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Himmelsbach told me definitively that Bill Rataczak had told him that 305 was flying over the Washougal.

When I confronted Bill on that statement, he hedged, and said that 305 was most likely east of Victor 23, due to the wind...

Don't forget that Larry Carr was a big Washougal Wash-down theorist for a few years. Doubt he feels that way now, though.

I  wouldnt call Carr a big Washougal fan ... and he certainly wasnt for very long. JT had everyone swayed but that did not last. Carr was merely going with the political flow at the time and it didnt last a month! Sluggo was involved in that and had Carr's ear. The Washougal theory was nothing more than a passing Politically Correct phase.

It was the hydrologist who came up with this! Not anyone in the FBI. One FBI agent (in charge?) jumped on board. The hydrologist who started the whole thing did a quick turn-around but it was already too late. The hydrologist NEVER said the money had come down the Washougal, as a fact. He said it was just one option out of several.

So, why did Rat turn around and tell Tosaw to look near Hayden Island (up to TBar) ? Tosaw is on record as having said XYZ told him to look .... where he looked! Thats a  long way from the Washougal and Troutdale!

I've got a lot of sonar experience having worked on commercial fishing boats since I was 11 and skippering them in later years. The "fish finder" used by Tosaw was nearly useless in searching for Cooper on the river bottom.

Tosaw's rake design was not optimal but definitely could have snagged suspension lines.

377

I'll jump in and share what I know.

Tosaw's finds are recorded in three places - his book, the YouTube clips about his work, and reports from those who worked with him, like Galen Cook.

As I recall the narratives, Tosaw never found anything connected to NORJAK. However, he did find a pilot chute on a wingdam a half-mile upstream from T-Bar, with Galen.

From the videos, I recall that he and his crew found nautical rubbish, such as a part of a motor boat, cables, and some household gear.

For me, the greatest part of Tosaw's legacy was his comprehensive involvement with NORJAK. First, he helped the Ingram family get their share of the ransom bills. Then he wrote the first authoritative book on DB Cooper, plus he is the only one to interview Tina in the convent. Later, he camped out at the Fazios for years to drag the river, and cultivated a search community, investing his own money to find evidence. He's even the source of the "fiery object" report and "Janet's" claims of a low-flying plane with something burning on the ventral side of the aircraft above the I-5 bridge over the Columbia, then it dropped away and arched towards T-Bar.

Not too shabby for a retired G-man.

I spoke with Richard a few months before his death in 2009. He was a nice guy. I'm sorry I never got to meet him in person.

Whoa, I didn't know he got the boot. I knew he wasn't a lifer.

Galen, who worked with Richard Tosaw, told me that he was an FBI agent in the San Francisco office, not Seattle. Never worked there, but his brother Mike, did.

Speaking of Tosaw, I looked into the public mention of DBC's NB6 usage and from what I can tell he (Tosaw) was the first source for this information--he mentions it in his book (1984). Can anyone verify this or determine when the use of the NB6 was first mentioned publicly?

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Have we ever tried getting a second opinion from a PhD on the Palmer Report? Are any of Palmer's Grad Students still around?

yes to both - there are two phDs in this forum.

I knew that, I meant (with the highest level of respect to everyone here), someone with specific expertise in interpreting the sand layers Palmer wrote about.