General Category > DB Cooper
Book Discussion About DB Cooper
Chaucer:
So, with the Vortex being a bit quiet lately, I decided to read Tosaw’s book for the third time. My copy is a 1984 edition so I know it is missing some newer information and context, but I’ve always trusted it as a cornerstone of Cooper-cana.
It got me thinking about something though, and I hope some of you more experienced guys might offer an opinion.
How accurate is Tosaw’s book? Are his facts actually factual? Did he do his homework or was it half-assed? If not, what things did he get wrong?
georger:
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Register or LoginSo, with the Vortex being a bit quiet lately, I decided to read Tosaw’s book for the third time. My copy is a 1984 edition so I know it is missing some newer information and context, but I’ve always trusted it as a cornerstone of Cooper-cana.
It got me thinking about something though, and I hope some of you more experienced guys might offer an opinion.
How accurate is Tosaw’s book? Are his facts actually factual? Did he do his homework or was it half-assed? If not, what things did he get wrong?
--- End quote ---
Tosaw's 'interest' in the Cooper case covers a lot of terrain, to put it mildly. Tosaw spent a few years as an FBI Agent prior to the Cooper hijacking in 1971, but his employment was not renewed after several reviews. He wasn't fired but he wasn't promoted or renewed. At some point he became an attorney practicing in estate recovery issues. He liked challenges, adventure, and mysteries. He became a publicity hound - always advising the press what his latest recovery adventure/project was. He had a famous brother, Mike Tosaw. He didn't become involved in the Cooper case until just after Cooper money was found at Vancouver - he quickly issued a press 'release' in California (Feb 1980) that he now would launch 'investigations and explorations' looking for Cooper's body Cooper artifacts in the Columbia, near the Ingram money find. Almost two years passed before Tosaw actually hired anyone to do any actual searches in the Columbia. At some point during this period he became the attorney for the Ingrams demanding a reward for the Ingrams (from anyone!) for their discovery of the Cooper money. He said that he was working pro-bono for the Ingram family. On June 19,1984 Tosaw published his book: DB Cooper Dead Or Alive. With revenue from his book he finally got down to business and hired several people who conducted a series of searches from the Caterpillar Island area along wing dams back toward Portland, with press releases covering the whole thing until time and energy and enthusiasm ran out. Several of the divers Tosaqw hired said that he told them he was an FBI Agent 'working on the case'. Tosaw even rotor-tilled the beach at Tina Bar! Tosaw continued his interest in Cooper clear until 2000 when he met one Galen Cook who worked with Tosaw in one of his Columbia searches. During his life he developed some kind of relationship with pilot Wm Rataczak - he left Rataczak a bequest in his will.
Different people have different things to say about Richard Tosaw. He left a long string of press releases during his life, with mixed results.
"Tosaw, Richard T. 84 3/13/1925 9/16/2009 Richard T. Tosaw, 84, son of Anastasia Dunn and Walter Tosaw, died in his sleep of cancer. Richard moved to Oregon after a long residence in Modesto, Calif. Mr. Tosaw was born in Lincoln, Neb. He spent his boyhood years in Nebraska and Minnesota, graduated from Central High in Omaha, Neb., and served as a signalman for the U.S. Coast Guard. He attended Nebraska, Creighton and Denver universities, receiving his law degree in 1951. Mr. Tosaw served five years in the Seattle and San Francisco offices of the FBI. He opened a private law practice and founded The Bureau of Missing Heirs, Inc., specializing in escheat law. Richard authored five California laws and two books. As hobbies, he patented a periscope, searched for skyjacker D.B. Cooper and footballer Neil Kinnick, and traveled extensively. He is survived and loved by two sisters, Helen McCleskey of King City and Dorothy Thomson of Wickenberg, Ariz. "Uncle Dick" will be missed by many nieces, nephews and dear friends. Richard never married or had any children."
Chaucer:
Thanks, georger. I don’t want to put words in your mouth, but you seem to imply that readers of Tosaw’s book should take the things he says with a grain of salt.
Two things stuck out to me. One, he said that Sonderlind had told him that based on his review of the flight data and the radar, the search area for Cooper extended all the way to the Columbia. Tosaw even had him perform the calculations in front of him to confirm that which Sonderlind did. This is extremely compelling IF TRUE.
Second, Tosaw said that he and another guy were “raking” the beach at Tena Bar and found parachute material which Earl Cossey subsequently denied being his. Knowing what we know now about Cossey’s own reliability (or lack thereof) regarding the chutes, this discovery IF TRUE might be seen in a different light today.
I tend to agree with the broad strokes of Tosaw’s conclusions even if some of the details have since been proven wrong.
georger:
You are not allowed to view links.
Register or LoginThanks, georger. I don’t want to put words in your mouth, but you seem to imply that readers of Tosaw’s book should take the things he says with a grain of salt.
Two things stuck out to me. One, he said that Sonderlind had told him that based on his review of the flight data and the radar, the search area for Cooper extended all the way to the Columbia. Tosaw even had him perform the calculations in front of him to confirm that which Sonderlind did. This is extremely compelling IF TRUE.
Second, Tosaw said that he and another guy were “raking” the beach at Tena Bar and found parachute material which Earl Cossey subsequently denied being his. Knowing what we know now about Cossey’s own reliability (or lack thereof) regarding the chutes, this discovery IF TRUE might be seen in a different light today.
I tend to agree with the broad strokes of Tosaw’s conclusions even if some of the details have since been proven wrong.
--- End quote ---
The raking story is true. Tosaws' discussions with Sonderlind are true. I can site several other examples where Tosaw's digging got him useful information not just in the Cooper case but in other projects he researched. Tosaw had a knack for getting down to fundamentals that produced results which sometimes shocked and upset some of his critics.
In the Kinnick case, no one at the time had the faintest idea where (exactly) Kinnick's plane might be, on the bottom of the ocean off Argentina. Through solid research and one FOIA Tosaw was able to get a copy of the log from the USS Lexington, the ship Kinnick was trying to land on when his aircraft stalled and he crashed into the ocean off Argentina. In the Lexington's log was an estimate of the coordinates where they thought Kinnick had gone down! Using those coordinates Tosaw hired divers and when they dove at those coordinates they quickly found the remains of Kinnick's plane on the ocean floor. True to form, Tosaw published his discovery through press releases - people back at Iowa City were shocked and some were deeply embittered! Legal and State Department/US Navy action followed trying to keep Tosaw from raising Kinnick's plane. The plane was in Argentine waters. Just short of a Sate Dept legal edict, Tosaw backed off and issued a press release informing the world that Kinnick's plane was in such a state of degradation the plane could not be raised, in any event. He issued a second reply that 'no artifacts will be attempted to be retrieved either ...'. To this day nobody knows if he brought artifacts back to the surface or not. But this controversy still rings in my State and at Iowa City ... to this day.
We learned firsthand not to ever underestimate Mr Tosaw. ! :-\
So far as I know there are no artifacts from Kinnck's plane in Tosaw's estate. If any do ever surface from Tosaw's expedition, ... I dont want to imagine what might follow.
Chaucer:
If the parachute story is true, then holy shit. Finding parachute material on Tena Bar is stunning- regardless of what Cossey said. I wonder what became of that material?
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