. But what about the ones from which someone failed to return? - A celebrated millionaire--who also happened to be the world's foremost aviator--lifted off in a small plane one clear morning in 2007 and disappeared. - The glamorous son of a beloved fallen president took off on a hazy summer night in 1999 and plunged himself and two others into the Atlantic Ocean. - A US Navy blimp landed one Sunday morning in 1942 in the middle of a city street in California with no one aboard. Some of these "non-returns" occurred because of errors in judgment; others were intentional, and some resulted from causes still unknown. Get the full, meticulous account of the fascinating people involved in these flights, the mistakes they made, and the ways in which their "flight of no return" affected the world. Pilot and aviation writer Steven A. Ruffin covers the entire 230-year span of manned flight in all types of aircraft through war and peace. Balloons, blimps, biplanes, jets, and spaceships have all suffered mishaps over the years. Don't miss the mystery, adventure, intrigue, and a sprinkling of the supernatural and extraterrestrial in Flights of No Return.

The 3rd Edition of DB Cooper and the FBI - A Case Study of America's Only Unsolved Skyjacking

In 1971, a skyjacker with a briefcase bomb demanded a $200,000 ransom and a parachute. Then he vanished out the jet's back door and became an instant legend. Now a determined citizen sleuth has assembled a forty-member cold case team, spearheaded by former FBI agents, to solve the mystery of D.B. Cooper. And after a five-year quest, they believe they have succeeded with a fugitive at trail's end.