If I had to guess 1974.. highest flood stage, close to major flood. (of course missing most of '72)

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Tosaw believed there was a good chance Cooper had landed in the Columbia itself.

I follow the same ideals as Tosaw. it could be just that easy that he went into the Columbia, or at least the money did.

what year was he diving, and searching the bottom?

Tosaw has another theory to explain the mystery. He contends, after extensive research, that the soil in which the Ingram boy found the packets of money was dredged from the shipping lanes of the river by the Army Corps of Engineers as part of a commercial navigation project.

Over breakfast coffee, Tosaw showed off the list of dredging projects the corps had provided him and said only one of the projects, in 1974, could have deposited debris on the proper spot on the river bank.

As a result, he says with the fervor of a true believer, ``theoretically, Cooper has to be within 3,000 feet of where the money was found,`` because that was the length of the transfer line the engineers used in their dredging. So Tosaw`s solution is to complete a computer-aided scan of the Columbia River shipping channel.

If the computer, designed to help bass fishermen, finds anything unusual, Tosaw says he and a friend will use grappling hooks to bring it to the surface.

`With the water so cold down there, I expect we`ll find Cooper and his parachute pretty well preserved down there,`` Tosaw said. ``He should be in A- 1 shape, and the money should be in good shape, too.``

Though Tosaw spent a little time on the river last fall looking for Cooper, he says he didn`t think through his plan well enough to realize the corps would have dredged only in the shipping lanes.

As a result, he`s ready for a concentrated search of a 120,000-square-foot section of the shipping lane.

Tosaw says he got involved in the case as a ``hobby.``

But Ralph Himmelsbach, the former FBI agent who headed the search for Cooper, says Tosaw is more interested in pursuing publicity.

Himmelsbach, who works for Oregon`s Department of Justice, said, ``Let`s just say that (Tosaw`s) sort of beating a dead horse.``

But Himmelsbach isn`t surprised that speculation about Cooper`s whereabouts continues, almost 15 years later.

``Let`s face it,`` he said. ``This is one guy who tweaked Uncle Sam`s nose and got away with it.``

After his years of labor on the project, Tosaw hopes to regain some of the missing money.

But as he walked along the acres of river bottom that have been dredged into massive 30-foot-high hills, Tosaw was asked, finally, why the rest of the money couldn`t have been shoveled into one of the other earthen piles lining the riverside instead of being left out in the river`s channel.

``Gee,`` he said. ``I hadn`t thought of that one.``

Didn't Tosaw continue his search until close to his death? Something like twenty years? I read an article somewhere about him, he was in his 80's at the time.

I'm reading up on Ckret. found an interesting one about Brian....

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When I talked to Brian he said the money was found in an area he could tell at some recent point had been covered by water. He said all of the debris was swept into one area, which is where he found the money.

Sounds like he's adding to it, but doesn't realize it. we often hear more to the story years later. even from first hand knowledge.