Linda Kunkel: What Happened to Bob Rackstraw’s Ex-Wife?

Netflix’s ‘D.B. Cooper: Where Are You?!’ follows the accounts of the people who dedicated themselves to solving the case. They found that there were a lot of theories out and about, but only a few credible things to follow up on. The reason behind a lot of fake tips from people all over was D.B. Cooper’s sketch. His was such a common face that everyone was forced to reconsider the nature of the people around them. While the sketch didn’t do it for her, Linda Kunkel, too, discovered a string of shocking secrets about Bob Rackstraw, the man who used to be her husband. Linda appears in the Netflix docuseries to share her side of the story and shed some light on Rackstraw’s life in the early 70s. While we get to know a lot about her husband, the details of her own life remain in the dark.

Who is Linda Kunkel?

Image Courtesy: Netflix

Linda Kunkel married Bob Rackstraw in 1974. They stayed together for a span of merely two years or so, but during that time, Linda went through a whirlwind of emotions that made her more vigilant of her husband. The marriage was Rackstraw’s second, and Linda, too, brought her two children into the fore from a previous marriage. It worked well for her because Rackstraw seemed to care for her kids, and was certainly much more adventurous than the previous relationships she’d had.

She noticed that Rackstraw didn’t have a proper job, but she never asked him where he got the money. He was always in the mood for an adventure and took her to several places. It was all well and good for a while until Kunkel started noticing some much weirder things about him. What caught her attention was the contents of his briefcase, the one he always carried with him whenever he went out.

One day, she secretly opened it and discovered a toupee and a fake mustache in it. When she confronted him about it, he told her that the toupee was to hide his baldness. Interestingly, he didn’t say anything about the mustache. She didn’t know it then, but this was an indication of the fact that he was indulged in something criminal. It was much later that Kunkel discovered that Rackstraw had forged her signature to get a print shop for himself in San Jose. By then, their marriage was already in shambles and they got divorced around 1977.

Linda Kunkel is Likely Living a Good Life in California Today

While details are sparse for the current whereabouts of Linda Kunkel, she most likely lives in California. Better known as Linda McGarity, she got married to Bob Rackstraw in Santa Clara. She mentioned that he’d started a print shop in San Jose, which confirms that the couple had lived in California. Linda appears in the Netflix docuseries, but the conversation mainly revolves around Rackstraw, who was possibly her second husband. Because their marriage was short-lived, there is a good possibility that Linda gave love another chance and built a family with some other man.

As for her ex-husband, Linda has no delusions about his personality. She said she thought she knew her ex-husband, but when the investigation in the D.B. Cooper case made him a person of interest, she was forced to reevaluate her knowledge of him. She also read Tom Colbert’s book, ‘The Last Master Outlaw’, and found a lot of things about her ex-husband that put things into perspective. She told People that there was “a good likelihood it’s him [Rackstraw]. I believe it because of all the evidence and all the little things that I can look at from way back that just make me just go, ‘Oh yeah.’ All the pieces just sort of come together.

Read More: How Did Bob Rackstraw Die? Was He Really D.B. Cooper?

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