He has been called A Northwest Folk Hero, Jesse James, and Billy the Kid. But until now, he hasn’t been called a she. Contrary to popular belief, D. B. Cooper not only survived the infamous hijacking on November 24, 1971. He also committed the high-flying caper as a woman. Cooper’s real name was first Bobby then Barb Dayton. Cooper had gender reassignment surgery in December 1969. In 1971, he pulled his buccaneering swipe dressed as a man and walked away as a woman. Bobby/Barb lived to the age of seventy-six and died of natural causes on February 20, 2002.
In 1979, Barb described to the authors in great detail how she jumped from the famed 727. After Barb’s death, the Formans began the fascinating journey of piecing together their dear friend’s story and verifying her larger-than-life yarns. This book takes you, the reader, on that rollicking journey and allows you to decide—do you think Barb Dayton was D. B. Cooper?
