 |
Former private investigator and DB Cooper expert Galen Cook, 57, said the head nun's explanation did not seem to ring true. 'I found this very interesting that she didn't fit in,' he said, 'even though she had already been there 12 years. ...
The pictures have emerged as it was revealed the stewardess who famously dealt with the elusive DB Cooper during the Northwest Airlines hijacking and robbery of 1971 spent more than a decade in a nunnery, in what experts believe was part of a witness protection programme.Ms Mucklow was thrust into the media spotlight in the weeks after the hijacking after it emerged that she spent more time than anyone else on the flight with the man who parachuted off with $200,000 in stolen cash. Write caption here Sister Act: Did Tina Mucklow, pictured right after the hijacking, get sent to a nunnery under a witness protection programme?The man, who called himself Dan Cooper (a reporter?s misunderstanding changed it to DB), had boarded the Portland to Seattle flight on November 24 and claimed to be carrying a bomb. He demanded money and a parachute and somewhere over Washington he jumped. He was never seen again.After he said he had a bomb on him, Miss Mucklow calmly dealt with his demands, served him drinks and passed messages between him and the pilot, before showing him how to operate the emergency door out of which he jumped. More...What if the Nazis had invaded America? Maps reveal how Hitler could have attacked the U.S. (as imagined by 1942 issue of Life magazine)
Miss Mucklow, who was 22 at the time, was hailed as a heroine afterwards for the manner in which she dealt with the situation.'He seemed rather nice. He was never cruel or nasty. He was thoughtful and calm,' she later said of the elusive criminal.Bruce Smith, an expert on the case, described Miss Mucklow as the 'brains of the crew' that day.The pilot is said to have told Mr Smith that her actions in air saved the passengers' lives. Cool culprit: Impressions of Cooper as a smartly-dressed man have added to the fascination nature of the mystery She kept Cooper 'cool, calm and collected', Mr Smith told CNN.While she had nerves of steel during the ordeal, Miss Mucklow was said not to have enjoyed being in the spotlight as investigators tried and failed to find their man.She stopped speaking to the media completely before, in about 1979 or 1980, entering the Maria Regina Convent, a Carmelite Catholic nunnery outside Eugene, Oregon.
There Miss Mucklow had to immerse herself in prayer and manual labour in a community where she would rarely have been allowed to leave the grounds of the convent. Undercover: Whoopi Goldberg was put in a nunnery under a witness protection programme in the hit film Sister Act . But in a very unusual move for Carmelite nuns, she left after 12 years.Chris Hart, a secular Carmelite who has been visiting Maria Regina since 1994, said leaving after this amount of time would be 'very unusual'.Nuns undergo a regimented process which lasts between six to eight years, at the end of which they choose whether or not to commit properly to the convent.When asked why Miss Mucklow left after 12 years, the head sister said it was because she 'no longer fit in', according to CNN.Former private investigator and DB Cooper expert Galen Cook, 57, said the head nun's explanation did not seem to ring true.'I found this very interesting that she didn't fit in,' he said, 'even though she had already been there 12 years.
Contacted last week, a woman at Maria Regina said Miss Mucklow 'left in about 1991 or 1992. I'm not going to say any more about it,' CNN reported.
Miss Mucklow now lives a quiet life in central Oregon under a different name but has co-operated with the ongoing DB Cooper investigation, FBI spokeswoman Ayn Sandalo Dietrich said.Her role may, however, become more important than ever now after a woman came out to say she believed her uncle was DB Cooper.Miss Mucklow is thought to be the most likely witness to recognise him, as she spent the most time with him that day.
'The extent to which (Miss Mucklow) is cooperative is part of our pending investigation and I can't comment on that - and it's also a matter of her privacy,' Mrs Dietrich said. Is it the same man? a woman has claimed her uncle Lynne Doyle Cooper, left, was the infamous hijacker, rightLast month, burdened by guilt over her knowledge surrounding the case, Marla Cooper came forward to reveal what she claims is a family secret protecting her uncle, a man named Lynn Doyle Cooper.Mrs Cooper, who was just eight at the time of the hijacking, remembers her uncle planning something 'mischievous' the day before.
After he disappeared for the night, he returned injured the next day and told his family they were now rich, causing them to dance around their garden in celebration. Plot: A hijacked Northwest Airlines jetliner 727 sits on a runway for refuelling at Tacoma International Airport on November 25 1971 Map: Locations in Washington where Cooper was originally thought to have landed and where some of the ransom money was found in 1980For years, little was spoken of what happened that evening but more recently her parents had started to discuss the secret more openly, Mrs Cooper said.She has now provided the FBI with a photograph of her uncle Lynne Doyle and a guitar strap which he owned for fingerprint testing.The FBI said DNA found on the tie does not match - but refused to rule him out as a suspect.
'I'm certain he was my uncle, Lynn Doyle Cooper. Who we called LD Cooper,' Mrs Cooper said. Clues: Three packets of ransom money, totalling $5,800, were found on the Columbia river in February 1980There have been more than 1,000 suspects for DB Cooper over the past four decades.Conditions that night were poor and the mountainous terrain near the Oregon border where he jumped is notoriously rough so agents have voiced suspicions that the hijacker may have died following the leap.$5,800 worth of decomposed $20 bills, identified as part of the ransom money, which were recovered in 1980 by a child digging on the banks of the Columbia River, were said to have pointed to an untimely death.But no body has ever been found and few other signs of his fate have been discovered. Explore more:Places: Seattle, Washington Organisations: Federal Bureau of Investigation Print this article Read later Email to a friend Share this article: Facebook Twitter Digg it Newsvine Delicious MySpace Nowpublic Reddit Ads by Google:Expat AdviceExplore Fascinating Trends into How Expats Life Differs. Learn More!
Offshore.HSBC.com/Expat-AdviceComments (9)Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not debate this issue live on our message boards. The comments below have not been moderated. Newest Oldest Best rated Worst rated View all I don't know why the FBI continues to waste resources on solving this crime. The perpetrator is likely dead, and airport security and procedures would make his crime not repeatable today.- Doug J, New York, NY USA, 03/9/2011 18:00Click to rate Rating 2 Report abuse"While she had nerves of steel during the ordeal, Miss Mucklow was said not to have enjoyed being in the spotlight as investigators tried and failed to find their man."--------------So the lady has gone to great extremes it seems in her life to avoid the spotlight, so DM go and print a recent picture of her..... Nice.... - M.L., Ex-pat, Greece, 03/9/2011 17:33Click to rate Rating 11 Report abuseIn Shakepeare's time wasn't "nunnery" a slang term for brothel?- Gilbert J. Avila, Morgan Hill, California USA, 02/9/2011 23:52Click to rate Rating 19 Report abuseSo...the only 'nun' picture the DM could conjure up is one of Whoopi Goldberg in a movie? That's pretty sad.... - Mary, USA, 02/9/2011 13:14*****************The reason for the Whoopi Goldberg picture is because in the movie, Whoopi's character is put into the witness protection program as, you guessed it, a nun. - Anon, Oklahoma USA, 02/9/2011 19:21Click to rate Rating 31 Report abuseSince she was a stewardess maybe you should have shown a picture of The Flying Nun. Seriously, I don't think the guy jumped - I think it was a ruse to make people think he jumped and then he hid on the plane, probably in some maintenance cubby, until things quieted down, then he slipped away with the money. Everyone was ordered into the cabin, then he opened the rear door threw a couple of parachutes out with one bundle of money and then went to his hiding place on the plane. With the hijacking taking place in such close proximity to the Boeing manufacturing plant in Seattle this man most likely worked for Boeing and therefore would know the ins and outs of an airplane and just where to hide without being found. Just my humble theory....- chris, Virginia US, 02/9/2011 14:37Click to rate Rating 38 Report abuseI would take my chances with the hijacker before I'd go to a nunnery. Heck, I'd go to prison before I'd go to a nunnery.- dd , USA, 02/9/2011 13:56Click to rate Rating 8 Report abuseThe views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. We are no longer accepting comments on this article.BingSite Web Enter search term: Search FEMAIL TODAY 'I wasn't living an interesting life':
Finding it a struggle Enjoying a quiet night off? England rugby captain Mike Tindall leads team-mates in wild night of partying with female fans and a pair of, er, dwarves DON'T MISS The Saturdays' Rochelle makes a stylish exit in a bodycon dress... but wobbly Vanessa falls head over heels for Aston!
Said she borrowed all her opinions from JFK Today's headlines Most Read 'I need a miracle': Desperate last Facebook message of banker accused of £1.3bn fraud at Swiss bank UBS Now it's a global bailout: Markets surge after banks band together to shore up faltering Eurozone Illegal immigrant lived in hospital for more than a year despite being well because red tape prevented doctors discharging him Watchdog to probe dentists' soaring charges as check-ups rocket to £124 Father 'murdered baby and then hanged himself in revenge attack after partner left him' Vigilante mother-of-four threatened son's bullies with baseball bat after 'school did nothing to help' Cameron flies in for Libya tour 'victory'... over Sarko that is, as he and French Premier compete for glory Britain did not have a 'cosy' relationship with Gaddafi, says former MI6 chief Race to rescue four Welsh miners trapped 300ft underground after coal mine tunnel collapses and floods Cannibal killer who smashed head of victim he ?planned to eat? was allowed to mingle with other patients, inquest told Assistant head who 'shoved' 15-year-old pupil is cleared of assault Two members of staff at care home sacked after 'locking mentally ill patients in cupboards' Soldier, 21, shot dead at MoD training ground was due to become a father Iraqi asylum seeker, 17, took part in gang rape just four months after arriving in Britain One in four rioters had at least TEN convictions, shocking new figures show EDF hurts millions with 15% gas bill rise 4,500 'Mickey Mouse' courses to face the axe... including the 'GCSE' in claiming benefits The incredible moment baby conjoined twins meet face to face 'I was sold as a slave for £10,000': Former prisoner tells how he was bought by gypsy family for 'being a good worker' Dental patient, 30, 'turned blue and died after swilling mouthwash led to fatal allergic reaction' Student who was wrongfully arrested on suspicion of being a terrorist is awarded £20,000 by police Mothers-to-be at risk as parts of England are 'dangerously short of midwives' Petrol-head builds world's fastest street-legal car in his garage...
'Did she really think that?': Jackie O's grandchildren 'absolutely horrified' by her antiquated views on women 'I am an elephant... I have a lot of pee': Depardieu makes light of plane embarrassment Petrol-head builds world's fastest street-legal car in his garage... and it does 0-60 in under ONE SECOND Pregnant model who attacked female police officer grins and waves as she turns up to court Pictured:
Offshore.HSBC.com/Expat-ExpertsBack to top Navigation Popular Home News U.S. Sport TV&Showbiz Femail Health Science Money RightMinds Coffee Break Travel Rewards Club Popular searches in news: