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Wait, we're not gonna make it.

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I'm on a quest

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to uncover the real story...

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Wow.

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...behind the most iconic prison break of all time,

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the great escape from Alcatraz.

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Oh

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My mission is to find out

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how three men escaped the inescapable.

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And did they survive?

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Ah-ha!

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I'm going across the country

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and high above the legendary island fortress...

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I mean, they could've gone anywhere.

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...to find out if what we think we know is true.

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Or is there still more to be uncovered?

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It's entirely possible that they are still out there.

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I'm Don Wildman.

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I've explored the world's greatest mysteries,

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examined rare artifacts and epic monuments.

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That's amazing.

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Now, I'm digging deeper

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into some of the most perplexing

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and famous cases in history.

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My goal? To get closer to the truth.

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It's a totally alien environment down there.

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This is "Mysteries at the Museum:

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Escape from Alcatraz."

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Do you want subtitles for any video?
-=[ ai.OpenSubtitles.com ]=-

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I'm starting my investigation

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into the most famous prison escape in history

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right at the scene of the crime --

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Alcatraz.

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Located 1 1/2 miles offshore from San Francisco,

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this former prison complex sits upon a rocky island

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that measures 22 acres.

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Today, it draws upwards of

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one million curious tourists each year,

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making it one of the city's most popular attractions.

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But for almost three decades,

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from 1934 to 1963,

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making this trip was no joke.

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It's 4:00 a.m. I'm about to make one of

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the most dreaded journeys imaginable.

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I'm headed for Alcatraz.

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The San Francisco Bay is pitch-black,

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exactly how the escapees saw it over 50 years ago.

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Surrounded on all sides by the treacherous waters

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of the San Francisco Bay,

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this eerie stronghold

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was the definition of escape-proof.

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Captain Pete Tompkins has been operating

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the Alcatraz water taxi for more than 15 years

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and understands the prison's natural defenses

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better than anyone.

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This place was just designed to intimidate, wasn't it?

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Yeah. It is one scary-looking place.

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You run this harbor all the time.

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What are these waters like?

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Currents are strong. The wind always blows.

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It's cold. Yeah.

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It's one of the toughest bays to navigate.

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And all the currents you have to deal with and all the wind.

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It's not easy out here. It's hard on everyone.

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In a boat, let alone a raft.

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Yeah.

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Not to mention the sharks, you know.

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Oh, yeah? Have you seen sharks out here?

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Yes. There are sharks.

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So it should come as no surprise that,

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of the 36 inmates

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who attempted to flee the Rock,

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almost all were caught or killed.

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All, that is, except three.

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And I'm following in their footsteps

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to try and understand the real story

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of what happened that night.

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Stepping foot inside Alcatraz

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still evokes feelings of intense hopelessness.

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Wow, you can feel

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the tension in the air in this place.

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I mean, it's palpable, right?

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It's one of those places that never fails

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to give you the chills.

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Considered America's toughest prison,

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Alcatraz was a maximum-security, minimum-privilege facility

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for the nation's most hardened criminals.

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Each inmate was individually housed

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in one of the roughly 400 cells

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that each averaged 5 feet wide by 9 feet long.

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And, as if the seclusion wasn't enough,

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in the prison's earliest days,

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talking between inmates was almost entirely forbidden.

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This strict discipline is the reason infamous criminals

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like Al Capone,

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"Machine Gun" Kelly, "Whitey" Bulger,

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and roughly 1,500 others were imprisoned here.

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But it's also what made three men desperate to get out.

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The story is one of the greatest

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unsolved mysteries in criminal history.

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And I'm gonna take a look at where it all started --

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the cell.

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It's been reset to mimic exactly what it would've looked like

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on the day of the prison's most famous escape attempt.

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June 12, 1962 --

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Prison guards taking morning roll call

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make a shocking discovery.

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Three prisoners --

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John Anglin, Clarence Anglin, and Frank Morris --

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are missing.

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In their places are dummy heads.

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And at the back of each of their cells,

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a concealed hole.

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Guards launch a frantic investigation.

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And a fourth inmate comes forward.

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Claiming to have been in on the escapees' plan,

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he confesses its details.

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First, they fool the guards

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into thinking they're asleep by placing

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these papier-mâché heads on the pillows.

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Then they break out of their cell

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using a set of homemade tools.

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And right in here is the utility corridor

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between the cell blocks.

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They crawl out of their vent

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and then scale the wall,

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using this tangled set of pipes here,

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all the way up onto the roof of the cell block.

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Once outside the prison,

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they allegedly crossed the Bay

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using a homemade raft.

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Morris and the Anglins were never seen again.

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What came next was America's largest manhunt

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since the search for the Lindbergh baby.

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There aren't that many people still around

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who were actually on Alcatraz

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the night Morris and the Anglins broke out.

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Remember, this is more than 50 years ago.

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But I tracked down someone who lived on the island

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at the time and remembers the morning

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after the escape like it was yesterday.

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Jolene?

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How you doing? -Hi.

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Jolene Babyak is the daughter of the assistant warden,

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who was the highest ranking official

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on the island the night of the escape.

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She witnessed the tension and panic

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that took over as soon as the inmates went missing.

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So the night of the escape, what happens that night?

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The night of the escape, nothing happened.

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Mm-hmm. So the action really starts the next day.

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Right. Around 7:15 in the morning,

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I was awakened by the siren,

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which I had never heard before.

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It was that air raid that you hear in movies.

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And it was a dominating sound.

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You know, my first thought was, "It can't be an escape attempt."

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And I met my mother on the stairs.

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And she said, "Get dressed. There's been an escape."

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You were supposed to go into your house,

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lock the door,

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and not come out until there was some sort of all-clear.

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Where is your father now?

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You know, before they blow the siren,

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they call the head guy.

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Mm-hmm. This is a bad day in a warden's business.

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Right. At 7:00 in the morning,

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it's not gonna be good. -Mm-hmm.

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And they told him that they found three men missing

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and instructed them to blow the siren.

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You have to notify all the cities.

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You have to notify the FBI, Coast Guard, Washington, D.C.

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And by about 8:00, 8:30,

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you had an air, land, and sea search.

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So, with the island on lockdown,

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the manhunt kicked into high gear.

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You could see the boats around the Bay.

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You could certainly hear the helicopters overhead.

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And I would imagine the whole place is on lockdown.

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You're not going anywhere. -Right.

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Little did you know you were suddenly caught

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in one of the epic events of American history.

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Yeah. I mean, it's really amazing.

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I mean, I was a bystander.

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My dad was really much more involved.

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But then, you know, it turned out to be

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a classic escape attempt.

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Sure.

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In a matter of hours,

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the search area expanded

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to include all of San Francisco Bay,

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including the cities and towns surrounding it.

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The Bay is massive -- 325 miles of shoreline,

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bordered by three cities,

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9 counties, and 101 municipalities.

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And Morris and the Anglins had a 12-hour head start.

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Searching for these escapees

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was like locating a needle in a haystack.

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But how impossible was this?

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Well, there's one way to find out.

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The Coast Guard and the FBI

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pressed into service every boat and plane

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they could get their hands on.

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Aaron. -Hey, Don.

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I'm teaming up this morning with seaplane pilot Aaron Singer

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to get a bird's-eye view of the search area.

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¶

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I am astonished by the scope of what I'm seeing.

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There it is, the infamous Rock.

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Incredible.

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So you've done your own search and rescue, yeah?

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I have. Tell me what that's like.

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You know, you'll have a pilot and you'll have a spotter

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where you're taking this huge search area.

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And you have to break it down into little pieces.

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And then you take each little piece,

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and you have to comb it meter by meter.

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So let's say it's June 12th.

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What am I seeing?

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In June of 1962, they probably had low fog,

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wind blowing like snot out here.

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I mean, they had difficult conditions.

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At the time, helicopters weren't exactly reliable in the 1960s.

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Plus, there's a lot more seaplanes around.

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So they probably had more aircraft

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doing that work than helicopters.

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Right. Right. Right.

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Gazing out over this vastness of water,

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I can see why the mystery continues today.

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Morris and the Anglins could have drowned,

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been swept out to sea by the currents,

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or somehow paddled themselves to dry land.

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How hard is it to find somebody when you're up here in the air?

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Well, it's pretty difficult.

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You have so much stuff happening on the water,

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white caps, swells, shore birds.

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In that particular case,

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those guys were trying to stay out of sight.

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So it's a lot of things that you have to try

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and find that needle in the haystack.

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If they'd gone to shore,

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would you have any possibility

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of seeing them there from the air?

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The problem was, of course, if they got to shore,

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it's a lot easier for them to blend into the city.

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I mean, the city was here. If they did get to shore,

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it was probably over by then.

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Look at the size of this bay.

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I mean, they could have gone anywhere.

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I'm on the trail of the three

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most infamous prison escapees in history...

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Wow, it's incredible.

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...who, on the night of June 12, 1962,

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broke out of Alcatraz,

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never to be seen again.

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They could have gone anywhere.

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Now, more than 50 years later,

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questions still remain

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about what really happened that night.

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After all, the three men have never been found, dead or alive.

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It's time to dig deeper.

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And to do that, we need to first understand

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who these men really were.

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Let's start with the inmate I find most fascinating,

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Frank Morris.

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Orphaned at the young age of 11,

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his life of crime started

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just two years later with petty theft.

269
00:13:05,540 --> 00:13:09,270
From there, he moved onto narcotics and armed robbery.

270
00:13:09,270 --> 00:13:10,810
But what made him stand out

271
00:13:10,810 --> 00:13:14,980
from your common criminal was his intelligence.

272
00:13:14,980 --> 00:13:17,680
Morris had an I.Q. of 133,

273
00:13:17,680 --> 00:13:21,350
placing him in the top 2 percentile of Americans,

274
00:13:21,350 --> 00:13:25,220
the perfect escapee mastermind.

275
00:13:25,220 --> 00:13:27,760
If Morris was the brains,

276
00:13:27,760 --> 00:13:31,760
then John and Clarence Anglin were the brawn.

277
00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:34,460
Raised on a small farm in rural Georgia,

278
00:13:34,470 --> 00:13:37,530
their early life was one of back-breaking labor.

279
00:13:37,540 --> 00:13:43,140
So, yearning for something more, they began robbing banks.

280
00:13:43,140 --> 00:13:45,340
For a time, it worked.

281
00:13:45,340 --> 00:13:47,610
But then, in 1958,

282
00:13:47,610 --> 00:13:50,550
they got caught and sent

283
00:13:50,550 --> 00:13:53,750
to the Atlanta State Penitentiary.

284
00:13:53,750 --> 00:13:57,350
And that is where they met Morris.

285
00:13:57,360 --> 00:14:00,920
The trio bonded over a single common goal --

286
00:14:00,930 --> 00:14:02,890
escape.

287
00:14:02,890 --> 00:14:04,690
But when they tried to bust out,

288
00:14:04,700 --> 00:14:06,930
it didn't go as planned.

289
00:14:06,930 --> 00:14:11,000
Instead, it landed all three of them in Alcatraz.

290
00:14:13,300 --> 00:14:16,170
So how exactly did these guys beat the odds

291
00:14:16,170 --> 00:14:19,040
and make it successfully out of their cells,

292
00:14:19,040 --> 00:14:21,010
all without anyone noticing?

293
00:14:23,580 --> 00:14:25,210
To find out, I'm gonna take a look

294
00:14:25,220 --> 00:14:27,380
at the evidence they left behind.

295
00:14:30,860 --> 00:14:34,320
This is the Golden Gate National Recreational Archive.

296
00:14:36,630 --> 00:14:40,060
I love places like this.

297
00:14:40,060 --> 00:14:42,400
Inside these hallowed walls

298
00:14:42,400 --> 00:14:45,970
are roughly 6 1/2 million artifacts,

299
00:14:45,970 --> 00:14:50,570
including all of the items recovered from the 1962 escape,

300
00:14:50,580 --> 00:14:52,310
from the papier-mâché heads

301
00:14:52,310 --> 00:14:54,110
the prisoners placed in their beds

302
00:14:54,110 --> 00:14:56,380
to the fake grilles they made to conceal

303
00:14:56,380 --> 00:14:59,380
the growing holes in their cells.

304
00:14:59,380 --> 00:15:02,020
Curator Amanda Williford has agreed to show me

305
00:15:02,020 --> 00:15:04,850
some of the collection's most important pieces.

306
00:15:04,860 --> 00:15:08,090
Having done the research and the reading,

307
00:15:08,090 --> 00:15:11,660
these artifacts are like seeing a Hollywood star to me.

308
00:15:16,530 --> 00:15:21,140
First up, an unconventional digging apparatus.

309
00:15:21,140 --> 00:15:22,540
So what are these? Can I pick it up?

310
00:15:22,540 --> 00:15:24,070
-Yes. -Okay.

311
00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:25,880
Oh, yeah. What?

312
00:15:25,880 --> 00:15:27,840
So, these are actually spoon handles.

313
00:15:27,850 --> 00:15:29,550
They took off the bowls... -I see.

314
00:15:29,550 --> 00:15:31,410
...and then used the smaller handle part

315
00:15:31,420 --> 00:15:33,780
to flatten and sharpen.

316
00:15:33,790 --> 00:15:37,720
So they were actually using these sharpened spoon handles

317
00:15:37,720 --> 00:15:40,520
to chisel away at the mortar around the grate?

318
00:15:40,530 --> 00:15:43,960
Yes, and the cinder blocks that were around the grate.

319
00:15:43,960 --> 00:15:47,060
That is amazing.

320
00:15:47,070 --> 00:15:48,930
Night after night,

321
00:15:48,930 --> 00:15:51,900
the inmates worked in secret to dig their way

322
00:15:51,900 --> 00:15:56,310
out of the nearly 6-inch thick walls of their cells.

323
00:15:56,310 --> 00:15:58,310
Sound tedious?

324
00:15:58,310 --> 00:16:00,080
You bet.

325
00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:03,880
Imagine doing it for six months straight.

326
00:16:03,880 --> 00:16:05,920
Now, if you're wondering how the inmates did

327
00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:08,380
all this chiseling without getting caught,

328
00:16:08,390 --> 00:16:09,990
so am I.

329
00:16:09,990 --> 00:16:12,190
Turns out, they had their very own

330
00:16:12,190 --> 00:16:14,190
homemade surveillance system.

331
00:16:14,190 --> 00:16:16,160
Oh, my goodness. What is this?

332
00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:20,500
So there's two compartments to this. Mm-hmm.

333
00:16:20,500 --> 00:16:23,430
You can see a lot of the tape is falling off. Okay.

334
00:16:23,430 --> 00:16:25,300
It's a cardboard shape, a box --

335
00:16:25,300 --> 00:16:27,200
long, oblong box.

336
00:16:27,210 --> 00:16:28,740
And then I see a mirror. -Mm-hmm.

337
00:16:28,740 --> 00:16:30,070
This is a periscope.

338
00:16:30,070 --> 00:16:32,480
-It is a periscope. -Ah, that's so amazing.

339
00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:34,010
And what were they using this for?

340
00:16:34,010 --> 00:16:36,650
This was to make sure that the coast was clear,

341
00:16:36,650 --> 00:16:38,010
check for guards.

342
00:16:38,020 --> 00:16:40,550
These guys thought of everything.

343
00:16:40,550 --> 00:16:43,020
In addition to their pseudo-spyglass,

344
00:16:43,020 --> 00:16:45,860
the escapees avoided detection by working

345
00:16:45,860 --> 00:16:48,090
during the prison's music hours,

346
00:16:48,090 --> 00:16:50,090
when the hum of guitars and trumpets

347
00:16:50,090 --> 00:16:52,800
drowned out their progress.

348
00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:55,060
Some even say they paid the guards

349
00:16:55,070 --> 00:16:57,970
to look the other way.

350
00:16:57,970 --> 00:17:01,240
But it seems Amanda saved the best tool for last.

351
00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:07,710
This is a drill that the escapees made.

352
00:17:07,710 --> 00:17:11,950
This was apparently created from a vacuum cleaner.

353
00:17:11,950 --> 00:17:13,880
And it actually worked.

354
00:17:13,890 --> 00:17:16,290
It's incredible to see the resourcefulness

355
00:17:16,290 --> 00:17:17,920
and the determination,

356
00:17:17,920 --> 00:17:20,120
I mean, the lengths they went to

357
00:17:20,120 --> 00:17:23,290
to get away with this.

358
00:17:23,290 --> 00:17:24,790
To get out onto the roof,

359
00:17:24,800 --> 00:17:28,130
the prisoners had to make it through one final hatchway.

360
00:17:28,130 --> 00:17:30,430
And that's where the drill came in.

361
00:17:30,440 --> 00:17:32,670
It was the only thing powerful enough to bust

362
00:17:32,670 --> 00:17:34,770
through the portal's heavy concrete.

363
00:17:36,970 --> 00:17:41,180
But one thing about this final tool gives me pause.

364
00:17:41,180 --> 00:17:43,380
The drill has no bit.

365
00:17:43,380 --> 00:17:46,920
So I wonder how you would actually use this.

366
00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:48,850
Mechanics are beyond me.

367
00:17:52,090 --> 00:17:53,420
As I leave the archives,

368
00:17:53,420 --> 00:17:56,360
I can't shake a gnawing curiosity.

369
00:17:56,360 --> 00:17:59,130
How did this thing actually work?

370
00:17:59,130 --> 00:18:01,860
To find out, there's only one thing to do --

371
00:18:01,870 --> 00:18:03,730
build it myself.

372
00:18:03,740 --> 00:18:05,870
Or at least try.

373
00:18:05,870 --> 00:18:09,940
Now, I'm not actually the most mechanically inclined.

374
00:18:09,940 --> 00:18:13,880
So to make my prison drill, I'm calling in backup.

375
00:18:13,880 --> 00:18:16,210
His name is Laz, and he's an ex-con.

376
00:18:16,210 --> 00:18:17,650
And when he was on the inside,

377
00:18:17,650 --> 00:18:20,980
he could build everything from a crossbow to a tattoo gun.

378
00:18:20,990 --> 00:18:24,920
But whether he can build a vacuum drill remains to be seen.

379
00:18:27,390 --> 00:18:29,130
Here goes.

380
00:18:31,960 --> 00:18:33,460
Oh, I see you've got the pictures.

381
00:18:33,460 --> 00:18:34,660
Quite a device, right?

382
00:18:34,670 --> 00:18:36,970
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

383
00:18:36,970 --> 00:18:39,400
-What do we got here? -So I have a vacuum right here.

384
00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:42,610
A 1950s vacuum. Sweet.

385
00:18:42,610 --> 00:18:44,770
I'm gonna start taking it apart.

386
00:18:44,780 --> 00:18:46,840
I'm gonna find the motor and take it from there.

387
00:18:46,840 --> 00:18:48,910
All right. Let's do it.

388
00:18:51,050 --> 00:18:53,280
After studying the escapees' drill,

389
00:18:53,280 --> 00:18:55,220
it looks like the only piece of the vacuum

390
00:18:55,220 --> 00:18:57,520
they used was the motor.

391
00:18:57,520 --> 00:19:02,360
So our first step is to remove it.

392
00:19:02,360 --> 00:19:03,660
There it is. -There you go.

393
00:19:03,660 --> 00:19:05,730
Oh, thank you.

394
00:19:05,730 --> 00:19:09,830
Then, we take off the plastic housing that surrounds it.

395
00:19:09,830 --> 00:19:11,830
That's it right there.

396
00:19:11,840 --> 00:19:14,900
Yep. Exactly.

397
00:19:14,910 --> 00:19:17,740
For the next step, Laz and I --

398
00:19:17,740 --> 00:19:19,240
okay, mostly Laz --

399
00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:21,110
figure that we should reconnect the power

400
00:19:21,110 --> 00:19:22,610
directly to the motor.

401
00:19:24,650 --> 00:19:28,320
Once that's done, it's time for a little bit of guesswork.

402
00:19:28,320 --> 00:19:31,820
What did they use for a drill bit?

403
00:19:31,820 --> 00:19:36,460
When I was at the archive, the artifact itself had no bit.

404
00:19:36,460 --> 00:19:37,760
I mean, you'd figure they'd have

405
00:19:37,760 --> 00:19:39,760
to have something attached to it.

406
00:19:39,760 --> 00:19:42,100
So we got to attach a drill bit to the end of this, huh?

407
00:19:42,100 --> 00:19:44,100
-Yeah. -How do we do this?

408
00:19:44,100 --> 00:19:47,300
What's the process? -I brought a drill bit.

409
00:19:47,310 --> 00:19:48,570
I also brought a blowtorch.

410
00:19:48,570 --> 00:19:50,810
Blowtorch! Excellent!

411
00:19:50,810 --> 00:19:55,110
Now, this kind of MacGyvering I can totally get behind.

412
00:19:55,110 --> 00:19:58,110
¶

413
00:20:02,550 --> 00:20:03,950
Looks good.

414
00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:08,120
Finally, it's time to put this puppy to the test.

415
00:20:08,130 --> 00:20:11,360
Will I escape from Alcatraz? Here we are.

416
00:20:11,360 --> 00:20:12,730
Just give me the count.

417
00:20:12,730 --> 00:20:15,830
All right.

418
00:20:15,830 --> 00:20:18,370
Three.

419
00:20:18,370 --> 00:20:20,070
Two.

420
00:20:20,070 --> 00:20:22,200
One.

421
00:20:22,210 --> 00:20:23,210
Go.

422
00:20:28,350 --> 00:20:30,680
I'm investigating the 50-year-old case

423
00:20:30,680 --> 00:20:34,150
of Frank Morris and John and Clarence Anglin,

424
00:20:34,150 --> 00:20:35,790
the three convicts who disappeared

425
00:20:35,790 --> 00:20:39,720
while attempting to flee Alcatraz on a homemade raft.

426
00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:41,720
I'm trying to understand how exactly

427
00:20:41,730 --> 00:20:44,090
they broke out of the Rock in the first place

428
00:20:44,100 --> 00:20:48,530
because, believe me, it's harder than it looks.

429
00:20:48,530 --> 00:20:52,600
Right now, I'm trying my hand at making a prison-made drill

430
00:20:52,600 --> 00:20:56,140
with decidedly mixed results.

431
00:20:56,140 --> 00:20:57,440
Three.

432
00:20:57,440 --> 00:20:58,570
Two.

433
00:20:58,580 --> 00:21:00,010
One. Go.

434
00:21:03,410 --> 00:21:04,780
You okay? What the...?

435
00:21:04,780 --> 00:21:08,450
That didn't work at all.

436
00:21:08,450 --> 00:21:11,720
Looks like our ingenious drill bit was so ingenious,

437
00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:13,490
it flew right off.

438
00:21:13,490 --> 00:21:15,790
Time for a rethink.

439
00:21:15,790 --> 00:21:17,490
Maybe we're being overcomplicated.

440
00:21:17,500 --> 00:21:19,760
Maybe there's no drill bit at all involved.

441
00:21:19,760 --> 00:21:21,200
It's a possibility.

442
00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:22,670
Maybe this is the actual bit.

443
00:21:22,670 --> 00:21:24,070
Maybe that's what they used to cut it.

444
00:21:24,070 --> 00:21:26,370
-Yeah. -So what do we do?

445
00:21:26,370 --> 00:21:28,200
Well, let's keep it simple, then.

446
00:21:28,210 --> 00:21:30,240
You file it down, sort of make a "X."

447
00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:31,440
-Okay. -Make it like a bull machine.

448
00:21:31,440 --> 00:21:32,610
Oh, that'll be the cutting edge. Mm-hmm.

449
00:21:32,610 --> 00:21:35,680
And we'll use that as the actual bit.

450
00:21:35,680 --> 00:21:37,610
All right. Well, let's give it a shot.

451
00:21:37,620 --> 00:21:39,380
So, to create a cutting edge,

452
00:21:39,380 --> 00:21:43,150
we chiseled grooves into the motor rotor.

453
00:21:43,150 --> 00:21:45,660
And voilà.

454
00:21:48,560 --> 00:21:50,390
Plug me in. -You got it.

455
00:21:52,860 --> 00:21:54,800
All right. Let me know when you're ready.

456
00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:58,500
Okay. Here we go.

457
00:21:58,500 --> 00:22:00,070
Go for it.

458
00:22:00,070 --> 00:22:03,070
¶

459
00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:09,780
There's a spark. You can see it's cutting something.

460
00:22:09,780 --> 00:22:11,780
There's friction. -Oh, wow.

461
00:22:11,780 --> 00:22:15,120
Yeah! It's definitely going through.

462
00:22:18,190 --> 00:22:21,020
And that's how you make a drill out of a vacuum cleaner.

463
00:22:21,030 --> 00:22:22,530
All right, man. Good job.

464
00:22:22,530 --> 00:22:23,760
We did it together, man.

465
00:22:23,760 --> 00:22:26,260
There you go. -Thanks.

466
00:22:28,500 --> 00:22:30,630
But here's the thing about Alcatraz --

467
00:22:30,640 --> 00:22:33,970
Breaking out of the cell block wasn't the hardest part.

468
00:22:33,970 --> 00:22:36,870
The reason the Rock was thought to be escape-proof

469
00:22:36,870 --> 00:22:39,140
was its location.

470
00:22:39,140 --> 00:22:41,180
Before 1962, there had been

471
00:22:41,180 --> 00:22:43,710
11 escape attempts from Alcatraz.

472
00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:45,780
But all the inmates who made it off the island

473
00:22:45,780 --> 00:22:47,120
either drowned

474
00:22:47,120 --> 00:22:49,190
or were plucked out of the water with hypothermia.

475
00:22:49,190 --> 00:22:51,320
So Morris and the Anglins knew

476
00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:53,090
if they had any hope of making it

477
00:22:53,090 --> 00:22:54,590
to the shore alive,

478
00:22:54,590 --> 00:22:56,330
they would need a raft.

479
00:22:59,900 --> 00:23:01,660
For anyone who has ever

480
00:23:01,670 --> 00:23:04,130
investigated the escape from Alcatraz,

481
00:23:04,140 --> 00:23:07,840
this is the very heart of the mystery -- the raft.

482
00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:11,970
In a neglected part of the prison,

483
00:23:11,980 --> 00:23:14,540
using more than 50 stolen raincoats,

484
00:23:14,550 --> 00:23:18,180
the escapees supposedly made a 14-foot-long

485
00:23:18,180 --> 00:23:21,350
and 6-foot-wide triangular raft.

486
00:23:21,350 --> 00:23:22,950
They constructed it by hand,

487
00:23:22,950 --> 00:23:25,450
stitching together the main sections

488
00:23:25,460 --> 00:23:30,030
and gluing the edges.

489
00:23:35,400 --> 00:23:38,230
Nobody but Morris and the Anglins

490
00:23:38,240 --> 00:23:39,970
ever laid eyes on the raft.

491
00:23:39,970 --> 00:23:42,040
So it's hard to judge its seaworthiness.

492
00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:43,410
But we do know this much --

493
00:23:43,410 --> 00:23:45,880
It would have relied on manpower alone

494
00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:47,640
using makeshift paddles.

495
00:23:47,650 --> 00:23:49,150
And it probably didn't have a rudder.

496
00:23:49,150 --> 00:23:54,150
So they would have been drawn along with the water's current.

497
00:23:54,150 --> 00:23:56,090
Here's why this is a problem.

498
00:23:56,090 --> 00:23:57,220
This is the Golden Gate,

499
00:23:57,220 --> 00:23:59,090
the entrance to San Francisco Bay.

500
00:23:59,090 --> 00:24:01,460
Out there is the Pacific Ocean.

501
00:24:01,460 --> 00:24:03,930
The next dry piece of land is Japan,

502
00:24:03,930 --> 00:24:06,530
5,000 miles away.

503
00:24:06,530 --> 00:24:08,700
Any experienced mariner will tell you this is one of

504
00:24:08,700 --> 00:24:11,530
the most treacherous passages in the world.

505
00:24:11,540 --> 00:24:14,000
On an outgoing tide, which happens twice daily,

506
00:24:14,010 --> 00:24:16,970
the entire bay drains through this passageway.

507
00:24:16,970 --> 00:24:19,780
San Francisco Bay is 450 square miles.

508
00:24:19,780 --> 00:24:22,680
Golden Gate is 1,700 yards wide.

509
00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:26,350
All that water passing through that small strait.

510
00:24:26,350 --> 00:24:29,020
Ferocious currents, deadly.

511
00:24:29,020 --> 00:24:30,720
So the question is,

512
00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:33,120
could Morris and the Anglins outrun the current

513
00:24:33,120 --> 00:24:36,360
in their little raincoat raft?

514
00:24:36,360 --> 00:24:40,200
I intend to find out.

515
00:24:40,200 --> 00:24:41,500
Here's where the theories

516
00:24:41,500 --> 00:24:44,170
about what happened start to get a little wild.

517
00:24:44,170 --> 00:24:45,770
The Feds, at the time,

518
00:24:45,770 --> 00:24:47,670
said the men were washed out to sea

519
00:24:47,670 --> 00:24:49,910
by the strong currents.

520
00:24:49,910 --> 00:24:51,670
And that's totally possible.

521
00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:54,140
The currents are very strong.

522
00:24:54,150 --> 00:24:58,110
But it turns out, they might have stood a chance.

523
00:24:58,120 --> 00:25:01,250
If they left between 11:00 p.m. and midnight

524
00:25:01,250 --> 00:25:02,790
and paddled hard to the north,

525
00:25:02,790 --> 00:25:04,990
perpendicular to the current,

526
00:25:04,990 --> 00:25:07,320
their raft would have been carried in the direction

527
00:25:07,330 --> 00:25:11,230
of the mainland at Horseshoe Bay.

528
00:25:11,230 --> 00:25:12,700
It's a long shot.

529
00:25:12,700 --> 00:25:14,400
But they might just have made it.

530
00:25:19,340 --> 00:25:22,540
To settle the matter, I'm going to retrace their steps

531
00:25:22,540 --> 00:25:27,810
and see if I can paddle from Alcatraz to Horseshoe Bay.

532
00:25:27,810 --> 00:25:30,580
At 50 miles long and 12 miles wide,

533
00:25:30,580 --> 00:25:33,150
the bay is the largest estuary system

534
00:25:33,150 --> 00:25:35,080
on the west coast of America.

535
00:25:35,090 --> 00:25:38,650
High winds and currents that reach up to 6 knots

536
00:25:38,660 --> 00:25:43,890
make this seemingly calm water treacherous to navigate.

537
00:25:46,930 --> 00:25:49,800
My fellow paddlers, Jason and Brad,

538
00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:54,070
will be helping me get across the bay in nothing but this.

539
00:25:54,070 --> 00:25:56,670
That a small raft. -It is a small raft.

540
00:25:56,670 --> 00:25:59,180
So that's a small raft.

541
00:25:59,180 --> 00:26:01,110
And that's a big body of water.

542
00:26:01,110 --> 00:26:03,650
And imagine, this inflatable raft

543
00:26:03,650 --> 00:26:07,250
is much more durable than the one the escapees used.

544
00:26:07,250 --> 00:26:10,050
If we can't make it across these treacherous waters

545
00:26:10,050 --> 00:26:12,020
in this raft in broad daylight,

546
00:26:12,020 --> 00:26:14,560
then it's highly unlikely the inmates could have made it

547
00:26:14,560 --> 00:26:17,130
in their makeshift raft in the pitch black.

548
00:26:17,130 --> 00:26:19,630
Let's do this.

549
00:26:28,270 --> 00:26:29,670
Just like the prisoners,

550
00:26:29,670 --> 00:26:32,110
we're going to paddle perpendicular to the current,

551
00:26:32,110 --> 00:26:34,710
hoping to make it to Horseshoe Bay.

552
00:26:34,710 --> 00:26:36,880
We'll have to paddle really hard

553
00:26:36,880 --> 00:26:39,110
or be swept through the Golden Gate

554
00:26:39,120 --> 00:26:41,750
and into the Pacific.

555
00:26:41,750 --> 00:26:43,850
You ready for this?

556
00:26:49,130 --> 00:26:51,090
Not long after setting off,

557
00:26:51,100 --> 00:26:53,560
I'm getting a sense of what it must have been like

558
00:26:53,560 --> 00:26:55,860
for Morris and the Anglin brothers.

559
00:26:58,300 --> 00:26:59,500
This is the middle of the night

560
00:26:59,500 --> 00:27:02,840
in the pitch black in water that is like this.

561
00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:04,610
I mean, this is terrifying.

562
00:27:12,180 --> 00:27:15,680
Only half a mile in and we're already feeling the strain.

563
00:27:18,990 --> 00:27:21,190
We need to paddle against the current

564
00:27:21,190 --> 00:27:23,290
if we want to make it to our target.

565
00:27:23,290 --> 00:27:25,760
Otherwise, we end up in open water.

566
00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:32,800
Hold on. Hold on. Hold on.

567
00:27:32,800 --> 00:27:34,270
We're being pulled out underneath

568
00:27:34,270 --> 00:27:39,170
the Golden Gate Bridge into the ocean no matter what.

569
00:27:39,180 --> 00:27:42,710
And the further we go, the more challenging it is.

570
00:27:45,320 --> 00:27:48,150
It's too hard.

571
00:27:48,150 --> 00:27:50,650
We're not gonna make it.

572
00:27:58,360 --> 00:28:01,830
Paddle harder! Come on! Come on!

573
00:28:01,830 --> 00:28:03,430
Come on! Come on!

574
00:28:03,430 --> 00:28:07,670
We got to make it!

575
00:28:07,670 --> 00:28:10,170
Push!

576
00:28:12,240 --> 00:28:15,380
The crew and I give it everything we've got.

577
00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:28,860
And amazingly, after another exhausting hour...

578
00:28:31,160 --> 00:28:34,100
...Horseshoe Bay and the mainland are in sight.

579
00:28:40,100 --> 00:28:43,210
We made it. Whew.

580
00:28:43,210 --> 00:28:44,970
Escape from Alcatraz.

581
00:28:44,980 --> 00:28:46,710
I mean, this is government land.

582
00:28:46,710 --> 00:28:49,410
I'm not allowed to step on it, ironically.

583
00:28:52,580 --> 00:28:54,150
We made it in this raft.

584
00:28:54,150 --> 00:28:56,850
So perhaps they did as well in theirs.

585
00:29:01,930 --> 00:29:05,030
For decades, one of the key pieces of evidence

586
00:29:05,030 --> 00:29:09,030
investigators had to go on was a prison-made paddle

587
00:29:09,030 --> 00:29:12,900
that was found two miles north of Alcatraz

588
00:29:12,900 --> 00:29:16,770
just a few days after the escape.

589
00:29:16,770 --> 00:29:20,680
But it turns out, that wasn't all that washed up.

590
00:29:23,510 --> 00:29:26,450
Years later, something else washed ashore

591
00:29:26,450 --> 00:29:30,720
that could provide answers to the Alcatraz mystery --

592
00:29:30,720 --> 00:29:32,350
a dead body.

593
00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:41,660
More than 50 years ago, three convicts --

594
00:29:41,670 --> 00:29:45,030
John Anglin, Clarence Anglin, and Frank Morris --

595
00:29:45,040 --> 00:29:49,370
did something no one else had done before or since.

596
00:29:49,370 --> 00:29:51,740
They escaped from Alcatraz.

597
00:29:54,110 --> 00:29:56,380
I'm on a mission to discover how they did it

598
00:29:56,380 --> 00:29:58,880
and what happened to them.

599
00:30:01,720 --> 00:30:03,350
As part of my quest,

600
00:30:03,350 --> 00:30:07,190
I've stumbled upon what could be an incredible break in the case,

601
00:30:07,190 --> 00:30:09,490
one that might help answer the question

602
00:30:09,490 --> 00:30:13,430
of whether the three escapees actually survived that night.

603
00:30:13,430 --> 00:30:14,700
To look into this new

604
00:30:14,700 --> 00:30:17,470
and potentially game-changing piece of evidence,

605
00:30:17,470 --> 00:30:20,400
I'm headed for the place where it was discovered --

606
00:30:20,400 --> 00:30:21,670
a remote promontory

607
00:30:21,670 --> 00:30:25,370
just 30 miles outside of San Francisco.

608
00:30:25,380 --> 00:30:28,880
When I arrive, I'm blown away, literally.

609
00:30:31,520 --> 00:30:34,180
This is Point Reyes National Seashore,

610
00:30:34,180 --> 00:30:37,090
one of the windiest places on the Pacific Coast.

611
00:30:37,090 --> 00:30:38,790
It's protected from urban development

612
00:30:38,790 --> 00:30:40,520
by the National Park Service.

613
00:30:40,520 --> 00:30:43,390
And no wonder. It's spectacular.

614
00:30:46,830 --> 00:30:51,100
From thunderous surf to expansive beaches,

615
00:30:51,100 --> 00:30:53,740
rocky headlands to grassy dunes,

616
00:30:53,740 --> 00:30:57,310
this 71,000-acre park offers visitors

617
00:30:57,310 --> 00:31:00,440
breathtaking vistas to explore

618
00:31:00,440 --> 00:31:02,910
and more than 1,500 species of plants

619
00:31:02,910 --> 00:31:05,410
and animals to discover.

620
00:31:12,260 --> 00:31:15,160
I'm here to meet U.S. Marshal Michael Dyke.

621
00:31:15,160 --> 00:31:16,460
He's been the lead investigator

622
00:31:16,460 --> 00:31:19,900
on the Alcatraz escape for over a decade.

623
00:31:19,900 --> 00:31:22,060
So this case is still open, yeah?

624
00:31:22,070 --> 00:31:23,400
Yeah, it's still open.

625
00:31:23,400 --> 00:31:25,130
Why is that? Why are you still investigating?

626
00:31:25,140 --> 00:31:27,540
There's only three ways we're gonna stop looking for them.

627
00:31:27,540 --> 00:31:28,900
-Mm-hmm. -And that would be --

628
00:31:28,910 --> 00:31:31,210
is if they're either arrested,

629
00:31:31,210 --> 00:31:32,570
proven to be dead,

630
00:31:32,580 --> 00:31:35,980
or they reach the age of 99.

631
00:31:35,980 --> 00:31:39,780
Currently, Frank Morris would be about 89, late 80s.

632
00:31:39,780 --> 00:31:44,590
Wow. And the Anglin brothers would be about 85.

633
00:31:44,590 --> 00:31:47,160
But Marshal Dyke has a piece of new evidence

634
00:31:47,160 --> 00:31:49,490
that could finally close the case

635
00:31:49,490 --> 00:31:53,260
on at least one of the inmates.

636
00:31:53,260 --> 00:31:55,030
In the months after the breakout,

637
00:31:55,030 --> 00:31:57,230
the authorities were called to Point Reyes

638
00:31:57,230 --> 00:31:58,630
to investigate a report

639
00:31:58,640 --> 00:32:02,670
that something unusual had been found on the shoreline --

640
00:32:02,670 --> 00:32:04,940
a dead body.

641
00:32:04,940 --> 00:32:08,340
The body was found just inside of those hills over there...

642
00:32:08,350 --> 00:32:12,410
Yeah. Okay. ...about nine months after the escape.

643
00:32:12,420 --> 00:32:13,820
So is that feasible

644
00:32:13,820 --> 00:32:16,620
that this could be the body of one of these three guys?

645
00:32:16,620 --> 00:32:17,890
Definitely, it could be one of them

646
00:32:17,890 --> 00:32:20,820
because, you know, ocean currents generally --

647
00:32:20,820 --> 00:32:22,460
a lot of times, would -- at that time,

648
00:32:22,460 --> 00:32:24,360
were bringing bodies northward.

649
00:32:26,930 --> 00:32:29,360
The body was buried in the 1960s,

650
00:32:29,370 --> 00:32:31,600
shortly after it was found.

651
00:32:31,600 --> 00:32:34,040
And it was only recently that Marshal Dyke

652
00:32:34,040 --> 00:32:36,040
and his team had it exhumed

653
00:32:36,040 --> 00:32:39,870
to extract a vital DNA sample.

654
00:32:39,880 --> 00:32:42,940
So who do you think it is? Morris or the Anglins?

655
00:32:42,950 --> 00:32:45,510
It's important to point out, based on the femur measurements,

656
00:32:45,520 --> 00:32:48,680
they came up with a measurement of 5 foot 7 1/2",

657
00:32:48,690 --> 00:32:50,620
which happens to be Morris' exact height.

658
00:32:50,620 --> 00:32:52,190
So there's a fairly strong possibility

659
00:32:52,190 --> 00:32:54,360
these bones could be Morris.

660
00:32:54,360 --> 00:32:55,920
There is still a good possibility

661
00:32:55,930 --> 00:32:58,790
they could be him.

662
00:32:58,800 --> 00:33:01,030
And if this is Morris,

663
00:33:01,030 --> 00:33:03,830
his death may not have been an accident.

664
00:33:03,830 --> 00:33:06,200
There's a rumor out there that the Anglins

665
00:33:06,200 --> 00:33:07,670
and Morris didn't like each other.

666
00:33:07,670 --> 00:33:09,400
And they only put up with each other

667
00:33:09,410 --> 00:33:11,110
in order to facilitate the escape.

668
00:33:11,110 --> 00:33:13,740
And that rumor goes on to state that,

669
00:33:13,740 --> 00:33:15,680
while the escape was occurring,

670
00:33:15,680 --> 00:33:17,950
they would have took one of the paddles from the raft

671
00:33:17,950 --> 00:33:22,050
and hit Morris in the head and let him drown.

672
00:33:22,050 --> 00:33:25,450
The Anglins might have used Morris to plan the escape

673
00:33:25,460 --> 00:33:28,190
and then pushed him off the raft and into the bay.

674
00:33:28,190 --> 00:33:30,760
So the identity of the body

675
00:33:30,760 --> 00:33:33,930
might not only answer the question of Morris' fate,

676
00:33:33,930 --> 00:33:36,130
but also expose a murder.

677
00:33:38,940 --> 00:33:40,800
The marshal sends me to see the results

678
00:33:40,800 --> 00:33:43,370
of the DNA sample extracted from the body

679
00:33:43,370 --> 00:33:47,680
and tested against a descendant of Frank Morris.

680
00:33:47,680 --> 00:33:50,510
Recently, a blood relative was identified,

681
00:33:50,510 --> 00:33:55,620
finally allowing this part of the mystery to be solved.

682
00:33:55,620 --> 00:33:57,650
I'm in the lab of forensic specialist

683
00:33:57,650 --> 00:33:59,590
Professor Todd Disotell.

684
00:34:02,790 --> 00:34:03,930
Tell me how this works.

685
00:34:03,930 --> 00:34:06,530
Give me the 101 of what you're looking at.

686
00:34:06,530 --> 00:34:08,560
The top row is from the body

687
00:34:08,570 --> 00:34:10,870
that washed up on the shore.

688
00:34:10,870 --> 00:34:12,400
And the second row here

689
00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:14,440
is from a descendant of Frank Morris.

690
00:34:14,440 --> 00:34:16,140
Hmm. Okay.

691
00:34:16,140 --> 00:34:19,270
And so if we want to try to do a DNA match,

692
00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:22,110
we have to match up those individual peaks

693
00:34:22,110 --> 00:34:26,310
to see if two individuals inherited the same marker

694
00:34:26,320 --> 00:34:29,550
from their mother or even from their father.

695
00:34:29,550 --> 00:34:32,520
So you've analyzed this data, hmm?

696
00:34:32,520 --> 00:34:33,860
Yes, I have.

697
00:34:33,860 --> 00:34:36,460
And, you know, I'm actually really surprised by it.

698
00:34:41,260 --> 00:34:43,460
I'm investigating the mysterious fate

699
00:34:43,470 --> 00:34:44,930
of three inmates --

700
00:34:44,930 --> 00:34:48,240
John Anglin, Clarence Anglin, and Frank Morris --

701
00:34:48,240 --> 00:34:52,510
who busted out of Alcatraz in 1962

702
00:34:52,510 --> 00:34:55,240
and were never seen again.

703
00:34:55,240 --> 00:34:59,380
So I've come to the lab of Professor Todd Disotell

704
00:34:59,380 --> 00:35:02,920
to analyze the DNA of an unidentified body

705
00:35:02,920 --> 00:35:07,420
and determine if it could be the escapee Frank Morris.

706
00:35:10,290 --> 00:35:13,360
So, do they match, the bones and the descendants?

707
00:35:13,360 --> 00:35:14,530
Well, as you can see,

708
00:35:14,530 --> 00:35:17,630
almost none of the peaks actually overlap.

709
00:35:20,270 --> 00:35:23,570
This is not Frank Morris.

710
00:35:23,570 --> 00:35:26,870
So we're as good as certain that Frank Morris

711
00:35:26,880 --> 00:35:29,010
is still out there, dead or alive.

712
00:35:29,010 --> 00:35:31,480
Yeah.

713
00:35:35,820 --> 00:35:38,620
Ever since the escape, people across the world

714
00:35:38,620 --> 00:35:41,620
have claimed to have seen these men.

715
00:35:41,620 --> 00:35:46,130
Almost every instance has been discounted.

716
00:35:46,130 --> 00:35:49,360
But there's one report that might just be the real thing.

717
00:35:57,540 --> 00:36:02,340
I'm on my way to Colquitt, a tiny town in rural Georgia.

718
00:36:02,350 --> 00:36:05,210
If not for this story, likely, very few people

719
00:36:05,210 --> 00:36:08,450
would have heard of the place.

720
00:36:08,450 --> 00:36:10,520
Today, Colquitt is famously known

721
00:36:10,520 --> 00:36:13,320
as the hometown of the Anglin brothers.

722
00:36:16,130 --> 00:36:19,230
I've heard a rumor that the brothers were spotted here

723
00:36:19,230 --> 00:36:21,200
years after the escape.

724
00:36:21,200 --> 00:36:24,700
If that's true, then it could be the proof I've been looking for

725
00:36:24,700 --> 00:36:26,800
that they really are still alive.

726
00:36:29,440 --> 00:36:32,010
Colquitt is a quiet agricultural community

727
00:36:32,010 --> 00:36:33,610
of less than 2,000 people,

728
00:36:33,610 --> 00:36:35,480
filled with farms, fields

729
00:36:35,480 --> 00:36:37,510
and, as it turns out,

730
00:36:37,510 --> 00:36:40,050
a very strange mural.

731
00:36:40,050 --> 00:36:41,820
Oh, what's this?

732
00:36:41,820 --> 00:36:44,050
This is fascinating.

733
00:36:44,050 --> 00:36:45,620
It's no Leonardo da Vinci.

734
00:36:45,620 --> 00:36:47,250
But it's a clear indication

735
00:36:47,260 --> 00:36:49,360
of how much the legend of the Anglins

736
00:36:49,360 --> 00:36:51,660
looms over this tiny town.

737
00:36:57,730 --> 00:37:01,100
To help me put the final pieces of the puzzle into place,

738
00:37:01,100 --> 00:37:02,540
I've arranged to meet a reporter

739
00:37:02,540 --> 00:37:06,070
who has been following this story for decades.

740
00:37:06,080 --> 00:37:08,740
His name is Jeremy Campbell.

741
00:37:08,740 --> 00:37:11,550
So tell me about this family.

742
00:37:11,550 --> 00:37:14,350
It's a very close family, also very private.

743
00:37:14,350 --> 00:37:17,920
They just don't know who they can trust.

744
00:37:17,920 --> 00:37:19,850
But over the years, Jeremy's spoken

745
00:37:19,860 --> 00:37:23,460
to the younger sister of John and Clarence,

746
00:37:23,460 --> 00:37:27,190
who's convinced the men are still alive.

747
00:37:27,200 --> 00:37:28,730
Marie Anglin may be holding on to one

748
00:37:28,730 --> 00:37:31,070
of the biggest secrets in American history.

749
00:37:31,070 --> 00:37:34,540
And her brothers may be alive.

750
00:37:34,540 --> 00:37:35,640
She has proof.

751
00:37:42,400 --> 00:37:44,260
My quest to solve the riddle

752
00:37:44,260 --> 00:37:46,760
of what really happened to the three inmates

753
00:37:46,770 --> 00:37:50,170
who escaped from Alcatraz in 1962

754
00:37:50,170 --> 00:37:51,370
has led me all the way

755
00:37:51,370 --> 00:37:54,610
to the tiny Georgia town of Colquitt,

756
00:37:54,610 --> 00:37:57,480
home of the Anglin family.

757
00:37:57,480 --> 00:37:59,280
I'm meeting Jeremy Campbell,

758
00:37:59,280 --> 00:38:02,210
a reporter who's been following this story for decades

759
00:38:02,220 --> 00:38:06,050
and has close ties to the elusive bunch.

760
00:38:06,050 --> 00:38:07,650
Marie Anglin may be holding on to one

761
00:38:07,650 --> 00:38:10,120
of the biggest secrets in American history.

762
00:38:10,120 --> 00:38:13,320
And her brothers may be alive.

763
00:38:13,330 --> 00:38:17,660
She has proof that makes her believe they got out.

764
00:38:17,660 --> 00:38:20,300
What is that?

765
00:38:20,300 --> 00:38:22,070
The first three years

766
00:38:22,070 --> 00:38:24,570
after the escape from Alcatraz,

767
00:38:24,570 --> 00:38:27,110
a Christmas card arrived.

768
00:38:27,110 --> 00:38:29,270
And it was signed by the brothers.

769
00:38:29,280 --> 00:38:31,540
Had no postmark, they had no return address.

770
00:38:31,540 --> 00:38:33,080
They weren't even stamped.

771
00:38:33,080 --> 00:38:35,310
They were in the mailbox.

772
00:38:35,320 --> 00:38:37,050
These guys had come by and put them

773
00:38:37,050 --> 00:38:38,650
in the mailboxes themselves.

774
00:38:38,650 --> 00:38:40,350
That's what they're thinking. -That's what they believe.

775
00:38:40,350 --> 00:38:41,990
Wow. Interesting.

776
00:38:41,990 --> 00:38:43,760
That's just the beginning.

777
00:38:43,760 --> 00:38:45,720
So tell me what other evidence contributes

778
00:38:45,730 --> 00:38:49,530
to this case of their survival.

779
00:38:49,530 --> 00:38:52,730
Every year on her birthday,

780
00:38:52,730 --> 00:38:56,070
their mother was given a bouquet of flowers

781
00:38:56,070 --> 00:38:58,500
with no card, no name.

782
00:38:58,510 --> 00:39:00,510
But she knew who it was from.

783
00:39:00,510 --> 00:39:01,710
She's convinced it was

784
00:39:01,710 --> 00:39:03,540
from her sons that escaped from Alcatraz.

785
00:39:03,540 --> 00:39:05,110
Wow.

786
00:39:05,110 --> 00:39:08,210
It seems this wasn't the only thing

787
00:39:08,210 --> 00:39:09,810
that the Anglin brothers did for their mother

788
00:39:09,820 --> 00:39:11,180
after they escaped.

789
00:39:13,920 --> 00:39:15,920
These men loved their mother.

790
00:39:15,920 --> 00:39:21,830
So when word spread to wherever they were that she had died,

791
00:39:21,830 --> 00:39:25,330
the family says the Anglin brothers

792
00:39:25,330 --> 00:39:27,700
did not miss the funeral.

793
00:39:27,700 --> 00:39:31,940
They showed up, but they didn't look like anyone would expect.

794
00:39:31,940 --> 00:39:35,040
-In costume. -They were dressed as women.

795
00:39:35,040 --> 00:39:37,040
Is it any possibility, though,

796
00:39:37,040 --> 00:39:39,510
that these are pranks that were played on the family?

797
00:39:39,510 --> 00:39:40,680
It's a famous story.

798
00:39:40,680 --> 00:39:42,350
And it's a family with a lot of hope.

799
00:39:42,350 --> 00:39:44,950
Certainly, it could be a prank.

800
00:39:44,950 --> 00:39:46,620
But the family believes

801
00:39:46,620 --> 00:39:49,220
that they would stay in touch and they have stayed in touch.

802
00:39:49,220 --> 00:39:51,020
Right.

803
00:39:51,020 --> 00:39:53,020
And the Anglins have one more piece

804
00:39:53,030 --> 00:39:56,130
that fits into the puzzle.

805
00:39:56,130 --> 00:39:59,400
Marie Anglin says when her older brother died,

806
00:39:59,400 --> 00:40:01,030
on his death bed

807
00:40:01,030 --> 00:40:03,370
he revealed the biggest evidence

808
00:40:03,370 --> 00:40:04,970
in their family

809
00:40:04,970 --> 00:40:07,740
to support this theory.

810
00:40:07,740 --> 00:40:10,710
As he was dying, he said that he'd been in touch

811
00:40:10,710 --> 00:40:12,380
with the Anglin brothers

812
00:40:12,380 --> 00:40:14,950
for 25 years. -What?

813
00:40:14,950 --> 00:40:17,650
He'd seen them and that they had families.

814
00:40:17,650 --> 00:40:20,150
And they were living in Brazil.

815
00:40:22,620 --> 00:40:24,260
He couldn't go to his grave

816
00:40:24,260 --> 00:40:27,360
without telling someone that.

817
00:40:27,360 --> 00:40:29,330
But if the Anglins are right,

818
00:40:29,330 --> 00:40:32,060
and the men truly fled to Brazil,

819
00:40:32,070 --> 00:40:34,870
I just have one question left.

820
00:40:34,870 --> 00:40:39,340
With no money and no resources, how did they get there?

821
00:40:39,340 --> 00:40:43,710
Well, there is a sheriff's memo from 1962.

822
00:40:43,710 --> 00:40:46,710
And it said that a blue car was stolen

823
00:40:46,710 --> 00:40:49,380
the day after they escaped from Alcatraz.

824
00:40:49,380 --> 00:40:52,650
And the suspects were three males.

825
00:40:52,650 --> 00:40:55,450
So what do you think? True or not?

826
00:40:55,460 --> 00:40:56,850
I think if it was them,

827
00:40:56,860 --> 00:41:00,760
they would have driven straight to freedom.

828
00:41:00,760 --> 00:41:02,960
It's entirely possible that they are still out there.

829
00:41:02,960 --> 00:41:04,830
Wow. That's fascinating, isn't it?

830
00:41:12,970 --> 00:41:15,710
The lengths that John Anglin, Clarence Anglin,

831
00:41:15,710 --> 00:41:18,640
and Frank Morris went to bust out of Alcatraz

832
00:41:18,650 --> 00:41:21,480
are almost unthinkable.

833
00:41:21,480 --> 00:41:24,680
Their success was the result of tremendous creativity,

834
00:41:24,680 --> 00:41:26,780
patience, and luck.

835
00:41:26,790 --> 00:41:28,950
Perhaps that's why people are so fascinated

836
00:41:28,960 --> 00:41:31,920
to learn whether they pulled off the final test

837
00:41:31,930 --> 00:41:34,660
and are still alive today.

838
00:41:34,660 --> 00:41:36,230
But 50 years later,

839
00:41:36,230 --> 00:41:39,730
new evidence has finally tipped the scales of their survival

840
00:41:39,730 --> 00:41:42,930
from impossible to plausible.

841
00:41:42,940 --> 00:41:45,370
So are the three men enjoying a full

842
00:41:45,370 --> 00:41:48,010
and secret life in Brazil?

843
00:41:48,010 --> 00:41:49,940
We may never know for sure.

844
00:41:49,940 --> 00:41:51,910
But one thing is certain.

845
00:41:51,910 --> 00:41:54,480
Their escape will live on in history

846
00:41:54,480 --> 00:41:57,620
as one of the most iconic of all time.

846
00:41:58,305 --> 00:42:58,262
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