I Am DB Cooper (2022) Movie Script
1
[snorting]
[gasping
and breathing heavily]
[pilot] Metro tower,
this is Northwest Orient
flight 305
we have a situation.
[Rodney] 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.
[sharply exhales]
[exhales]
[breathing heavily]
-[tense music playing]
-[door opening]
[co-pilot] Captain,
the aft door is open.
Oh, my God.
[breathing heavily]
[quiet suspenseful
music playing]
[Rodney] 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
[Rodney] 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.
-[Clifford] Help me.
[phone line beeps]
[operator] 911,
what is your emergency?
[Clifford groans]
It's Clifford Rich.
Lady, goddamn it!
I've been stabbed!
Rodney fuckin' Bonnifield.
[guitar music playing]
[Rodney] No, I believe in God.
God and country, I do.
[interviewer]
Nothin' wrong with that.
[Rodney] 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'.
[Carlos] So,
I met Rod December of 2016.
Rodney had been arrested on
assault one,
uh, essentially a knife fight
and, uh, bailed him out.
[Mike] 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.
[man] Sorry, I'm not trying
to be an asshole.
-No, no.
-Hey, we're not either.
-[man] I'm loaded.
-So are we.
[Mike] 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.
[gunfire]
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.
[gunshots]
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."
[Carlos]
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.
[Rodney]
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."
[news anchor]
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.
[narrator]
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.
[rock music playing]
Everything was going down,
Martin Luther King got killed,
[indistinct] died,
Everything was going downhill.
All right, everyone throw in,
don't be cheap.
[man 1]
All right, raising two.
You guys, uh,
been following those protests
-in D.C.?
-[man 2] 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?
[man 3]
That's government, man!
-Right? Come on!
-[man 2] 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!
[man 1] Cheers to that shit,
fuckin'-A man.
[young Rodney]
To the money, boys!
[Rodney] 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!
[young Rodney]
You like that?
I get that from Panama.
[Rodney] 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.
[woman on phone]
Uh, I can't wait either.
[Rodney]
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.
[Rodney] 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."
[interviewer] So, you said
she wrote a song for you?
[Rodney] Yeah, Run--
"Run, D.B., Run"
[interviewer] Can you sing
a little bit of it?
[Rodney] Uh, well,
I was in the, uh,
Hard Rock Caf
in Lake Tahoe when the--
the song came out and it says,
Run D.B. run
keep on running D.B.
[Carlos] 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--
[Mike] 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.
-[laughs]
-[cameraman] Oh, really?
Oh, yeah, we own a gold mine
in the mountains there.
Bazooka Gold Mining Company,
LLC.
[Carlos] 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.
[Carlos] 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.
[Mike]
He, for the last 35ish years
has lived on a dairy farm.
Incognito,
uh, with a friend of his.
[Rodney] 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.
[barking]
[Rodney] Because you don't get
a second chance out here.
Just like that.
Live with Don Lee at the farm.
Hell of a guy.
[Don] 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.
[Clifford] Oh! Oh, fuck!
[groaning]
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.
[Rodney]
Well, I took him out anyway.
[Carlos]
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.
[suspenseful music playing]
[Rodney]
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.
-[young Rodney] Fitzsimmons?
-How you doin'?
[young Rodney] 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.
[interviewer] 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.
[Rodney] 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.
[Carlos] 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.
[interviewer] 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.
[interviewer]
Why that amount of money?
[Rodney] 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.
[news anchor]
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.
[news anchor]
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.
[Mike] 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.
[man] 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.
[man] 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.
[interviewer]
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.
[newsman] 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.
[Rodney]
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.
[interviewer]
Did they allow you to smoke
-back in the day on airplanes?
-[Rodney] Yes, they did.
I smoked about eight Raleigh's,
but I just barely smoked them.
I was nervous.
The-- the cocktails
that were ordered--
[Rodney] I ordered me a bourbon
and they brought me a double.
[stewardess]
Can I get you anything?
[young Rodney] 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?
[Carlos]
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.
[Mike] 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.
[Carlos] So,
after some deliberation,
Mike and I decided that
maybe we should go down
and dig up this money.
[Mike] 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.
[interviewer]
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.
[mom]
He was a very busy little boy.
He was always into
many different things.
He was an asshole.
[interviewer]
Can you take us back
to your first experience
with criminal activity?
[Rodney] 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.
[employee] 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'
[Rodney] I robbed
my first beer truck
when I was 13.
[indistinct] way,
and I robbed it.
Took the kegs off it,
me and this other kid.
Jackpot!
-He was a little entrepreneur.
-A little bastard.
[Rodney]
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.
[female interviewer]
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!
-[door clicks shut]
-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.
[Mom] Oh, I don't know.
I never thought of that.
I-- I guess it's better
than Playgirl.
[Mom] Oh, gosh, I don't wanna
have to worry about that.
You know, uh...
I got another call
from the principal today.
[Mom] 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.
[Dad] Military school?
If you can convince him.
[Dad] I don't think
we should give him a gun.
[Mike] 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.
[Mike] 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.
[Rodney] Let's go down
and unbury that money.
[Mike] All right,
let's get her done.
[Rodney]
All right, all right.
You can ask me
any questions you want.
[interviewer] 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.
[interviewer]
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.
[interviewer] Okay,
so Roger Gackle
was kind of like this guy
that taught you
the inner workings
of what aviation is.
He just [indistinct].
[man] Let's go Rod!
[bowling pins clatter]
-[man] Yeah!
-[men cheering]
That's how it's done, fellas!
-Hey, where's Gackle?
-He went back to the airport.
[young Rodney grunts]
Gackle gave me
a tour of that 727 last week.
-Have you been on that thing?
-Nah.
[sighs] 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.
[all laughing]
-Hey! What's up, you goons?
-[Marty] Hey, buddy boy.
We goin'
to the loop on Friday?
[all] Oh, the loop!
Oh, the loop! Yeah!
South of the
Washington-Oregon border.
A little
Portland hideout, fun-out.
And when Rodney showed up...
[guitar riff plays]
...that's when
the party lifted off.
[young Rodney]
Hey, how you doin'?
[Marty] Hey, what's up, Rod?
How you doing, brother?
-Hey, Rod.
-Hey, baby.
[Rodney] Oh, the loop is
where we used to gang fight,
race cars,
and monkey around
with wild women
down there, okay?
[Marty] Here's the loop.
Fast cars.
Yeah, dude,
it looks like you need
a new radiator hose.
[Marty] Lotta women.
Lotta drugs.
Goddamn this shit is good.
[Marty] Lotta people
havin' a good time
mixing 'em all together.
Gotcha! [laughs]
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. [laughs]
[Marty] 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?
-[Rodney] 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.
-[all laugh]
Yeah, I seem to remember
Stacy's cousin
because I think it was around
her 19th birthday.
We had a pretty
good time together.
[laughs] Yeah, and I bet
she enjoyed all three seconds.
[all laughing]
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.
[scattered laughter]
You know what? Forget you.
Bring your skinny dick over
here and say that to my face.
[man] Whoa, whoa, whoa!
-[ominous music playing]
-[all yelling in panic]
-[gun cocking]
-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?
[Wayne] No, man.
We're cool, we're cool.
[interviewer]
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.
-[Interviewer] So like stuff,
-like, Johnny Cash used to do?
-[Rodney] 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.
-[young Rodney whistling]
-[Marty vocalizing]
[young Rodney] Knock-knock,
Christmas came early,
my friend.
Ooh, is that
the shit Cash is using?
[young Rodney laughs]
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?
[Marty] 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?
[sniffing]
-[both moaning in pleasure]
-I will criss-cross this
all across the county.
[Rodney exhales audibly]
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.
[both clicking tongue
and sniffing]
[interviewer]
How're you feeling, sir?
[Mike] 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...
[clears throat]
...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.
[laughs]
So I ended
up buying
a pair of tennis shoes
on the way out. [laughs]
I had to walk to the road,
go to Woodland
to get the tennis shoes
[indistinct].
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--
[Will] 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.
-[man] 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.
[Mike] What are
your thoughts now that
you've seen
the confidence he has?
[Tyler] 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?
[Mike]
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?
[Rodney] 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.
-[interviewer] 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.
[Interviewer] And these were
armed robberies?
[Rodney] Yeah, I committed
20 or 30 armed robberies.
And I was with McDonald
on about ten of 'em.
[exhaling audibly]
Where are we headed?
[sighs]
As far as we can, Marty.
As far as we can.
[laughs]
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.
[Young Rodney] Empty that safe
into that bag right now!
-Do it! Every last dime!
-[Cashier] That's all of it!
-That's all we got!
-[young Rodney] Oh, come on,
you stupid ass hippy,
fill that thing up!
We happy, buddy?
[breathing heavily]
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
[young Rodney whooping]
We gonna tear this
motherfucker up
And burn this
motherfucker down
[young Rodney] Yes!
[Marty] 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...
[laughing] 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.
[inhales audibly]
If you had had the kung pao,
we wouldn't be doin' this
right now, man.
Shut the fuck up, Marty.
[rock music playing]
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.
[Marty] Come on, Yuki.
We're not gonna hurt you,
we just need the money.
Marty?
Marty!
[music stops]
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!
[Marty] 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!
[breathing heavily]
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?
[Rodney] 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.
[interviewer]
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."
[Carlos] She-- she thought
you were asking her for a date?
[Rodney]
Asking her for a date, yeah.
[chuckles]
Not very picky, are you?
-I'm flattered, but married.
-[Rodney laughs]
[Carlos]
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.
[Carlos]
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.
[Carlos]
Up to the cockpit?
-Yeah.
-[Carlos] Yeah.
And then, uh,
that's when I had trouble.
Lawrence Finegold.
[Carlos] 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.
[Mike] 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."
-[Mike] And they're all 20's!
-I got
193,000 something dollars
buried on the beach.
[Carlos chuckles]
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!
[Mike]
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!
[Mike] How 'bout you?
Stressed?
[Wes]
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.
[laughs]
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.
[Wes] 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--
[interviewer] 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--
[Romana] 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.
-[Romana laughs]
-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?
-[Romana] Mm-hmm.
-The big heist?
Ooh!
What the hell was that?
I just treated you
to the best pancakes
-of your goddamn life.
-[Rodney laughs]
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.
[Rodney] 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.
[Romana]
Have some of this.
[both laugh]
Hair of the dog,
what've we got?
Ooh! Number seven,
now we're talkin'.
-[Romana laughs]
-[young Rodney] Hmm.
Ah!
Thank you, Mr. Capps.
[sighs]
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.
-[Romana laughs]
-That's real good.
-I'm a free guy.
-[Romana laughs]
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?
[young Rodney exhales audibly]
You're with a safe driver,
I can assure you that.
[Rodney] 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!
[young Rodney]
It's a good surprise,
no bad surprise, okay?
-You ready?
-[Romana] Okay, yes, I'm ready.
-Are you ready?
-Yes, yes, yes.
Okay. Three, two, One.
Oh, my God, Rod!
[gasping]
[young Rodney]
I know, it's a gourmet meal!
[Romana laughs]
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?
-[Romana] Yes!
-Yes?
[Romana] Yes!
[music fades]
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.
[young Rodney]
You're a little pink
around the edges,
aren't you, Marty?
[Marty] Keeps me goin'.
You take your vitamins today,
Marty?
-[Marty] Everyday.
-Good. [laughs]
Doesn't get
much better than this, buddy.
-[young Rodney sighs]
-Look at this!
[young Rodney]
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.
-[Marty] 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!
-[Marty] Oh!
-Man!
-[young Rodney laughs]
The new man Rodney Bonnifield
family man.
-Yes!
-[sighs] I'll take that.
-A new man.
-[young Rodney laughs]
[Marty] So what's next
for the family man?
[young Rodney] 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.
[Rodney] 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
[exhales audibly]
I'm goin' where the sunshine
gon' get me high
[exhales audibly]
[Romana] 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.
[phone ringing]
[Romana] Ooh.
[ringing continues]
-Hello?
-[young Rodney] Hi!
I'm calling
for the most gorgeous woman
in the entire world.
Is that one of your
brother's pick up lines?
[Young Rodney] 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.
[Young Rodney] I'm here
working for you, babe.
For the both of you.
-How's little Rod?
-[Ramona] 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.
-[Young Rodney] 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.
[Ramona]
It's late, Rod.
I need to go.
I have
an early flight tomorrow.
Love you.
[phone clicks]
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.
-[Romana] 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.
[Romana] Yeah, and drink half
of it away while you're at it?
We are not in love, Rod.
We got married for the baby.
-[young Rodney] 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.
[young Rodney] Oh.
[sighs] Okay.
I know what this is about.
This is about Wayne Shannon.
You're fucking
Wayne Shannon.
[Romana]
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?
[Rodney] 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.
[Kevin]
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
[music fades]
[Rodney] 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.
[Wayne] 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.
[Wayne] 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.
-[young Rodney snorts]
-[Marty] Hey, I couldn't find
your car, man--
Holy shit.
-[young Rodney coughs]
-You all right, man?
[young Rodney] Oh-- yeah.
What the fuck's goin' on?
[young Rodney]
Well, Romana came down.
And, uh,
she's leavin' me.
Sneaking around
with Wayne Shannon.
Yeah.
[exhales] So... [chuckles]
...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.
[snorting]
[Marty] 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.
[young Rodney]
Oh, you're good? Yeah.
You know,
I fuckin' had your back
-through it all.
-[Rodney mumbles]
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!
[door slams shut]
[snorting & coughing]
[Marty]
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.
[ominous music plays]
[Rodney] 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.
[interviewer] What were you
wearing that day?
[Rodney]
I wore a sports jacket,
penny loafers, black tie,
a tie clasp
with a round stone in it.
[interviewer]
Why were you wearing a suit?
[Rodney]
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.
[interviewer] So, you're saying
that you were suicidal,
so you went
to go take her hostage?
[Rodney] Yes, I did.
I was gonna do it.
[interviewer] And that was
a very serious thought
-in your mind?
-[Rodney] Yes.
[Rodney] I took a taxi
from there to the mall.
Jameson Beach mall,
and step on it already.
[Rodney] 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.
[Mike] 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.
[Wes] 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.
[man] That's what
I'm saying Tena Bar is--
[Wes] Right, right.
[Mike] 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.
[Wes] DB was talkin' about
a little cove
that he buried the money at
and we think
that's the cove right there.
[man]
Outside the cove.
So we'll be able
to park on the road
or maybe even closer,
pop down, and...
theoretically get it.
[Mike] 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.
[Rodney] Road closed.
-[man] Well, this is us.
[Carlos] 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.
[interviewer]
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--
[man] How far is it away?
[man 2] Like, 900 feet,
it's close.
[Mike] 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.
[Mike] 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'?
[Rodney] 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!
[chattering
& laughter continues]
Let's go get the money!
[interviewer]
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?
[Rodney cackles] It does.
When you're way up
in the air.
[interviewer]
What was your intention
getting on that plane?
[Rodney] 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.
[Tina over PA]
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...
-[stewardess] Here you go.
-[Young Rodney] Thank you.
Is everything all right?
Yeah, uh, I lost my wife.
Oh, I'm so sorry.
[young Rodney]
But, you know what, Flo,
I think that everything
is gonna be all right.
You just keep those drinks
comin'... [chuckles]
...and at the end
of this flight
I'm gonna have a nice,
big tip for ya.
-Oh, okay.
-[Tina] 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.
[laughing] No, no, no.
Um, that's quite all right.
That's-- that's for you.
[Tina] 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.
-[Tina] Okay.
[Rodney] 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.
[pilot 1]
Auto coming on. Okay.
Is everything all right?
"$200,000 in negotiable
American currency
and-- four parachutes
or this plane blows.
[chuckles]
Too bad it's Thanksgiving
and not April Fools. [chuckles]
-[Pilot] 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.
[Pilot] 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.
[Pilot] 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.
[reporter 1]
Was there ever any attempt
to dissuade him
or refuse his orders?
[Co-pilot clears throat]
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.
[Rodney]
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.
[laughs]
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.
[young Rodney]
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.
[reporter 2]
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.
[chuckles]
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...
[reporter 3] Given
the conditions of the jump,
do you think
he could've survived?
Um... [chuckles]
...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
[Rodney] 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
[young Rodney grunting
& log thudding]
Oh, no, no, no, no, no
[laughing]
[music fades]
[Mike] 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?
[Rodney] 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?
-[Rodney] Yeah.
-[Mike] Okay.
[Mike] 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.
[Rodney] 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.
-[Mike] Right, right.
-[Rodney] The lights
[Mike]
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.
[man over radio]
Where are you?
Give me
a little bit of reference.
-[walkie-talkie beeps]
-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--
[interviewer] 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.
-[Mike] 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.
[Mike] It does fit
the description of the area.
And then he did say
he followed it out.
-[Carlos] Yeah.
-So he buried it
and then saw...
tracks, motorcycle--
whatever that came back out.
So this could
be where he came out.
[Rodney]
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.
[country music plays]
[cowboy] Ooh-ooh-ooh!
You just party out there, man?
[young Rodney]
Somethin' like that.
[cowboy] Well, hop in, huh?
[Rodney] 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.
[cowboy] Hey, appreciate!
See you down the road, hoss.
[Rodney] 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
[interviewer] You pretty much
made it clear.
You-- you're free and clear,
pretty much.
[Rodney]
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.
[radio newscaster]
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.
[Rodney] 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?
-[young Rodney laughing]
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!
[Jack and Babs]
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.
[young Rodney]
Piss off, Barbara.
Hey, piss off, Rod.
Piss off, Jack.
You got a muzzle for her?
-[Babs] I can hold my own.
-[young Rodney scoffs]
You know that
from experience.
That's 'cause
you wear the pants
in the relationship.
Oh, Rod,
you know that's not true.
[Mom]
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!
[news anchor]
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.
-[Mom] Yeah?
This looks a lot like Rod.
How can it be Rod?
He's sitting right here!
[news anchor] ...left aboard
four crew members
and the hijacker.
[Dad] I guess
it's just another
good-looking Irish kid.
[all]
No smoking in the house!
[news anchor]
...with the full ransom
collected from
the Seattle banks
and four parachutes
aboard...
[Rodney] My dad didn't know,
I didn't tell my dad and mom
for ten years
after I did it.
[interviewer]
So, did you tell anyone
right after
you committed the crime?
My brother.
My brother's known all along.
[Jack] Golly!
Brigitte Bardot's
hot as a pistol!
[young Rodney] 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?
-[young Rodney laughs]
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--
[both] Brace-face Nelson!
[laughing] 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.
-[laughs]
You're sitting with him.
It was me.
-[Jack] Full of shit.
-[laughing]
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?
[young Rodney scoffs]
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.
[announcer]
The Army Corps of Engineers
had dredged the Columbia River
here in 1974.
[Mike] 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.
[announcer]
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.
[intriguing music playing]
[worker indistinct]
[Rodney] And they're digging
right by the flat rock, right?
[man] Yeah.
[Mike] 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.
[announcer]
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.
[man 2 whistling]
-[Mike] We got a whistle.
-[both] What's up?
[Carlos] Heard a whistle,
blood starts pumping,
and I think, "Okay,
maybe somebody's found
something of interest.
[man 2] Is anybody
in the woods?
There's a body.
[Carlos] I thought
I heard somebody say,
"I found a body."
[Mike] [indistinct] body.
[man 3] Yeah, we might wanna
go up there and check it out.
[man 4] Well,
I will just take this.
[Mike] 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...
[Mike]
I mean, we knew going in
that we probably
shouldn't be there.
[Carlos indistinct]
[Scott] 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?
-[Scott] Yessir.
-Yeah.
[Scott] Sorry, I'm not trying
to be an ass.
-[Carlos] No, no.
-[Mike] And we're not either.
-[Scott] I'm loaded.
-So are we.
You have the complete right
to-- yeah.
[Scott]
My name's Scott. Is that on?
-Do you want it to be on?
-[Scott] No.
-[both laughing]
-[cameraman] It's not on you.
-Yeah.
-[Scott] It's recording.
What're you guys recovering?
You said you guys
were down here
with a recovery agent?
What're you looking for?
[all laughing]
[Scott] Hey,
you're on my property,
what're you looking for?
Is that
your specific property?
-[Scott] Yeah!
-I-- I thought
this was private property-
[Scott] No, no, it says
it all over the gate.
[interviewer] Why didn't
you go back and get the money?
[Rodney] 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.
[interviewer]
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...
[sighs] 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
[applause]
-Hey, Stan.
-[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.
[laughs]
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.
[young Rodney] 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.
-[Stan] You got it.
[news anchor]
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' pia coladas
while I'm here
in this bar
singin' songs to the same
ten people every night.
[laughs] 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 pia colada.
Or...
he's right here
in this bar...
havin' drinks with you,
miss.
[guitar music playing]
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.
[young Rodney sighs]
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
[interviewer]
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.
-[man on phone] 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?
-[man] 360.
-Yep.
-[man] 387.
-Yep.
[man] 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.
[phone line rings]
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.
-[Babs] Hello?
-Hey, is Jack available?
[Babs] 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?
-[Babs] Uh-huh.
-We're talking to Rod and...
-[Babs] Oh.
...Rod claims
to be D.B. Cooper.
[Babs]
Oh, no he's not.
Do you have any--
I mean-- is he--
has he had this manifestation
in his mind for a while?
[Babs]
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?
[Babs] 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?
[Babs] The family's view
is that he's nuts. [laughing]
I mean-- what--
has he always been crazy
-or, um--
-[Babs] Uh, no.
He was in a car wreck
when he was about 18...
-Right.
-...years old.
[Babs]
And, uh, he...
uh, he went forward
in the backseat
and then
when he went backwards
he hit his head real bad.
[Babs indistinct]
[Mike] 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.
[interviewer]
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."
[interviewer]
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.
-[tires squeaking]
-[glass shattering]
My fault.
The accident was my fault.
It was an accident.
Accidents are accidents.
[Rodney] [echoing]
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.
[driver] [echoing]
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!
[Rodney] 138 kidnapping cases,
you'll never
get out of prison.
You wouldn't even see
the light of day.
[young Rodney] I'd sit
your ass down if I were you
and fix that crooked-ass
toupee while you're at it.
[pilot 1] 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.
[hyperventilating]
I love you,
Rodney Bonnifield.
-[Rodney indistinct]
-[tense music playing]
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.
Run D.B., run.
Run D.B., run.
Run D.B., run.
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, 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
[snorting]
[gasping
and breathing heavily]
[pilot] Metro tower,
this is Northwest Orient
flight 305
we have a situation.
[Rodney] 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.
[sharply exhales]
[exhales]
[breathing heavily]
-[tense music playing]
-[door opening]
[co-pilot] Captain,
the aft door is open.
Oh, my God.
[breathing heavily]
[quiet suspenseful
music playing]
[Rodney] 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
[Rodney] 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.
-[Clifford] Help me.
[phone line beeps]
[operator] 911,
what is your emergency?
[Clifford groans]
It's Clifford Rich.
Lady, goddamn it!
I've been stabbed!
Rodney fuckin' Bonnifield.
[guitar music playing]
[Rodney] No, I believe in God.
God and country, I do.
[interviewer]
Nothin' wrong with that.
[Rodney] 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'.
[Carlos] So,
I met Rod December of 2016.
Rodney had been arrested on
assault one,
uh, essentially a knife fight
and, uh, bailed him out.
[Mike] 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.
[man] Sorry, I'm not trying
to be an asshole.
-No, no.
-Hey, we're not either.
-[man] I'm loaded.
-So are we.
[Mike] 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.
[gunfire]
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.
[gunshots]
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."
[Carlos]
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.
[Rodney]
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."
[news anchor]
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.
[narrator]
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.
[rock music playing]
Everything was going down,
Martin Luther King got killed,
[indistinct] died,
Everything was going downhill.
All right, everyone throw in,
don't be cheap.
[man 1]
All right, raising two.
You guys, uh,
been following those protests
-in D.C.?
-[man 2] 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?
[man 3]
That's government, man!
-Right? Come on!
-[man 2] 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!
[man 1] Cheers to that shit,
fuckin'-A man.
[young Rodney]
To the money, boys!
[Rodney] 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!
[young Rodney]
You like that?
I get that from Panama.
[Rodney] 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.
[woman on phone]
Uh, I can't wait either.
[Rodney]
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.
[Rodney] 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."
[interviewer] So, you said
she wrote a song for you?
[Rodney] Yeah, Run--
"Run, D.B., Run"
[interviewer] Can you sing
a little bit of it?
[Rodney] Uh, well,
I was in the, uh,
Hard Rock Caf
in Lake Tahoe when the--
the song came out and it says,
Run D.B. run
keep on running D.B.
[Carlos] 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--
[Mike] 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.
-[laughs]
-[cameraman] Oh, really?
Oh, yeah, we own a gold mine
in the mountains there.
Bazooka Gold Mining Company,
LLC.
[Carlos] 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.
[Carlos] 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.
[Mike]
He, for the last 35ish years
has lived on a dairy farm.
Incognito,
uh, with a friend of his.
[Rodney] 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.
[barking]
[Rodney] Because you don't get
a second chance out here.
Just like that.
Live with Don Lee at the farm.
Hell of a guy.
[Don] 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.
[Clifford] Oh! Oh, fuck!
[groaning]
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.
[Rodney]
Well, I took him out anyway.
[Carlos]
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.
[suspenseful music playing]
[Rodney]
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.
-[young Rodney] Fitzsimmons?
-How you doin'?
[young Rodney] 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.
[interviewer] 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.
[Rodney] 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.
[Carlos] 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.
[interviewer] 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.
[interviewer]
Why that amount of money?
[Rodney] 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.
[news anchor]
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.
[news anchor]
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.
[Mike] 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.
[man] 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.
[man] 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.
[interviewer]
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.
[newsman] 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.
[Rodney]
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.
[interviewer]
Did they allow you to smoke
-back in the day on airplanes?
-[Rodney] Yes, they did.
I smoked about eight Raleigh's,
but I just barely smoked them.
I was nervous.
The-- the cocktails
that were ordered--
[Rodney] I ordered me a bourbon
and they brought me a double.
[stewardess]
Can I get you anything?
[young Rodney] 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?
[Carlos]
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.
[Mike] 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.
[Carlos] So,
after some deliberation,
Mike and I decided that
maybe we should go down
and dig up this money.
[Mike] 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.
[interviewer]
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.
[mom]
He was a very busy little boy.
He was always into
many different things.
He was an asshole.
[interviewer]
Can you take us back
to your first experience
with criminal activity?
[Rodney] 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.
[employee] 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'
[Rodney] I robbed
my first beer truck
when I was 13.
[indistinct] way,
and I robbed it.
Took the kegs off it,
me and this other kid.
Jackpot!
-He was a little entrepreneur.
-A little bastard.
[Rodney]
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.
[female interviewer]
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!
-[door clicks shut]
-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.
[Mom] Oh, I don't know.
I never thought of that.
I-- I guess it's better
than Playgirl.
[Mom] Oh, gosh, I don't wanna
have to worry about that.
You know, uh...
I got another call
from the principal today.
[Mom] 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.
[Dad] Military school?
If you can convince him.
[Dad] I don't think
we should give him a gun.
[Mike] 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.
[Mike] 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.
[Rodney] Let's go down
and unbury that money.
[Mike] All right,
let's get her done.
[Rodney]
All right, all right.
You can ask me
any questions you want.
[interviewer] 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.
[interviewer]
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.
[interviewer] Okay,
so Roger Gackle
was kind of like this guy
that taught you
the inner workings
of what aviation is.
He just [indistinct].
[man] Let's go Rod!
[bowling pins clatter]
-[man] Yeah!
-[men cheering]
That's how it's done, fellas!
-Hey, where's Gackle?
-He went back to the airport.
[young Rodney grunts]
Gackle gave me
a tour of that 727 last week.
-Have you been on that thing?
-Nah.
[sighs] 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.
[all laughing]
-Hey! What's up, you goons?
-[Marty] Hey, buddy boy.
We goin'
to the loop on Friday?
[all] Oh, the loop!
Oh, the loop! Yeah!
South of the
Washington-Oregon border.
A little
Portland hideout, fun-out.
And when Rodney showed up...
[guitar riff plays]
...that's when
the party lifted off.
[young Rodney]
Hey, how you doin'?
[Marty] Hey, what's up, Rod?
How you doing, brother?
-Hey, Rod.
-Hey, baby.
[Rodney] Oh, the loop is
where we used to gang fight,
race cars,
and monkey around
with wild women
down there, okay?
[Marty] Here's the loop.
Fast cars.
Yeah, dude,
it looks like you need
a new radiator hose.
[Marty] Lotta women.
Lotta drugs.
Goddamn this shit is good.
[Marty] Lotta people
havin' a good time
mixing 'em all together.
Gotcha! [laughs]
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. [laughs]
[Marty] 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?
-[Rodney] 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.
-[all laugh]
Yeah, I seem to remember
Stacy's cousin
because I think it was around
her 19th birthday.
We had a pretty
good time together.
[laughs] Yeah, and I bet
she enjoyed all three seconds.
[all laughing]
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.
[scattered laughter]
You know what? Forget you.
Bring your skinny dick over
here and say that to my face.
[man] Whoa, whoa, whoa!
-[ominous music playing]
-[all yelling in panic]
-[gun cocking]
-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?
[Wayne] No, man.
We're cool, we're cool.
[interviewer]
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.
-[Interviewer] So like stuff,
-like, Johnny Cash used to do?
-[Rodney] 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.
-[young Rodney whistling]
-[Marty vocalizing]
[young Rodney] Knock-knock,
Christmas came early,
my friend.
Ooh, is that
the shit Cash is using?
[young Rodney laughs]
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?
[Marty] 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?
[sniffing]
-[both moaning in pleasure]
-I will criss-cross this
all across the county.
[Rodney exhales audibly]
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.
[both clicking tongue
and sniffing]
[interviewer]
How're you feeling, sir?
[Mike] 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...
[clears throat]
...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.
[laughs]
So I ended
up buying
a pair of tennis shoes
on the way out. [laughs]
I had to walk to the road,
go to Woodland
to get the tennis shoes
[indistinct].
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--
[Will] 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.
-[man] 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.
[Mike] What are
your thoughts now that
you've seen
the confidence he has?
[Tyler] 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?
[Mike]
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?
[Rodney] 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.
-[interviewer] 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.
[Interviewer] And these were
armed robberies?
[Rodney] Yeah, I committed
20 or 30 armed robberies.
And I was with McDonald
on about ten of 'em.
[exhaling audibly]
Where are we headed?
[sighs]
As far as we can, Marty.
As far as we can.
[laughs]
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.
[Young Rodney] Empty that safe
into that bag right now!
-Do it! Every last dime!
-[Cashier] That's all of it!
-That's all we got!
-[young Rodney] Oh, come on,
you stupid ass hippy,
fill that thing up!
We happy, buddy?
[breathing heavily]
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
[young Rodney whooping]
We gonna tear this
motherfucker up
And burn this
motherfucker down
[young Rodney] Yes!
[Marty] 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...
[laughing] 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.
[inhales audibly]
If you had had the kung pao,
we wouldn't be doin' this
right now, man.
Shut the fuck up, Marty.
[rock music playing]
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.
[Marty] Come on, Yuki.
We're not gonna hurt you,
we just need the money.
Marty?
Marty!
[music stops]
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!
[Marty] 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!
[breathing heavily]
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?
[Rodney] 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.
[interviewer]
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."
[Carlos] She-- she thought
you were asking her for a date?
[Rodney]
Asking her for a date, yeah.
[chuckles]
Not very picky, are you?
-I'm flattered, but married.
-[Rodney laughs]
[Carlos]
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.
[Carlos]
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.
[Carlos]
Up to the cockpit?
-Yeah.
-[Carlos] Yeah.
And then, uh,
that's when I had trouble.
Lawrence Finegold.
[Carlos] 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.
[Mike] 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."
-[Mike] And they're all 20's!
-I got
193,000 something dollars
buried on the beach.
[Carlos chuckles]
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!
[Mike]
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!
[Mike] How 'bout you?
Stressed?
[Wes]
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.
[laughs]
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.
[Wes] 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--
[interviewer] 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--
[Romana] 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.
-[Romana laughs]
-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?
-[Romana] Mm-hmm.
-The big heist?
Ooh!
What the hell was that?
I just treated you
to the best pancakes
-of your goddamn life.
-[Rodney laughs]
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.
[Rodney] 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.
[Romana]
Have some of this.
[both laugh]
Hair of the dog,
what've we got?
Ooh! Number seven,
now we're talkin'.
-[Romana laughs]
-[young Rodney] Hmm.
Ah!
Thank you, Mr. Capps.
[sighs]
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.
-[Romana laughs]
-That's real good.
-I'm a free guy.
-[Romana laughs]
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?
[young Rodney exhales audibly]
You're with a safe driver,
I can assure you that.
[Rodney] 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!
[young Rodney]
It's a good surprise,
no bad surprise, okay?
-You ready?
-[Romana] Okay, yes, I'm ready.
-Are you ready?
-Yes, yes, yes.
Okay. Three, two, One.
Oh, my God, Rod!
[gasping]
[young Rodney]
I know, it's a gourmet meal!
[Romana laughs]
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?
-[Romana] Yes!
-Yes?
[Romana] Yes!
[music fades]
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.
[young Rodney]
You're a little pink
around the edges,
aren't you, Marty?
[Marty] Keeps me goin'.
You take your vitamins today,
Marty?
-[Marty] Everyday.
-Good. [laughs]
Doesn't get
much better than this, buddy.
-[young Rodney sighs]
-Look at this!
[young Rodney]
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.
-[Marty] 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!
-[Marty] Oh!
-Man!
-[young Rodney laughs]
The new man Rodney Bonnifield
family man.
-Yes!
-[sighs] I'll take that.
-A new man.
-[young Rodney laughs]
[Marty] So what's next
for the family man?
[young Rodney] 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.
[Rodney] 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
[exhales audibly]
I'm goin' where the sunshine
gon' get me high
[exhales audibly]
[Romana] 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.
[phone ringing]
[Romana] Ooh.
[ringing continues]
-Hello?
-[young Rodney] Hi!
I'm calling
for the most gorgeous woman
in the entire world.
Is that one of your
brother's pick up lines?
[Young Rodney] 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.
[Young Rodney] I'm here
working for you, babe.
For the both of you.
-How's little Rod?
-[Ramona] 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.
-[Young Rodney] 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.
[Ramona]
It's late, Rod.
I need to go.
I have
an early flight tomorrow.
Love you.
[phone clicks]
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.
-[Romana] 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.
[Romana] Yeah, and drink half
of it away while you're at it?
We are not in love, Rod.
We got married for the baby.
-[young Rodney] 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.
[young Rodney] Oh.
[sighs] Okay.
I know what this is about.
This is about Wayne Shannon.
You're fucking
Wayne Shannon.
[Romana]
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?
[Rodney] 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.
[Kevin]
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
[music fades]
[Rodney] 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.
[Wayne] 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.
[Wayne] 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.
-[young Rodney snorts]
-[Marty] Hey, I couldn't find
your car, man--
Holy shit.
-[young Rodney coughs]
-You all right, man?
[young Rodney] Oh-- yeah.
What the fuck's goin' on?
[young Rodney]
Well, Romana came down.
And, uh,
she's leavin' me.
Sneaking around
with Wayne Shannon.
Yeah.
[exhales] So... [chuckles]
...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.
[snorting]
[Marty] 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.
[young Rodney]
Oh, you're good? Yeah.
You know,
I fuckin' had your back
-through it all.
-[Rodney mumbles]
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!
[door slams shut]
[snorting & coughing]
[Marty]
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.
[ominous music plays]
[Rodney] 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.
[interviewer] What were you
wearing that day?
[Rodney]
I wore a sports jacket,
penny loafers, black tie,
a tie clasp
with a round stone in it.
[interviewer]
Why were you wearing a suit?
[Rodney]
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.
[interviewer] So, you're saying
that you were suicidal,
so you went
to go take her hostage?
[Rodney] Yes, I did.
I was gonna do it.
[interviewer] And that was
a very serious thought
-in your mind?
-[Rodney] Yes.
[Rodney] I took a taxi
from there to the mall.
Jameson Beach mall,
and step on it already.
[Rodney] 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.
[Mike] 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.
[Wes] 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.
[man] That's what
I'm saying Tena Bar is--
[Wes] Right, right.
[Mike] 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.
[Wes] DB was talkin' about
a little cove
that he buried the money at
and we think
that's the cove right there.
[man]
Outside the cove.
So we'll be able
to park on the road
or maybe even closer,
pop down, and...
theoretically get it.
[Mike] 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.
[Rodney] Road closed.
-[man] Well, this is us.
[Carlos] 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.
[interviewer]
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--
[man] How far is it away?
[man 2] Like, 900 feet,
it's close.
[Mike] 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.
[Mike] 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'?
[Rodney] 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!
[chattering
& laughter continues]
Let's go get the money!
[interviewer]
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?
[Rodney cackles] It does.
When you're way up
in the air.
[interviewer]
What was your intention
getting on that plane?
[Rodney] 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.
[Tina over PA]
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...
-[stewardess] Here you go.
-[Young Rodney] Thank you.
Is everything all right?
Yeah, uh, I lost my wife.
Oh, I'm so sorry.
[young Rodney]
But, you know what, Flo,
I think that everything
is gonna be all right.
You just keep those drinks
comin'... [chuckles]
...and at the end
of this flight
I'm gonna have a nice,
big tip for ya.
-Oh, okay.
-[Tina] 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.
[laughing] No, no, no.
Um, that's quite all right.
That's-- that's for you.
[Tina] 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.
-[Tina] Okay.
[Rodney] 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.
[pilot 1]
Auto coming on. Okay.
Is everything all right?
"$200,000 in negotiable
American currency
and-- four parachutes
or this plane blows.
[chuckles]
Too bad it's Thanksgiving
and not April Fools. [chuckles]
-[Pilot] 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.
[Pilot] 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.
[Pilot] 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.
[reporter 1]
Was there ever any attempt
to dissuade him
or refuse his orders?
[Co-pilot clears throat]
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.
[Rodney]
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.
[laughs]
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.
[young Rodney]
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.
[reporter 2]
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.
[chuckles]
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...
[reporter 3] Given
the conditions of the jump,
do you think
he could've survived?
Um... [chuckles]
...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
[Rodney] 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
[young Rodney grunting
& log thudding]
Oh, no, no, no, no, no
[laughing]
[music fades]
[Mike] 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?
[Rodney] 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?
-[Rodney] Yeah.
-[Mike] Okay.
[Mike] 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.
[Rodney] 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.
-[Mike] Right, right.
-[Rodney] The lights
[Mike]
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.
[man over radio]
Where are you?
Give me
a little bit of reference.
-[walkie-talkie beeps]
-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--
[interviewer] 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.
-[Mike] 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.
[Mike] It does fit
the description of the area.
And then he did say
he followed it out.
-[Carlos] Yeah.
-So he buried it
and then saw...
tracks, motorcycle--
whatever that came back out.
So this could
be where he came out.
[Rodney]
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.
[country music plays]
[cowboy] Ooh-ooh-ooh!
You just party out there, man?
[young Rodney]
Somethin' like that.
[cowboy] Well, hop in, huh?
[Rodney] 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.
[cowboy] Hey, appreciate!
See you down the road, hoss.
[Rodney] 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
[interviewer] You pretty much
made it clear.
You-- you're free and clear,
pretty much.
[Rodney]
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.
[radio newscaster]
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.
[Rodney] 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?
-[young Rodney laughing]
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!
[Jack and Babs]
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.
[young Rodney]
Piss off, Barbara.
Hey, piss off, Rod.
Piss off, Jack.
You got a muzzle for her?
-[Babs] I can hold my own.
-[young Rodney scoffs]
You know that
from experience.
That's 'cause
you wear the pants
in the relationship.
Oh, Rod,
you know that's not true.
[Mom]
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!
[news anchor]
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.
-[Mom] Yeah?
This looks a lot like Rod.
How can it be Rod?
He's sitting right here!
[news anchor] ...left aboard
four crew members
and the hijacker.
[Dad] I guess
it's just another
good-looking Irish kid.
[all]
No smoking in the house!
[news anchor]
...with the full ransom
collected from
the Seattle banks
and four parachutes
aboard...
[Rodney] My dad didn't know,
I didn't tell my dad and mom
for ten years
after I did it.
[interviewer]
So, did you tell anyone
right after
you committed the crime?
My brother.
My brother's known all along.
[Jack] Golly!
Brigitte Bardot's
hot as a pistol!
[young Rodney] 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?
-[young Rodney laughs]
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--
[both] Brace-face Nelson!
[laughing] 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.
-[laughs]
You're sitting with him.
It was me.
-[Jack] Full of shit.
-[laughing]
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?
[young Rodney scoffs]
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.
[announcer]
The Army Corps of Engineers
had dredged the Columbia River
here in 1974.
[Mike] 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.
[announcer]
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.
[intriguing music playing]
[worker indistinct]
[Rodney] And they're digging
right by the flat rock, right?
[man] Yeah.
[Mike] 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.
[announcer]
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.
[man 2 whistling]
-[Mike] We got a whistle.
-[both] What's up?
[Carlos] Heard a whistle,
blood starts pumping,
and I think, "Okay,
maybe somebody's found
something of interest.
[man 2] Is anybody
in the woods?
There's a body.
[Carlos] I thought
I heard somebody say,
"I found a body."
[Mike] [indistinct] body.
[man 3] Yeah, we might wanna
go up there and check it out.
[man 4] Well,
I will just take this.
[Mike] 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...
[Mike]
I mean, we knew going in
that we probably
shouldn't be there.
[Carlos indistinct]
[Scott] 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?
-[Scott] Yessir.
-Yeah.
[Scott] Sorry, I'm not trying
to be an ass.
-[Carlos] No, no.
-[Mike] And we're not either.
-[Scott] I'm loaded.
-So are we.
You have the complete right
to-- yeah.
[Scott]
My name's Scott. Is that on?
-Do you want it to be on?
-[Scott] No.
-[both laughing]
-[cameraman] It's not on you.
-Yeah.
-[Scott] It's recording.
What're you guys recovering?
You said you guys
were down here
with a recovery agent?
What're you looking for?
[all laughing]
[Scott] Hey,
you're on my property,
what're you looking for?
Is that
your specific property?
-[Scott] Yeah!
-I-- I thought
this was private property-
[Scott] No, no, it says
it all over the gate.
[interviewer] Why didn't
you go back and get the money?
[Rodney] 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.
[interviewer]
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...
[sighs] 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
[applause]
-Hey, Stan.
-[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.
[laughs]
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.
[young Rodney] 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.
-[Stan] You got it.
[news anchor]
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' pia coladas
while I'm here
in this bar
singin' songs to the same
ten people every night.
[laughs] 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 pia colada.
Or...
he's right here
in this bar...
havin' drinks with you,
miss.
[guitar music playing]
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.
[young Rodney sighs]
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
[interviewer]
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.
-[man on phone] 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?
-[man] 360.
-Yep.
-[man] 387.
-Yep.
[man] 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.
[phone line rings]
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.
-[Babs] Hello?
-Hey, is Jack available?
[Babs] 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?
-[Babs] Uh-huh.
-We're talking to Rod and...
-[Babs] Oh.
...Rod claims
to be D.B. Cooper.
[Babs]
Oh, no he's not.
Do you have any--
I mean-- is he--
has he had this manifestation
in his mind for a while?
[Babs]
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?
[Babs] 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?
[Babs] The family's view
is that he's nuts. [laughing]
I mean-- what--
has he always been crazy
-or, um--
-[Babs] Uh, no.
He was in a car wreck
when he was about 18...
-Right.
-...years old.
[Babs]
And, uh, he...
uh, he went forward
in the backseat
and then
when he went backwards
he hit his head real bad.
[Babs indistinct]
[Mike] 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.
[interviewer]
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."
[interviewer]
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.
-[tires squeaking]
-[glass shattering]
My fault.
The accident was my fault.
It was an accident.
Accidents are accidents.
[Rodney] [echoing]
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.
[driver] [echoing]
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!
[Rodney] 138 kidnapping cases,
you'll never
get out of prison.
You wouldn't even see
the light of day.
[young Rodney] I'd sit
your ass down if I were you
and fix that crooked-ass
toupee while you're at it.
[pilot 1] 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.
[hyperventilating]
I love you,
Rodney Bonnifield.
-[Rodney indistinct]
-[tense music playing]
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.
Run D.B., run.
Run D.B., run.
Run D.B., run.
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, 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