Was D.B. Cooper A College Professor?

OGDEN, Utah — An attorney writing a book about the D.B. Cooper investigation claims the legendary hijacker who vanished from the back of a passenger jet in 1971 survived and returned to his life as a college instructor in Ogden, Utah.

Federal investigators are aware of the claim, but are skeptical the late William Gossett pulled off the heist. FBI Special Agent Larry Carr says there is not one link between Gossett and Cooper.

But attorney Galen Cook says he has submitted a fingerprint of Gossett’s to the FBI’s Seattle field office and hopes it will confirm his theory.

Cooper skyjacked a flight from Portland to Seattle, claiming he had a bomb. He released the passengers at a Seattle airport for $200,000 and a flight to Mexico.

On that flight, he jumped out with a parachute and the money near the Oregon-Washington line.

Cook notes that Gossett had military experience, including wilderness survival, and looked like the FBI composite sketch of Cooper.

Gossett died in 2003 at the age of 73.

His son Greg still lives in Ogden, where he said his father told him on his 21st birthday that he had hijacked the plane.