EXCLUSIVE Infamous skyjacker DB Cooper set to finally be unmasked as investigation takes bombshell turn
One of the most enduring mysteries in US criminal history is closer to being solved: who was DB Cooper, the man who hijacked an airplane before parachuting out into the night with $200,000 cash?
A citizen sleuth has named the infamous skyjacker as Richard Floyd McCoy II, a highly decorated former Green Beret who died three years after the audacious 1971 crime - and said a planned DNA test on his remains would close the case for good.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
36 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Carmakers warn Chinese tariffs could bring US manufacturing to a stop
Every automotive part that enters the US is slapped with a 25 percent tariff. The tariffs, imposed by President Donald Trump, are expected to reinvigorate an automotive manufacturing sector in the US that has experienced a decades-long malaise. But China responded to the auto tariff — and its separate, even higher product levies — by stopping nearly all trade on rare earth magnets. The magnets are indispensable for modern car production. They're used in dozens of vehicle parts, including brakes, seats, screens, and ignitions. But more than two decades after domestic magnet-making factories migrated to China, the US now produces almost none. Without access to Chinese supplies, factories across the Midwest and the South could soon face shutdowns, automakers and analysts are warning. And US carmakers are running out. 'This could be similar to the chip shortage where automakers simply can't produce the vehicle if the rare earths ban remains in place,' Seth Goldstein, a strategist and Tesla expert for MorningStar, told 'Tesla is planning to remove rare earths magnets from their EV motors, so the company should have a limited impact on its EV sales.' Beijing officials stopped sending US automakers the magnets in early April. The materials, which were last built in the US at scale in the late 1990s, are scattered throughout vehicles. A modern, power-adjusting seat can use as many as 12 individual magnets. In May, the trade groups representing some of the biggest automakers in the US — including General Motors, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Hyundai — sent a letter to President Trump warning about the potential US manufacturing issues because of the dwindling magnet supply. 'Without reliable access to these elements and magnets, automotive suppliers will be unable to produce critical automotive components,' the letter from the Alliance for Automotive Innovation said. 'In severe cases, this could include the need for reduced production volumes or even a shutdown of vehicle assembly lines.' Meanwhile, the problem could get worse, even if Beijing officials re-open the magnet floodgates. Some Chinese producers have suspended operations altogether, waiting for export approvals. The resulting delays have jammed up supply chains, leaving automakers scrambling to secure critical inputs. The trade blockages are also colliding with dwindling supplies on new vehicle lots. Some car companies are facing shortages of product on their new vehicle lots: Toyota, for example, has fewer than 30 days' worth of vehicles at many of their American dealerships. These compounding issues could send the price for remaining vehicles further through the roof as demand outstrips supply, and American manufacturing can't produce enough. It currently costs the average American more than $49,000 to drive a new vehicle off a dealership lot. Goldstein pointed out that there are signs for hope: Saudi Arabia, a country that is increasing trade relations with the US, is investing in rare earth production. 'Any shortage could prove temporary,' Goldstein added. But for now, the manufacturing impact extends well beyond cars, too. Factory automation, semiconductors, and critical military components all rely on high-performance magnets made from rare earth elements. President Trump recently lashed out against Chinese officials for exploiting these gaps in American production. 'China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US,' Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform. Last week, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (pictured) said he hoped that Trump and top Chinese officials would convene to discuss a new truce in the ongoing trade war. 'I believe we'll see something very soon,' he reassured CBS News. On Monday, car stocks took a major hit as news about the tariffs and magnet controls permeated Wall Street. Ford and GM both lost over 4 percent of their share price by mid-day trading.
The Sun
43 minutes ago
- The Sun
Legendary 70s band drop massive clue they're reuniting 41 years after last live performance
AN iconic US rock band has teased fans with news of a possible upcoming reunion. The acclaimed rock stars - who were together for 16 years - haven't performed since 1975. 6 6 New Wave band Talking Heads, best known for their hits Once in a Lifetime and Road to Nowhere could be reforming following a cryptic social media clue. Excited music lovers have gone wild after the band's official Instagram page posted an obscure video animation. The short footage simply features the date: "6/5/2025." The precise date refers back to June 5, 1975, when Talking Heads played its first-ever show at the CBGB club in New York. Fans begged: "Just get back together for some shows and make the world a brighter place!" A second penned: "You teases!" A third argued: "Give the people what they really want and need, and that's a tour!!!!" The band has not played together since their last gig on February 6, 1984 in New Zealand. In January 2024, it was reported that the band turned down tens of millions to reunite after being approached to perform at six to eight festivals, including headlining slots. Despite receiving an alleged £62m offer, Billboard claimed the group's four members - David Byrne, Jerry Harrison, Frantz and Tina Weymouth - walked away. 70s pop legend eyes a spot at Glastonbury as he launches huge comeback with new album and doc The band released their final album Naked in 1988 before disbanding in 1991. Talking Heads rebranded as Shrunken Heads and toured briefly before going their separate ways. In 2003, Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time included four albums by the band. Their songs Psycho Killer, Life During Wartime and Once in a Lifetime were included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. 6 6 6 6
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Hitler's last soldier... in the US: How German tank commander evaded FBI for 40 years by building new life as all-American ski instructor after escaping PoW camp at end of WWII
To his friends, his wife and even local newspapers, Dennis Whiles was everything he claimed to be. He was a dashing ski instructor and tennis pro, living it up in California and Hawaii and even mixing with Hollywood film stars. But anyone who had reason to compare an FBI Most Wanted poster issued in 1945 for an escaped German prisoner of war with Whiles's face might have stopped in their tracks. For as Whiles would tearfully admit to his wife in 1984 - nearly 40 years after he had fled an internment camp in New Mexico - he was really Georg Gaertner, a former tank commander in Adolf Hitler's Wehrmacht. As a new Sky History documentary details tonight, Gaertner had built a new life from nothing, even as the federal authorities searched for him and his real family back in what had become Poland felt his absence keenly. The German spent years perfecting an American accent and a back story that his parents' death in a car crash had left him an orphan. But in September 1985, having told his distraught wife, he opted to 'surrender' on prime time NBC TV programme The Today Show. Rather than deport him, US officials decided he had no case to answer and eventually let him become an American citizen. Anyone who had reason to compare an FBI Most Wanted poster issued in 1945 for an escaped German prisoner of war with Whiles's face might have stopped in their tracks Tonight's programme, Greatest Escapes of WWII: Hitler's last soldier in America who defied the FBI for 40 years, recounts his wife Jean's memory of her husband's admission. She said: 'I remember him being in tears, I remember him sitting up on the kitchen counter, and he was sitting there crying and pouring out this story, just like an avalanche, a waterfall coming out, about what had happened. 'He told me the whole story'. Born in Schweidnitz, Lower Silesia (now Świdnica, Poland) in 1920, Gaertner enlisted in the German army in 1940, aged 19. Having been sent to fight with Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps in North Africa, he was captured by British troops in Tunis in 1943. He was then sent to America to be held prisoner at Camp Deming in the town of the same name. By September 1945, weeks after the Second World War had come to an end, Gaertner had decided that he did not want to grapple with the possible fate that awaited him back home. Świdnica was now controlled by the Soviet regime and would remain under the rule of Poland's puppet Communist government for decades to come. It meant that, as a former soldier, he faced arrest, persecution and even death. So on September 22, Gaertner slipped under the fence of Camp Deming and boarded a freight train to California. He had nothing but the clothes he was wearing. Historian Matt Maclachan says in tonight's programme:'The story of Georg Gartner is almost the antithesis of the escape story. 'A man who was doing everything he could to stay in the country.' The expert adds: 'He had seen the opportunities that America presented for a better life, and he simply didn't want to go home'. Gaertner's first year on the run was perhaps his worst. He needed to make a living without revealing his real identity. And his spoken English was by no means perfect. The FBI's Wanted poster included front-facing and side-on shots of Gaertner, plus a full physical description and scans of his finger prints. So the former soldier kept his head down, finding work as a dishwasher and gardener. Then, after getting a job as an architectural consultant in the construction industry, he assumed the identity of Dennis F. Whiles and perfected his English. In the winter, he worked as a ski instructor in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The fact that the authorities were still looking for Gaertner and dozens of other escaped German prisoners did not deter him doing things that would get him noticed. In 1952, a huge blizzard left a train stranded. Gaertner was among those who took food, medicine and hot drinks to its stranded passengers. He became a local hero, with his photo featuring in the newspapers. But, remarkably, he was not recognised. Then, the following year, Gaertner was flicking through Colliers, a popular national magazine, when he saw a feature about German soldiers who had managed to hide themselves in America. He was stunned to see that his mugshot was among the photos. But again, he remained undetected. Worse was to come when he bumped into a fellow former German soldier who recognised him from North Africa. Remarkably, Gaertner managed to bluff his way out by insisting that he was not who the man thought he was. In 1964, the German met his future wife. Once married, he and Jean set up a tennis centre in Santa Cruz, California, and then moved to Hawaii. Gaertner even played doubles with film stars including Lloyd Bridges. But his wife began to have suspicions about his past, which were fuelled by Gaertner's refusal to expand on his backstory. Historian Kate Vigurs says in tonight's show: 'She knew nothing at all about her husband's past. 'He had no childhood, no youth, he didn't tell her anything about his life, basically before he met her. 'This drove her to distraction. She got to the point where she was ready to leave him.' Jean had even tried to find the orphanage where Gaertner claimed he was raised. But she found it did not exist. Knowing that his wife was on the verge of quitting their marriage, Gaertner finally owned up to both his wife and the authorities. Dr Vigurs adds: : 'He was essentially, four decades later, the last German soldier to surrender from the Second World War. And the story went wild. 'A biography was written, Hitler's Last Soldier in America, and finally, he was able to tell the truth.' By then, the US authorities had no interest in Gaertner. He was never charged with an offence because he had been brought to the US against his will. And all German prisoners of war had long since been repatriated. He finally became a US citizen in 2009 and died aged 92 in 2013.
