GRAND RAPIDS, MI - A Michigan author claims to know the identity of the infamous hijacker D.B. Cooper.

Since his notorious jump from an airplane at 10,000 feet over 45 years ago, many groups and states have claimed to know the identity of the hijacker and to have ties to him.

However, Carl Laurin, author of "D.B. Cooper & Me: A Criminal, A Spy, My Best Friend" claims Cooper was actually a Detroit-born man named Walter "Walt" Reca.

A press conference is scheduled for 1 p.m. Thursday, May 17, at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel in Grand Rapids, according to a Principia Media, the book publishing company.

Carl Laurin will also have a book-signing event at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, May 17. The event will be at Schuler Books at 2660 28th St. SE.

The investigation into Cooper's identity was spearheaded by Principia Media, a Grand Rapids, Michigan-based publishing company, who worked with Laurin to analyze the alleged evidence.

A man claiming to be named Dan Cooper, and later known as D.B. Cooper by the media, is known for jumping from the ramp of a Boeing 727 at 10,000 feet with $200,000 in extorted cash on Nov. 24, 1971.

He was never caught or heard from again.

The FBI closed the case 45 years later in 2016, but have said they would reopen the case if evidence like the parachutes or money were to be found, CNN reported.

Some of the other theories concerning D.B. Cooper's identity say he was a a mild-mannered grocery store clerk from Northern Michigan, a conman and former U.S. Army paratrooper who currently lives in San Diego, an Army veteran who lived and died in Nashville, or an aerospace engineer or manager.