The men have become folklore - fueled byHollywood and popular shows. He, John, said he was 83 and suffering from cancer. They shimmied down a smokestack, climbed over a fence and made their way to the northeast shore where they launched a raft made of raincoats, the FBI said. Evidently, the letter was so compelling that they decided to reopen the investigation 40 years after they had closed it. John Anglin's nephew David Widner, who lives outside Atlanta, weighed in on the appearance of the letter Thursday. WOLF: The Supreme Court sent a letter, signed by all nine justices, to the Senate Judiciary Committee. San Francisco police did not make the letter public despite obtaining it five years ago,according to CBS. Harp spent 21 years with the FBI, but did not work directly on this case. For the Anglin brothers, three of 14 children who grew up in poverty-stricken areas of Georgia and Florida, it was a life-changing amount of cash. Donning their makeshift life preservers and fashioned wood paddles, the three men hopped into their 6 x 14 rubber raft, and braved the frigid waters of the San Francisco Bay. A morning head count revealed just thatfake heads but no bodies to go along with them. West, ever the escape artist, saw opportunity where others only saw mundane object. But as fate would have it, they were all in cells in close proximity with each other. Morris and the Anglin brothers knew each other from serving time in prison together prior to their time on Alcatraz Island. Not only was there the Christmas card, but theories abound that the Anglins ended up in Brazil. Instead, dummy heads made of plaster, real human hair and flesh-toned paint were in their place, the FBI said. Using an elaborate strategy that involved squeezing through a cement wall, climbing through pipes and vents, and building a raft made from four dozen raincoats, Frank Morris, and brothers John and Clarence Anglin escaped from Alcatraz and disappeared into the San Francisco Bay. 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. Afterall, they needed to be in the ducts and vents for extended periods of time. Pretty clever. Recycling royals: How Charles will re-use chairs made for the coronations of his mother in 1953 and 'How can I fix this?' And it makes an offer. Especially considering the brothers had committed together in the past. I could tell you that for seven years I lived in Minot North Dakota - [] in Fargo - 1990 to 2005! "For him to say he had cancer and was dying, I feel like they should have at least reached out to the family and let them know it existed," he said. Being strong swimmers may have been essential to survival, as the waters in San Francisco Bay are notoriously rough and cold. It seems I'm not alone, STEPHEN POLLARD: It's often the self-proclaimed anti-racists who are the foulest of the lot. Perhaps they were driven by their long prison sentences, and the reality of prison life made them act. Inside the Chevy, witnesses claim, were three men. The Rocks unique geographic location made it an ideal place to build a prison. I escape from Alcatraz in June 1962 with my Brother Clarence and Frank Morris. Police were unable to locate the boat. Two prisoners, Mickey Cohen and Ellsworth Bumpy Johnson, were suspected of arranging for a boat to be waiting for the men once they reached the mainland. Between 1934 and 1963, a total of 36 inmates attempted 14 separate escapes. Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary was famously one of the most unforgiving prisons of the 20th century. Still, men tried. And as a final touch, they even collected discarded hair clippings from the barber and glued it to the tops of the heads. The investigation had been put to bed almost 40 years ago. He would be willing to turn himself in if authorities promised him only one year in jail and medical care. According to History.com, the island that later became known as Alcatraz was first mapped in 1775 by Spanish explorer Juan Manuel de Ayala, who named it La Isla de los Alcatraces the Island of the Pelicans. West was stuck. According to CBS, the letter read: My name is John Anglin. The Anglins and Morris made it as far as Seattle, he said, before the other men involved betrayed and murdered them. I'm an astrology expert and it's obvious why Meghan Markle is skipping King Charles' coronation. 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Interestingly, the Anglin boys over the years developed a keen ability to break out of whatever institution imprisoned them. At first glance, the fact that these four prisoners were housed right next to each other seems like a glaring oversight, or a poor attempt at a joke. Yes we made it that night but barely!. The note only adds to the speculation and makes us wonder that if law enforcement was so sure of their original conclusion. The daring escape was immortalized in the 1979 film Escape From Alcatraz, which starred Fred Ward as John Anglin, Jack Thibeau as Clarence Anglinand Clint Eastwood as Frank Morris. The former prison is now a popular San Francisco tourist site, with more than a million tourists each year. I escape [sic] from Alcatraz, Richmond station of the San Francisco Police Department in 2013, inmates either being recaptured or killed, History Channel special posited that the inmates had survived, museum maintained by the National Park Service. I'm 83 years old and in bad shape. In it, Chief Justice John Roberts says he wont testify They were the perfect tool for cutting through the walls. My name is John Anglin. In what the Anglin family would later point out as suspicious, Alfred was said to have been electrocuted during an escape attempt that came just days before he was set to be paroled. The U.S. All results came back inconclusive. ALSO READ:San Francisco Replaces Columbus Day With Indigenous Peoples Day. Yet people have done it. The idea was to be prepared for the choppy Bay waters en route to freedom in nearby Marin County. "The FBI examined the letter received in 2013 at the request of the U.S. People were incarcerated on the 22-acre island (which took its name from the Spanish word alcatraces, which is most often translated as "pelican" or strange bird), since the 1850s, but it was only transferred to the Department of Justice in 1933, when it got a makeover with more secure cells, guard towers, and protocols that accounted for prisoners multiple times a day. "For him to say he had cancer and was dying, I feel like they should have at least reached out to the family and let them know it existed," Widner said. ALSO READ:Oakland Mayor Schaaf Calls New Sanctuary Cities Threat 'Un-American'. My brother died in 2011. Could John or Clarence Anglin have been sending them? Marshals Servicewrites: "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.". And as if that was not enough, they even figured out the perfect tool for inflating the raft: Morriss own accordion. The prison was in desperate need of repairs and renovations, but none ever came. Homeless Man Gets $100,000 Reward After Helping Nab California Prison Escapees, New York Prison Escapee David Sweat Pleads Guilty to All Charges Related to Break-Out, Newly Found Investigation Notes Provide Leads in 1999 Cold Case of Missing Girls, Nephew of 1962 Supposed Alcatraz Escapees: I Think They Are Alive. I have cancer. Between the four of them, they managed to acquire over 50 raincoats that had an unlikely purpose: They were going to build a raft. After roughly six months of plotting and effort, the men were ready to ruin the prisons reputation. As for Morris and the Anglins, God only knows what became of them. After returning to his cell for a good nights sleep, he was immediately seized by authorities and questioned. My name is John Anglin. As for the US Marshals, they tell KPIX 5 they consider this lead closed with no merit. "Morris is quiet and very intelligent," Fred Wilkinson, assistant director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, told the Associated Press. Brizzi, a friend of the Anglins, claimed the men had not only survived their escape attempt but had made it to South America. The letter, sent to police in 2013 and recently obtained by local CBS affiliate KPIX, was from a man claiming to be John Anglin. A recently uncovered letter by someone claiming to be one of the men who escaped from Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary in1962 has brought the infamous case back into the national spotlight and under the FBIs focus, according to reports. The parents of John and Clarence said they received a Christmas card in 1962 that read, To Mother, from John. UPDATE:Relative Of Escaped Alcatraz Inmates Speaks Out About Letter. I escape from Alcatraz in June 1962 with my brother Clarence and Frank Morris. My name is John Anglin. The men were gone, which triggered prison officials to reach out to the FBIs San Francisco office. Instead of playing along with the instructions in the note, investigators did not make the announcement, and the notes author may already be gone. Letter possibly from famous Alcatraz escapee says they survived escape and that he lived in North Dakota for eight years.https://t.co/yFVYYmzfNn. From hair trends to relationship advice, our daily newsletter has everything you need to sound like a person whos on TikTok, even if you arent. While not necessarily violent, the two brothers had a long RAP (Record of Arrest and Prosecution) sheet, and were guests at several federal prisons. The story of Gary Tison's fateful final escape from those who were there, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Two officers and three prisoners were killed, and the attempt only ended when the Marines intervened and battled it out with inmates. The letter, sent to police in 2013 and recently obtained by local CBS affiliate KPIX, was from a man claiming to be John Anglin. In order to fit four men, the raft was going to have to be big, and the seams needed to hold to keep them out of the water with conditions rife for drowning. This week, CBS News obtained a copy of a letter, purportedly from John Anglin, that claims the three men succeeded in their escape. 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The writer of thelettersays he spent many years after his escape fromAlcatrazliving in Seattle. That's saying, I'm not staying here. I escape (sic) from Alcatraz in June 1962 with my brother The likes of Al Scarface Capone, Frank The Owl Banghar, and Whitey Bulger are just a few that called the prison home. The debate has once again been reignited with the recent discovery of a letter purported to have been written by one of the Anglin brothers. Pipes were rusted and leaked, walls were eroded from pipes leaking salt water, and seals to vents were eaten away by salt water in the air. They set up a secret workshop on the top of their cells, where they built and hid what they needed to escape. Of the Anglins, Wilkinson was less complimentary. At this time, there are no leads stemming from the 2013 anonymous letter. There is no loyalty among thieves, but it seems possible that West was getting some pretty hard questioning. The FBI says theyused a homemade drill made from a broken vacuum cleaner motor to widen the vents. And few if any sharks would have threatened them: That was primarily a scare tactic employed by the prison to dissuade escape attempts. In it, Chief Justice John Roberts says he wont testify before the committee. He also said that he was 83 years old (he'd be around 87 or 88 now) and in bad shape; in fact, he had cancer. 60 years later, three escaped Alcatraz prisoners have still not been found Frank Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin escaped from the prison on June 12, 1962. "[They're] more on the natively cunning side, throwbacks to the swamp country, more given to action," he said. The mystery may never be solved, leaving us to only speculate as to what became of them. This past summer, we got an exclusive tour of some never-before-seenparts ofAlcatraz. Also sharing a wall with one of the trio was Allen West, who came to Alcatraz in 1957 after he tried to escape from a prison in Florida. It wasnt the most sanitary of methods, but it got the job done. As luck would have it, they all managed to be placed next to each other. He asked the men to wait for him, and Morris tried to help him. A facial recognition expert enlisted by the History Channel for a special on the escape asserted that Brizzi was telling the truth; law enforcement countered that the sunglasses and facial hair would make a definitive conclusion problematic. Chunks of wood were turned into paddles; a concertina, a musical instrument similar to an accordion, was used to force air into the raft. Im 83 years old and in bad shape. The Anglins were known to be strong swimmers as kids; Morris was said to have engaged in an intense exercise regimen to prepare for the effort. "Handwriting samples of all three escapees, John Anglin, Clarence Anglin and Frank Morris, were compared to the anonymous letter, and the results were deemed inconclusive," O'Keefe said. " Widner remembers a letter they sent home just before the escape. To this day, the three escapees remain on the most wanted list with photos of what they might look like today. The writer also claimed Morris died in 2008 and Clarence Anglin died in 2011. The U.S. Alcatraz was a decrepit old pile of bricks by the time they arrived. 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. After making it through the vents, the men climbed pipes and plumbing to get to the prison roof and then slid down the smokestack to the ground below, officials said. Yes we all made it that night but barely, said the letter. "Handwriting samples of all three escapees, John Anglin, Clarence Anglin and Frank Morris, were compared to the anonymous letter, and the results were deemed 'inconclusive,'" said a statement from the US Marshals Service. But then there was also the ventilator itself, and the men poked at the rivets around it. Braving the waters was a bad idea, as temperatures in San Francisco Bay can dip into the 40s. I escape (sic)from Alcatraz in June 1962 with my brother Clarence and Frank Morris. The jurys still out on that one. The letter writer claimed to be John Anglin and said he spent many years after his escape from Alcatraz living in Seattle. TikTokers Are Revealing The Truth About "Life-Changing" Moldavite Crystals, TikToks Things I Ate & Survived Trend Will Make You LOL, Heres How To Do The Wes Anderson-Inspired TikTok Trend, This Viral Twitter Thread Turns Your Big 3 Into A Color Palette, Get Even More From Bustle Sign Up For The Newsletter. The Marshal Service has reviewed the letter,and a statement from Donald O'Keefe, U.S. "Thirty-sixmen tried 14 separate escapes," the FBI says. King World Productions Inc. 2023 Inside Edition Inc. and CBS interactive Inc., Paramount companies. John Anglin escaped from Alcatraz Prison in 1962 by making a plaster head of his likeness and putting it in his bed to fool the guards. They also created life vests and wooden paddles. In just under two years time, the Anglins and an accomplice named Frank Morris would put that reputation to the test. Marshals Service). Its possible thats true, given the content of rest of the letter. He had met them in Brazil in 1975, Brizzi said, and later gave the photos to their relatives. Until 56 long years later, when the letter made it way to the FBI. 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, the letter says. Once in there, they stalled, because there was a problem. 2023 BDG Media, Inc. All rights reserved. The Anglin brothers, similar to Morris, were career criminals who stuck together. "As a law enforcement person I'd like to think that their escape attempt was not fruitful for them. Her father was acting warden. While serving time, he didnt sit around and count the days until his release; he figured out ways to speed up his departure. The agency believed that the men had drowned, according to NewsNation. A photo of them, supposedly snapped by a family member, exists. 10 He was the mastermind of the Alcatraz escape. Eventually he did make it out of his cell, but by the time he reached the corridor and climbed to the roof, his three mates were long gone. In December 1961, the men began using makeshift toolslike a drill powered by a vacuum cleaner motorto remove the air vents and a portion of the surrounding wall in their cells. This station is part of Cox Media Group Television. The U.S. I'm 83 years old and in bad shape. The air vents they expanded conveniently led into a utility corridor, which would prove to be a critical part of the escape. A mysterious letter has come to light purportedly from one of three inmates who famously escaped Alcatraz in 1962. The U.S. "Nearly all were caught or didnt survive the attempt. Marshals Service shared new age-progressed images of Frank Morris, Clarence Anglin and his brother John Anglin depicting what the FBI believes the men would look like now. (Alcatraz itself closed in 1963, not because its reputation as an escape-proof purgatory diminished but because its upkeep became too expensive to sustain.) The air vents that had been displaced were usually covered with items in their cells, like a suitcase or cardboard. This was accomplished by repurposing raincoats, sewing them together, and using steam pipes to fuse sections. Letter allegedly sent from prisoner John Anglin, "I am 83 years old and in bad shape. CBS San Francisco obtained the letter which says that John Anglin was 83 years old and that he was diagnosed with cancer. Having made clothes and taught how to assemble shoes during stretches at various prisons, the men were extremely adept at sewing. Aletterallegedlywritten by one of the escapees recentlycame to light. And in the last 55 years, theories about their fate have multiplied as new evidence surfaces. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Marshals, which is the sole agency investigating the case today, says the FBI lab examined theletterfor fingerprints and DNA, and the handwriting. What did Roberts say in his letter about about Supreme Court ethics? From there, they made it to the roof of the cell block, where they had stashed the rest of their supplies including life preservers and a rubber raft they had fashioned from over 50 raincoats. The marshals sent the letter to FBI lab analysts who looked at fingerprints and DNA as well as handwriting experts who examined the writing. In it, Anglin claimed that Morris had died in 2008 and his brother in 2011. "My name is John Anglin," reads the letter. Not that they had time to do much with the money. His grave is in Alexandria under another name. Mr Widner expressed dismay that the letter was not delivered in a timely manner to the family. They also fashioned wooden paddles. / CBS News. I have cancer. Ever since brothers John and Clarence Anglin along with inmate Frank Morris disappeared, the official story has been they didn't make it, reports CBS News' John Blackstone. They placed the dummy heads in their beds and tucked in extra pillows to give the illusion of a body under the blankets. The US Marshals Service has committed to finding the men until they find credible evidence as to their fate, or the men turn 99 years old. The mastermind had his tools to perform the impossible, and he knew hed need a lot more at their disposal if his plan was going to work. According to the letter, John Anglin lived in Seattle for most of his life and spent eight years in North Dakota. On top of that, the facility itself is an island fortress designed to keep inmates from ever leaving the island. I escape from Alcatraz in June 1962 with my Brother Clarence and Frank Morris. John Anglin's cell, where he escaped through a vent in the wall, is one of the main attractions on the tour. Instead of using cardboard and various materials like the others did in their mock heads, he decided to use cement to fill the gaps. Yes we all made it that night but barely! But despite its simple beginnings, the letter is extraordinary because it might shed light on the only successful escape attempt that was ever made from the infamous Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary in San Francisco Bay. Frank Morris, on the other hand, would later be transferred to Louisiana Federal Penitentiary where he successfully managed to escaped and went on the run for a year. They smashed open the ventilation shaft. The next phase of the plan was actually the easiest part. For brothers John and Clarence Anglin, the story of the most infamous prison escape in modern history began with a toy gun. If, by chance, a random guard came around and had a look inside the cells, he would see what appeared to be quiet inmates sleeping on their racks and carry on with his rounds. Relative Of Escaped Alcatraz Inmates Speaks Out About Letter, 55 Years Later, Escape From Alcatraz Result Still A Mystery, Oakland Mayor Schaaf Calls New Sanctuary Cities Threat 'Un-American', San Francisco Replaces Columbus Day With Indigenous Peoples Day, Public File for KBCW-TV / KBCW 44 Cable 12. Published: 11:20 BST, 24 January 2018 | Updated: 17:34 BST, 24 January 2018. Labour leader condemns MPs letter but says decision on whether she will stand for party again must wait Keir Starmer has condemned comments about racism by Through its investigation, the FBI discovered that the men had escaped the prison by removing air vent covers in their cells to access a corridor and eventually, the prison roof. Yes we all Its possible that Brizzi and Widners accounts, sensational as they are, could be accurate. The convicted bank robbers were never found and their vanishing act has become the stuff of legend, but much debate has been made over whether they could have survived the freezing and rough waters of the San Francisco Bay. As the Anglins and Morris navigated a network of pipes in the utility corridor that led outside (West, who couldnt dislodge his vent grill in time, was left behind), their doubles made it seem as though they were asleep. Then they went to work clawing away at the seals of their air ventilation screens, little-by-little, bit-by-bit. Marshals Service has released new, age-progressed images of Frank Morris, Clarence Anglin and John Anglin, the three inmates who escaped Alcatraz maximum security prison. Marshals Service, where it is still active. Their brother Robert also claimed on his death bed that he had been in touch with John and Clarence, but lost contact with them in 1987. It was West who got the ball rolling when he came across some old saw blades that were apparently abandoned. At times, new wrinkles in the case have led to more questions. The inmates had another major factor that was on their side. The men were discovered missing on June 12, 1962, and the hunt was on. The senselessness of such an act led some to believe Alfred may have been killed by officials badgering him about his brothers escape.