True Crime: Box Set (6 page)

The
FBI reiterated that Richard was not Dan Cooper simply because the
descriptions of Florence and Tina didn’t fit his physique.
Richard was also a political science student, and a few months after
Dan organized the hijacking, he also did something similar. The
difference was, he was caught and sent to prison. In the year 1974,
he died after a shoot-out in a prison break.

In
an interesting twist of events, 9 years after the hijacking, one boy
who was innocently walking down the Columbia River saw $5,800 dollars
in $20 bills. It was confirmed that those bills were part of the
ransom provided to Dan to release the hostages. But nothing more came
forward after that.

In
2001, the clip on tie Dan was wearing was recovered and from there,
the police were able to take a DNA sample. The problem was, there
were two small DNA samples and a large one-- it was hard to confirm
which one was Dan’s or if Dan’s DNA was even on the tie.
Perhaps, Dan intentionally placed other DNA there. The case was
reopened in 2008 and in 2011, when a woman named Marla Cooper
reported that it was her uncle who did the crime.

According
to Marla, for 40 years, their entire family swore to protect Dan
Cooper, who really was Lynne Doyle Cooper in real life. But her guilt
made her come forward. She provided the police with photographs of
Lynne Doyle as well as a guitar strap for fingerprints. According to
her, the reason why Lynne Doyle used “Dan Cooper” was
because it was his favorite comic character.

When
the test results came in, it was found that there were no
fingerprints on the guitar straps. When Lynne Doyle’s DNA was
examined, they couldn’t find it to match the ones on the clip
on tie. The police, however, said that they found nothing
inconsistent with Marla’s stories, so the possibility of LD
being Dan Cooper was still being looked into.

Aside
from being missing, D.B. Cooper also raised a lot of questions: the
first being his experience in skydiving. Many expert parachutists
said that jumping from the plane at the height of 10,000 feet was
dangerous for a first-timer. They insisted that if it was his first
attempt, then he would have died.

However,
if he had prior experience (6 or 7 times), then there would have been
no problem. The only factor to consider was if he would have survived
the cold after landing. Since there was no body and parachute found,
people assumed that he lived. The reason why it became a major issue
was because of his actions in the plane.

For
the experts, asking for a primary and reserve parachutes was a novice
thing to do, but then again, he turned down the offer of an
instruction manual. The way he fastened the chutes as what was
observed by Tina was an expert behavior, but actually choosing the
reserve chute (which was sewn closed and non-functional) was a thing
only a novice would do. So, was Dan an expert skydiver, or not? If
not, then where was the chute and the body?

Chapter
4 - Michael Rockefeller

The
disappearance that rocked the year 1961: the case of Michael
Rockefeller. Back then, the 23-year old Harvard graduate had a lot of
good things ahead of him. He was an upcoming photographer and an art
collector. On top of that, he was one of the heirs of the Rockefeller
fortune who was a prominent family back then. His father was also the
New York governor at that time, and later on, became the vice
president Nelson Rockefeller.

Michael
was the fifth and last child of May Todhunter and Nelson Rockefeller.
Considering his academic standing in Buckley school in New York and
in Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire where he was a student
senator, his parents knew that he would go far.

And
this expectation was sealed when Michael graduated cum laude in
Harvard University. His degree was Bachelor of Arts in History and
Economics. After his graduation, he spent 6 months in the US army
before setting out for the adventure of a lifetime-- which was also
his penultimate voyage.

The
trip was supposed to explore the Dani tribe which was located in
western Netherlands in New Guinea, but in the middle of the trip,
Michael, along with a friend, temporarily left to explore the Asmat
tribe, who were native in the Southern Netherlands. The Asmats were
primitive people who lived their lives now the same way they lived it
10,000 years ago.

After
having a taste of the Asmat culture, Michael returned to their
original trip and went home. The richness in their culture and
ethnicity drew Michael in, so much that he returned in the Southern
Netherlands to know more about the Asmat and to collect Asmat arts.
In his letters while in the expedition, he said that that he was
having an exhausting and yet very exciting adventure.

On
November 17, 1961, however, the explorations came to an abrupt end
when Michael suddenly disappeared.

On
that day, Michael and a Dutch Anthropologist named Rene Wassing rode
in a 40-foot canoe. They were approximately 5 kilometers away from
the shore when the canoe was swamped and was overturned. Two of their
guides tried to help, but the help came slow.

Michael
and Rene clung to the overturned canoe for some time (about two days)
before Michael decided that “he could make it”, which
meant that he planned on swimming back to the shore. The authorities
didn’t know if Michael realized how far they were from the
shore back then, but from their investigation, it seemed like they
were 12 kilometers away when he attempted to swim. The next day, Rene
was rescued. Michael, on the other hand, was never seen again.

The
search lasted for two weeks. It included planes, boats, and on-foot
searchers, but Michael’s body was never recovered. There wasn’t
even a trace of him. Many people believed that he drowned or was
eaten by sharks. Although this theory was very logical, how come not
one trace was found?

Back
then, the news was a headline, what with Michael’s parentage,
but even this fame didn’t help his case. Three years after he
disappeared, Michael was declared legally dead, but that didn’t
mean that his case stopped baffling people.

It
remains to be one of the most unresolved mysteries. It's very
intriguing that a journalist named Mitch Machlin started to do his
own investigating. In 1969, 8 years after the fact, he went to the
Southern Netherlands in New Guinea to follow the steps that Michael
took. For him, the possibility of Michael being murdered was high.

According
to Mitch, if Michael was able to swim successfully to the shore
(which was possible because he was a good swimmer and was in good
physical condition), he would have landed in Otsjanep village. The
history entails that several leaders of this village were killed by
the Dutch patrol back in 1958.

It
was possible that when Michael arrived there, they saw him as an
avenue for revenge because he was a “white man”, similar
to the Dutch people. It was true that head-hunting and cannibalism
were still in practice in the year he disappeared, but for the Asmat
people, it wasn’t an indiscriminate action. They wouldn’t
do it unless for revenge.

According
to Mitch, in his journey, a Dutch priest named Cornelius van Kensel,
said that he heard of the same rumors coming from the tribesmen
themselves. Mitch’s theory was further sealed by the book
published in 2014 by Carl Hoffman entitled
Savage
Harvest: A Tale of Cannibals, Colonialism, and Michael Rockefeller’s
Tragic Quest for Primitive Art
.
According to the book, the killing took place and all men in the
tribe participated in the murder so as to avenge the death of their
tribe leaders.

However,
in 1969, another twist happened. A photograph showing a white man
amidst a black tribe people, circulated. Sceptics of the “murder
for revenge theory” sided with this one-- perhaps Michael
became one of the tribes he grew to love. After all, why would the
Asmat kill a person who had been doing his research and
art-collecting with them?

Perhaps
the tribe took Michael and made him a “white idol”. Even
Mitch, who was a firm believer that Michael got killed, said that he
could have survived, and instead of being eaten or murdered, he was
turned into a deity. According to him, Asmats, as well as other
primitive tribes, considered white people as “wielders of
powerful magic”.

They
worshipped Western goods, like canned and processed food, medicine,
weapons and clothing. If Michael landed on the Asmet region, and told
the tribe about who he was, they could have considered him as
“Godly”. Who knows?

Chapter
5 - Lauria Bible and Ashley Freeman

Lauria
and Ashley were friends since they were in kindergarten, so it wasn’t
surprising that they wanted to celebrate their birthdays together. On
December 30, 1999, it was Ashley’s 16
^th
birthday so Lauria decided to spend the
day with her and her family which included Ashley’s father,
Danny, her mother, Kathy, and her boyfriend, Jeremy.

The
celebration took place in the Freeman trailer home. The home had no
running water, and it was only heated by a wood-burning stove.
Apparently, the Freeman family was of the outdoor-types: they enjoyed
hunting and preferred to live in an area away from populated
communities.

Although
the trailer sounded simple, it was still well-equipped with
electricity and phone service. Inside the trailer were firearms used
by the family because they often went hunting for their food.

According
to one of his interviews, Jeremy said that he met with the girls in
Wal-Mart. In there, he gave his gift to Ashley: it was a silver
chain, with a heart-shaped pendant. The pendant had Ashley’s
birthstone embedded on it. After meeting in Wal-Mart, they went to
the Freeman’s trailer home and spent sometime with the Freeman
family and relatives.

Jeremy
said that he left at about 9:30, but other relatives said that it was
already 10:30 when he departed. Despite this time confusion, Jeremy
insisted that nothing was wrong during the party. All of them
expected things to be over without any “crime” or
“mishap”.

In
fact, Kathy planned on taking Ashley to her driver’s test the
next morning, and Lauria, although she planned on staying the night
with the Freeman’s, had a dental appointment the next day so
she promised her dad that she would return before noon.

She
never did.

Sometime,
during the night, the trailer became an inferno. By 6:00 am, a
motorist saw the fire in the trailer and reported it. When the
authorities came, the home was already burned to ashes. Inside, a
body was recovered and they confirmed that it belonged to Kathy
Freeman.

Oddly
though, she died before the fire because a gunshot wound was found in
her head. Other than her remains, the police didn’t find
anything else. They assumed that Danny killed his wife and took the
girls with him.

But
upon closer investigation, they found out that all of the family
vehicles were nearby, even Lauria’s car was there with the key
in the ignition. The police also ruled out robbery because Lauria’s
case was found inside the trailer and it still contained the $200 she
had.

The
next day after the fire, while hoping that they would find more
evidence, Lauria’s parents, Laurene and Jay Bible visited the
scene. Within just five minutes of walking around inside the trailer,
they found another body. When the authorities examined it, they found
out that it was Danny’s body. And creepily, he was also shot in
the head. According to Jay the remains were covered with debris, so
it was overlooked by the police. When further tests were made, they
found out the Kathy died at about 5:00 am. Perhaps whoever the
perpetrator was, he or she intentionally burnt the trailer to get rid
of any evidence.

Despite
Danny’s death, he was still investigated. According to Laurene,
Danny had a bad temper and short patience. In fact, her daughter,
Ashley, was trying to save for a car, but because she wanted to
purchase a different car from what Danny wanted, they had a row.

Danny
was also accused of abusing his own son, Shane in 1998, but he was
acquitted in 1999. Throughout the allegations, Danny was firm that he
didn’t abuse any of his children. As for the money that Ashley
was saving, Laurene said that she finally saved a total of $1200 in
the bank, but according to Jeremy, she already had $3000 to $4000.

He
also reported that Ashley had no bank account so she kept her money
in a plastic container inside the fridge. Upon inspection of the
burnt trailer, they found no trace of the money.

Another
angle the police looked into was Shane’s case. In 1998, Shane
was caught driving a vehicle that he stole. When the deputy in
charge, David Hayes, asked him to stop, Shane “reached behind
him” as if pulling out a gun. Due to this David fired at him
and he was killed.

Danny
tried to appeal to the court that his son was wrongfully killed, but
upon investigation, David’s actions were found to be justified.
Danny still persisted that Shane was fired at indiscriminately, so he
planned on filing a wrongful death lawsuit. Back then, David’s
brother was also in law enforcement so the two of them took the
polygraph test, which they passed. They also withdrew from the
investigation, so the Oklahoma State Bureau Investigation took
charge.