Special guests
Martin McNally
A living and breathing D.B. Cooper, Martin McNally committed a copycat hijacking on June 23rd, 1972, jumping from a 727 with $500,000 in ransom money. McNally spent nearly four decades in prison for his crime.
Come meet a real life D.B. Cooper!
Sharon Matiyow
A hostage of skyjacker Martin McNally for hours, Sharon Matiyow, nee Wetherley, served as McNally’s version of Tina Mucklow through the hijacking, acting as the liason between himself and the flight crew.
Come hear what it was like to be the primary hostage and eyewitness to a D.B. Cooper copycat!
Bill Mitchell
Bill Mitchell is one of the few eyewitness of DB Cooper. In fact, Mitchell sat no less than five feet from the infamous skyjacker on board Flight 305.
Bill will be on stage at DBCooperCon this year re-telling his remarkable experience.
You don’t want to miss out on this incredible opportunity!
Brian Ingram
On February 10th, 1980, Brian Ingram uncovered the only physical evidence ever recovered post-hijacking when he discovered three packets of D.B. Cooper’s ransom on Tena Bar along the Columbia River.
Brian will be joining us at the Conference this year to share his story!
Jim McClellan
With over 50 years of flying in the southern Washington area, Jim McClellan was briefly suspected of being the hijacker once the FBI realized that his property was right in the middle of their suspected Drop Zone. Additionally, Jim and his buddy Vern were the pilots of the infamous “Mystery Plane” that was flying around in the area at the time of the hijacking, as featured in “In Search Of” and other documentaries and books.
Larry Carr
Now retired from active service with the FBI, former Special Agent Larry Carr led the FBI’s efforts to find Cooper during parts of three decades; the 2000’s, the 2010’s, and the 2020’s.
If there was a Mount Rushmore for Cooperites, Larry would easily have his face in granite.
Tom Kaye
With a paper published in Nature as well as appearances on the History Channel, Discovery, Netflix, and HBO, Tom Kaye is the most well known scientist on the Cooper case, and we are excited to announce that he will be presenting at the 2024 DB Cooper Conference!
Tom will be speaking about some new information concerning the tie particles that is even making the folks at McCrone Labs do a double take.
Who knows what other fascinating information Tom might have up his sleeve for us?
Ron Rovansek
With a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering, Ron Rovansek works daily with river systems and river bank processes. He may have just the guy Cooperites need to help us figure out how Cooper’s loot made its way to Tena Bar. Ron will be giving a lecture on his own theories about how the money arrived there.
Bruce Smith
Affectionately known as as “Uncle Bruce” and the “Mayor of Cooperville”, Bruce Smith is a respected and beloved researcher in the Vortex.
Bruce is the the author of “DB Cooper and the FBI: A Case Study of America’s Only Unsolved Skyjacking”. He is also an investigative journalist who has tirelessly pursued leads in the Cooper case for nearly two decades.
Bruce will be bringing his experience and knowledge to DB CooperCon 2024 by participating in panel discussions and talking about his book.