According to the FBI interview of Flo Schaffner,
She said that the note inside the envelope was written in black felt-tip type pen and read as follows:
"MISS -
I have a bomb here and I would like you to sit by me.”
<Flo> said that ’’MISS” was printed but the remainder of the note was written in neat legible handwriting
Now what jumps out at all the hundreds of pro editors that post on this forum?
The compound sentence, of course.
A compound sentence includes two independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so). In a compound sentence, the conjunction is in most cases preceded by a comma.
However, if both independent clauses are very short, it’s acceptable to omit the comma.
So the question is: Is the 2nd independent clause short enough to emit the comma before the "and" ?
And why didn't Flo mention the consternation I'm sure she shared?
Dare I say it? Reca dropped out of school in eighth grade. Surely the note provides evidence that ties Reca to the hijack?
I would also note that the wikipedia entry for Cooper incorrectly says that the note was all printed. This really bothers me. I'm hoping there is someone with OCD that can fix this part of the broken internet.
If I remember what Tom Kaye said at the Coopercon:
"Be on the lookout for a suspect from Tektronix who snorted phosphors and eschewed commas in compound sentences."