Time to get freaked out! On this Freaky Friday episode, we're talking about crazy disappearances that remain unsolved.
Tonight, we'll hear the story of DB Cooper and how he managed to hijack a Boeing 727, get $200,000 from the airline, and jump out mid-flight, never to be found or heard of again- this remains the only unsolved case of air piracy in commercial aviation history.
Then, it's time to get super bummed out as we hear the story of the Sodder Family Tragedy. What happened to those 5 missing children? And how does a Private Investigator disappear?
Time to get freaked out! On this Freaky Friday episode, we're talking about crazy disappearances that remain unsolved.
Tonight, we'll hear the story of DB Cooper and how he managed to hijack a Boeing 727, get $200,000 from the airline, and jump out mid-flight, never to be found or heard of again- this remains the only unsolved case of air piracy in commercial aviation history.
Then, it's time to get super bummed out as we hear the story of the Sodder Family Tragedy. What happened to those 5 missing children? And how does a Private Investigator disappear?
All these computers around here and now so many technical. So technical of look tacky with the headphone. I think so. Yeah, I think so. Um, well first and foremost is chairs, chairs. Welcome to cocktails and conspiracy is where we're going to have a little drink and yeah, this is a little different episode today. We're doing freaky Friday. We're gonna freak you out. Happy weekend. I talk about what I'm drinking. Totally. It's so good. Yeah. So I got this strawberry lemonade Svedka. I've had it for so long. It was actually all I had, so I brought it over and I'm just mixed it with a little lemonade and put a couple of strawberries then. And it's really good. I really liked it. So yeah, it's still a glove that just Tito's and Topo Chico today. Just real harsh vodka taste in my mouth. So that's always how I like it. Yeah. So a little out of it. I'm trying to pep up for us because I spent literally four hours and he looks so relaxed at the spa today. Luxation looks really good on you. Thanks. Yeah. I feel crazy, but I feel good, like every time you get a massage and then you're like, they wake you up kind of like, oh right. They usher you out. They're like, here's some water, get the fuck out. And you're like, oh my God. Like, wait, I am a phrase here now. I'm sorry, I can't see. Oh yeah, for sure. So the Houston area saw has that tranquility room where they have like, I don't know, like seven or eight of those huge, like deep chase lounges with like a blanket and pillows and it's like that fireplace and like a water sound hardcore took a nap and may or may not have drilled a little bit on the Houstonian small pillows. So it woke me up because I was worried about doing that. And the second I did it I was like, just so relaxed. You can't even close your mouth. What an amazing experience. So we went to Aipac. Oh, I saw. What was that movie called? Operation Finale. The World War Two movie. It's basically about like Hitler's counterpart getting away and it's based on a true story and it was really, really good and like we have. Fuck, I don't, I'm so bad with us. It's not funny at all. Theory, Syria. Very drama. What is it called? It's called operation finale. Oh yes. Thank you. Help me out sister. Oh, for sure. You got you. Oscar Isaac. Ben Kingsley. Knit curls in there. But those are really the only ones I know. Yeah, I was really good. Cool. I highly recommend. I love that ipad. I'm never going back to another video. It's so hard because they get sold out so fast. So the good ones, like with the, like the two seater ones where you can recline back and stuff. I've been trying to go. I've only gone once and I mean I've been trying to get tracy to go with me, but like every time we kind of feel like, oh, maybe this week and we should go see a movie or there's something that we actually want to see there are literally like filled up. Damn. I never realized that. Um, I think we got our tickets like on Monday or Tuesday, so we planned ahead for a shower. But you have to. That theater was amazing. I know I had the best experience. It changes. I mean the fact that you can so wasted. Oh, 100 percent. And their food's good. Their restaurant in there is actually good. We just had popcorn and then Martinez, they have blue cheese, stuffed olives. I love it. And they're good. It's like the real blue cheese. They hand do it. I love that. Yeah. Do you remember that night when? After we will saw my favorite murder downtown. November we went to this last November. It's almost been a year, but we went to the live podcasts of my favorite murder and we went out afterwards and we went to this bar that didn't have blue cheese, stuffed all of that. The bartender, like literally handmade them for us. He has the class. What was it? Lawless. Yeah, it was bar. Yeah. Well Liz will love y'all like they hand make their own blue cheese stuffed customer service request per request. They don't supply them, but now really ask hard enough and very nicely, very nicely. They will just sit there and like stuff for you. Yeah, that guy was great and that is where this podcast is born. Literally that night I thought that night we got really drunk on Martinis and got so inspired by what my favorite murder shit. This was that born out of and Martinis inspiration from some crazy. I know. Oh my gosh. It's so crazy. Look at us now. So now I liked what usually freaky Fridays for us would be just. We don't even tell each other what we're going to do. We just bring like a weird ass story like so you had suggested like let's do a theme and we still don't know what we're going to bring, but our, our theme this week was crazy. Disappearances Dun Dun Dun Dun Dun. I, I'll go first because I have never heard of yours and I know you've heard of mine whenever you first got here, so I'll, I'll blow through this because I can't wait to hear. I don't know what that, what yours is mine. I'm going to cover the disappearance of DB cooper. So on Thanksgiving Eve, November 24th, 19, 71, a middle aged man carrying a black advocate. Oh Shit. I never say this. Did you hear me to really try to like tell a bedtime story? They amazing. Don't let that. Whatever that word is Msu at attache out a shake. It's like that isn't as bad, but it's like the toiletry case, but it's like the fancy leather attache attache to Shay Shay. Tuesday. It's got it. Okay. So black at attache till you're just carrying it like a. it's like a dog, like A. I think it's like a briefcase sized thing. Why don't they just call it a briefcase? No, he approached the light counter of northwest Orient Airlines at Portland international airport. He identified himself as Dan Cooper and of course it was like back in the seventies where literally you could just go up and say, Hey, I'm bozo the clown.
Speaker 2:I want to give Mr buzzle. Thanks for joining us here at Portland International Junior.
Speaker 1:Love it. So you know, it was like, Hey, I'm Dan Cooper. I want to go on the site. He's cash to purchase a one way ticket on flight three. Oh, five. A 30 minute trip north to Seattle. He boarded the aircraft, took a seat. They say an 18, see 18. He by one account. Fifteen de vie another, but whatever in the middle of the rear. In the back. I don't know. Okay. Here's a Boeing 7:27. 100 sifrol. All you airline freaks out there.
Speaker 2:Yeah. No. Like what did their airplanes look like? Because they're you airline fruits like
Speaker 1:around people. They're like, oh, what plane is this? Like? Oh, it's like I don't have no clue. No clue. Whatever. Is it big or is it small? Um, so who knows? Maybe that was the middle move. That was the rear. He lit a cigarette, ordered a Bourbon and soda and just sat back and relaxed. Raging to is fine. Cool fellow passengers. Described him as a man in his mid forties, between five foot 10 and six feet. Just kind of run of the mill for a black, lightweight raincoat. Loafers, a dark suit, and neatly pressed white collared shirt. A black clip on tie and a mother of Pearl Tie Pin. So basically like shortly right after takeoff, this man handed a note to Florence Shinn Shaffner, the flight attendant situated nearest to him in a jump seat. She assumed that the note contained a lonely man of lonely business businessman's phone number. Oh, I dropped it. An opened in her purse. She was like, we've all been there. Like, yeah, I'm not going to like this. So he leaned towards her and he whispered. Myths, you'd better look at that note. I have a bomb. Oh fuck yeah. The note was printed in all capital letters with a felt tip pen. It's exact wording is unknown because he later like reclaimed it. Like he got it back from her. Shaffner recalled that the note said that Cooper had a bomb in his briefcase after she read the note, he made her sit beside him. I would be freaking out. Oh my God. I didn't like being told like, Hey, I have a bomb. You better sit down next to him right now. I'm the first to go. Fuck. Oh my God, I, I couldn't do that. I couldn't do that. They're on a plane, like, what are you going to do? No, but she was like, she quietly asked to see the bomb, like I wouldn't.
Speaker 2:Oh wait, did I know? I believe you are 110.
Speaker 1:No questions asked. No, absolutely that she asks like quietly to see it. He opened his briefcase long enough for her to glimpse eight red cylinders for on top of, for like stacked, I guess attached to wires coated with red installation and a large cylindrical battery. Okay. So he saw he actually did have a bomb. What looks like bomb. Who knows? Yeah, that's true. Okay. Um, after he showed her, he closed the briefcase and he said that he wanted$200,000 in negotiable American currency for parachutes to primary into reserve and a fuel truck standing by in Seattle to refute the aircraft upon arrival. Um, she. So then she goes and tells the pilots in the cockpit about what the hell is going on and the instructions. And when she returned he was wearing, he put on like dark sunglasses. That's important because there's a pretty, very, very famous like FBI wanted poster or like a drawing now we'll put it on instagram. Yeah, it's super famous like him and uh, those blocks on the losses in his raincoat who he literally looks like every man in the world. What's so good luck? So the pilot, William Scott, he contacted air traffic control. They informed local and federal authorities. There was 36 other passengers on the plane. The plane was only like a third full and they were getting false information that their arrival in Seattle would be delayed because of a minor mechanical difficulty. Whenever I read that, I was like, okay, how many times do you think that is actually happened? Like passengers getting like, because I, we've, I fly all the time and I'm like, how often are we getting false information? Like I never really know what's going on. Especially like with bad turbulence or something and the pilots, like no big deal. It's cool just we're going to go into, you know, they talked to Gordon under target Lynch through words.
Speaker 2:That was so good. I didn't know
Speaker 1:how that was going to come out. I was taking a stab, I was thinking of Red Scott founded fantastics and I'm like, no way. This plane is about to like, fall apart. Like I wonder if they just like kind of say that to you. Well, yeah, I think so, but I don't think that flying is just really safe and you don't really have to worry about that. I mean, I don't know. I'm a terrible flyer cerebral player. Oh my God. Exactly. So anyways, so um, and then they uh, and then then northwest or northwest Orient, the airlines president authorized payment of the ransom and ordered all employees to cooperate fully with the hijackers demands. So and actually, so today in today's many, like that$200,000 really like one point$2,000,000. Um, so. So he got on the plane, demanded? Yes. And then how did they have the money? Did they have the airline just had it with them on the plane? No, they were going to have it for them when they landed. Okay. So he was informed that his demands have been met and at like 5:40, the aircraft landed at Seattle and it was more than an hour after sunset in db. Cooper instructed the taxi, the jet to isolated, brightly lit section of the tarmac and close the window shades in the cabin to deter police snipers. So like had it going on, like he knew what was happening. Um, so one of the airlines, uh, seattle operations managers, Allie approached the aircraft in street clothes to avoid the possibility that cooper might mistake, is airline uniform for that. If a police officer, he and he delivered the cash filled knapsack and parachutes and once that was completed, he cooper ordered all passengers, shaffner the original flight attendant and senior flight attendant to leave the plane. So during refueling, he outlined his flight plan to the cockpit crew. Um, he wanted, he wanted to go to Mexico City and at the minimum airspeed possible without solving the aircraft. So he's doing all of the keys with a bomb and saying, if you don't know what I stagnated. Okay. Yeah, exactly. I'm like, he had like the very specific things, like, I don't know what any of this means, but I'm going to read it out loud. Um, so minimum airspeed possible at a maximum of 10,000 foot altitude. He further specified that the landing gear remained deployed in the takeoff landing position, like so that he could get out and get it, get in and get out there flying high. Um, and the wing flaps be lowered 15 degrees. Don't know what that will do. And the cabin remain unpressurized. So I don't know. This guy had like this plan. He knew. Yeah, like the logistics at back in the after refueling, after take off, Cooper told the pilot to join the rest of, oh no, no, this isn't. This is the main flight attendant. And joined the rest of the career and the cockpit and remained there with the door closed. She observed him tying something around his waist. Cooper was tying something around his waist and approximately 20 minutes after that warning light flashed in the cockpit indicating that the aft Air Stair Apparatus has been activated. What? So that's the back like the back went back or the back door? Yeah, it goes down like some stairs, like if you had to load anything like luggage and stuff in the back. So that light came on saying like that was open, so he just like jumped out of it[inaudible]. And then um, they also noticed a subjective change of air pressure indicating that the aft door was open about 15 minutes after that the aircraft tail section sustained a sudden upward movement significant enough to require like what's called trimming, who knows whatever flight people to bring the plane back to liberal flight. Then like two hours later, the aft Air Stair was still deployed. When they finally landed in Nevada, FBI agents, State Trooper Sheriff deputies and Reno police surrounded the jet as it had not yet been determined with certainty that Cooper was no longer a board, but he wasn't. So he jumped out of the fucking plane. Yeah. So they, they uncovered like about 66 different fingerprints. I'm aboard the airliner. They found his black clip on tie and his tie clip and two of the four parachutes, one of which had been tie. Yeah. Remember, that's what I was. Yeah. I don't know man. I don't know who wears the on. Those are like babies. Those are for like your toddlers like costume. Sure. I've put on a real tight. Yeah. Um, uh, one of which one of the parachutes had been open and to lie a suspension lines cut from its canopy. So what's that? Suspension lines? Yeah, like the parachute suspensions. I don't know why he was cutting it all up, but so basically after he exited the rear steps of the aircraft, he took the ransom money and literally it was never seen again. So in spite of an extensive manhunt by the FBI, the hijacker has never been located or identified and the bureaus, investigators think he probably did not survive his jump from the aircraft. However, has her name's his remains have never been found. I read somewhere if he hadn't survived, if he died jumping out of the plane, which is what a lot of people think it what really happened, they would have 100 percent found his remains and that's his bodies of water like exactly. I know. So crazy. Nevertheless, they, uh, they kept this manhunt going investigation going for 45 years after the highchair hijacking and it remains the only unsolved case of air piracy in commercial aviation history. So what are the last thing I'm going to say? Like the aftermath of all of this, like that hijacking was the beginning of the end to that. Like, you know, just gotta get on this great good all day is gone. So, um, yeah, so that like, well that was the beginning of the end of unfettered and unscrutinised commercial airline. So, but despite like, so the year before they had tried the sky marshal program, but 31 hijackings were committed in us airspace in 1972. Nineteen of them were for this specific purpose of extorting money and most of the rest were attempts to reach Cuba. What? Yeah. So this was like a thing, a comment like. Yeah. So this guy like. Yeah, Kinda started it. Thirty one hijackings. So it was Thanksgiving of 1971, so like the Internet to 71 and then in 1972 there was like 31. Hi. Yeah, it's insane. A trend setter. And then in 15 of those extortion cases, the hijackers also demanded parachutes, so they're copying it. I know. So then in 1973 they begin requiring airlines to search all passengers in their bags like Tsm. They never even searched. Wow. Just skip up right to the airport. Like that's crazy to think that, oh my God it up. If anyone knows where Dan Cooper is, please email us at testing and macduff. Yeah, that's a great story. Macdaddy. I know. That's pretty good. Okay. Are you ready for my. Oh really? No. I feel like you do. Yeah. But I don't know the story about the missing solder children. I can't wait. Okay. The year is 1945. Um, there's a couple, George and Jenny, along with their 10 children live in a two story house in Fayetteville, West Virginia. One of the kids was out fighting a war, both of them were Italian immigrants and George was particularly known for his strong opposition against Italian dictator Valentino Mussolini. So just keep that in kind of in and out of your mind. Important. Okay. On the 24th of December, so Christmas Eve, Maurice, Martha, Luis, Jenny and betty asked their mom. So. Okay. So how their house was set up, like the older kids kind of stayed downstairs and all the little kids share two bedrooms upstairs in the attic. And so there were five kids that were, I think under the age of 14 that all lived upstairs. So small requirement movie. Yeah. Yeah. Whatever. Um, so on Christmas Eve at the little kids that lived upstairs, they asked their mom if they could stay up a little late to play with their new toys. So I guess they had open presence and one of the older kids had gotten them like a lot, a lot of toys. Her name was Mary on a and then she was like, sure, yeah, y'all can play with your toys. Just go upstairs, but remember to turn off the lights and to lock the door because this was back in the. This was in the forties. So I guess this is when you locked your attic. All right. So then. Okay, got it. So George, the father and the two oldest sons, John and George junior were already asleep downstairs, um, around 12:30 AM on Christmas Day. The phone rang Jenny, the mom wakes up and picks up the call, but she hears something really weird on the other side. It's like this evil lady laughing and then she also hears like, glasses clinking. So she assumes that this is like a wrong number or whatever and hangs up. And then when she does that, she notices that the lights are on the babies or the little kids never turned the lights off like she said. Yeah. So she wakes up and she goes and turns off the light and I guess locks that it. Um, so she checked on her other kids downstairs and saw that Marion, the oldest that gave the kids all the toys, she was sleeping on the couch. She was supposed to be looking after the kids, so she, I guess she assumes that everyone's asleep. Um, so yes, assuming that the other children were in the attic, they where they slept. She had forgotten to lock the door. She locked it up. She went to sleep around 1:00 AM. So this is like 30 minutes later there was a loud bang her by Jenny as if something hit the roof. Jenny's them. Okay. A loud bang on the roof hearing nothing again. She's just like, oh, I guess that was whatever. I don't. I don't even know what that would be. But you're tired. You're half asleep. She goes back to sleep. Thirty minutes later around 1:30 AM, she wakes up to the smell of smoke. So she finds that the smokes coming from the fire in the office where the fuse box and the telephone wires were being kept in the office somewhere in our house. Right. She wakes up her husband and they escaped the house along with Silvia John, George Jr. And marianne who was asleep on the couch downstairs. SylviA is the baby. She's two years old, but I guess she was sleeping with them or something. Yeah. And so they were, they were yelling at their kids like everyone coMe, go. But after coming out they noticed that the kids, the children staying upstairs or nowhere to be found, and there was five of them. So marianne ran to the neighbor's house to call the fire department, but the operator didn't respond and when a different neighbor attempted to call, she gotten a response from the operator. So the operator was like nowhere to be found, which is really fucking. Yeah. Yeah. You, it bakes on holiday to answer the phone on christmas. Yeah. Maybe this was before overtime. Like overtime pay. Yeah. So everyone was just passed away. So that same neighbor actually drives to town and finds the fire chief. His name's fj morris and the fire department is two and a half miles away from the house. Takes them seven hours to get to the house. And by the time they arrive the house is literally an ashes. Yeah. So this fire department fucking sucks. This is the family, just like steaming, like you're tearing out their hair and their yard like we that doesn't make. So authorities are looking all over the ashes. They're looking for the remains of the five solder children. Right. Nothing's found. And so I'm, the fire chief was like, well, you know what it was, they probably just burned like they're probably all part of these ashes. So the mother, jenny starts doing these tests at home and starts burning for jimmy. Starts to get your science. Chicken bones. Yeah. They don't burn. Yeah. A lot of weird shady shit happened that night that the fucking fire department, it took seven hours to go to on that half full. That's one thing. But also when they run outside, they all run outside. Right. And then that night, george, the father runs back inside because he wants to go upstairs to help the kids because they're not coming out. Um, the Stairs are all on fire so we can't. So he goes outside and usually they left their ladder right by the window, like of the kids window in the attic. The ladder was gone. It was disappeared. So then he goes and he tries to start his trucks. He had two cars or a truck and a car or something like that. And they were both in perfectly fine working condition and they wouldn't. Neither of them would start. Yeah. Um, they were convinced that these kids were kidnapped. So why would they be kidnapped? Like what, what's the motive exactly. So a little background on george and jenny. George solder had immigrated from Italy and fayetteville where the solders lived in West Virginia. Had a small but really engage italian immigrant community. George was very vocal in this community, especially about hIs disdain for mussolini. Sure. Um, so he sparked a few hatred debates in the community. He also reportedly never revealed why he left Italy, which is kind of sketchy. We. So are, is this like debates in the, in the, uh, community, like what are they like fellini was a, um, a fascist. Oh. And they're really like into it and yeah, the community. I mean, I'm going to get another drink. Keep talking. Yeah. Will you get a little more? Um, vodka? Yeah, of course, of just a little splash and maybe a little more lemonade. Have you ever just drink? Okay, so some curious occurrences that happened around this possible kidnapping and that's what we want to call it. sure. I'm in the fall. This is so weird. In the fall, just before the fire, a life insurance salesman came to the house and tries to sell a Georgia policy before the fire in chris. This is. Yeah, this is the fall before, so like a couple months before and he ended up not getting the sale. This insurance guy literally yells at george and says, and I'm going to quote him, your goddamn house is going up in smoke and your children are going to be destroyed. You're going to be paid for the dirty remarks. Do you have been making about mussolini and quote. So this life insurance salesman not only didn't get the sale, but he was like, his ass was chopped about. he already didn't. Like the guy is a hero. Was recently cool houses going up in flames. All right. Was like a confession to me. Sounds very specific. Yeah, some so specific. Um. Okay. So in the days leading up to the fire to of the surviving solder sons witness a man watching a younger man watching the younger solder children come home from school on highway 21 wait. So in a man was watching a man watching the children, the older brother of the sauder familY and I was watching a man watching the younger soccer as well. So there's a lot of. Look, you lose wAtching going on. No, like keep your eyes to yourself. Take a picture. It'll last longer. Oh, okay. So another thing that the fire chiefs that was, or the fire marshal or whatever his name is, he said that the fire was probably caused by faulty wiring was the 14th. So that would have meant that there wouldn't have been power to the house, but the lights were on when the house was on fire. Jennie and george both specifically remember that. So they were basically like doing their own investigation scene investigation because no one was helping them out and it could have been annoying will maybe because of the mussolini thing, because it was a like a community of fascists. I can see that. Yeah, so let's see. And then the fact that his trucks weren't working that night and the water was gone, like it was a very. Did they investigate the trucks? Like, no, they didn't investigate the tracks night. I know. I guess they. You know what this is their first attempted a csi investigation. So they can't think of everything exactly. I know a forever guys. They got the chicken barn. They didn't do the drugs. You know god. So close now after the fire, when the family visited the memorial, george had setup sylvia, who remember at the time she was two years old at the time of the fire, she found a hard rubber object in the yard and object that jenny, the wife believed may have caused the loud bang that woke her up that night. But what's even more interesting is that after further investigation from george, he took this object and looked, looked at it and studied it. He thought it was a napalm bomb once or a pineapple bomb, huh? Yeah. So this they threw on the roof. Yeah. So he believes that someone threw a bomb at or kidnap the kids and then threw a bomb. Okay. Yeah. Another weird thing. There have also been reported sightings of the children. Do we know what occurred that night? While the fire was still burning, a woman claimed to see the children in a car that drove by while the fire was still raging. Fifty miles west of fayetteville. A woman who operated at taurus stopped, told police that she saw the children. The morning after the fire quote, I serve them breakfast. There was a car with a Florida license plate at the tourist court to end quote. And then years later, let me. Hold on, let me pull this up. This is so weird. I know. In 1968, jenny found a letter in her mail which was addressed to her with no return addressed. It was postmark and central city, Kentucky. There was a photo of a man in his thirties inside of it Because that was the. That would be like 23 years later. Yeah. There was a message said luis solder, who was one of the five kids that disappeared. I love brother frankie, little boys, a nine, zero. One, three, two, or possibly a nine. Zero. One, three, five. Wait, read that again for me. Luis solder. I love brother frankie. Little boys. A nine. Zero. One. Three, two or possibly a nine. Zero. One. Three, five. So that's all bad. Just like that. Oh, written in the back. Weird or on the vacuum as lewis. One of the kids. So the picture had a strong resemblance with luis. So they pry. They hired a private detective to go to the central city and do further investigation where the letter had come from. Right. But the weird thing is this private investigator was never heard from after he left West Virginia to go look where the. He just, he just went on the air and never heard from him again. yeah. Weird. Oh, that gives me the creeps. Unfortunately. George, the father died a year later in 1969. And then jenny died at 20 years later in 1989. Wow. Yeah. Who was the woman on the phone who removed the latter and what happened to the children if the children didn't perish in the fire, where did they go? Why wouldn't they after, you know, decades of being an adult ever reached back out to their parents. Right? Why was there no sign of bones? How could it be a wiring problem if the christmas lights stayed on throughout the beginning phase of the fire. Why didn't either have the trucks start that night? So yeah, it's still so, so, I mean, that's it. That's it. They're done. They disappeared. We have no idea where they are. What about the. But everyone in the family believes that they were kidnapped. Sylvia, I think, um, I don't know how old she is now. Let's see. 40 five. Oh fuck. We're not going to work. She's an old lady now. She's a little. But yeah, she still believes that they were kidnapped. Maybe kidnapped and killed, but. Oh, so they're gone. They gone. They gone, girl. Well guys, I hope you got freaked out. you're scared. You're scared. Happy weekend. Anyways, scientists off. Okay. We love you guys. God bless and trust no one with the one that I felt very essential thing. That was very good. Was it.