In this post, I will be telling you about the group that escaped Alcatraz successfully. There have been a total of 36 prisoners who attempted a total of 14 escapes, with 23 of these people being captured, and the rest either dead or part of the group that escaped.
Alcatraz was thought to be an inescapable prison. It was located on San Francisco Bay. It was extremely protected. Now, it has been abandoned, yet it is still open for tours.
There were a total of 3 people who successfully escaped in a group. They were Frank Morris, John Anglin, and Clarence Anglin. Frank was abandoned by his parents as a child. He was an orphan for many years of his life. Later, he was sent to jail because he committed car thefts and armed robberies. John and Clarence were born in a family of 14 children. Half of them were boys, and half were girls. They attempted to rob the Bank of Columbia, but they were sent to jail. After they escaped and were re-captured, they were sent to Alcatraz.
A man named Allan West helped them escape, but he did not go with them. He was never punished for his assistance in the escape. He was sent to Alcatraz after he made an unsuccessful escape attempt in Florida State Prison.
The escape took place during June of 1962. The escape took place on the night of June 11th and the morning of June 12th. The men had been planning their escape since December 1961.
Morris was in charge of the group. He had found old saw blades in the prisons grounds. They spent 6 months using the saws to expand the ventilation duct openings. The ducts eventually became big enough for the group to crawl through. They used random items they found lying around the prison to conceal their work. They were able to escape through the vent onto the roof. On the roof, they stored stolen materials to help them escape. They stole around fifty raincoats to make a raft and life preservers. They also built wooden paddles.
The last thing they built before they escaped was fake heads. Soap and toilet paper was combined to form the head shape. They then used their hair to make the heads more realistic. The heads were used with towels hidden underneath blankets. This was meant to trick the guards watching the group. The guards wouldn’t realise that the escapees weren’t in bed. On the night of the escape, they climbed through the opening in the vent, got onto the roof, and they climbed down 50 feet by sliding down a kitchen vent pipe. They managed to climb two 12 foot electric, barbed-wire fences, and they escaped in their raft through a blind spot in the shooting towers.
After the brilliant plan was executed, all of the criminals got away. They haven’t been found yet. Many people believe that the group simply drowned, but it has never been proven, despite the many investigations. What do you think happened to this group? Leave your answer in the comments! Thanks for reading, and make sure to leave a like!