I hope that the FBI considers reopening the Cooper case. In California now that DNA has led to an arrest in the GSK case, dna is now being used to test in The Zodiac Killer's case. There has to be something that they can test to solve this case.
Maybe they don't want to... their mandate is a prosecution, if they believe Cooper is not prosecutable or dead then they won't proceed. Catch 22, only the FBI can put a suspect on the plane. Ironically, the FBI prosecution mandate will prevent/obstruct a forensic solve in the Cooper case. Of course publicly, we can speculate.
Hahneman ticks every box except height...
the FBI needs to say why he was excluded.
Reading up on forensic psych, height estimation by witnesses isn't as "reliable" as even I had believed.. environment (inside airplane), stress and leading questions can cause an estimate rather than true recall..
"
There was also a tendency for participants underestimate the height of taller targets and to overestimate the height of shorter targets - a finding that can be interpreted as regression to the mean. Flin and Shepherd explain this finding with reference to subjects’ knowledge of population norms, which might induce observers to shy away from extreme judgements."
"
eyewitnesses are often inaccurate in their descriptions. Yarmey (2004) found that witnesses were very accurate in their recall of a person’s hairstyle and age with 92 and 97% correct recall respectively. However, they were quite inaccurate at recalling six other physical characteristics, such as eye colour and height. The correct recall rate for these characteristics ranged from 21 to 64%. Dependence on an initial description is often necessary for narrowing down possible suspects. The combination of these studies indicates that the relationship between descriptions and identifications should be interpreted with caution."
Hahneman height FBI = 5’ 8” witnesses claimed 5’ 10"
age 49
eyes brown
weight - match
hairstyle match - marcelled
white, latin appearance, olive skin, swarthy
“turkey neck"
glasses
smoker
intelligent
reported no English accent
weight seemed to fluctuate
electrician
radar tech (tie particle “rare earth’s” environment match) Philco
military - flight crew/radar tech
WW2/Korea/Vietnam (also in Cambodia and Latin America)
airplane knowledge
Honduran mother/German father
“American currency” money for use in Honduras/Hahneman worked outside US (never at residence in US)
had briefcase, claimed bomb inside
Claimed cancer - Lycopodium clavatum (found on tie) was homeopathic pill medication for cancer
Always well dressed in suit and tie
Asked for larger bills/smaller bundle/less weight
Jumped at night over jungle