New DB Cooper ‘suspect’ pic with resemblance to sketch is unearthed but expert fears FBI afraid of opening Pandora’s box
A NEW suspect has entered the fray in the hunt to find DB Cooper – as an expert suggests the FBI is reluctant to re-investigate the unsolved skyjacking through fear of reopening Pandora’s box.
Eric Ulis, an independent investigator who has been at the forefront of the Cooper probe since the FBI officially closed its investigation in 2016, has identified a second leading suspect in his quest to unmask the infamous crook.
Dan “DB” Cooper was the alias of a criminal who hijacked Northwestern Flight 305 in November 1971 over Portland, held the flight for $200,000 ransom, and parachuted out of the plane with his bounty, never to be seen again.
Ulis has been investigating Vince Petersen, a deceased metallurgist from Pennsylvania, as the leading suspect in the DB Cooper case since late 2022.
Petersen emerged as a compelling suspect after Ulis and forensic investigator Tom Kaye discovered dozens of rare titanium particles on a clip-on tie left behind by the skyjacker that they believe point to a specialist metals lab as Cooper’s likely place of work.
Ulis and Kaye traced those particles back to the now-defunct Crucible Steel (formerly Rem-Cru Titanium) plant in Midland, Pennsylvania, where Petersen worked for several years.
Theorizing a potential motive for Petersen, Ulis has previously highlighted that Crucible and Boeing both experienced mass layoffs in 1971 because of a sharp downturn in the aerospace sector that year.
Cooper also famously told one of the stewardesses aboard Flight 305 of his reasoning for carrying out the skyjacking, “I don’t have a grudge against your airline, miss. I just have a grudge.”
But surviving family members of Petersen have been left furious by Ulis’ insinuations, defiantly stating their father would never have attempted such a stunt and would’ve been horrified to have been dragged into such an investigation.
While Petersen remains Ulis’ leading Cooper candidate, he is also now taking a close look at one of Petersen’s colleagues.
The newest suspect is John P. Strand, a former lieutenant commander in the US Navy Air Corps who served in World War II and Korea and worked as a manager at Cucible’s Midland plant.
Of the 100 or so men employed by Crucible in the late 1960s, Ulis told The U.S. Sun that only Strand and Petersen tick the boxes for Cooper.
Both men share a resemblance to the sketches of Cooper. They were both also 6ft 1 with an olive complexion and were around 50 years old when the in-air heist took place, matching eye-witness descriptions.
Crucially, they would’ve also come into contact with the rare metals found on Cooper’s tie, Ulis said.
Strand died in February 1996 and attempts to reach his family members have been unsuccessful.
Ulis admitted he’s less convinced of Strand’s potential involvement than that of Petersen’s, sharing, “I have real reservations because of the position Strand held in the company, but I still think he’s worth a closer look.”
“Where a motive is concerned, I’m unaware of him ever losing his job or anything of that nature, but if I’m completely objective about it and I focus exclusively on the physical characteristics of Cooper and the tie evidence, he’s one of only two people who fit the mold,” he said.
“He checks a lot of the boxes. He just doesn’t necessarily check all of them.”
OPEN LETTER PLEA
Strand’s name was first thrown into the Cooper mix publicly by Ulis last week when he penned an open letter to FBI director Christopher Wray, urging him to order the bureau to investigate his findings.
Ulis has previously launched two unsuccessful Freedom of Information Act requests to access Cooper’s tie for testing and a sample of the thief’s DNA.
I don’t have a grudge against your airline, miss. I just have a grudge.
DB Cooper
Believing he’s taken his investigation into Petersen as far as he possibly can without the FBI’s assistance, Ulis called the letter a Hail Mary last resort.
Ulis has Petersen’s DNA and is asking Wray to agree to compare the sample with any DNA the bureau has for Cooper logged in its Combined DNA Index System (Codis).
He also wants the bureau to hunt down relatives of Strand and obtain familial DNA from them to compare with any evidence in the case.
“My extensive research […] appears to point to a now-defunct specialty metals manufacturer—and major Boeing subcontractor—named Crucible Steel,” reads Ulis’ letter.
“Scientific analysis of the tie particles by the world-renowned McCrone Labs appears to indicate that DB Cooper frequented—perhaps even worked at—Crucible Steel during the late 1960s.
“The investigative efforts of myself and others have centered around 100 men employed at Crucible Steel during the 1960s. This, in turn, has led me to two men of particular interest.
“That said, I am uncertain whether either of these gentlemen was the infamous skyjacker. Nonetheless, I do have DNA from one of the gentlemen and would like to request that the FBI use the DNA I have collected to compare to the DB Cooper DNA profile that is secure on Codis.
“The names of the two gentlemen that should be explored further, by my estimation, are VINCENT CARL PETERSEN and JOHN PHILSON STRAND.
He added, “To be absolutely clear, I do not know whether either of these two men was DB Cooper.
“In fact, to the best of my knowledge, neither was investigated at any point during the [Northwest hijacking] investigation nor came under suspicion.”
PANDORA’S BOX
To date, neither Wray nor the FBI has responded to the letter. (A request for comment by The U.S. SUn has so far gone unanswered.)
Unless the bureau agrees to collaborate, Ulis feels his investigation will be dead in the water after 14 years of exhaustive work.
Ulis believes the FBI’s reluctance to listen to his findings thus far may be explained by an unwillingness on the bureau’s part to reopen the floodgates of the Cooper conspiracy.
“Perhaps it’s a situation where they’re afraid to open Pandora’s box and then all of a sudden have to deal with thousands of new tips and expend hours fleshing these things out,” he said.
“Having said that, I’m a credible person in this investigation, and I’m not basing my findings on the alignment of the stars or the magnetic fields surrounding crystals – this is based on science and evidence, the foundations of which appear very solid.
“Hopefully someone in the FBI agrees with me and believes what I’ve found warrants additional steps to determine if either one of these gentlemen could account for the DNA profile they have on their Codis system.”
Ulis previously told The U.S. Sun that he believes he has a partial sample of Cooper’s DNA.
That sample was gleaned by Tom Kaye more than a decade ago when he tested Cooper’s tie for the FBI in 2009 and 2011, looking for traces of certain metals, chemicals, and pollen.
Ulis and Kaye recently sent one of their samples off to a specialist lab for testing. However, the results were disappointing.
According to Ulis, whatever sample the vacuum once contained had degraded so much that it was no longer detectable.
He and Kaye have decided to hold on to the remainder of their samples until DNA technology reaches a point where such traces can be salvageable.
Until such a time, the FBI remains Ulis’ only hope of ending the Cooper mystery once and for all.
“The FBI has to help,” said Ulis. “They have Cooper’s DNA, it’s on Codis, and I either need to be able to access that or they need to take what I have and do what they need to for comparison purposes.
“At this point, the evidence in my mind points to only two possible people and there’s only so much I can do.
“I’m bumping against a wall here […] I feel like I’ve got it 95% of the way there, but in terms of actually determining 100% whether either one of these gentlemen could have been DB Cooper, at this point, that’s going to be up to the FBI.
Ulis continued, “We’ve done an enormous amount of work as private citizens over the last several years, finding a lot of new information that the FBI never did.
“To use a football analogy, we’ve got the ball to the five-yard line, and we just need the FBI to be willing to punch it over the goal line in a last small push.”
FRAUGHT RELATIONS
Ulis believes the Cooper mystery could be solved within a matter of months if the FBI was willing to be more accommodating.
John P. Strand only landed on his radar recently as a potential Cooper culprit, but Ulis is not entirely convinced of his credentials.
Petersen, however, remains his leading candidate – despite protests from the late metallurgist’s family.
He was led to Petersen’s proverbial door by a former supervisor at Crucible Steel, who, when informed of Cooper’s likeness and attributes, mentioned Petersen, deeming him the only likely match.
Petersen – who would’ve been 52 at the time of Cooper’s skyjacking – was one of only eight engineers employed by Crucible in 1971.
Ulis then tracked down Petersen’s son, who didn’t believe his father was Cooper but agreed to share photographs of him and some other information to aid Ulis’ investigation.
Petersen’s daughter, Julie Dunbar, was only made aware of her father’s association with the case in January after her son sent her a news article from a local Pittsburgh station, naming Petersen as an unofficial suspect.
Outraged, she reached out to Ulis over email to inform him there was, in her mind, absolutely no chance her dad was Cooper.
She agreed to supply Ulis with a DNA sample to help solve the case and end her father’s associations with Cooper, but in the months since relations between the pair have soured.
A Final Plea: Eric Ulis' Full Letter
The following letter was sent to the FBI on July 24:
Dear Director Wray,
I am a private citizen who has been researching and investigating the unsolved NORJAK case for many years. This, of course, is the case concerning DB Cooper and the only unsolved skyjacking in United States history, which the FBI “administratively” closed in 2016.
My extensive research—particularly regarding a critical piece of evidence left behind in the form of a skinny, black, clip-on tie, and some of the unique particles thereon—appears to point to a now-defunct specialty metals manufacturer—and major Boeing subcontractor—named Crucible Steel. Crucible Steel was originally named Rem-Cru Titanium and was headquartered in Western Pennsylvania.
Scientific analysis of the tie particles by the world-renowned McCrone Labs, appears to indicate that DB Cooper frequented—perhaps even worked at—Crucible Steel during the late 1960’s.
The investigative efforts of myself and others have centered around 100 men employed at Crucible Steel during the 1960’s. This, in turn, has led me to two men of particular interest. Meaning, that they appear to meet the criteria of a man near 50 years old at the time of the skyjacking, about 6’ 1”, and can plausibly explain interactions with many of the unique tie particles recently discovered, including several of an exceptionally rare titanium and antimony alloy.
That said, I am uncertain whether either of these gentlemen was the infamous skyjacker. Nonetheless, I do have DNA from one of the gentlemen and would like to request that the FBI use the DNA I have collected to compare to the DB Cooper DNA profile that is secure on Codis.
The names of the two gentlemen that should be explored further, by my estimation, are VINCENT CARL PETERSEN and JOHN PHILSON STRAND. To be absolutely clear, I do not know whether either of these two men were DB Cooper. In fact, to the best of my knowledge, neither was investigated at any point during the NORJAK investigation nor came under suspicion.
Thank you for your consideration.
Best,
Eric Ulis
In a scathing post on Facebook, Julice accused Ulis of shattering her father’s “character and integrity.”
“I cannot google my father without DB Cooper appearing beside his name. What an insult to my father and my family,” wrote Dunbar.
“My father never received a pink slip from his employer. My parents were never in a bad financial situation. And he sure as hell would have not chose[n] to leave his family and fly across the US to highjack [sic] a plane on Thanksgiving! Seriously?? My father was not a stupid person!”
Ulis told The U.S. Sun in June that he empathizes with the position he’s inadvertently put Dunbar in but insists it’s nothing personal.
He shared, “Before I went public with her father’s name I talked to her brother Jeff and I reached out to as many other family members as I possibly could.
“I really feel I did my due diligence as far as that is concerned, but beyond that, I have to say I’m not with the FBI or the Department of Justice, I’m an independent researcher, and the evidence in my mind points to either Vince Petersen or somebody very near to Vince Petersen.
“I don’t know if Vince Petersen actually was DB Cooper,” he added, “but he is very high on my list, and I have the science to back it up.
“Stories about how wonderful people were and all these things they did or didn’t do are great, but they aren’t great for trying to close a cold case that’s 53 years old.
“You have to rely upon the science, you’ve got to be objective about this – and, at the moment, the science points to Petersen.
“I know it’s an uncomfortable subject for his family to entertain, but there’s nothing I can do to assuage those concerns other than get to the bottom of this and determine if her father’s DNA is a match for Cooper’s.”
SUPPORTING EVIDENCE
Petersen worked at Crucible Steel for more than two decades.
Ulis and fellow Cooper investigator Tom Kaye recently unearthed more microscopic particles on Cooper’s tie that they believe fortify his links to Crucible.
The most telling discovery was the existence of titanium smeared with stainless steel, which the pair identified in January.
That particle comes from a process known as cold rolling, in which a sheet of titanium is rolled between two stainless steel rollers to thin and strengthen the metal.
Cold rolling was seldom practiced in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Ulis says, but Crucible was among the few who did.
He said Crucible had two US patents for the kind of titanium identified by Kaye, making the specialist plant ground zero for where DB Cooper likely worked.
Last month, Ulis and Kaye identified more particles on the tie that they believe further enhanced their hypothesis.
“New analysis by McCrone Labs of data related to a scan of particles from DB Cooper’s clip-on tie have uncovered some new particles, including a spectacular alloy containing both Uranium and Thorium,” shared Ulis.
“The particle does not suggest DB Cooper worked on atomic weapons or nuclear energy. Rather, it appears that the alloy was one developed as part of metallurgical [research and discovery] to find alloys with improved irradiation.
“Additionally, the new data uncovered three more Titanium Antimony particles, bringing the total to six. This, of course, is the particle that appears to point specifically to Crucible Steel as the source of the tie particles.
“Moreover, other new tie particles discovered include Neodymium, as part of Mischmetal used in lighters, and Samarium, which may have come from [research and development] on high-powered magnets.
“In summary, the new data is perfectly consistent with a specialty metals environment.”
HUNTING COOPER
DB Cooper hijacked Northwest Orient Flight 305 on November 24, 1971, during a short trip between Portland and Seattle.
Shortly after take-off, Cooper handed a note to a flight attendant sitting behind him, informing her he had a bomb in his briefcase.
In exchange for the lives of the 36 other passengers and six crew on board, the mild-mannered highjacker demanded $200,000 in stacks of $20 bills and four parachutes.
When the flight landed in Seattle, the cash and parachutes were exchanged for all of the passengers and some of the crew.
Following Cooper’s instructions, the Boeing 727 was refueled and took off for a second time – this time in the direction of Mexico City.
But around 8 pm, somewhere over southwest Washington, a light flashed up on the instrument panel in the cockpit, indicating the rear exit door had been opened.
With that, Cooper was gone, parachuting out into the stormy night sky with his ransom in tow.
Virtually all traces of Cooper vanished therein.
The only item left behind on Flight 305 by Cooper was a black, clip-on JCPenney tie with a gold pin.
The only other trace yielded of Cooper since came in 1980 when a young boy digging along the banks of the Columbia River in Tena bar unearthed $5,800 in $20 bills buried in the earth.
The serial numbers of the bills matched those issued to Cooper during the skyjacking but the discovery failed to yield any new leads.
More than 800 potential suspects were eyed by the FBI in the years after the heist, though none were deemed a compelling match.
Today, the incident remains the only unsolved skyjacking in US history.