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Modern Mysteries

1962 Alcatraz escapees might have survived

By T.K. Randall
December 15, 2014 · Comment icon 20 comments

Alcatraz is located in San Francisco Bay. Image Credit: CC BY-SA 3.0 Centpacrr
A new study has explored what happened to three men who vanished after escaping the island prison.
Alcatraz, the infamous prison located in San Francisco Bay, was long thought to be inescapable. In addition to the building's impenetrable walls and closely guarded cells it was also situated right in the middle of the bay where strong tidal currents made the water extremely treacherous.

None of these things however stopped bank robbers Clarence Anglin, John Anglin and Frank Morris from escaping in 1962.

Their escape plan was a work of genius that took an immense amount of preparation to pull off.

To escape their cells the men spent six months painstakingly digging a tunnel out of the concrete using sharpened spoons. To keep the guards off their backs on the night of their escape they fashioned dummy heads from soap, paper and hair to place in their beds.
Once they managed to reach the water's edge the men then put together an inflatable raft made from raincoats and set off in to the fast-flowing water in an effort to reach safety. All three of them however disappeared that night and to this day nobody knows exactly what happened to them.

Now in a renewed effort to solve the mystery a team of scientists from the Netherlands has been using a hydraulic model to simulate the path of the escapees' raft as it was paddled across the bay.

Their findings suggest that it might have been possible for the men to have made it to shore but only if they had embarked on their journey at around midnight and paddled hard in a northerly direction. Departing at any other time would have seen them spend so much time in the water that they would have succumbed to hypothermia before being able to reach dry land.

Whether the men actually managed to do this however is a mystery that may never be solved.

Source: BBC News | Comments (20)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #11 Posted by woopypooky 9 years ago
excape prison using tunnel by spoon? so this is where idea gets for shawshank redemption?
Comment icon #12 Posted by Border Collie 9 years ago
NOPE!!! The determination and character of escaping their situation leads me to believe that these men were successful at escaping The Rock, and are alive to this day. Hopefully sipping daqueries on some lonesome beach. Although they are elder statesmen at this point, their ambition to escape made them tough SOB's and that is why they are still here. I have no doubt. Not tough enough for that situation. If they had escaped they would have ended up in South America and someone would have gone public.
Comment icon #13 Posted by Atuke 9 years ago
Not tough enough for that situation. If they had escaped they would have ended up in South America and someone would have gone public. And what makes you think that? If they had enough intelligence, ambition, and patience to pull off the first half of their escape, what makes you think they didn't have a plan for the outside world as well. I don't think they got to the bay after all of their planning and were like, "Welp, now what?" This was a well thought out plan and I believe they lived their lives without ever being caught, and still may be alive to this day.
Comment icon #14 Posted by Myles 9 years ago
Hopefully sipping daqueries on some lonesome beach. Although they are elder statesmen at this point, their ambition to escape made them tough SOB's and that is why they are still here. I have no doubt. Silly to say you have no doubt. I'm not sure I hope they are sipping daiquiris. Not exactly stand up guys.
Comment icon #15 Posted by Atuke 9 years ago
Silly to say you have no doubt. I'm not sure I hope they are sipping daiquiris. Not exactly stand up guys. What do you mean? The prison system rehabilitated them before their escape.
Comment icon #16 Posted by Maureen_jacobs 9 years ago
I'm saying at least two of them survived the escape, if not all three. They most likely went their separate ways Anglin brothers one way, and Morris another. I'm guessing that Morris lived his life quietly out of country while the Anglin brothers stayed in the USA.
Comment icon #17 Posted by Myles 9 years ago
I'm saying at least two of them survived the escape, if not all three. They most likely went their separate ways Anglin brothers one way, and Morris another. I'm guessing that Morris lived his life quietly out of country while the Anglin brothers stayed in the USA. Why would you say that? What information do you have to back up the claim that "at least two of them survived"? I do think it is possible, but highly unlikely.
Comment icon #18 Posted by jarjarbinks 9 years ago
why didnt they wait for the summer and more warm water?
Comment icon #19 Posted by BWH7 9 years ago
A fairly recent documentary released by National Geographic called 'Vanished from Alcatraz' suggests at least one of convicts made it and provides intriguing evidence to support the claim. It tells the tale of a U.S. Marshall who's been on the case for some time.
Comment icon #20 Posted by Maureen_jacobs 9 years ago
Why would you say that? What information do you have to back up the claim that "at least two of them survived"? I do think it is possible, but highly unlikely. If the currents had to carry three people, I think that losing one may have increased chances of getting to land faster. The Anglins may have pushed Morris off and that is the body found later by the ship. I have no proof nor inside information, however, statistically speaking, if anyone would not have survived it would have been Morris. The brothers would not turn against each other. Another interesting suggestion that has been made is... [More]


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