Woman Says Her Uncle Was a Famous Hijacker

SEATTLE — Marla Cooper stepped forward Wednesday to claim that her uncle Lynn Doyle Cooper was the famed “D. B. Cooper” who mesmerized the world by hijacking a plane almost 40 years ago and bailing out somewhere over the rugged terrain of southwest Washington. His body was never found.

If Ms. Cooper is correct, it could mean that the hijacker survived the jump from 10,000 feet and that a four-decade-old mystery is solved.

Or not.

After Ms. Cooper told her story to ABC News and CNN, law enforcement officials advised caution. Over the past 40 years, they said, many similar accounts have been reported. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has received tips on more than 1,000 suspects in the case and has yet to find a lead that pans out....