Metro tower,
this is Northwest Orient flight 305
we have a situation.
Tina, I'm gonna have to have you
sit up here now.
I don't wanna see you get hurt.
I don't wanna see anybody get hurt.
Captain, the aft door is open.
Oh, my God.
My real name is Rodney Lewis Bonnifield.
Born July 26, 1952.
I am D.B. Cooper.
♪ All these sparkling ♪
♪ Golden dollar days
♪ Will wash our normal problems down the drain ♪
♪ I can offer you a better today ♪
♪ I can give to you a court with no judge ♪
♪ Look around you
♪ At everything you don't has ♪
♪ Is all you really, really need love? ♪
♪ I can offer you a better right now ♪
♪ Lift away all of the weight that won't budge ♪
♪ Picture your view ♪
♪ From your house on the moon, baby ♪
♪ Saturn's got rings ♪
♪ And you should be wearing them ♪
♪ Singing all these sparkly golden dollar days ♪
♪ Will wash our normal problems down the drain ♪
♪ Right down the drain ♪
Had a knife on the drain board,
a big Bowie knife,
come around and they get me right in the neck.
And so I just reached up
had a sheathing knife about this big
because it-- it was for hunting, skinning.
I just reached up and popped him one.
So, he dropped the knife
right in the shoulder, right there.
- And so, he dropped the knife. - Help me.
911, what is your emergency?
It's Clifford Rich.
Lady, goddamn it!
I've been stabbed!
Rodney fuckin' Bonnifield.
No, I believe in God. God and country, I do.
Nothin' wrong with that.
No, nothing wrong with that.
Least I know where I'm going.
A lot of people don't know where they're goin'.
Think there's a big force. Well, guess what?
I'd rather know where I'm goin' than not know where I'm goin'.
So, I met Rod December of 2016.
Rodney had been arrested on assault one,
uh, essentially a knife fight and, uh, bailed him out.
But people come to bail companies
because they're in a time of crisis.
So, we facilitate individuals
who are arrested and held.
We negotiate with their friends and family
and contractually bind them to attend their court hearings
and if they fail to appear, then it's our job to go out
and find them and bring them back.
Sorry, I'm not trying to be an asshole.
-No, no. -Hey, we're not either.
- I'm loaded. - So are we.
My name's Mike Rocha.
I'm a bondsman for All City Bail Bonds.
I started doing recovery work
when I turned 21-years-old.
So, a long time, over 35 years.
The difference between us and Dog the Bounty Hunter
is that we are authorized and able to carry firearms.
We typically like to work under the radar.
We will go out normally in the cover of dark,
arrest the people that we need to...
Full-auto.
...and do it in a real quiet manner.
My brother, Carlos,
is in the bail industry as well.
I got introduced to the business
with my brother 35 years ago doing some recovery.
I absolutely love it, uh, everyday is interesting.
Interesting characters, interesting scenarios,
stuff that you're, just, not got gonna find
at a regular job for sure.
And I kissed the ground when he came to help me,
that was it, I says, "That guy there,
he's a man to come and get me out of this mess."
And, so, I was out for two and a half years.
I don't have any problem with anybody else.
He wasn't fully funded on-- on the bond,
so people put up some money, but he had to come back in
time after time after time and make his payments
and he never missed a payment.
Uh, and, again, he could've taken off
and gone up into the hills
and he'd be a hard guy to find.
I says, "I'm not runnin' anywhere,
I'm not guilty of this crime."
He comes into the office
and first he gives me his paperwork
stating that he had taken a plea deal
on the knife fight scenario.
I returned his collateral, which was,
uh, I think four different vehicles.
He gave me back my titles.
He says you-- you made it,
you did the right thing, you didn't run.
And he goes, "Uh, I got something else to run by you."
I says, uh, "I'm D.B. Cooper.
"I been wanted for a long time."
When he got on a plane
in Portland, Oregon last night,
he was just another passenger who gave his name
as D.A. Cooper.
But today, after hijacking a Northwest Airlines jet,
then making a getaway by parachute,
the description on one wire service:
master criminal.
I decided to come on out
and tell the truth about everything.
So the people that have a right to know who I am.
He seemed rather nice,
other than he wanted certain things to be done.
We were honoring his requests and, therefore,
we made no attempt to impede his mission.
In the early '70s, a hijacker
calling himself D.B. Cooper
jumped from an airliner in flight
carrying 200,000 bucks in ransom cash
and disappeared in the woods of the Pacific Northwest.
His fate remained unknown, his true identity a mystery.
That is, perhaps, until now.
The people got a right to know who I am and what I am.
And, uh...
it was the time of the Vietnam War...
it was a time-- it was a time of strife.
Everything was going down, Martin Luther King got killed,
died,
Everything was going downhill.
All right, everyone throw in, don't be cheap.
All right, raising two.
You guys, uh, been following those protests
- in D.C.? - Yeah, oh yeah.
Hey, you guys hear about that? Boys in blue?
They couldn't hold it down,
I mean, they had to send in the fucking US Military.
Landing every three minutes,
I mean, can you fucking believe this shit?
That's government, man!
- Right? Come on! - Are you kidding me?
America is the land of opportunity
and you can bet your sweet ass
that if these guys are taking from the pot,
then so am I!
Cheers to that shit, fuckin'-A man.
To the money, boys!
I don't know, I liked the easy money.
I had money all the time.
The more money I made, the happier I was.
I had some nice hotrods in those days,
I mean, I had cars worth $10,000
and I enjoyed myself.
And cocaine was coming in from Panama.
Goddamn, that shit is good, Rodney!
You like that?
I get that from Panama.
Had plenty of cocaine if we wanted, but it was--
it was like, uh, going out, dancing,
having fun with all the women and enjoying yourselves.
I can't wait to be in your arms again, babe.
Uh, I can't wait either.
I had a way to talk to 'em.
I had a way to communicate with women.
You have to have communication with women
otherwise you ain't gonna get 'em.
No communicate? No woman.
And of course, you know about what's her name
that did the song.
Well, hi, I'm Rita Coolidge and I'm a singer,
I sing country music, and, well,
I just put out a record Anytime, Anywhere.
And sometimes I act on-- on screen as well.
Met her in Lake Tahoe, she was singin' at a bar
and then we had an affair for a couple days.
Well, Rodney had this lone wolf
kinda mystery about him.
Like he had a secret or somethin'.
You know, I was thinkin'...
"You should come to Denver with me."
So, you said she wrote a song for you?
Yeah, Run-- "Run, D.B., Run"
Can you sing a little bit of it?
Uh, well, I was in the, uh,
Hard Rock Café in Lake Tahoe when the--
the song came out and it says,
♪ Run D.B. run keep on running D.B. ♪
I mean, he's not a flight risk
obviously.
I mean, he's-- he's not going anywhere.
Other than the fact that he-- I mean, he reoffended, uh--
Doing what we do,
you're exposed to a lot of different people.
And a lot of people lie to you.
So, one of the things that we pride ourself on
is being able to cipher through people who lie
versus people who don't.
And when Carlos told me this story, he was-- he was--
I could feel the excitement within him
and by the time dinner was halfway through,
my mouth was wide open and I couldn't,
you know, believe the detailed events
that were being described.
He's got lots of crazy stories, um,
but as I tried to vet them out,
they-- they all seem like they're-- they're legit.
Him and Don have, uh, some, uh, mining claims...
up in the mountains
and, uh, I've been able to validate that.
We're gold miners too, you know.
Oh, really?
Oh, yeah, we own a gold mine in the mountains there.
Bazooka Gold Mining Company, LLC.
Uh, I did my research, he owned the claims,
he brought in the ore, he brought in the, uh,
the geological assessment.
Here's our gold strike, here's the vein.
This is how massive it is.
This is my great grandfather, Sam Bonnifield.
This is Remington that made the rifles.
And there's 2,600 pounds of gold
and this is going to Seattle.
And they surveyed all of Alaska and I've got the map.
I have a Bonnifield Region up there.
260 miles of that country is ours.
They've been rich, they've been broke,
they've been rich again, they've been broke,
they've had lots of adventures.
I mean I've been to the-- I've been to the farm.
He, for the last 35ish years
has lived on a dairy farm.
Incognito, uh, with a friend of his.
We're, uh, in Washington State
near the Skagit River.
The place is, uh, peace and harmony,
good-willed men, a good place to live.
We always come ready to go here.
Because you don't get a second chance out here.
380.
Just like that. Live with Don Lee at the farm.
Hell of a guy.
My great grandfather actually homesteaded this farm.
Started milking cows as a sophomore in high school.
We got this farm kinda rockin' and rollin' for a while
and then all these people that are poor come here
and mess things up.
There's crazy characters that come and go.
It is absolutely, 100% certain
that he was in a knife fight and stabbed a guy.
I do not, uh, have any problems with anybody
that don't wanna give me a problem.
They give me a problem, I give 'em a problem back.
Knives or guns, it don't matter.
Oh! Oh, fuck!
This Clifford Rich was staying by my place there.
He was hanging around Don Lee's house.
And I asked Cliff if he wanted to help me
paint my house.
So, Rod said "He's a painter, he's a good painter."
He was an evil sucker, you know?
He was out raping kids and women,
I says, "I don't want nothing to do with you no more."
I found out about it, I says,
"I don't want nothing to do with you anymore."
So, I told Don, "Get him out of the house."
There are several stories about what happened
between Rodney and Clifford, but apparently
Clifford went after Rodney with a machete.
It was one just like this except it's all black.
Well, I took him out anyway.
From the criminal perspective,
you know, it's legit.
He spoke of being a teamster, which, at one time,
he was a teamster, I know that for a fact,
but he said he was very connected
with the mob,
did a lot of strong-arm stuff,
you know, on behalf of the union.
I was working the docks
with the teamsters.
And then Jimmy Hoffa got murdered
and then they called me up said we need a favor.
We'll meet you at Magnolia Bluff.
We met out, we need to strike this waterfront, it's 1972.
They picked me...
to help 'em do it.
And this is, uh, John Fitzsimmons.
- Fitzsimmons? - How you doin'?
All right.
All right, every Thursday at 3:00 p.m.,
a 48-foot sea vessel by the name of Lucy docks here.
You will process all drop offs from Lucy
under the name John Alexander.
Once complete, you will phone me directly.
-Is that clear? -Crystal.
Your assistance will not be forgotten.
I suppose we'll be in touch then.
That is a fact.
So, what do you have to say
to the people that are--
that-- that might think that you aren't D.B. Cooper.
Well, I could care less, I did the job.
There've been a lot of people over the years
who've claimed to be D.B. Cooper.
Probably the most recognizable would be Mr. Rackshaw,
but he can't fill in the blanks like Rodney.
In fact, none of the people
who've claimed to be D.B. Cooper
can fill in the slots like Rodney can.
There's-- there's, just, too much minutia there
for this to be in his head and not be real.
I came right down the Columbia River
at Tena Bar
and there's a cove in there and I looked at the cove
when I was comin' down, I landed right in the sands.
I left $5,880 on the beach
and I took $300 more out
and that leaves $193,000 left
somewhat, in dollars.
It's on that beach right now.
So, if I find the rock, we're gonna dig it up
and we'll get that money.
And the only reason I thought it had credibility
enough to at least pursue a little bit,
do some research and then bring Mike in
was the fact that he was gonna bring the money to me.
He was gonna set the money on the desk
and then from there he wanted me to do something
with the cash.
My plan is probably to go underground,
sell some of the money, you know?
But, that's business.
Why not? It's my money. I took it.
And, uh, if I get somebody to help me sell it,
then fine, dandy, I get it sold.
So, Rod had an idea
of what the value of the money was
and it was an inflated amount based off the fact
that a kid had been camping down on the river,
actually found some money,
and then selling the money at a much higher value
than what the actual face is.
So, did you bury the $5,800 immediately?
Yes.
The reason why, I always leave a tip.
So that they thought I'd gone in the river.
I put the money there, in all 20s,
I put 'em in a stack.
Why that amount of money?
I don't know, I just reached in the bag
and grabbed whatever I had, and counted it,
it was $5,880 and I went, "Okay, that's--
somebody will find this, some fisherman
or some hiker or--
well, they didn't find it for nine more years.
Then the Dwayne Ingrum family
entered the picture last February.
I was gonna build a fire
and I had some wood in my arm
and I got ready to set it down
and my son ran up and said, "Wait a minute, Daddy."
So, he raked a place out in the sand
and there it was, it kinda tumbled up on the top.
What his young son found
was part of Cooper's loot.
Badly decomposed, in bundles,
still in the same order when packed nine years ago.
The Columbia River is a massive river.
And it's an ever-changing riverbank.
This is where large shipping vessels come through
and bring product to and from other countries
and distribute it around the world.
So, they have to continually dredge it
and make sure that it's clear for the shipping lanes.
Dredging is done in a lot of major waterways
and that's to keep the waterway open
for commerce
because it's not that deep
and they have to dig out that waterway year after year.
Rodney described his burying of the $5,800
to be in a very shallow area because he did it very hastily
and scientists in 2020 determined
that there was algae found on the money
that could've only been there during a spring bloom.
So, it's-- it's possible that the money,
having been buried in a shallow area,
later on, after a dredging, was exposed to the water,
thus exposing it to the algae that only blooms in the spring.
That's key,
because it means the ransom money
entered the water months after Cooper jumped.
For instance, Kay says it scuttles
the FBI's original theory in the 1980s
that the ransom money flowed from rivers
in the suspected drop zone near Lake Merwin
down through the Washougal River
to the Columbia.
The so-called "Washougal Wash Down Theory."
The money was not floating in the water for a year,
otherwise we would've seen diatoms
from the full range of the year.
We only saw them from the spring--
springtime bloom.
So this puts a very narrow range
on when the money got wet
and was subsequently buried on Tena Bar.
Rodney knew all kinds of specifics
about-- about the hijacking.
What were you wearing that day?
I wore a sports jacket, penny loafers,
black tie, which belonged to my dad.
The one piece of physical evidence
that really yielded something substantial
was the fact that the tie was analyzed at the time
and throughout the years continued to be analyzed
as technology got better
and titanium was one of the major alloys
found on it.
The periodical table of clues, say scientists,
suggests Cooper had access to a manufacturing company
that made airplanes, like the one he jumped from.
Perhaps a company with a connection to Boeing.
Rodney did identify the fact that that tie was his father's
and that he did work at Boeing.
Uh, he had the--
the times down to specifics.
Exact time frame, uh,
that lines up with-- with what, um,
the authorities have.
Left Portland about 4:30,
it was getting kinda dark, it was during the winter.
And then we got up in the air and it was raining.
They seated me in 18E in the back
near the stewardess.
He knew the type of cigarettes that were smoked.
Did they allow you to smoke
- back in the day on airplanes? - Yes, they did.
I smoked about eight Raleigh's, but I just barely smoked them.
I was nervous.
The-- the cocktails that were ordered--
I ordered me a bourbon and they brought me a double.
Can I get you anything?
Uh, yes.
I'll take a bourbon on the rocks
and if you could keep those coming
until the plane lands or I jump out of it,
that'd be great.
I'll make it a double, how 'bout that?
And the more I looked into it,
the more I thought, "Well, he's either
the most well-versed D.B. Cooper fanatic
that I've ever met or even heard of,
um, or he's D.B. Cooper."
It's hard to look somebody in the eye
who is so sincere about their story
and discount it or,
um, call them a liar.
The guy's a character,
and he's just enough of a character
to have jumped out of an airplane, uh,
being suicidal with nothing to lose and--
and, you know, pulling it off.
I'm inclined to believe that-- that he's the guy.
I wanna believe he's the guy.
Reintroducing it to myself, you know,
I-- I start to realize some of the details
that were out there.
And when he added to those details,
it-- it was very convincing.
He's either convinced himself that it's real
or it's real.
So, with that, it's--
it's worth coming to take a look.
So, after some deliberation,
Mike and I decided that maybe we should go down
and dig up this money.
We're going on an exploratory mission here
to see if he is the guy to confirm or not
whether he's the person who hijacked an airplane in,
you know, in 1971, a long time ago.
So, there's a lot of questions
and there's a lot of mystery around it.
If I'm not mistaken, it's the only unsolved
hijacking in the history of the world.
Uh, and-- and that has to have some interest.
There's some sex appeal to that.
I mean, it's almost like treasure hunting.
I think everybody has a little kid inside of them
that loves the idea of going and finding
some buried treasure,
and that's exactly what we're gonna try to do.
I mean, I think he's getting to the--
to the end of life and he wants people to know.
And he might not have the opportunity
to tell this story 'cause we're within two weeks
of him potentially going to prison, so
the time is growing short.
Uh, 9:30 tomorrow, I'm supposed to have a court date,
I'm not gonna show up.
And on May 9th, my mom's birthday,
my brother's birthday,
and my daughter's birthday is May 9th.
I'm not going to court to get sentenced on May 9.
He's been going to court
and the prosecutor wants to put him away
for something that he should be given
an award for.
And the fact is, he is a life-long criminal.
I mean, he lives and thinks like a criminal.
that's the way he's wired.
Uh, now he's calmed down, he's trying to find peace
in his-- his-- his later years.
And you ask about his bad upbringing,
he didn't have a bad upbringing,
he told you he was born a criminal.
So when you were a kid
you always wanted to be a-- a--
-a gangster? -Yeah. I was born one.
My mom's given me birth at Chief Seattle Statue
rushed me to the West Seattle Hospital,
and that's where I was born.
He was a very busy little boy.
He was always into many different things.
He was an asshole.
Can you take us back
to your first experience with criminal activity?
Okay, I go into an ice cream parlor,
I was five and a half years old,
I didn't have the money to pay for the ice cream,
so while she went out to use the restroom,
I got the two ice creams and I took the till
and opened it up and got all the money out the till
and walked right out.
Hey! What're you doing!
Kid! Hey!
He--
he thought of lots of ways to, um, make money.
He was a thief.
♪ Come on, gimme a reason ♪
♪ To make me stay ♪
♪ And if you come beggin' ♪
I robbed my first beer truck
when I was 13.
way, and I robbed it.
Took the kegs off it, me and this other kid.
Jackpot!
-He was a little entrepreneur. -A little bastard.
And the 18 and 19 year olds
would buy my beer from me back then
so I had money all the time.
Welcome! Ten bucks a keg, you hounds.
Come on, cough it up.
It's a good day to be in the beer business,
suckers.
When did you notice a change
in Rodney?
-I-- -Uh--
I don't wanna talk about-- Can we just--
I think we need to move on to a different question.
Rodney. Take your pills and go to bed.
No more magazines!
-That kid. -What's he doin' now?
He won't stop with the magazines.
What kinda mag-- are they Playboys?
I'm missing some Playboys.
Oh, I don't know. I never thought of that.
I-- I guess it's better than Playgirl.
Oh, gosh, I don't wanna have to worry about that.
You know, uh...
I got another call from the principal today.
No--
They're thinking about kicking Rod out.
I told you
that he is not taking his medicine
and when he doesn't take his medicine,
he goes bonkers.
I don't like when he takes that medicine--
I know--
He doesn't need anything to calm him down.
I don't know what else to do.
Military school?
If you can convince him.
I don't think we should give him a gun.
We've got things
that we may or may not need tomorrow.
Um, we've got guns
just to make sure that we're safe
and that everybody's safe 'cause we have no idea,
really, what we're up against.
This guy claims to be a life-long criminal,
so we have no idea what he's capable of
or who his affiliations are.
So, he could have people out there
waiting for us to bring it back to the hotel,
people that track us to the dig site.
And if this money, um, is there,
uh, I-- I really feel like
we can't let him just walk away.
There's no option there.
I mean, if-- if we don't turn the money in
then we're liaisons...
-We're criminals-- -...to the crime.
He thinks he has this thing lined up.
We're gonna set up camp in Woodland,
that's where the hotels are gonna be
that we're gonna work out of and then the--
the bar that the money was found
is down southwest of that area.
So, geographically, it's not too far away.
Just outside of town.
We're gonna rally at 5:00 a.m.
and we're gonna drive down the highway
and, um, go after the money.
Just basically-- just go right at it.
Picked the boys up, they're ready to roll.
Let's go down and unbury that money.
All right, let's get her done.
All right, all right.
You can ask me any questions you want.
Did you ever conceive of this plan
beforehand or thought, like,"Oh,
you know, I might be able to hijack a plane,
get some ransom money,
-and jump out of it?" -Never.
I call it skyjacking, but never.
How did you even know
how to jump out of a commercial airplane?
It seems like you would have to
know something about aviation.
A friend of mine, Roger Gackle was a flight--
he organized the flights
coming in and out of the airport.
He invited me in with Rick Gackle,
so I knew the whole layout before I did it.
Okay, so Roger Gackle
was kind of like this guy that taught you
the inner workings of what aviation is.
He just.
Let's go Rod!
Yeah!
That's how it's done, fellas!
-Hey, where's Gackle? -He went back to the airport.
Gackle gave me a tour of that 727 last week.
-Have you been on that thing? -Nah.
He showed me every switch and lever.
That bird can do some serious action.
This guy's been hot on airplanes ever since
he jumped off the roof when he was seven.
- Hey! What's up, you goons? - Hey, buddy boy.
We goin' to the loop on Friday?
Oh, the loop!
Oh, the loop! Yeah!
South of the Washington-Oregon border.
A little Portland hideout, fun-out.
And when Rodney showed up...
...that's when the party lifted off.
Hey, how you doin'?
Hey, what's up, Rod?
How you doing, brother?
-Hey, Rod. -Hey, baby.
Oh, the loop is where we used to gang fight,
race cars, and monkey around
with wild women down there, okay?
Here's the loop. Fast cars.
Yeah, dude, it looks like you need
a new radiator hose.
Lotta women. Lotta drugs.
Goddamn this shit is good.
Lotta people
havin' a good time mixing 'em all together.
Gotcha!
Do me next, but I like it a little slower!
Fuck you, Larry.
Well, look who decides to show his cock to the party!
Welcome, baby.
Let's have a good time.
It was everything we were about.
We lived it.
That's one of my favorite memories.
I remember one time Rodney, was waving around a gun.
I think he-- I don't know what drug he was on.
You never really knew.
I probably helped him with it.
He was just waving around a gun,
wanting to fight.
I can't even remember, he was ready
to fight anyone, even me.
- You see Stacy's cousin? - Wayne Shannon,
I fought him twice out in Gutterway.
First time was a draw. Second time I beat him.
Who didn't see Stacy's cousin.
Fuck! Goddamn.
Yeah, I seem to remember Stacy's cousin
because I think it was around her 19th birthday.
We had a pretty good time together.
Yeah, and I bet she enjoyed all three seconds.
Excuse me?
You heard me. I mean, girls talk.
And they need someone to lay the pipe.
And we know that's not you. I mean, let's be honest.
You know what? Forget you.
Bring your skinny dick over here and say that to my face.
Whoa, whoa, whoa!
Come on, Rodney, come on, man.
Now, if anyone else wants to piss me off
and get on my nerves, let's have a discussion
right now, right here, in my office.
Anybody got a problem with that?
No, man. We're cool, we're cool.
I mean, you have to be
a pretty crazed lunatic
in order to hijack a commercial airline flight.
Well, I was-- I was up for four days.
I had a bag of criss-cross speed
- and I'd pop 'em and get up. - So like stuff,
- like, Johnny Cash used to do? - Yeah, same stuff.
Not the black beauties, but the-- the,
you know, the white criss-cross speed.
It was all over the place in the old days.
We'd always take the uppers when we went drinkin'
and-- and carousing and stuff so--
Rodney always had a plan,
no matter what it was.
Knock-knock,
Christmas came early, my friend.
Ooh, is that the shit Cash is using?
Make no mistake,
these are not black beauties.
No, sir, this is criss-cross.
This stuff, my friend, will sell.
Oh! It's like the first snow in winter.
-What a beaut! -That'll knock the pins down.
Care to ski the slopes, my friend?
I'd been a supplier of drugs for a long time
so I could ignite the fun,
but hi-- hi-- his-- his plans were
how can we make money and have some fun too?
I will criss-cross this
all across the county.
Tic-tac-toe.
Across the states we go, my friend.
But we gotta be quick about this, pal.
Dude, I have never let you down, Rod.
You've never let me down, buddy.
How're you feeling, sir?
I'm feeling great.
Hungry, about to eat.
I'm excited about the fact that he's an old honcho
that just is excited and ready to roll.
Everything he's told us is stuff we haven't heard
in the news, or most of it,
and only one person would know all these details.
So, our optimism is rising.
You gotta mind, uh...
...when I took the jump,
I had a pair of penny loafers on.
So, uh, I lost one of my penny loafers on the way down.
So I ended up buying
a pair of tennis shoes on the way out.
I had to walk to the road, go to Woodland
to get the tennis shoes.
Piggly Wiggly, just closing up
at ten o'clock at night.
I had to beg and plead with the lady
to get the tennis shoes, but then I had shoes.
And so then I took a-- I went to a payphone to call
a cab and I took the cab back to Portland to get my car.
57 Chevy.
Two door hardtop with that--
Like, the stuff that he's talking about
is so detailed.
He's like Jesus, he's either a psychopath,
liar, narcissist, or it's true.
- It's crazy. - What is your-- what--
what are you thinking right now?
-What do you think? -Honestly, after that?
After that I'm kind of convinced--
It would just-- he would be going
to such great lengths...
all for, like, a lie, which, again, is possible,
but I'm starting to--
I'm starting to be convinced.
What are your thoughts now that
you've seen the confidence he has?
I mean, I'm pretty, like,
like Will was saying, he's just, like,
he's either a crazed lunatic
or, you know, or he's telling the complete truth
and this is all real, you know?
I mean, there's only two ways to spin it.
What did you compare him to? Jesus?
Right, but-- but don't--
don't you always come back to the fact
that he actually is going to take us there
and what does he expect to have happened
if we don't find it.
It-- that's what confuses me. What is his end game?
I said I would never go dig it up
until the timing was right.
Well, now the time is right.
I have every FBI agent
in the United States looking for me...
because they gotta prove their point,
they gotta get that man.
They got the rest of 'em.
Killed Pretty Boy Floyd,
Dillinger, and Baby Face Nell.
They got 'em all.
You don't think they won't get me too?
Well, that's the way it looks to me.
- I am not stupid. - But Why did--
Why did you resort to a life of crime?
I don't know.
I-- I robbed Safeway stores, I used to get
30-40,000 a whack out of them,
but, you know, I was a young-- I was a gangster.
I was running around with a bunch of tough kids.
And these were armed robberies?
Yeah, I committed 20 or 30 armed robberies.
And I was with McDonald on about ten of 'em.
Where are we headed?
As far as we can, Marty.
As far as we can.
Robbery was involved and I can't say
I wanted to do it most of the time,
but he's a seller of fun and a seller of, uh, crazy.
Empty that safe into that bag right now!
- Do it! Every last dime! - That's all of it!
- That's all we got! - Oh, come on,
you stupid ass hippy, fill that thing up!
We happy, buddy?
I want you to remember this face.
You're gonna be reading about it for a long, long time.
Let's move out, sunshine.
♪ Uh huh ♪
♪ We gonna tear this motherfucker up ♪
♪ And burn this motherfucker down ♪
Yes!
Drugs, guns, whatever was involved.
I was ready for the ride.
I hope you like Chinese food,
buddy, 'cause we're gonna get our feast on tonight.
What're you talkin' about? What-- what Chinese food?
♪ A lot of stories ♪
♪ Uh-huh, yeah, uh-huh ♪
Not The Dragon, man, I eat here twice a week!
Marty...
I thought you wanted to be a gangster!
Rod, have you had the kung pao here?
Best in town.
And if we do this,
-I can't eat here anymore! -No,
I haven't had the kung pao here, Marty.
And who the fuck cares?
Ah, Rod, seriously, I eat here all the time!
It's sweet, Yuki will probably recognize me!
Man, I've been trying to ask her out
the last couple weeks, man.
Marty, put the mask on, disguise your voice,
and then next week you can take out
sweet Yuki on a wonderful date
with all the money that you rob from her tonight.
If you had had the kung pao,
we wouldn't be doin' this right now, man.
Shut the fuck up, Marty.
All right, hands in the air, sweetheart!
Now, I want you to go back to that register,
and take every last dollar, and put it inside this bag.
If you try any funny stuff, things are gonna get
un-fucking-funny,
real fuckin' quick!
And don't skimp on those fortune cookies either.
Come on, Yuki.
We're not gonna hurt you, we just need the money.
Marty?
Marty!
I saved the best for last.
No clerks, no bullshit.
Just good old-fashioned American takin' stuff.
And you know how much I love takin' stuff!
What if someone comes in there while we're there?
Oh, fuck, Marty!
These rich fucks only come here in the summertime!
The rest of the year, this house is barren,
it's just ready to get picked off!
Don't you think we should just quit
while we're ahead?
I will tell you
when we are ahead, you stupid bitch!
These fucks are ahead.
Now...
picking off two places in one night is child's play!
But you pick off three places...
That's a spree, buddy.
That's a spree.
Four-- three places?
Here's a-- here's thing on me, right here.
November 24, 1971, a man called himself
Dan Cooper. Yeah, I did.
The name came from Jackie Cooper,
the first-- last name.
And the front name was my cousin, Dan.
Who's Jackie Cooper?
Movie star.
Played in, uh, Frank James in,
uh, one of the Ford brothers in a-- in a movie.
Every single question we asked Rodney
about the crime, he had an answer for.
And he didn't have to stutter or stammer or think about it.
It came out very naturally, like it was the truth.
We just elevated up.
I handed her the note and then she says,
"I can't go out with you."
I says, "You better read the note."
She-- she thought you were asking her for a date?
Asking her for a date, yeah.
Not very picky, are you?
I'm flattered, but married.
What did the note say?
Uh, it says I have,
uh, a briefcase full of dynamite,
explosives, and if I don't get
what I want, I'll blow the plane up.
And how did she react?
She says, "Oh, my God."
She just ran right up there as fast as she could.
Not run, but briskly went up there.
Up to the cockpit?
- Yeah. - Yeah.
And then, uh, that's when I had trouble.
Lawrence Finegold.
One of the things
that-- that I found interesting,
uh, as Rodney was filling in the details of the incident
was an interaction with a young attorney
out of Seattle named Finegold.
He started coming back at me and I came right up to
him and said, "You better sit down and shut up.
No funny stuff. He goes, "What is this?"
I says, "Your toupee's not-- not straight on your head.
I acted, like, a little bit crazy but--
I would sit down and I would straighten out
that fuckin' toupee if I were you.
No funny stuff.
Rodney told him to, you know, sit down
and that his hairpiece was slightly ajar,
which it-- it appears
that maybe he was wearing a hairpiece.
So, to me, I thought that was a very,
very specific detail, and later,
it turns out that Finegold acknowledged
his interaction with Rodney.
My 25th anniversary I called him on the phone
from Seattle and said I'm DB Cooper and he goes,
"Okay, if you're DB Cooper, tell me what--
what I wanna hear."
and I said, "What do you wanna hear and he goes,
"You know what you told me."
and so I told him the same thing
and he says, "Oh, my God, you're still alive."
- And they're all 20's! - I got
193,000 something dollars buried on the beach.
And we're about to go find it.
By a big, black onyx rock.
So the beauty is gonna be us going from this point
right now, from these interviews,
to the site where he was at that time and,
um, hopefully putting a bow on his story.
Right now we need to button up
and get it together and go out and-- and track it down.
All right, let's go dig it up!
Are you feeling confident?
I'm confident. Yeah.
Well, the old Chinamen say, "Can you dig it?"
And then you're digging it!
So we're going treasure hunting and just dig it up!
How 'bout you? Stressed?
This shit is super crazy.
I'm excited and he's got some details that are just--
I mean, he told-- he told the lawyer
your toupee is crooked.
Like, that's a detail and a half if it's real.
No, you don't wanna marry an outlaw,
we have trouble, we have to hide
and everything, you don't need that.
Well, now I'm gonna have to really hide
when I find the money.
So if we do find it, do you think
your son would be excited to hear that you found it?
Well, he's my flesh and blood.
Anybody that's related to me wants some of the money.
That's the way it works, I guess.
It's too bad that the mother did that to me and--
Were there any particular women
in your life at this time?
Romana Lisa Capps.
I met her through, uh, high school.
I think there was just something in me that was scared
of how lawless he was, but that loved it too.
Goddamn it, I love pancakes!
If you love 'em so much,
why'd you give me the last piece?
Because I might kind of like you.
Wow! Everybody hear that?
Romana Lisa Capps likes me.
-She loves me! -Oh my--
Are you surprised that someone
in the Capps family actually likes you?
Yeah, I am. It's a huge accomplishment.
Maybe. No, I definitely am.
But, um, I gotta ask you something.
I heard a rumor, um--
I heard your dad wrapped the family car around a tree
last week on 21st street, is that true?
Yeah. I mean, I guess everybody knows
he's the town drunk now.
No one thinks your dad's the town drunk.
He made a mistake,
we all make mistakes, you know?
Life goes on. Who cares?
Plus, think of the upside.
At least now, the whole town knows
that at the Capps house,
the liquor cabinet is well-stocked.
Huh?
Hmm.
Well maybe his liquor cabinet should be our next destination.
Uh-oh. You getting a bad idea?
Well, this one hearkens back to the greats
and it's called the ol' dine and dash.
Oh, you're gonna pull this one off?
- Mm-hmm. - The big heist?
Ooh! What the hell was that?
I just treated you to the best pancakes
of your goddamn life.
That may be so, but if you keep this shit up,
you're going to end up a criminal, missy.
Oh, has this little escapade
-reminded you of someone? -Yeah, it did--
♪ You got my attention, baby ♪
Come on, we have a liquor cabinet to raid.
She didn't like who I am or what I am,
but she just pushed it aside
that I'm a little wilder than most people.
Always been wild.
Have some of this.
Hair of the dog, what've we got?
Ooh! Number seven, now we're talkin'.
Hmm.
Ah!
Thank you, Mr. Capps.
You got shit on your mind, don't you?
Yeah.
Your pops?
Yeah. It's just--
It's just hard to talk about my father or my family.
I understand.
But I feel really free with you.
That's good.
That's real good.
I'm a free guy.
Look, forget about your dad.
Forget about what the town is sayin'.
They're not sayin' shit. They don't know anything.
No one knows the ins and outs of a person's home
or how they run it.
No one knows your family, I don't know your family.
All right, think about it like this.
This is gonna sound real corny.
-In the car of life-- okay? -Okay.
Every past version of us is in the car,
and what I mean by that is people screw up,
and hopefully they learn from that shit.
The key that no one tells you...
is that when you're driving in this car of life
down the highway of life...
all those past versions of yourself...
they're in the car with you.
And the key, the secret...
is to not let any of 'em drive.
Does that mean I'm with a safe driver?
You're with a safe driver, I can assure you that.
And we were goin' out and we loved each other.
Her dad told me to marry her,
or I'd get shotgunned to death
and we had a baby on the way
so I took his advice and married her.
Anyway, I loved her.
♪ You were made for love
♪ And we fell into
♪ Back when the stars began to shine ♪
You have any idea where we are?
No. Rod, you know I don't like surprises!
It's a good surprise,
no bad surprise, okay?
- You ready? - Okay, yes, I'm ready.
-Are you ready? -Yes, yes, yes.
Okay. Three, two, One.
Oh, my God, Rod!
I know, it's a gourmet meal!
This is beautiful!
Well, the old man did have one thing right.
Will you marry me?
Oh, my God, I can't wait to be
-Mrs. Rodney Bonnifield! -Yes?
- Yes! - Yes?
Yes!
Oh, man, when Rodney and Romana got together,
it was a great thing.
It was a great thing for Rodney.
I never seen him that happy.
Marty McFerguson up to the t-box.
Averaging 350 yards per drive.
You're a little pink
around the edges, aren't you, Marty?
Keeps me goin'.
You take your vitamins today, Marty?
- Everyday. - Good.
Doesn't get much better than this, buddy.
Look at this!
Normally, on any given day,
Marty, I'd agree with you.
But today is not a normal day, my friend.
I got some good news.
- What? - You're gonna be an uncle.
I-- I'm gonna get adopted?
No, Marty.
I'm gonna be a father!
With Romana?
No, with your mother-- yes, with Romana!
-Romana Lisa Capps! -Rod, man! Look at you!
- We're having a family! - Oh!
Man!
The new man Rodney Bonnifield family man.
- Yes! - I'll take that.
A new man.
So what's next for the family man?
Well, I gotta clean up my act.
I can't be doin' what I've been doing up here
and Washington's pretty much tapped out.
So, I'm gonna be working
down in California for a little bit.
The Boins was lettin' everybody go.
No jobs here, so we went down there,
worked at Carol's Cabinets.
♪ And it's hard to call it home ♪
♪ When it's raining all day long ♪
♪ And you know it's all been done ♪
♪ And you can't get you no sun ♪
♪ No, no, see, I got bigger plans ♪
♪ Something to hold in my hands... ♪
You here for castle tickets?
If you're selling magic I'm buying.
♪ Going where the sun shines ♪
What is this?
This is magic that's gonna send your ass
over the fuckin' moon.
-How much? -For you?
-$100. -100 bucks?
I can get this much back up in Seattle for $40!
Look around, does it look like we're in Seattle?
You got palm trees in fuckin' Seattle?
Does Marlon Brando live in Seattle?
100 bucks.
Take it or beat it.
That's all I got-
Hey! Where's a guy go to have a good time around here?
Excuse me, do I know you?
♪ Where the sunshine gon' get me high ♪
♪ I'm goin' where the sunshine gon' get me high ♪
He started just doin'
a lot of drugs and-- and drinking a lot
and, uh, would disappear for days on end and--
I'm-- I'm not gonna raise
my kid how my parents raised me.
Ooh.
- Hello? - Hi!
I'm calling for the most gorgeous woman
in the entire world.
Is that one of your brother's pick up lines?
Ouch, Romana.
I'd say we're well beyond that.
I mean, I thought we were,
but someone doesn't know how to pick up the phone.
I'm here working for you, babe.
For the both of you.
- How's little Rod? - He's kicking.
I cannot wait to feel that.
I'm so excited for you to get here.
I just know that this kid is gonna have
your eyes and, Lord willing,
he doesn't have my ears, and I think he'll be okay.
- Hm. - But seriously.
Being in your arms again will be absolute Heaven
and I sure cannot wait.
Oh. Now?
Now you miss me?
Come on, babe. What do you want from me?
I'm just trying to do right by ya.
It's late, Rod.
I need to go.
I have an early flight tomorrow.
Love you.
You all right?
Yeah.
It's about time you let him know.
-I know. -He needs to know.
When things started getting fucked up
with Rodney and I, uh, he heard from my brother
at the mechanic shop and started coming around more
and maybe the truth is that--
I didn't know for a while, but I had a suspicion
that it was actually Wayne Shannon's.
Hey!
-You're here! -Hi, Rod.
I can't stay long.
What're you talking about, you just got into town.
Yeah, I wanted to talk to you in person.
Do you wanna have a seat?
-Yeah-- -Okay.
- Chat? - Yeah. Sure, what--
What's up, babe?
You're always drinking God knows how much,
staying out 'til the wee hours of the morning,
barely remembering to call me.
I am pregnant, Rod.
I know you're pregnant.
And that's why I'm down here trying to earn a living for us.
Yeah, and drink half of it away while you're at it?
We are not in love, Rod. We got married for the baby.
- Romana-- - And I'll be damned
if I spend the rest of my life unhappy
just because I got pregnant.
Oh, hon, I'm trying to do the right thing here.
I made an honest woman out of you.
Yes, I got you pregnant, but you're down here
and we're gonna be a family together.
I don't even know if it's yours, Rod.
Oh.
Okay.
I know what this is about. This is about Wayne Shannon.
You're fucking Wayne Shannon.
It's none of your business.
I think it is my business!
-It's about us! -There is no us!
I am done, Rod. I am done.
-Do you hear that? -Romana,
I moved my ass all the way to LA for this.
For you.
For the goddamn baby.
And this is what you do?
She thought she could talk to me about
having sex with a guy.
Well, you don't talk to me
when you have sex with somebody else.
I flipped out.
I took a chair and threw it right through
the-- right through the side window.
I was, uh, very upset.
I thought that she loved me,
but then she left me because of my temper.
What the fuck, Rodney?
I told you no more bullshit!
-You're gone! -Fuck you, Kevin!
That's the worst pain I've ever felt
in my life, is losing her.
Absolutely pain that you wouldn't believe.
'Cause I loved her.
♪ I been walking, oh, oh ♪
♪ Down this lonely road ♪
♪ Trying to find my way, mmm
♪ Find my way back home ♪
♪ Sleepless nights, yeah
♪ Cryin' 'bout my bare side
♪ Oh, trying to get my mind
♪ Off of your love, mmm
♪ Sweet baby, take me back ♪
♪ Oh, take me back ♪
♪ To the good times ♪
♪ Where my heart belongs ♪
♪ Oh, on the open road
♪ Night can be so cold on this journey ♪
♪ Going up this open road ♪
So I got back to Federal Way in Washington.
I was not very right in the mind at the time.
She knew I was looking for her.
They didn't do a damn thing in those days
with somebody stealin' your kid.
So, be honest.
How'd you like the movie?
Well, Eastwood was dreamy
and I like a little violence.
The baby doesn't really like the violence.
Oh, honey. You seem cold.
And about the violence.
Just like Dirty Harry,
I'm gonna keep you...
and this baby safe forever.
Don't you worry.
I love you, Wayne Shannon.
I love you, Romana Lisa Capps.
Wayne Shannon, you're a dead man.
They tried to talk to me, my cousins and stuff,
and I just couldn't take it.
I was just-- madly in love with this woman.
Had a baby by her.
And, uh, we split up.
His, uh, wife at the time had left him
and then had actually stated
that the child that they had together,
or that he assumed they had together,
probably wasn't his.
And I think that at that time, he-- he lost his mind,
the wheels came off at that point.
Hey, I couldn't find
your car, man-- Holy shit.
You all right, man?
Oh-- yeah.
What the fuck's goin' on?
Well, Romana came down.
And, uh, she's leavin' me.
Sneaking around with Wayne Shannon.
Yeah.
So...
...I have devised a plan and with your help
it's gonna work and I'll get her back.
Honestly. Let it go.
I've never heard of a broad changing her mind
after stepping out with a new man.
Maybe you're hitting that shit too hard, man.
Oh, wow.
Says my drug dealer.
What, overnight you grew a conscience?
Huh? You grew a fuckin' pair of balls?
Fuck you, Marty. Get down here.
-Have some of this with me. -I'm good.
Oh, you're good? Yeah.
You know, I fuckin' had your back
through it all.
I've fuckin' been there for you.
But I'm not fuckin' doin' this shit
and I'm not goin' down this fuckin' road with you.
What fuckin' road?
This fuckin' road with me
and the woman I love, Romana?
It's not fuckin' about Romana!
It's never been about Romana, it's about these fuckin' drugs.
That are killing you!
And I'm not gonna be here to see that.
You're not there for much, are you, Marty?
Chicken shit.
Your chicken shit ideas,
and you're a chicken shit lackey.
So, by all means, go fuck off.
Out the front door. And go home.
All right.
Call me if you need me.
You know where the fuck I am. Been there the last 20 years.
-Uh-huh. Mmm. -For you.
See you at Thanksgiving, asshole!
After the Romana split,
I'd never seen him like that.
He-- he wasn't Rodney anymore.
He wasn't the Rodney I know.
And that dude's the craziest guy,
so to be at that point, for me,
I didn't even know how to have his back.
I didn't know how to support him.
So, at that moment in time...
Rodney could've done anything.
Anything was possible.
I was up for four days on criss-cross speed.
Uh, had suicidal, uh, tendencies,
I had the suitcase
with the flares, like, dynamite.
I was gonna force her to go with me,
no matter which way you look at it.
What were you wearing that day?
I wore a sports jacket,
penny loafers, black tie,
a tie clasp with a round stone in it.
Why were you wearing a suit?
I wanted to impress my, uh,
wife when I picked her up.
I drove over to her mother's house
and asked her where she was at
and she said that she just left in her Javelin
to go down to Portland at the mall
and I figured, well, I'd just go ahead
try to catch her at the mall so I could talk to her and,
uh, drove from Seattle Federal Way to-- to Portland.
I parked my car in the loop.
So, you're saying that you were suicidal,
so you went to go take her hostage?
Yes, I did. I was gonna do it.
And that was a very serious thought
- in your mind? - Yes.
I took a taxi from there to the mall.
Jameson Beach mall, and step on it already.
But she wasn't there, missed her by 20 minutes.
Plan B was to get ahead of her,
so I'd take an airplane back.
Right away I was worried, I just left the car,
took a cab from the air--
from there, the mall, to the airport.
Got to the airport, I asked him how much
it'd be to ride coach to Seattle and they said $20.
I signed my name Dan Cooper.
Anytime y-- you start digging into something
that happened in the past,
there are a lot of different things
that could or couldn't have happened,
and as time grows, you-- you--
those facts are more difficult to uncover.
Sometimes it-- it-- it's left with a question mark.
After being presented with what he gave us,
we're convinced enough to at least move forward
with this because, whether the story is true or not,
it-- it's an adventure.
And we went on a treasure hunt.
We're gonna pass, like, some sort of,
like, industrial area, which is where,
on some YouTube video, they dropped a pin that said
"DB money found," like, around that area.
That's what I'm saying Tena Bar is--
Right, right.
Yeah, it's called Tena Bar,
and it-- it's located on several maps
so we're trying to, uh, convert,
you know, screenshots over to an actual GPS map
and, uh, figured out where it was.
DB was talkin' about a little cove
that he buried the money at
and we think that's the cove right there.
Outside the cove.
So we'll be able to park on the road
or maybe even closer, pop down, and...
theoretically get it.
This is, um, a geographic area
that is-- it's very, very, rural.
Flat and open and it has a lot of growth,
there's no malls out there.
Road closed. - Well, this is us.
As we pull up to the end of the road,
we have the anticipation, as you're starting,
that you might actually dig up,
you know, $190,000.
You know, a 48 year mystery solved,
you know, in a handful of hours.
How're you feeling?
I'm optimistic, but still--
I have to be a realist. If it's there, though.
He says he can find it, so we're gonna give it a go.
The money they did find right down there--
Yeah. We're looking at the cove that he had identified
as a landmark to where he--
How far is it away?
Like, 900 feet, it's close.
Well, let's gear up, let's get all the stuff
we need for, uh, hoofing here
and anything we need to dig it out.
I mean, let's do it.
If it's there, we're gonna find it right now.
Carry the money out there.
When they were getting out of the vehicle,
they grabbed a duffel bag
and then a backpack that was empty,
not one single thing in it and I could hear them
talkin', sayin', "We'll just put the money in this."
Why would they do that unless they really felt
there was money out there?
Because we had backpacks,
we could've easily carried it out.
But instead they had an empty backpack,
so that was part of the-- one of the times
when I thought, "Well, this-- this is real
and we might find this money."
So, are you guys armed right now?
Are you guys carryin'?
Don. Don was--
Are you guys carrying a weapon?
Well, I don't think we need it out here, do we?
No, we don't, I was just makin' sure
that we're all safe and we're all on the same page.
Oh, yeah.
He gets on a shootin' spree, he might not quit.
Well, I only brought one clip--
Cameramen are next!
Let's go get the money!
How're you feelin' right now?
Real good. I'm gonna go dig my money up.
The main thing is I didn't harm nobody.
I just got the money. I never was gonna harm nobody.
A little dynamite don't scare anybody, does it?
It does.
When you're way up in the air.
What was your intention
getting on that plane?
Getting on that plane was to,
uh-- uh, get ahead of her.
Well, things escalated.
I said I might as well get some cash
and do a quick robbery
and, uh, that's when I realized
that I had the suitcase anyway,
that I would go ahead and use that suitcase
as a bomb threat and take the plane over.
Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Tina
and I'm your chief flight attendant.
We go back and forth up the coast,
I-- it was just like any normal flight.
Done it 1,000 times.
I'd like to welcome you aboard
Northwest Orient 727 nonstop service
from Portland to Seattle.
At this time, we'd like to ask you to...
- Here you go. - Thank you.
Is everything all right?
Yeah, uh, I lost my wife.
Oh, I'm so sorry.
But, you know what, Flo,
I think that everything is gonna be all right.
You just keep those drinks comin'...
...and at the end of this flight
I'm gonna have a nice, big tip for ya.
- Oh, okay. - Flo came and got me
and said that there was a--
disturbing passenger in 18E.
I thought I'd go by and take a look.
Excuse me.
Oh, did you want me to give this to Flo?
I know you've been hot on her tail.
No, no, no. Um, that's quite all right.
That's-- that's for you.
Oh, you're not very picky, are you?
I'm flattered, but married.
I think you'd better take a good,
- long look at that note. - Okay.
She read the note and then I went and flashed
the suitcase in front of her and kinda looked at me
and stuttered all the way up to the-- fast as she could.
Auto coming on. Okay.
Is everything all right?
"$200,000 in negotiable
American currency and-- four parachutes
or this plane blows.
Too bad it's Thanksgiving and not April Fools.
- Yeah, right? - Who put you up to this?
The passenger in 18E.
This isn't a joke, sir.
Let me see that thing.
It smells like whiskey.
You know, I'll tell you what.
Here, you tell 007 back there
if he wants to earn his wings,
he can come up here and ask me next time, okay?
He showed me the bomb, captain.
I think this is really happening.
Oh, shit.
Who the hell hijacks a plane on a 30-minute flight?
That's the craziest thing I've ever heard.
All right, punch in the Squawk Code
and, uh, make the call.
Metro tower, this is
Northwest Orient flight 305.
We have a-- situation.
Yeah, we do.
All right, auto coming off.
Okay, everybody, could we settle down, please?
Please, quiet, we-- we don't have
a lot of time here, guys, so we're on limited time.
Thank you. Um, first question.
Was there ever any attempt
to dissuade him or refuse his orders?
The safety of the crew is paramount
in a situation like that.
We were honoring his requests
and therefore made no attempt
to impede his mission, per se.
Well, I went up to the pilot,
he was telling me, uh, what-- what they were gonna do.
They'll have the money.
And I said, for a good gesture,
I'll let everybody off the plane.
And, uh, meanwhile, I'm talking
to the sheriff's department and they said,
uh, they got two 'chutes from McCord airport base
and they got two from somewhere else.
One's for green, one's for brown.
So, I took the green one because I knew
that the air force packed 'em and I wasn't gonna die.
I didn't wanna harm anybody.
I didn't have any dynamite in that suitcase,
it was all flares and-- and an alarm clock.
I didn't mean anybody harm,
but it was too late to back out.
After we secured the money and the parachute,
we took off from Seattle and then he asked us to lower
our airspeed and our altitude, which we did.
All right, fellas,
I'm gonna need you to take this thing down
to about 10,000 feet
and slow it down to about 100 knots.
But, sir, it's inclement weather here.
Just-- just-- I know what this bird can do,
just, please, follow my request.
Tina. Sweet Tina.
I'm gonna have to have you stay up here now.
I don't wanna see you get hurt.
I don't wanna see anybody get hurt.
And what was he like?
How was his demeanor during the ordeal?
Well, he was rather nice.
Other than he wanted certain things done.
He was never cruel or nasty.
He even ordered a second bourbon
and paid his drink tab.
He even tried to tip me.
♪ He's the leader of the band ♪
♪ Takes strides against his enemies ♪
♪ Down coke-filled hallways ♪
♪ Against what his mother said ♪
♪ Blonde hair, blue eyed
♪ An angel in the daylight
♪ Come night, he's three tabs deep ♪
♪ And senseless ♪
♪ Against the face of violence... ♪
Given the conditions of the jump,
do you think he could've survived?
Um...
...without any training?
Uh, I think his chances were between slim and none.
♪ Oh, I see myself free falling ♪
♪ Being the woman to his addiction ♪
I went right down on the Columbia River.
I left $5,880 on the beach and I took 300 more out
and I went forth and buried the other part on the way out.
♪ Oh, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby ♪
♪ Hold me, hold me, hold me, hold me, baby ♪
♪ Oh, no, no, no, no, no ♪
When we got out there, you know,
it's a matter of-- kind of getting, uh, a feel
of the geographic area and then following his lead
by where he described the money being buried.
And so from the gate's location is it to the south?
Wherever that money that I buried the first time--
I go from there, down to the cove,
there's a great big black onyx rock.
That's where I buried the money.
Just off to the main track where they ride motorcycles?
- Yeah. - Okay.
He was all on board and knew that it was there.
That wasn't a question, it was--
it's there and we just need to find it.
Holy shit, it's all grown-in
48 years later.
We're comin' straight through the woods.
Where I put the first money was down there
and I climbed over a barbed-wire fence
and cut my pants and came over on a hill.
Then I followed it out this way toward Woodland.
- Right, right. - The lights
He came up over a berm.
And then there was a dirt road--
a sandy dirt road.
So, if this is that dirt road, we gotta be close
because that bay is right over there.
All this new growth can cover up something
that's five, six feet tall, easily.
Where are you?
Give me a little bit of reference.
Well, we're moving faster
than you we-- we're moving south on the road.
If you guys get up north on that little area over here--
How you feelin'?
Uh, he's just kind of dialing it in.
I-- I feel optimistic right now.
Walked up further, went further north,
and he insists that it's way above
the flood stage and-- and-- and tidal influence.
And found, what I thought, was a really good
potential target area.
There's a really cool area up here
where it does have a high berm and it definitely would be
probably above flood stage and tide stage.
So, check out-- you know, 'cause he said
there was a distinctive berm.
- Look how this comes up. - Yeah.
It's all sand but when you get up on there
it's full of, uh, old,
uh, RV or off-road vehicle tracks.
-Yeah. -With access
right here to the road.
It does fit the description of the area.
And then he did say he followed it out.
- Yeah. - So he buried it
and then saw...
tracks, motorcycle-- whatever that came back out.
So this could be where he came out.
If I follow those tracks out,
I should be able to get to a road
and I did, I walked out and got to the main road
and then this cowboy picks me up.
Ooh-ooh-ooh! You just party out there, man?
Somethin' like that.
Well, hop in, huh?
And if it wasn't for that cowboy
that picked me up drinkin' alcohol,
headin' to a bar in Woodland, I would've never made it,
I don't think.
You have no idea how much I appreciate this.
Here. For the trouble.
Hey, appreciate! See you down the road, hoss.
Rode me up to Piggly Wiggly's,
he says, "Hurry up, get in there,
you get your shoes 'cause they close at ten."
And I went across the street and down
this alley 'cause there's a phone booth right there.
Called a taxi to bring me back to Portland, Oregon.
♪ You help me baby ♪
♪ Said you got your misgivings ♪
♪ But I'm out here day to day ♪
♪ Working hard just for my living ♪
♪ And that's the truth, baby
You pretty much made it clear.
You-- you're free and clear, pretty much.
I'm free. I'm goin' home.
I said, "I'm goin' home."
There's nothin-- no-- nobody knows who I am.
Driving home across the bridge,
got into Oregon and I got up towards Olympia
and I saw the-- state patrol.
There must've been ten cars coming down the other side
with the army, a bunch of 'em, and these big trucks
are goin' down the road and I'm goin',
"Uh-oh, might be for me." You know?
So, I turn the transistor radio on, it says a manhunt.
Police believe he left
the 727 in the flatlands
of Oregon or Washington, but they are still looking
in four states, even around the airport.
November 25th at my mom's house
to get my dinner-- turkey dinner.
I ate there then went downstairs and went to bed.
Slept 'til about two or three in the afternoon
and my dad said, "You had a rough night,
must've been out with some girls with him
or something, always with those girls."
And my mom said, "Oh, let him go,
it's Thanksgiving."
You know, and everything.
♪ Whoa, she was my little machine ♪
I got home and then I sat there
and then Joe McDonald came over, the neighbor,
and said, "Oh, you gotta turn the TV on."
So then I turn the TV on and my--
my dad's sitting there and he goes, "Betty!
This looks like Rod!
But how could it be Rod? He's sittin' right here."
That's what he said to my mother.
Well, that's another good lookin' Irish kid,
isn't it?
What, half Irish?
I give the Lions plus three.
You always bet on the Lions, the Lions never win.
I pick the Lions on Thanksgiving,
that's the way it is.
No smoking in the house.
My second family! My home away from home!
Happy Thanksgiving, McDonald.
McDonald, how many times do I have to tell you
to keep your fuckin' feet off my fuckin' table?
Senior, these are bitchin' Italian leather.
I don't care if they came straight off the feet
of Elvis Aaron Presley himself.
Off the table or in your ass.
-You pick. -Sorry, sorry.
You know, McDonald, actin' like that,
you're never gonna get yourself a babe like my Babs here.
You two make me sick.
Piss off, Rodney.
Piss off, Barbara.
Hey, piss off, Rod.
Piss off, Jack. You got a muzzle for her?
I can hold my own.
You know that from experience.
That's 'cause you wear the pants
in the relationship.
Oh, Rod, you know that's not true.
Hey, hey, guys, cut it out!
When can a mother just have a nice,
peaceful holiday
with her two lovely boys and her dapper husband?
Oh, I wish my family was this well-behaved.
Hell, I just came here to get away from their asses.
Oh, and see if you guys watched the news!
Some guy hijacked a plane in Portland last night
and then jumped from it!
It's like some James Bond movie, man!
Ooh, I love James Bond!
Turn it on, Senior!
When he got on a plane
in Portland, Oregon last night,
he was just another passenger
who gave his name as D.A. Cooper.
But today, after hijacking a--
A plane heist? In our backyard?
Oh, dear Lord!
This guy got away with it though.
- Betty. - Yeah?
This looks a lot like Rod.
How can it be Rod? He's sitting right here!
...left aboard four crew members
and the hijacker.
I guess it's just another
good-looking Irish kid.
No smoking in the house!
...with the full ransom
collected from the Seattle banks
and four parachutes aboard...
My dad didn't know, I didn't tell my dad and mom
for ten years after I did it.
So, did you tell anyone
right after you committed the crime?
My brother. My brother's known all along.
Golly!
Brigitte Bardot's hot as a pistol!
Oh, yeah?
You got the Brigitte Bardot edition?
-Let me take a look. -Hands off the merchandise.
Sorry, it's not like I need to see it,
I've seen it a thousand times.
I got Brigitte Bardot stored away up here
for very special occasions in the future.
Yeah?
Like the time you got busted by mom
looking for face lotion?
No, and I would prefer that we forget about that,
thank you very much.
Lotta good memories in this house.
Do you remember when we used to raid
dad's old movie cabinet
and we'd put on Public Enemy over and over and over again?
And I would play John Dillinger
and you'd play Pretty Boy Floyd?
Yeah, yeah.
Or how 'bout that kid across the street?
With the headgear?
What'd we call him? What'd we used to call him?
Uh--
Brace-face Nelson!
What an idiot.
Gangster films...
I have a feeling I'm about to put
all those gangsters in the cinema to shame.
Keep dreamin', bud.
No, I'm not kidding.
Last night on the news,
the guy that jumped outta the plane, you remember?
Yeah.
You're sitting with him. It was me.
Full of shit.
I'm not full of shit.
I really did it. Look, come on.
If I didn't do it, how did I get these?
Rod, if you were that guy,
we'd be on our way to paradise with $200,000.
You really don't believe me. I jumped out of the plane!
I landed and about a quarter mile from where I landed
I buried all this money
next to this big black onyx rock!
I need you to come help me dig it up.
You're serious?
As a heart attack.
Okay, let's just say,
hypothetically, you were that guy.
Those bills would definitely be marked...
and if you got caught you'd be goin' to Walla Walla
for the rest of your goddamn life.
Bro, I need you to believe me on this.
Rod...
if you're that guy... don't go back there.
The Army Corps of Engineers
had dredged the Columbia River here in 1974.
And the original money was found just south of here.
So, this, uh, probably
is the cove that he encountered.
And then he moved inland from there.
Have him come take a look at this.
And now on shore,
where FBI agents comb the sand like archaeologists.
All they found was $5,800 and no sign of D.B. Cooper.
Oh, yeah, it's here.
It's right on this-- we're right in the right area.
It's gotta be here somewhere.
And they're digging right by the flat rock, right?
Yeah.
To me, that whole group of rocks right there--
Yeah, and that is-- he says that's black onyx.
And, yeah, there's several up in this area too,
so that's the only concentration of that.
Crews continue to dig
but found very little
of Cooper's green treasure today,
even though the discovery site
is looking like a very scientific
archaeological excavation.
Shovels gave way to backhoes,
the FBI and geologists
scooping out a test-trench up the beach.
What they're trying to tell,
how long had D.B.'s money been here?
They knew certain levels were laid down on the beach
in 1974, but they found no money below that point.
- We got a whistle. - What's up?
Heard a whistle,
blood starts pumping, and I think, "Okay,
maybe somebody's found something of interest.
Is anybody in the woods?
There's a body.
I thought I heard somebody say,
"I found a body."
body.
Yeah, we might wanna go up there and check it out.
Well, I will just take this.
And then uh--
and then I hear something about a warrant.
...somebody hollerin'.
We don't know if it's a sheriff
or an officer or who it could be.
We're just out for a day hike and shooting some of the...
I mean, we knew going in
that we probably shouldn't be there.
Kids walk from the bus everyday
'cause I live down here.
That sign is pretty highly posted
-on that gate. -Yeah.
So is this all private property from the gate back?
- Yessir. - Yeah.
Sorry, I'm not trying to be an ass.
- No, no. - And we're not either.
- I'm loaded. - So are we.
You have the complete right to-- yeah.
My name's Scott. Is that on?
- Do you want it to be on? - No.
It's not on you.
- Yeah. - It's recording.
What're you guys recovering?
You said you guys were down here
with a recovery agent?
What're you looking for?
Hey, you're on my property,
what're you looking for?
Is that your specific property?
- Yeah! - I-- I thought
this was private property-
No, no, it says it all over the gate.
Why didn't you go back and get the money?
Pandora's box.
You open that box...
it's gonna happen all over again.
138 kidnapping cases plus the pilots,
another four, five of them.
That's-- you'd never get out of prison,
you'd never see the light of day.
I knew that I was still wanted.
It was, like, I was wanted all the time,
walking around and I thought maybe sooner or later
somebody'd recognize me, but that wasn't the case.
So I decided to go on the run for a while,
I went to Whitefish, Montana, went to, uh, Lake Tahoe,
I went to Reno, I went to Vegas.
I-- so-- you just-- you knew
you had done something so crazy
and you knew you would go to prison forever
so there's no way that you'd have ever bragged?
No.
But I did brag to Rita Coolidge.
I met her in Lake Tahoe, she's singing at a bar,
and she says, "Well, you know I did a movie
with Kris Kristofferson, Billy the Kid."
And she says, "You're more famous
than Billy the Kid."
She said, "I'd like to do a movie with you."
And so, she took her shoes off
and kept rubbing her feet on my knee and, uh,
getting close to this and I says,
"Well, she must like me a whole bunch."
I just made a movie with Kris
called Billy the Kid...
and things had gotten, well...
out of hand.
I was heartbroken at the time, you know,
and drinkin' more than I shoulda been.
♪ All I was was patient
♪ All I was was kind ♪
♪ But you found the burnt pieces ♪
♪ Of the love we left behind ♪
♪ The love we left behind ♪
♪ Oh, the love we left
♪ Behind
♪ Mm ♪
- Hey, Stan. - Hey!
Can I get a Macallan on the rocks?
You know how I like it.
Now a lady who knows how to order whiskey...
that, I like.
Well, I been drinkin' long enough
to know what I like.
Well, that makes two of us.
And, I love that song that you sang tonight.
Who writes something like that?
That's incredible, I could really, you know,
hear all the pain coming out of you on that one.
Yeah.
Heartbreak is a funny thing.
There's always that one
that leaves with a piece of you.
And the only way I seem to cope is on a stage...
or with a few of these.
I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name.
Rodney Bonnifield. Pleasure to meet you.
Rita Coolidge.
Just like the town in Colorado.
Oh, yeah?
It's actually named after my family.
Now, that is funny because...
-I also have a long history-- -Oh, wait, wait, wait.
I wanna hear this.
- Stan, turn it up. - You got it.
In other news,
it's been two years since the D.B. Cooper hijacking
and still no sign of a suspect.
Oh, my gosh.
I'm fascinated by this guy.
It takes a real man to carry out a plan like that
and not harm a soul.
Now, that I will agree with you on.
Yeah.
You know, he's probably on some beach somewhere
sippin' piña coladas
while I'm here in this bar
singin' songs to the same ten people every night.
Well, I can certainly see why!
You know, this D.B. Cooper fella,
he's probably on some white sandy beach somewhere
tossin' back a piña colada.
Or...
he's right here in this bar...
havin' drinks with you, miss.
♪ Woke up this morning I was a thousand miles away ♪
♪ Didn't know just where I stand ♪
♪ Nothing on me but this beat up suitcase ♪
♪ And I know I got a plan ♪
♪ And I'll be runnin' now ♪
♪ 'Fore my feet ever hit the ground ♪
♪ I'll be runnin' now
♪ 'Fore my feet ever hit the ground ♪
♪ And I'm running out of my head ♪
♪ Nobody's gonna bring me down ♪
You know, I was thinkin'...
you should come to Denver with me.
I got a couple gigs there.
I can't go to Colorado with you.
I've had a fantastic time with you...
But the whole outlaw on the run thing...
kinda gets in the way.
I understand.
I've had a melody in my head all morning.
♪ Run, D.B., run
♪ Mm
♪ Run, D.B., run
♪ But for how long?
♪ 'Cause eventually
♪ You're gonna have to find somebody ♪
♪ To hold onto ♪
Um, what do you--
where do you think we go from here?
In this process?
Well, where we go from here?
First, we have some details that we have to vet out
and there are-- there are a few specific things
that may indicate, um, that,
still there's a chance that he is D.B. Cooper.
If we debunk those, then--
then I think our options do shrink.
And if you analyze the facts
and his commitment to this dig,
um, you think, "Yes, it's true. It's real.
This individual is D.B. Cooper.
You know, we were disappointed at the end of the day
because in three hours we didn't solve a mystery
that had been going on for 48 years.
So we felt negligent.
But in reality, you know, we went out there
and gave it, you know, a good effort and, uh, again,
it doesn't mean that it's not there.
It just means we didn't find it.
So we, right now, today, don't know.
So what we need to do is fall back
and do some fact checking on some of the things
- that he's told us. - Hey.
Hey, um, we're doing some fact checking...
and does he have his brother's number?
Does Rod have his brother's number
or any phone numbers?
- 360. - Yep.
- 387. - Yep.
But he is, again, recouping from, uh,
prostate surgery
and he wants to recoup a little bit.
Okay, that's fair. We'll call him first.
And this is his brother, Jack,
who just got out of prostate surgery two days ago.
So if he's all hopped up,
he might be telling us the truth.
- Hello? - Hey, is Jack available?
Uh, no he's not, who's this?
Uh, my name is Mike Rocha
we're doing some research
on the D.B. Cooper hijacking back in 1971.
- Are you familiar with that? - Uh-huh.
- We're talking to Rod and... - Oh.
...Rod claims to be D.B. Cooper.
Oh, no he's not.
Do you have any-- I mean-- is he--
has he had this manifestation in his mind for a while?
Yeah, yeah, for a long time.
Right. Do you-- I mean, do you guys have facts about,
the-- where he was the day that it happened or anything?
No, but he's definitely not.
Uh, yeah, I mean,
we've spent the last couple days with him,
trying to, you know, corroborate his story.
What is the family's view on this?
The family's view is that he's nuts.
I mean-- what-- has he always been crazy
- or, um-- - Uh, no.
He was in a car wreck when he was about 18...
-Right. -...years old.
And, uh, he...
uh, he went forward in the backseat
and then when he went backwards
he hit his head real bad.
We got a hold of his sister-in-law.
And she described an accident that Rodney was in
and he sustained a brain injury.
Which really sheds some light
on our view of him.
Now it's possible he is a little bit delusional.
You're so detailed
with everything and that's why I'm just--
I'm so interested
as why some of your family members
might not believe that you are
or some people might not believe that you are.
Well, my brother's wife, Barbara Bonnifield,
wants to protect their name.
They're Christians, they have a Christian--
they go to church,
my mom and dad went to church there and stuff.
She's known all along that I'm D.B. Cooper.
I had called her
about three months before this episode happened.
I said, "I'm goin' down there
and digging my money up by the river."
Before I even met you guys.
And-- and that's-- that's what I told her.
She never answered me, she just is kinda like,
"Okay, protect the family.
Protect the family name, you know."
She said that, uh,
the reason why you're claiming to be all this
is because of your car wreck.
No, that's not true.
Car wreck happened in 9th grade,
going from 9th grade on Military Road,
we got hit sideways with a woman that was driving,
her mother was there.
And his name was Johnson. Uh, her name was Johnson.
She ran a stop sign.
My fault. The accident was my fault.
It was an accident. Accidents are accidents.
I got hit in my head and, uh,
I was dizzy for, like, a couple years after that
taking Dilaudid pills.
Pandora's box.
You open that box, it'll happen all over again.
Please calm down! Okay?
I know your gal left you, I'm so sorry.
What the fuck, Rodney! I told you no more bullshit!
You're gone!
138 kidnapping cases,
you'll never get out of prison.
You wouldn't even see the light of day.
I'd sit your ass down if I were you
and fix that crooked-ass toupee while you're at it.
It was at that point, we believe,
that with the money strapped to his chest,
he then jumped from the aircraft.
Appreciate it! See you down the road, boss!
Come away with me, Rodney.
I love you, Rodney Bonnifield.
That's it. 48 years of runnin'.
Now the FBI will look for me and they will look hard.
And I ain't goin' easy.
Run D.B., run.
♪ Runnin' down the road got the wind in my hair ♪
♪ Got enough fuel for Reno, babe I'll meet you there ♪
♪ Tell you most people wouldn't get this high ♪
♪ And I'm tailin' down the highway ♪
♪ Got this gleam in my eye ♪
♪ Run, run, run, run, run, run ♪
♪ D.B., D.B. run ♪
♪ Run, run, run, run, run, run ♪
♪ D.B., D.B. run ♪
♪ Run, oh keep runnin' won't ever get caught ♪
♪ I'm gonna keep runnin' 'til the wheels come off ♪
♪ I'm heading straight west, baby, into the sun ♪
♪ I'm on the freeway inside of a car ♪
♪ Run, run, run, run, run, run ♪
♪ D.B., D.B. run ♪
♪ Run, run, run, run, run, run ♪
♪ D.B., D.B. run ♪
♪ Well my mama she done told me ♪
♪ I was born to lose ♪
♪ All throughout my lonely life ♪
♪ Damn, my woman singing the lonely blues ♪
♪ Run, run, run, run, run, run ♪
♪ D.B., D.B. run ♪
♪ Run, run, run, run, run, run ♪
♪ D.B., D.B. run ♪
♪ Whoo, keep running, boy ♪
♪ Got that look in your eye
♪ Run, run, baby
♪ Run, run, run ♪
♪ Run, run, run
♪ Run, run, run ♪
♪ Run, run, run
♪ Run, run, run, run, run, run ♪
♪ D.B., D.B. run ♪
♪ I've got a plan baby, make things right ♪
♪ Finding out who grabbed my case of dynamite ♪
♪ Criss-crossing baby, jumping out of my seat ♪
♪ Skyjacking baby going down for the win ♪
♪ Run, run, run, run, run, run ♪
♪ D.B., D.B. run ♪
♪ Run, run, run, run, run, run ♪
♪ D.B., D.B. run ♪
♪ Well my mama she done told me ♪
♪ I was born to lose ♪
♪ All throughout my life
♪ Damn, my woman singing the lonely blues ♪
♪ Run, run run, run, run, run ♪
♪ D.B., D.B. run ♪
♪ Run, run run, run, run, run ♪
♪ D.B., D.B. run ♪
♪ Run, run, run D.B., D.B. run ♪
♪ Run, run, run, run, run, run ♪
♪ D.B., D.B. run ♪