On the night of June 11, 1962, three men vanished into the dark waters of San Francisco Bay, never to be seen again. Frank Morris and the Anglin brothers, John and Clarence, achieved the seemingly impossible by breaking out of what was considered the most secure prison in the United States.
**A History of Impregnability**
Alcatraz, nicknamed “the Rock,” had a storied past long before it became a federal penitentiary. Originally a military fort, it later served as a notorious prison for dangerous criminals such as Al Capone and the “Birdman of Alcatraz.” With its isolated location, steep cliffs, and frigid currents, escape was deemed impossible. However, these factors didn’t deter Morris and the Anglin brothers from devising a meticulous plan for freedom.
**The Ingenious Escape Plan**
For months, the trio worked secretly in their cells, using smuggled tools and ingenious methods to chip away at the walls and create a pathway to freedom. They crafted dummy heads from soap, toothpaste, and real hair to fool the guards during nightly checks. They constructed a makeshift raft and life vests from stolen raincoats, using a homemade drill to fashion their tools.
**The Escape**
On the night of the escape, leaving their dummy heads in their beds, Morris and the Anglins crawled through the holes in their cells, climbed to the roof, and descended to the shore. Despite being seen by the guard tower, they inflated their raft and vanished into the night. The alarm wasn’t raised until the next morning when the decoy heads were discovered.
**The Aftermath**
A massive manhunt ensued, but the escapees were never found. The authorities presumed they had drowned in the treacherous waters. Alcatraz closed its doors a year later, citing structural issues and a controversial regime. In 1979, the escapees were declared legally dead, though speculation about their fate persists to this day.
**The Enduring Mystery**
In 2018, a mysterious letter claimed to be from John Anglin surfaced, stating that all three had survived and lived in secret. The FBI could not verify its authenticity. The case remains open, with the US Marshals Service releasing updated pictures in 2022, hoping for closure on one of the greatest prison escapes in history.
The escape from Alcatraz endures as a testament to human ingenuity and the relentless pursuit of freedom, leaving a legacy of mystery that continues to intrigue the world.