Inmates Clarence Anglin, John Anglin and Frank Morris escaped the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary late at night on June 11. The three men allegedly had a successful escape in June 1962. With months of planning their escape and studying the prisons blueprints, these men were the first of thirty-six to not get caught. It is widely believed that the three escapees made it out of Alcatraz, but may have drowned in the treacherous waters of the San Francisco bay. What remains a mystery is, if these three escapees ever made it off the island alive.
Alcatraz was a maximum security federal penitentiary, built on Alcatraz Island off the coast of San Francisco, California. It became known as the toughest prison in the nation and had the reputation of being impossible to escape. Prisoners believed that even though they could possibly escape the prison, due to the icy shark filled water and powerful currents that surrounded the rock, they would not get very far. According to History.com “36 men made a total of 14 escape attempts during Alcatraz’s history. Of these, 23 were caught, six were shot and killed during their escape and two drowned.” (2012, “Did anyone ever escape from Alcatraz?”) Of the fourteen escaped attempts, the Anglin brothers and Morris are considered potentially successful.
The two brothers and Morris were sent to Alcatraz based on their multiple attempts to escape previous prisons. All of them held a criminal record with charges of armed robbery and drug dealing. While at Alcatraz, the three men became friends along with another inmate, Allen West and began planning their audacious escape. The four men started to collect materials needed for their escape in December 1961. With cutlery, the four men chipped at a ventilation duct in their cells for sixth months. The ventilation duct led to the utility shaft, which made for an ideal escape from their cells. The prisoners chipped away while other inmates conveniently played music during their one hour music practice. The loud sound from guitars and singing drowned out the noises being made by cutlery chipping the wall. This was the ultimate key for the prisoners not to get caught in the act. When the duct was big enough, the prisoners crawled through and set up a small work space to assemble items needed for the escape. Allen West was given the privilege of working in the space above the cell blocks due to good behavior. While sweeping one day, West spotted a duct that led to an escape on the rooftop of Alcatraz.
The prisoners continued collecting tools and began constructing life vests, along with realistic heads mimicking the inmates. The heads were made out of toilet rolls, soap and human hair collected from the barber shop at which Clarence Anglin worked at. In placing the heads on the pillow and filling the blanket with clothes underneath, it was impossible for the guards to become suspicious. The preparation was completed after six months and freedom was near for the three inmates, minus West.
Allen West was unable to escape due to miscalculations from his duct, he had apparently never escaped to the makeshift workshop. The other three inmates were on schedule for their escape and made a noise that could have had them caught. One inmate recalls hearing the loud sound of a metal bar dropping that echoed through the prison and remains confident that a guard must have heard it. However, no sudden movement was made and fortunately for the escapees their plan continued. The men crawled up to the makeshift workshop, through the ceiling vent that led to the roof where they slid down a kitchen vent pipe and cut through two twelve-foot barber wire fences. Lastly, the inflated their man-made raft and paddled out to their deaths or freedom.
Allen West had eventually made it out of the ventilation duct, but didn’t escape in time as the men were no longer in sight. The morning went on, as the guards did their daily routine of checking each inmate as they stood at the front of the cell. The Anglin brothers and Morris were the only men not standing at their cell bars. The guards attempted to wake them until they realized that the only movement came from the paper mache head falling on the floor. Sirens were heard throughout Alcatraz as the search began. Remnants of the raincoat raft, wooden paddles and a plastic bag filled with photos from the inmates’ families were found. FBI.com states, “A homemade life-vest was also discovered washed up on Cronkhite Beach, but extensive searches did not turn up any other items in the area.” (FBI.gov) The FBI had an open case on the escape for seventeen years and claim that it was possible for them to swim to another island, however, it was highly unlikely. With the cold water and high tides, it is believed that the escapees drowned. The FBI soon after declared the escapees’ dead without evidence.
Many seem to believe that their escape was successful. Both the Anglin brothers were said to have been impressive swimmers and could have calculated the wave currents, leading them to a higher advantage at survival. Several years later, a worker on Alcatraz claimed that he saw a boat that night in a non-boat territorial zone. This could have been the reason why the man-made raft was left abandoned then found. Following this, for fifteen years the families were followed by the FBI and continuously questioned. The Anglin family received cards on special events signed with the names Clarence and John. The cards were never capable of being traced and could have been sent by anyone. However, this leads many to believe that the Anglin brothers are still alive today at the age of eighty-six and eighty-seven; while Frank Morris would be ninety-one.
Their escape was the only proven information from the infamous alleged escape from Alcatraz. Over the years many people claim to have seen the men and have brought photos in to the FBI. On the FBI website the government states, “We officially closed our case on December 31, 1979, and turned over responsibility to the U.S. Marshals Service, which continues to investigate in the unlikely event the trio is still alive.” (FBI.gov) It is left a mystery if Clarence Anglin, John Anglin and Frank Morris successfully lived throughout the waters of the San Francisco Bay. Moreover, in escaping the grounds of Alcatraz and not being caught, the incident is remembered as a notorious flee.