In 1962, brothers John and Clarence Anglin, with Frank Morris, tunnelled out of their cell before taking to the deadly waters of San Francisco Bay on a makeshift raft and were never heard from again – until now
It has gone down in history as the FBI’s most frustrating case – how did three bank robbers escape from the most secure prison in the US before disappearing without a trace?
Now agents have once again reopened the 55-year-old investigation after receiving a letter from a man claiming to be one of the Alcatraz escapees.
In 1962, brothers John and Clarence Anglin, with Frank Morris, tunnelled out of their cell before taking to the deadly waters of San Francisco Bay on a makeshift raft.
They have not been officially seen since and many believe all three drowned.
But a handwritten letter, sent in 2013 and only made public this week, claims at least one of them could still be alive.
John Anglin in police mugshot
John’s brother Clarence Anglin
On the outside: The Anglin brothers
It said: “My name is John Anglin. I escape[d] from Alcatraz in June 1962 with my brother Clarence and Frank Morris. I’m 83 years old and in bad shape. I have cancer. Yes, we all made it that night but barely!”
The author then claimed his two fellow escapees were now both dead.
He also tries to make a deal with police, by offering to return to prison for a year in return for medical treatment.
The note added: “Frank passed away in October 2005. His grave is in Alexandria under another name. My brother died in 2011. If you announce on TV that I will be promised to first go to jail for no more than a year and get medical attention, I will write back to let you know exactly where I am. This is no joke, this is for real.”
The author claimed he was in Southern California and had lived in Seattle and North Dakota for eight years. And the letter, sent to the San Francisco Police’s Richmond station, appears to be correct on Anglin’s age.
At the time of writing, if still alive, he would have been 83.
Officials confirmed the note forced the FBI to reopen the cold case.
The letter claims two of the men are now dead
Newspaper coverage of the escape from the time it happened
Third fugitive Frank Morris
The US Marshals, who oversee the recapture of prisoners, said the FBI lab forensically examined the new letter, but results were inconclusive.
In a statement, a spokesman said: “There is absolutely no reason to believe that any of them would have changed their lifestyle and became completely law-abiding citizens after this escape.”
John’s 80-year-old sister told the Daily Mirror she was no doubt her brothers survived their break for freedom.
Speaking at her home in Sun City, Florida, Mearl Anglin Taylor said: “I don’t know if they are alive or dead now, but I know for sure they survived.” Since their prison break, the men have gone down in folklore and were the subject of 1979 Hollywood film Escape from Alcatraz, starring Clint Eastwood.
So how did they do it? A hole in the wall…
…and dummies under their bedsheets
Alcatraz was the most secure prison in the US, surrounded by the rough waters of the Pacific.
“The Rock” where Al Capone, George “Machine Gun” Kelly and other infamous criminals were held, was thought to be escape-proof.
No one is known to have made it out alive in its 29 years as a federal prison from 1934 to 1963.
Forty-one inmates tried, with 26 recaptured, seven shot dead, three drowned and two, besides Morris and the Anglin brothers, were never found.
The trio’s audacious escape took place on the night of June 11, 1962.
It’s hard to square the prison’s once fierce reputation with the rotting hulk that remains
Guards checked on them periodically, looking in at the sleeping faces.
By morning, the inmates had gone. In their place were pillows under the bedclothes and realistic papier-mâché heads. A hole in the cell wall led to the prison’s ventilation shafts.
Thousands of police and prison staff joined the largest manhunt since the Lindbergh baby kidnapping in 1932.
A crude raft made of rubber raincoats was found on a nearby island. Federal officials said they almost certainly drowned, their bodies swept out to sea.
But US Marshal Michael Dyke, who inherited the case in 2003, previously said he did not know if any of the trio were still alive but cautioned he had seen enough evidence to make him wonder.
A 2015 History Channel special featured a photo allegedly showing the escaped brothers in Brazil in 1975.
Inside Alcatraz as it is today – an historical monument and tourist attraction
Fred Brizzi, who grew up with John and Clarence, claimed he took the snap of the pair at a farm in Rio de Janeiro.
Brizzi died in 1993 but had given the picture to the brothers’ family the previous year, nephew Ken Widner said.
Ken explained: “He had to wait until a certain time that would not get the brothers or family in trouble.”
Relatives of the Anglins have also previously produced letters they said were sent by the brothers over the years.
But Jolene Babyak, whose father was acting warden the night of the escape, does not believe the trio made it.
When she was shown the newly released letter, the author said: “Lots of allegations, no real evidence, nothing you can follow up on.”
