In 1962, a prison guard is seen kneeling near the escape hole in Frank Morris’ cell, in an image captured by Denver Post/Getty Images. Despite Alcatraz’s reputation as an escape-proof fortress, three prisoners proved otherwise with a daring plan fueled by brains, courage, and a stack of 50 raincoats. On June 11, 1962, Frank Morris and brothers Clarence and John Anglin, all in their thirties, maneuvered through hidden gaps in their cell walls with a makeshift raft, crawled through a ventilation duct onto the roof, and fled from the island stronghold into the icy, turbulent waters of the San Francisco Bay.
The belief in Alcatraz’s impenetrability is a central part of President Donald Trump’s proposal to reopen the facility six decades after its closure due to high operational costs. Trump confidently stated in the Oval Office on Monday, “Nobody’s ever escaped from Alcatraz.” While Morris and the Anglins were never apprehended, supporters of their daring escape, including some family members, are convinced they successfully reached shore and evaded capture, living out their lives in obscurity away from law enforcement and public scrutiny.
Despite their criminal history of constant escape attempts detailed in their FBI records, Morris and the Anglin brothers ended up incarcerated at Alcatraz for their relentless pursuit of freedom. Driven by a distaste for confinement and poverty, the brothers, who hailed from rural Georgia, resorted to burglary and theft to acquire material comforts they desired. Their final crime, robbing a small bank in Alabama, led to their arrest and subsequent transfer to Alcatraz following an escape bid at the Leavenworth federal penitentiary in Kansas.
At Alcatraz, the Anglins and Morris, fellow escape artist, were housed near each other, setting the stage for another breakout. The trio executed a meticulously planned escape involving rubberized raincoats, modified spoons for tunneling, and realistic dummy heads to deceive the guards. Despite inmate Allen West’s assertion that he was part of the plan but left behind that fateful night, the FBI reconstructed the elaborate scheme that led to the trio’s disappearance and sparked enduring speculation and intrigue surrounding their fate.
Over a period of six months, rubber raincoats stolen from other inmates were carefully assembled into a 6-foot by 14-foot raft, sealed with steam pipes. The men used a vacuum cleaner motor to create an electric drill, filed-down spoons as screwdrivers, and converted a concertina into a bellows to inflate the raft. One of the men, Morris, who had an IQ of 133, purchased the concertina with $28.69 from his prison trust fund.
Arguably the most ingenious part of their plan involved crafting three dummy heads using cement fragments, cotton, hair from the prison barber shop, glue, and paint. These crude sculptures were realistic enough to fool night guards into thinking the men were asleep in their beds.
Investigators praised the men’s preparation for the escape as “fantastic.” The deteriorating state of the prison, combined with a lack of repairs and staffing, worked in their favor. The men meticulously drilled holes in their cell walls, concealed their work with painted cardboard, and escaped through a utility shaft, dismantling ventilation covers and scaling fences.
With a raft designed with guidance from a Sports Illustrated magazine, the three escaped into the darkness. Despite extensive search efforts involving boats, helicopters, and military personnel, no evidence was found to indicate their whereabouts.
The escape captivated the media and investigators, with numerous leads and speculations arising. The case of the Alcatraz escapees remained a mystery, with the men seemingly disappearing without a trace.
Survivors have been found, but their presence was not discovered through a washed-up appearance on shore. Rather, they arrived via mail in the form of a postcard addressed to the “Warden, Alcatraz Prison” and signed by “Frank, Jim, Clarence,” each bearing different handwriting styles. A handwriting expert determined that the signature of “Clarence” was likely a forgery, while insufficient handwriting samples of John and Frank hindered further analysis. The FBI ultimately deemed the postcard a probable hoax inspired by widespread media coverage.
Search efforts near Alcatraz Island yielded sparse evidence linked to the escape, such as fragments of improvised oars and a homemade life jacket. Sealed packets resembling the raft’s material contained personal photos of the Anglin brothers, their family addresses, and contact details for a San Francisco attorney with a history of defending Alcatraz inmates. Despite numerous reported sightings and leads, none led to concrete results.
J. Edgar Hoover’s directive emphasized keeping investigative progress confidential to apprehend the escapees rather than disclose information to the public. The Anglin family remains convinced that the full truth has not been disclosed by the FBI, despite the release of extensive case documents.
Although the FBI’s investigation closed in 1979 with the presumption of the three fugitives’ deaths, the Marshals Service continues to keep their file open, even producing computer-aged portraits of how the men might appear in their mid-80s. Alleged proof of the trio’s survival has periodically resurfaced, challenging the prevailing belief that they could not have endured the treacherous waters and harsh conditions of the San Francisco Bay.
The 1962 escape story was revisited by hosts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman who recreated the journey using similar tools and conditions. Contrary to previous assumptions, they found that the escapees could have made it to the Golden Gate Bridge area if they had left between 11 p.m. and midnight. Dutch scientists later confirmed this using computer models of Bay currents. Leads and sightings continued to emerge over the years, including a photo allegedly showing the brothers in Brazil in 1975. In 2013, a letter claiming to be from one of the escapees offered to surrender in exchange for medical treatment and a short prison sentence. Despite ongoing speculation, it is widely believed that the escapees likely perished, with some even suggesting they died in the Bay. The infamous escape played a role in the decision to close Alcatraz, which was eventually converted into a museum by the National Park Service. While President Trump sees Alcatraz as a symbol of law and order, some, like the Anglins’ nephew, believe preserving the history of the site is crucial.
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