D.B. Cooper... Case Closed.
Lady Island, Washington: The skeletal remains of Dan Cooper, a.k.a the infamous D.B. Cooper, were identified in the back yard of local resident, Esther Wellington. Mrs. Wellington was celebrating her 99th birthday when her grandson, James made the discovery.
"I've had terrible eyesight for most of my life" explains Mrs. Wellington. "I've been gardening in those same old pots since the 70's. Each flower color means something special to me. Yellow because it reminds me of my husband, who was an Army man from Texas. Of course, I always try to use the color peach, it reminds me of Georgia where we were married and had our first child. Coral is because we were stationed in Hawaii when our daughter was born. Then I always add pink, just cause it's my favorite." Mrs. Wellington never noticed the bones. "I did find the briefcase (bomb) and (money) satchel, and planted both of them thinking they were flower pots."
The FBI concluded that Cooper must have made his legendary jump over the Columbia River the eve of Thanksgiving night in 1971, and landed in Mrs. Wellington's garden. It would be months before she would have planted her container gardens and the body of Mr. Cooper would have gone unnoticed. Some of the money washed into the Columbia River to be discovered in 1980. The rest of the money appears to have been used by Mrs. Wellington as compost. The parachute was found unopened.
This was our second year in the Point Defiance Flower and Garden Show. We chose the theme, "Treasure Island."
This year we won Gold.
Some of the plants used:
Angel's Trumpet 'Charles Grimaldi'
Petunia 'Flambe Salmon'
Rose 'Easy Going'
Diascia 'Flying Colors Apricot'
Nemesia 'Apricot Pink'
Snapdragon 'Montego Bronze'
Brachyscome 'Mini Yellow'
Begonia 'Non-stop Rose'
New Zealand Flax 'Flamingo'
Geranium 'Graffiti Double Salmon'
Nemesia 'Upright Yellow'
Verbena 'Obsession Apricot'
Mexican Feather Grass
Sedum 'Coral Carpet'
Hibiscus 'Haight Ashbury'
