Still Missing: Rethinking the D.B. Cooper Case and Other Mysterious Unsolved Disappearances (4 page)

Then the police had said that a man answering that description had gotten on a plane at that particular airport. That’s what the police told me, the state police. And so that’s where we looked.

Author note:

The friend of Dick’s and Jackie’s was Jay. He and his wife, Val, were the couple mentioned above. The lady from the store was most likely Kay Eisenhower, the assistant manager. Years later, Jackie would confide in her daughter Lisa that it was Jay who recommended they check the airport parking lot.

ATTORNEY: When did you make this search in Traverse City?

JACKIE: Oh, I don’t—it was the same week, but I don’t remember—

ATTORNEY: A day or two later?

JACKIE: Yes, probably. I really don’t remember.

ATTORNEY: Now, at the time that your husband disappeared, was he being pressed by any person or company for any particular reason?

JACKIE: Not to my knowledge.

ATTORNEY: Was he involved, to your knowledge, in any extramarital affairs?

JACKIE: There was a question of that.

ATTORNEY: Do you know whether the woman in question was pressing him in any manner?

JACKIE: I really don’t know.

ATTORNEY: Did your husband ever discuss this with you?

JACKIE: Yes.

ATTORNEY: What did he tell you?

JACKIE: He told me how sorry he was.

ATTORNEY: But he didn’t indicate that he was over a barrel so to speak?

JACKIE: I asked him if he wanted a divorce, and he said no.

ATTORNEY: Now, was it after your husband disappeared that you took your nurse’s training?

JACKIE: Yes, it was.

ATTORNEY: And where did you say you did that?

JACKIE: I did that at Kirtland Community College.

ATTORNEY: And, since you finished at the community college and have been certified, you have been employed here in Grayling?

JACKIE: Yes.

ATTORNEY: Now, as your children were growing up, starting with when your husband reportedly became missing, have you been employed?

JACKIE: Yes.

ATTORNEY: Did they contribute to the support of your family?

JACKIE: Sometimes, in a small way. They’d buy their own school clothes, or, if they wanted some extra athletic equipment that I couldn’t afford, they’d work for it.

ATTORNEY: Has your father or mother contributed, or any other relatives helped you?

JACKIE: No.

ATTORNEY: Now, if it’s assumed for the moment that your husband disappeared, do you have any idea where he might have gone?

JACKIE: No.

ATTORNEY: Have you endeavored in the passing of years to ascertain from his relatives whether they know where he is?

JACKIE: Oh, definitely. My husband’s family and I were very close. We still are in contact.

ATTORNEY: Now, I understand his mother has died since he disappeared.

JACKIE: That’s right. She died two years ago. And his father also is dead now.

ATTORNEY: To your knowledge, had he ever communicated with them after he disappeared?

JACKIE: No.

ATTORNEY: Now, he had brothers and sisters, did he not?

JACKIE: Yes, he did; two brothers and two sisters.

ATTORNEY: Now, have you been in touch with them through the years?

JACKIE: Yes, I have.

ATTORNEY: Have they ever indicated whether they have heard from him?

JACKIE: They’ve never heard from him.

ATTORNEY: Now, following his disappearance, did you apply for social security benefits?

JACKIE: Yes, I did. I put in a prior claim.

ATTORNEY: And what has happened on that? 

JACKIE: Nothing.

ATTORNEY: Nothing?

JACKIE: They denied it.

ATTORNEY: They denied it?

JACKIE: Yes.

ATTORNEY: Did they indicate why?

JACKIE: I don’t—

ATTORNEY: Maybe you don’t know.

JACKIE: I really don’t know why. It just said denied, you know.

ATTORNEY: Now, at the time your husband died or disappeared, whatever happened, did he have life insurance policies other than the two John Hancock policies we’re talking about in this case?

JACKIE: Yes, he had an equitable policy.

ATTORNEY: How large was that policy?

JACKIE: That was a $10,000 base policy.

ATTORNEY: Did it have other sums due on it?

JACKIE: Yes, it did. It had provisions for college educations for the children and for retirement and that sort of thing.

ATTORNEY: Now, did you apply to have that policy paid off?

JACKIE: Yes, I did.

ATTORNEY: And what happened on that?

JACKIE: They paid it.

ATTORNEY: Now, they paid you $10,000?

JACKIE: No, they didn’t. Mr. Miles and I settled out of court for $7,500.

ATTORNEY: There was a case filed, then, to collect that policy?

JACKIE: That’s right.

ATTORNEY: And did they pay any benefits to the children that you spoke of, college benefits?

JACKIE: No, they paid none of those benefits.

ATTORNEY: Now, you are familiar, are you not, that one of the two John Hancock policies was connected and resulted from, your husband’s employment at the store he was working at?

JACKIE: Yes, I understand that.

ATTORNEY: Now, do you know when your—do you understand that, to collect the life insurance policy, someone has to be established to have died?

JACKIE: I understand that.

ATTORNEY: Now, you’re also familiar, are you not, that, through your attorney, a proceeding has been held in the probate court her in this county to determine your husband is no longer living?

JACKIE: That’s true. I understand.

ATTORNEY: Were you present at those hearings?

JACKIE: Yes, I was.

ATTORNEY: Did you testify at those hearings?

JACKIE: Yes, I did.

ATTORNEY: Did you indicate to the court as to when your husband died?

JACKIE: Yes, I did. We assumed that he died on the day that he left. That’s the legalities, I guess.

ATTORNEY: Well, now, tell us, please, upon what basis you made the statement that your husband died on the day that he left, the 29th of October, 1969.

JACKIE: I’m assuming that because no one ever heard or saw or had any contact with him from that time on, none of his family or none of his friends.

ATTORNEY: But, other than an assumption, because he has not been located or heard from, you have no facts to—

JACKIE: I haven’t got a body, if that’s what you mean.

ATTORNEY: You haven’t got a body?

JACKIE: That’s right.

ATTORNEY: You’ve had no information from third parties that they know that he’s gone?

JACKIE: No.

ATTORNEY: So that basically do I—and I’m trying not to put words in your mouth. Do I understand that what you’re saying is, because he has been gone now some ten years, nearly ten years that it is your conclusion that he died as of when he disappeared?

JACKIE: That’s right.

ATTORNEY: I’d like to ask you now, please, if you could give us sort of a run-down on your financial status at the present time. You have indicated to me earlier that you’re earning between five and six dollars an hour as a practical nurse.

JACKIE: That’s right.

ATTORNEY: Forty hours a week.

JACKIE: Uh-huh.

ATTORNEY: Do you work over time occasionally?

JACKIE: Very seldom.

ATTORNEY: And that you own your home. That’s paid for.

JACKIE: Yes, it is.

ATTORNEY: Do you have bonds or stocks?

JACKIE: No, I don’t.

ATTORNEY: A savings account?

JACKIE: No, I don’t.

ATTORNEY: Is your life pretty much one of taking care of obligations each week as you get paid?

JACKIE: Yes, it is.

ATTORNEY: Now, do you own an automobile? 

JACKIE: Yes.

ATTORNEY: Is that paid for?

JACKIE: No, I’m still paying for it.

ATTORNEY: What kind of an automobile is it?

JACKIE: It’s a ’77 Datsun.

ATTORNEY: And roughly what size payments do you make on that?

JACKIE: $140 a month.

ATTORNEY: And that will go on for how long? Do you know?

JACKIE: Oh, another two years.

ATTORNEY: Now, do you have life insurance on your own life?

JACKIE: Yes, through the hospital.

ATTORNEY: And that’s the same—as long as you work for the hospital, you’re covered; is that right?

JACKIE: That’s right.

ATTORNEY: You have no other policies?

JACKIE: No, I don’t.

ATTORNEY: Does anyone owe you money of any kind?

JACKIE: My daughter owes me a couple hundred dollars, because I, you know, got her apartment for her to go back to school. But she’ll give me that when she gets her scholarship.

ATTORNEY: Do you have an opinion on what happened to your husband, whether he disappeared or what?

JACKIE: Naturally I have speculated.

ATTORNEY: What is your speculation?

JACKIE: I really feel that he’s dead, because I don’t—even if he were to leave an unhappy situation, or what he thought was an unhappy situation, with his job or whatever, I’m sure that he would have kept in contact with his children. He was a good father, and he was a good husband.

ATTORNEY: And, of course, as you said earlier, he has not been in touch with any of his family.

JACKIE: No, he has not.

ATTORNEY: What happened to his motorcycle?

JACKIE: I called the bank in Traverse City and said “Would you please come get it, because I certainly can’t make payments on it.” And it was too big for me to ride if I could make payments on it. So they just came and repossessed it and sold it at no loss.

ATTORNEY: Did he have any sporting goods or equipment; boats, motors, guns?

JACKIE: No

ATTORNEY: He did hunt occasionally, did he not?

JACKIE: On occasion, yes. But he hocked his gun once when we lived in Chicago when the kids were little when we needed some extra money, and he never got it out of hock. The only thing he had left was a scope for that gun, which my son David now has in his possession.

ATTORNEY: Was your husband Catholic?

JACKIE: Yes, he was.

ATTORNEY: Did he regularly attend church?

JACKIE: He did up until probably 1967, ’66. Then just the children and I attended church. He was a little disillusioned with the church, and he just quit going.

ATTORNEY: Are you Catholic?

JACKIE: Yes, I am.

ATTORNEY: Had you continued to attend church?

JACKIE: No, I do not attend church regularly.

ATTORNEY: Did you raise your children in the church?

JACKIE: Yes.

ATTORNEY: Are they good church attendants?

JACKIE: Two of them are pretty good, and the other two are occasionally.

ATTORNEY: When you receive the money from the settlement of the equitable life insurance policy, what did you use those funds for?

JACKIE: Oh, I fixed my house that had been falling apart for ten years.

ATTORNEY: You didn’t invest in anything other than fixing up your house?

JACKIE: No, I didn’t. No, I fixed my house.

END

The following year, 1980, Jackie found herself being questioned again by more insurance company lawyers. The following deposition is for the case against John Hancock Insurance Company. The deposition, provided by Lisa Lepsy, not only gives insight into the facts of the case, but also set the scene of life for Jackie and the children after Dick Lepsy’s disappearance.

ATTORNEY: Mrs. Lepsy, at the time of Mr. Lepsy’s disappearance, did he have any items of personal property that you considered to be special or precious to him?

JACKIE: He had a zither that belonged to his great-grandfather that came for the old country.

ATTORNEY: Let me ask you this in regard to that zither. That’s an antique?

JACKIE: I would presume it would be, yes.

ATTORNEY: In who’s possession is that zither presently, if you know?

JACKIE: My son, David’s.

ATTORNEY: I take it then therefore that at the time of departure the decedent did not take this zither with him?

JACKIE: No sir.

ATTORNEY: Can you tell me the approximate size, is this a very large instrument or—

JACKIE: It’s fairly narrow but it’s about the size of your briefcase and it comes in a case like that with a handle.

ATTORNEY: It comes in a case with a handle. So it’s easily transportable, is that correct?

JACKIE: Yes

ATTORNEY: Was there anything else of a nature that he prized, any possession?

JACKIE: Books.

ATTORNEY: Okay.

JACKIE: He had a complete set of Will and Ariel Durant, that was his prize possession.

ATTORNEY: These were books on philosophy, it’s my understanding?

JACKIE: Yes.

ATTORNEY: 12 volumes?

JACKIE: Yes.

ATTORNEY: He had many other books on philosophy and other subjects, didn’t he?

JACKIE: Oh yes, we have an extensive library.

ATTORNEY: But this particular 12 volume set of books was extremely prized by him?

JACKIE: Yes, it was.

ATTORNEY: In whose possession is that 12 volume set of books at the present time?

JACKIE: They are still in my home.

ATTORNEY: So the decedent on the date of his disappearance did not take those with him either?

JACKIE: No.

ATTORNEY: Was there anything of any other nature that he owned from a personal property standpoint, that was prized by him?

JACKIE: He had a good record collection.

ATTORNEY: What type of records?

JACKIE: Mostly jazz and some classical.

ATTORNEY: Approximately haw many records did he have in his collection?

JACKIE: 50-75.

ATTORNEY: In whose possession are these records presently?

JACKIE: They’re still in my home also.

ATTORNEY: So I take it that he did not take any records with him on the date of his disappearance either?

JACKIE: No.

ATTORNEY: Were there other items that were prized from a personal standpoint, personal items of clothing or jewelry, or anything else of this nature?

JACKIE: He had several good pieces of jewelry, cuffs, you know, cuff-links, tie-tacks, that sort of thing, with semi-precious and precious stones that were left.