Is it possible that some of the money was spent? It's my understanding that all the FBI had was a list of serial numbers, which in the early 70's banks would have had to cross reference each twenty by hand. I'd like to think that DBC was able to enjoy the fruits of his labor.
With the list of bill serial numbers set up properly, a bank teller could check out any twenty dollar bill she received that could have come from Cooper's loot in a matter of five seconds or so. The bills in the bank's stash for such emergencies were not as random as you may believe. This has already been discussed at great length on this site and at DropZone.
Finally, in reality there is no reason to believe that Cooper survived the jump and the bundles of bills found at Tina Bar strongly suggest that he didn't.
It might only take 5 seconds, but then you'd have to assume that every teller at every bank in the world was that diligent over every US $20 for many years. I don't just doubt that, I'm quite certain it
didn't happen outside the PNW for more than a year and inside it for more than 5, and that's at best. That cash would have been fully spendable within a year, two max, and if in circulation would have deteriorated, as most bills do, within 3.5-5 years give or take. A retired cop here basically says the serial numbers are only useful if you catch a suspect with a wad of the loot, not if s/he spends one bill even days afterwards. You are not allowed to view links.
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LoginThe money find at Tena Bar, after a long review of the thread, proves nothing about the fate of Cooper himself and has generated far more questions than it has answered. Given the way the money was attached, he could have lost all or part of the money and still survived the jump. The condition of the money was also not consistent with the money having come out of the water.
My own first impulse was to say Cooper died, but the more I read, the less convinced I am that that is so. Looking at the maps of the area where they thought he jumped, in fact, the terrain looks a lot less daunting than I would have anticipated. Wouldn't say for sure Cooper survived, but given that copycats later survived similar jumps (despite being caught), I wouldn't lay any money on his death.