I also hope that there are still people here to discuss the case. I prefer this site as well. I enjoy the discussions at the Dropzone forum. I haven't been on the FB site. ( not sure I would be welcome 😂 lol )
Why wouldn't you be welcome? We have over 3500 members there. All opinions and backgrounds welcome, including yours.
That said, I also wish this forum had more activity. Not sure why it has fallen off...
I confess this is my first visit in quite some time, I think some people, myself included, find that this case is very close to being, unsolvable. The final act that sealed it was the loss of the cigarette butts. DNA is a very powerful tool in crime and forensics. There can only be a few possible smoking guns to come about here. And they are highly unlikely. I see a new Zodiac video on YouTube. That one likely is more solvable? I saw your plane post. Nice. The 727.
I agree that the case is unsolvable. I do not think there is enough physical evidence to tie to a single suspect. The tie particles MAY limit the pool of people Cooper could be, but I simply do not think (in the absence of DNA) that we will ever get an answer beyond a reasonable doubt.
That said, I have busied myself with other aspects of the case. I have done a deep dive into the evolution of the dropzone along with the communications that night. I've also spent a lot of time speaking to experts in regards to Tena Bar in an effort to bust some of the commonly believed myths.
At this point, the Cooper case it more of a thought exercise rather than an effort to identify a particular suspect.
As far as not as many people posting here as in the past, I think the FB group has sucked a lot of the oxygen out of the room. Unlike the DZ, there isn't anywhere near the level of toxicity and unlike here, anyone is welcome to join and contribute. I think the Vortex is evolving and expanding and I'm not sure some of the older generation of Cooper researchers can adapt. It's friendlier, less contentious, less competitive, and more collaborative than a decade ago.
This isn't my site, obviously. It's Shutter's. But I would like to see this forum evolve into a place where it's an "experts only" forum. Where the most experienced, knowledgeable, and respected Cooper researchers can come and discuss the case and collaborate. Just my two cents.
I agree to being able to have this site be "experts only." The Facebook group has its uses, and it has allowed a lot more people to get involved, but it does get saturated with posts and replies. I do think we have lost the participation of some of the regulars on Facebook due to that saturation. The DZ has a couple people who don't post here, so to engage with them you really need to use that site, although Georger might want to come back here.
I'd like to see this forum get busier again. I felt that we did not use it to talk suspects as much and focused on more technical aspects of the case. I don't want it to be for the elite, but I feel Shutter had a good method for vetting new folks. I see things like this: Reddit is for the general public. DZ is to engage with those who don't want to be on here or FB, and FB is for a more general audience. Well researched people seem to be able to hover back and forth between all of those, so bringing the tempo back here would not necessarily mean shutting down the good parts of the other sites.