Newly released suspect files reveal the FBI once investigated a former Maine pilot in the infamous D.B. Cooper skyjacking case. The documents show agents interviewed Raymond Sidney Russell in 1972 but ultimately eliminated him as a suspect in one of America’s most enduring mysteries.
In November 1971, a man known as D.B. Cooper hijacked a Northwest Orient Airlines flight, collected $200,000 in ransom, and parachuted into the Pacific Northwest. He was never caught. According to newly disclosed FBI records, Russell — also known as R. Sid Russell — drew scrutiny months after the crime. Agents interviewed him at his home in September 1972.
Russell, a Norway, Maine native born in 1923, had military service and aviation experience, including work with the Flying Tigers and other freight airlines. He had lived on the West Coast before returning to Maine in 1971. During questioning, Russell denied involvement and said he had moved back months before the hijacking to be with his mother.
A handwritten FBI note dated November 1972 reads “ELIMINATE RUSSELL,” indicating investigators chose not to pursue him further. The Portland Press Herald reported that opinions among those interviewed varied on whether Russell could have committed the crime.
Ryan Burns, a criminal defense attorney who studies the case, said, “It’s kind of the coolest crime ever. This guy is wearing sunglasses, smoking cigarettes, drinking bourbon in the back of a plane. And he got away with it.” Burns added, “I don’t think anybody in the world wants it solved more than I do, given all the effort I put into it.”
Russell died in 1989. More than five decades later, the hijacker’s identity remains unknown.
