Alcatraz Escape Documentary History Channel

[Florian Peitz]

Theshow featured relatives of the Anglin brothers, Ken Widner and David Anglin along with retired U.S. Marshals investigator Art Roderick. The two nephews were seen cooperating with investigators sharing with Roderick Christmas cards signed by their infamous uncles three years after the escape without postage on them.

A photograph also turned up of an older John and Clarence living out their freedom in Brazil. Although Roderick has become skeptical of the photograph, he called the latest revelations "a complete game changer," during the History channel special.

If John and Clarence had indeed survived, it would mark the only successful Alcatraz escape in the prison's 29-year history. The Florida bank robbers along with Morris made history after they managed to elude out of the facility through holes they had been digging for months using spoons and butter knives. The trio threw off prison guards by planting mannequin dummies in their cell beds.Advertisement

On Oct. 12 at 9 p.m., the History Channel will air a documentary on the escape from Alcatraz, suggesting new answers have been found, possibly solving one of the great mysteries of the 20th century. After 53 years, the sister of two escapees, all having grown up in Ruskin, speaks. At least a little.

Events in history tend to eventually lie down and sleep for eternity. Time passes, life goes on. Unless, say, a major cable television network or an author dredges it back up, propping up an event or a time in the past, bringing it back to life again.

Two of her brothers, both of whom not all that long before were helping out on the family farm on East Shell Point Road, escaped into infamy. Her brothers created one of the enduring mysteries of the 20th century: Clarence and John Anglin, formerly of Ruskin, along with Frank Morris, escaped from Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary.

It would have been a daring move. Mearl thinks that for a time their family telephone had been bugged, and the FBI was never far away. But Clarence and John were smart young men. They would have anticipated that the FBI was there; they would have been ready. In those days, two women in mourning, convincingly so, would have been allowed certain discretions.

The escape from Alcatraz was meticulously planned and elaborate. They first escaped their cells, using spoons to carve away the cement surrounding a vent leading into a narrow, unguarded utility hallway. They then built a raft from more than 50 rubberized raincoats, using the heat from a steam pipe to seal the seams of the carefully stitched coats. They made paddles and created papier-mch heads from soap and toilet paper, and used their own hair to ensure realism. They had a concertina from another prisoner to use as a bellows to inflate the raft. They found a blind spot in the string of searchlights and towers filled with armed guards.

Their ruse worked. The dummy heads and towels formed in the shape of their bodies under a blanket worked. They likely escaped sometime late on June 11, 1962, but guards did not discover that they were actually gone until the morning of June 12.

Clarence and John were both talented artists. While at Alcatraz, each painted a portrait of their girlfriends. Their work was beautiful, professional. That same talent likely went into creating the dummy heads that allowed for their escape.

That night, three men broke out of their cell house and vanished into the bay in a homemade raft. Frank Morris, the brilliant mastermind of the escape, as well as John Anglin and his brother Clarence were never seen again.

In the many years that have passed since that June night in 1962, no one has reported seeing Frank Morris, John Anglin, or Clarence Anglin. They may have beaten the odds, and survived their escape from Alcatraz.

Don DeNevi, a Professor at Merritt College in Oakland, co-wrote a manuscript about the escape with Clarence Carnes, an Alcatraz inmate. Carnes arrived on the Rock when he was just eighteen years old and spent close to 20 years there. He was a close confidante of the three convicts who escaped. Don DeNevi put it this way:

The ventilation duct was constructed with crossbars inside. It was impossible to cut the bars or to squeeze past them. But West saw that if he cut the entire duct from its surrounding support and shoved the whole thing out, he could easily get to the roof.

West enlisted the help of John and Clarence Anglin, both convicted bank robbers, who had a history of escapes from other institutions. According to DeNevi, the Anglin brothers had some other useful skills:

For eight months, Morris and the Anglin brothers left their cells at night to drill out the ventilation shaft and collect the items they needed for their escape. Clarence Carnes, who saw a lot during his 18 years on the Rock, was impressed by their effort:

One of the many challenges the escapees faced was how to inflate their huge raft. Frank Morris had come up with an ingenious idea. He had received a small accordion known as a concertina, for use during the daily music hour. Don Eberle, the FBI investigator, described how the instrument was used during the escape:

Ever so slowly, the raft began to fill. When it was ready, the three men pushed it into the water at the edge of Alcatraz and climbed on. Frank Morris, John Anglin, and Clarence Anglin had made it off the Rock.

Inside the prison, the dummy heads the prisoners had left behind in their cells fooled any guards that happened to look in. When the breakout was finally discovered, it triggered an extensive search, one of the largest manhunts ever. Patrick Mahoney, a former guard at Alcatraz, was among those who took part in the search:

Two days after the breakout, a rubber wrapped packet was also discovered floating near Angel Island. It contained an address book, 80 family photographs, and a money order that belonged to one of the escapees. Some, such as FBI investigator Don Eberle, began to doubt that the escapees had survived:

In addition, a Norwegian ship spotted a body floating 20 miles past the Golden Gate bridge on the day of the escape. Though unable to retrieve it, their description of it matched that of Frank Morris.

However, there is also some compelling evidence to suggest that at least one of the men survived. The day after the escape, a man claiming to be John Anglin called a San Francisco law firm known to represent Alcatraz inmates. Eugenia MacGowan was an attorney at the law firm. She took the call:

Even though Alcatraz ceased prison operations many years ago, the infamous escape of June 1962, continues to puzzle investigators. In fact, over the years, thousands of leads have been investigated, but to no avail. Will this legendary case ever be solved? For now, the arrest warrants for the three fugitives remain active, and the search for answers goes on.

Clint Eastwood played Frank Morris in movie.

The real Frank Morris from other shows about the case was killed in a car accident or shooting in San Francisco .

The brothers lived in Brazil at the time of the history channel show about the prison escape.

I have a theory that Ralph Roe may be the man who was found dead at Somerton Beach on December 1, 1948 in Adelaide in Australia. Firstly, it based on the photographs. While not completely identical, there are similarities in appearance between Roe & The Somerton Man. Also, there are other things to consider.

* The man had no identification on him at all. All labels on his clothing was removed and it seemed that the man himself or maybe someone else had gone to great lengths to make identification impossible. If Roe was The Somerton Man, he resorted to this because he went to great lengths to avoid getting caught.

* There were theories before that The Somerton Man was an American. Someone claimed that The Somerton Man had American relatives and could have been related to Thomas Jefferson. Plus, when they found him, he was wearing a suit that was most likely manufactured in America. Plus, The Somerton Man had American chewing gum and other American items in his possession. Police were of the belief that the man was not Australian. If Roe was The Somerton Man, he could have come to Australia either as a Soldier during WWII or perhaps after WWII.

Last year, an academic identified The Somerton Man as Carl Webb from Footscay. But this is disputed by some and Police and the coroner to this day have not officially declared Webb or anyone else to be The Somerton Man.

Mexico was actually in good relations with the United States back then. If they were to escape in another country it would probably be in the Domican Republic. Close enough to Georgia if they did want to visit relatives. Far enough to avoid extradition.

I think I know what happened to the three escaped. My theory is that there was a boat lying in wait and when the convicts jumped into the waters, the boat lying in wait picked them up and escaped, fled to Brazil.

My name is Scott Winfield after doing some research I happen to run into a website that Frank Lee Morris is alive in the country of Ireland and as far as the Anglin Brothers are living in Brazil and I also found a email address that belonged to Frank Morris so I sent a message on this email that I found and about 20 minutes went by and the email was suddenly taken off the computer and my grandpa Frank Griczen happened to stop the car that had run another driver off the road my grandpa worked for the CHP out in San Francisco and the vehicle was in the general area of Stockton,California and I was talking to a friend and we put our heads together and came up with the possibility they were taken by boat into Pier 13.

Frank Morris was insanely smart he was in the top 3% IQ in America apparently. They obviously got away. There had been 14 escape attempts from Alcatraz before the Anglins and Frank Morris escaped and they always recaptured the inmates or found them dead in the water. To not find any body out of 3 men says it all. They made it ( greatest escape of all time). Also there was a car stolen that night and a man reported being nearly run down by 3 men in a car all wearing blue shirts looking like they were in a hurry.

3a8082e126