hey 42 here it's no secret that america's been involved in a lot of wars the longest of those is ongoing and began in 1969 when president nixon declared a war on drugs one of the aims of this particular war is to get people off rocks by contrast in 1934 president roosevelt announced a war on crime which intended to get some of the most dangerous criminals onto the rock or alcatraz prison as it was more formally known talk about mixed signals alcatraz island was not the kind of place you'd find in any holiday brochures instead of sun lounges and pina coladas it was home to a 19th century fort which after some remodeling and redecorating became a maximum security prison welcoming its first inmates in 1934. over its 29 years of operation alcatraz housed some of the most dangerous criminals in history including george machine gun kelly al capone and alvin creepy carpus one of only six people in history to have been officially named public enemy number one in addition to criminal heavyweights like these alcatraz also housed prisoners who were considered troublemakers especially those who are the most likely to try and break out there was a very good reason for that not only was alcatraz considered to be america's strongest jail but thanks to the island's location in san francisco bay with its cold waters visiting great white sharks and strong currents it was also thought to be 100 escape proof that reputation certainly didn't stop inmates from trying to get out though in all 36 prisoners attempted to escape the island across 14 different attempts the less imaginative just tried to make a run for it the more determined included two men who tried twice proving that no matter what eminem might think sometimes you do get more than one shot though sadly they did miss their chance blow of the 36 prisoners who tried to escape 23 were caught six were shot and killed two drowned and the further five are recorded as missing presumed drowned of those five two very likely did drown but for the other three well their escape is arguably the most impressive prison break ever recorded except perhaps for that japanese super guy and whilst the american prison system may presume that they drowned there's every reason to believe they might just have made it frank morris john anglin and clarence anglin escaped from alcatraz prison late at night on the 11th of june or possibly in the early hours of the 12th of june 1962 never to be seen again actually that's not entirely true but more on that later the investigation into this ingenious escape would be aided by the fourth member of the group the one who didn't get away alan west though west would claim to have been the brains behind the plan the fact that he was the only one who didn't escape cast some doubt on the credibility of his story the more likely mastermind was frank morris a career criminal with an iq of 133 who had already escaped once from the louisiana state penitentiary while serving a 10-year stretch for bank robbery after evading capture for a year he was eventually rearrested during another robbery and sent to alcatraz joining west and morris in their audacious bolt for freedom were john and clarence anglin two brothers who did everything together as boys they were said to be strong swimmers who impressed their siblings by swimming in the freezing waters of lake michigan whilst it still had ice floating on its surface just the type of training needed to brave the frigid waters of san francisco bay the brothers remained inseparable as adults sharing their favorite hobbies like bank robbery and serving time eventually finding their way to alcatraz after numerous unsuccessful attempts to bust out of atlanta prison the four men knew each other from previous prison sentences and were placed in adjoining cells at alcatraz because obviously the first thing you should do with inmates known for jail breaks is to give them the maximum opportunity to communicate in private in december 1961 plans for the great escape began with a focus on the air vents found beneath the sink in every inmate cell with the help of some old saw blades found around the prison grounds and spoons stolen from the mess hall west morris and the anglin boys widened the ventilation shafts in their cells so far so shawshank redemption but the men's progress was accelerated with the help of an ingenious drill fashioned from scavenged items including the engine from a vacuum cleaner west was tasked with repairing by drilling closely spaced holes around the air vent cover a whole section of wall could be removed and if you're wondering about the noise drilling was done during music hour when the prism was chorus with the unholy din of various musical instruments including morris's accordion the enlarged holes allowed the four prisoners to access an unguarded utility corridor it might sound like they were almost home and dry at this point but this was just the first phase of a much more complex plan because escaping from the prison was if anything the easy part surviving the journey across the bay would ultimately prove the difference between success and failure not to mention life and death the water in san francisco bay is cold and choppy and the current is strong these days swimming enthusiasts regularly make the two-mile crossing as part of various charity swims and events armed with wetsuits and large teams of lifeguards the swim isn't overly dangerous attempting the swim in the middle of the night in a prison outfit however would be a death sentence for all but the most accomplished of open water swimmers rather than risk it west morris and the england brothers had a better idea why swim when you can sail trying to steal a boat was far too risky making one on the other hand well it would be time consuming but time is the one thing every prisoner has in abundance well that and bad lawyers the utility corridor gave the escapees access to the vacant top level of their cell block a quiet never visited area of the building that was absolutely perfect for the creation of a secret workshop over the course of six months the men gradually constructed a six by fourteen foot rubber raft accompanying paddles a bunch of life preservers and four imitation human heads made from a mixture of concrete dust soap toilet paper and toothpaste these heads which would be left in the prisoner's bed whilst they worked on the boat and on the night they escaped were completed with flesh-coloured paint stolen from the art supplies and hair provided by the prison's barber shop if you're watching this video from inside a maximum security prison perhaps it's time you signed up for that arts and crafts class you have to be impressed by the amount of patience ingenuity and discipline that went into the escape plan but morris west and the england were also helped along by a healthy dose of good fortune the prisoners spent a lot of time reading magazines and books from the library and even though all the publications were censored to remove anything that might aid and escape two popular mechanics articles made it past the filters and gave the prisoners some real inspiration at first glance it's easy to see how these articles didn't raise alarm bells the first handy article from the november 1960 issue was about rubber goose decoys made by a hunter since the goose hunting options on alcatraz island were a bit limited prison officials understandably thought this story harmless but the piece included details of a technique called vulcanizing which sadly has nothing to do with dressing up like spark but instead described how the hunter bonded pieces of rubber together the wannabe escape artist put the theory into practice they stole or with the help of other prisoners collected more than 50 standard issue rubber prison raincoats that they then used to make a raft the seams were carefully stitched and held together using rubber cements containing vulcanizing agents stolen from the prison glove making and cobbling shops the vulcanizing process was completed using the heat from nearby steam pipes which hardened and sealed the rubber making for a rudimentary but impressive getaway boat inflating the raft without a pump would have been a difficult time-consuming and potentially impossible task if you've ever tried to inflate an air bed using nothing but your lungs you'll know what i mean in fact i've seen a man pass out trying to do just that though unconsciousness in that case could have had something to do with excessive cider consumption anyway with a stroke of genius macgyver himself would have been proud of morris solved the inflation problem by making a pump out of a concertina a type of musical instrument like a small accordion that makes sound by being pushed and pulled just like a set of bellows popular mechanics came to the rescue again in march 1962 when the magazine included a demo of life vests for ocean travel a must for sailors senior citizens on an ocean cruise and prisoners trying to escape a maximum security facility surrounded by open water as we all know the first rule of jailbreak is safety first so with a raft life vests and paddles made of old wood and leftover screws the crew had transport from the island sorted the next big question was how to get out of the prison building itself eventually they found a ventilation shaft that led off the utility corridor in advance of the great escape the prisoners climbed the shaft to the roof pried open the ventilator at the top and then kept it in that position with a bolt carved out of soap ready for the big push when the time was just right that time was the night of the 11th of june 1962 when the men finally made a break for it unfortunately for west though he was unable to get out of his cell west had built a full section of wall to hold his vent in place and conceal the expanded hole behind but the cover-up had begun slipping and west had used cement to reinforce the concrete this solved the slipping issue but he'd done too good a job the cement had set and he was unable to get the vent removed in time the others tried to help kick the vent in from the outside but to no avail when west finally managed to get out of his cell later that night the others had already gone and he was forced to turn back meanwhile morris and the anglin brothers had scaled the ventilation shaft and gotten onto the roof of the prison they made quite a racquet in the process and were actually heard by the guards but they failed to follow up on it and missed their best chance to apprehend the group carrying their gear the trio made their way across the roof then down 50 feet of piping to the ground from there they scaled two 12-foot perimeter fences and made their way to the northeast of the island which was a blind spot for the searchlights and guard towers it was here that they inflated their raft and set sail but for obvious reasons this is also where that trail of evidence runs cold what did the men do did they for example paddle to nearby angel island where they could rest a while before a short swim to the mainland that's what west claimed the plan was when he was interrogated but it's impossible to know if he was sharing the real plan or making up a cover story to throw the authorities off the scent there was also a reported sighting of an unidentified white boat in the bay that night fuelling speculation the trio could have had outside help and been picked up whatever happened the men got a good head start they were only discovered missing the next morning triggering a huge manhunt the search covered both land and sea and involved the military and various law enforcement agencies the men were never found but on the 14th of june a paddle was spotted floating close to the shore of angel island later that day a wallet wrapped in plastic was found nearby containing the names and addresses of the anglin's family and friends another week would pass before what was believed to be the remains of the raft were found close to the golden gate bridge and a day later a life vest was retrieved from the water just off alcatraz island of course the tides and currents in the bay had scattered these items all over the place making it impossible to draw any solid conclusions about the escapees whereabouts so the authority stuck to the more convenient story that the men had most likely perished even though the fbi wouldn't close their case until 1979 the u. s marshals service on the other hand still have an active case open to this day as the years have gone by claimed sightings of the prisoners have abounded along with multiple theories about their movements members of the anglin family say john and clarence's mother received flowers every year along with a christmas card apparently signed by the brothers rumor has it there was even a pair of large and rather strange looking women who turned up at her funeral similarly two strange men were reported to visit mr anglin senior to pay their respects whilst he was in his funeral home these men didn't identify themselves but apparently got very upset and left rather suddenly in 2015 a photo of the anglins came to light which was apparently taken in 1975 by a family friend fred brizzy who claimed to have met the brothers in brazil the photo shows two men in large sunglasses next to a rock or termite mound apparently on the farm that they were said to own in brazil like the brothers brizzy was a career criminal and as a result both his story and his photo were ignored but in 2020 facial recognition software determined that the photo was indeed of the anglin brothers who had escaped from alcatraz all those years before in 2018 cbs news network released an extract from a letter supposedly written by john anglin which had been addressed to the fbi and received by the san francisco police in 2013.
in the letter john says the trio had made it on the night of the escape but only barely he revealed that he was 80 free and in bad shape with cancer as well as the last man standing after his brother and morris had passed away in 2005 and 2008. john's reason for getting in touch was apparently because he wanted to receive treatment he offered to reveal his location if the authorities announced on tv that he would be given a one-year sentence on turning himself in the fbi kept the letter quiet and it seemed nobody ever heard from the mystery man again the anglin family responded angrily especially since the letter writer had said he was dying but the fbi stuck to their story as did the u.
