"Mysteries at the Museum" Alcatraz: Mysteries at the Museum

1 00:00:02,370 --> 00:00:03,440 Wait, we're not gonna make it. 2 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:05,340 I'm on a quest 3 00:00:05,340 --> 00:00:07,210 to uncover the real story... 4 00:00:07,210 --> 00:00:10,010 Wow. 5 00:00:10,010 --> 00:00:14,250 ...behind the most iconic prison break of all time, 6 00:00:14,250 --> 00:00:16,650 the great escape from Alcatraz. 7 00:00:16,650 --> 00:00:17,880 Oh 8 00:00:17,890 --> 00:00:19,320 My mission is to find out 9 00:00:19,320 --> 00:00:22,290 how three men escaped the inescapable. 10 00:00:22,290 --> 00:00:23,620 And did they survive? 11 00:00:23,630 --> 00:00:24,830 Ah-ha! 12 00:00:24,830 --> 00:00:26,630 I'm going across the country 13 00:00:26,630 --> 00:00:29,030 and high above the legendary island fortress... 14 00:00:29,030 --> 00:00:30,960 I mean, they could've gone anywhere. 15 00:00:30,970 --> 00:00:34,700 ...to find out if what we think we know is true. 16 00:00:34,700 --> 00:00:37,600 Or is there still more to be uncovered? 17 00:00:37,610 --> 00:00:39,810 It's entirely possible that they are still out there. 18 00:00:42,910 --> 00:00:44,580 I'm Don Wildman. 19 00:00:44,580 --> 00:00:47,010 I've explored the world's greatest mysteries, 20 00:00:47,020 --> 00:00:49,950 examined rare artifacts and epic monuments. 21 00:00:49,950 --> 00:00:51,420 That's amazing. 22 00:00:51,420 --> 00:00:52,720 Now, I'm digging deeper 23 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:54,290 into some of the most perplexing 24 00:00:54,290 --> 00:00:56,460 and famous cases in history. 25 00:00:56,460 --> 00:00:59,460 My goal? To get closer to the truth. 26 00:00:59,460 --> 00:01:02,560 It's a totally alien environment down there. 27 00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:05,570 This is "Mysteries at the Museum: 28 00:01:05,570 --> 00:01:07,600 Escape from Alcatraz." 29 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:15,074 Do you want subtitles for any video? -=[ ai.OpenSubtitles.com ]=- 30 00:01:16,250 --> 00:01:17,980 I'm starting my investigation 31 00:01:17,980 --> 00:01:20,480 into the most famous prison escape in history 32 00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:22,650 right at the scene of the crime -- 33 00:01:22,650 --> 00:01:23,980 Alcatraz. 34 00:01:23,990 --> 00:01:27,890 Located 1 1/2 miles offshore from San Francisco, 35 00:01:27,890 --> 00:01:31,690 this former prison complex sits upon a rocky island 36 00:01:31,690 --> 00:01:34,290 that measures 22 acres. 37 00:01:34,300 --> 00:01:36,500 Today, it draws upwards of 38 00:01:36,500 --> 00:01:39,470 one million curious tourists each year, 39 00:01:39,470 --> 00:01:44,670 making it one of the city's most popular attractions. 40 00:01:44,670 --> 00:01:46,710 But for almost three decades, 41 00:01:46,710 --> 00:01:50,240 from 1934 to 1963, 42 00:01:50,250 --> 00:01:53,880 making this trip was no joke. 43 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:56,280 It's 4:00 a.m. I'm about to make one of 44 00:01:56,290 --> 00:01:59,690 the most dreaded journeys imaginable. 45 00:01:59,690 --> 00:02:01,820 I'm headed for Alcatraz. 46 00:02:04,190 --> 00:02:06,830 The San Francisco Bay is pitch-black, 47 00:02:06,830 --> 00:02:11,830 exactly how the escapees saw it over 50 years ago. 48 00:02:11,830 --> 00:02:14,940 Surrounded on all sides by the treacherous waters 49 00:02:14,940 --> 00:02:17,100 of the San Francisco Bay, 50 00:02:17,110 --> 00:02:18,710 this eerie stronghold 51 00:02:18,710 --> 00:02:21,640 was the definition of escape-proof. 52 00:02:24,110 --> 00:02:26,350 Captain Pete Tompkins has been operating 53 00:02:26,350 --> 00:02:30,120 the Alcatraz water taxi for more than 15 years 54 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:32,720 and understands the prison's natural defenses 55 00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:34,020 better than anyone. 56 00:02:34,020 --> 00:02:37,720 This place was just designed to intimidate, wasn't it? 57 00:02:37,730 --> 00:02:40,130 Yeah. It is one scary-looking place. 58 00:02:40,130 --> 00:02:42,300 You run this harbor all the time. 59 00:02:42,300 --> 00:02:43,560 What are these waters like? 60 00:02:43,570 --> 00:02:46,070 Currents are strong. The wind always blows. 61 00:02:46,070 --> 00:02:47,470 It's cold. Yeah. 62 00:02:47,470 --> 00:02:49,570 It's one of the toughest bays to navigate. 63 00:02:49,570 --> 00:02:52,940 And all the currents you have to deal with and all the wind. 64 00:02:52,940 --> 00:02:55,510 It's not easy out here. It's hard on everyone. 65 00:02:55,510 --> 00:02:56,980 In a boat, let alone a raft. 66 00:02:56,980 --> 00:02:58,710 Yeah. 67 00:02:58,710 --> 00:03:00,080 Not to mention the sharks, you know. 68 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:01,950 Oh, yeah? Have you seen sharks out here? 69 00:03:01,950 --> 00:03:05,850 Yes. There are sharks. 70 00:03:05,850 --> 00:03:08,390 So it should come as no surprise that, 71 00:03:08,390 --> 00:03:09,720 of the 36 inmates 72 00:03:09,730 --> 00:03:12,990 who attempted to flee the Rock, 73 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:16,200 almost all were caught or killed. 74 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:18,470 All, that is, except three. 75 00:03:22,070 --> 00:03:24,870 And I'm following in their footsteps 76 00:03:24,870 --> 00:03:27,810 to try and understand the real story 77 00:03:27,810 --> 00:03:30,310 of what happened that night. 78 00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:39,590 Stepping foot inside Alcatraz 79 00:03:39,590 --> 00:03:42,990 still evokes feelings of intense hopelessness. 80 00:03:54,470 --> 00:03:56,740 Wow, you can feel 81 00:03:56,740 --> 00:03:58,610 the tension in the air in this place. 82 00:03:58,610 --> 00:04:00,970 I mean, it's palpable, right? 83 00:04:04,180 --> 00:04:06,380 It's one of those places that never fails 84 00:04:06,380 --> 00:04:08,010 to give you the chills. 85 00:04:12,390 --> 00:04:15,220 Considered America's toughest prison, 86 00:04:15,220 --> 00:04:19,160 Alcatraz was a maximum-security, minimum-privilege facility 87 00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:22,400 for the nation's most hardened criminals. 88 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:24,660 Each inmate was individually housed 89 00:04:24,670 --> 00:04:27,330 in one of the roughly 400 cells 90 00:04:27,340 --> 00:04:32,310 that each averaged 5 feet wide by 9 feet long. 91 00:04:32,310 --> 00:04:34,810 And, as if the seclusion wasn't enough, 92 00:04:34,810 --> 00:04:36,280 in the prison's earliest days, 93 00:04:36,280 --> 00:04:40,110 talking between inmates was almost entirely forbidden. 94 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:43,580 This strict discipline is the reason infamous criminals 95 00:04:43,590 --> 00:04:45,120 like Al Capone, 96 00:04:45,120 --> 00:04:48,360 "Machine Gun" Kelly, "Whitey" Bulger, 97 00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:52,390 and roughly 1,500 others were imprisoned here. 98 00:04:52,390 --> 00:04:56,660 But it's also what made three men desperate to get out. 99 00:05:01,470 --> 00:05:03,440 The story is one of the greatest 100 00:05:03,440 --> 00:05:06,310 unsolved mysteries in criminal history. 101 00:05:06,310 --> 00:05:08,880 And I'm gonna take a look at where it all started -- 102 00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:11,010 the cell. 103 00:05:11,010 --> 00:05:13,910 It's been reset to mimic exactly what it would've looked like 104 00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:17,020 on the day of the prison's most famous escape attempt. 105 00:05:21,020 --> 00:05:23,860 June 12, 1962 -- 106 00:05:23,860 --> 00:05:26,090 Prison guards taking morning roll call 107 00:05:26,090 --> 00:05:28,560 make a shocking discovery. 108 00:05:28,560 --> 00:05:29,860 Three prisoners -- 109 00:05:29,870 --> 00:05:33,130 John Anglin, Clarence Anglin, and Frank Morris -- 110 00:05:33,140 --> 00:05:35,900 are missing. 111 00:05:35,900 --> 00:05:39,570 In their places are dummy heads. 112 00:05:39,570 --> 00:05:41,780 And at the back of each of their cells, 113 00:05:41,780 --> 00:05:44,540 a concealed hole. 114 00:05:44,550 --> 00:05:48,450 Guards launch a frantic investigation. 115 00:05:48,450 --> 00:05:50,950 And a fourth inmate comes forward. 116 00:05:50,950 --> 00:05:53,750 Claiming to have been in on the escapees' plan, 117 00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:55,790 he confesses its details. 118 00:06:01,030 --> 00:06:02,560 First, they fool the guards 119 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:04,730 into thinking they're asleep by placing 120 00:06:04,730 --> 00:06:08,230 these papier-mâché heads on the pillows. 121 00:06:08,240 --> 00:06:09,300 Then they break out of their cell 122 00:06:09,300 --> 00:06:12,310 using a set of homemade tools. 123 00:06:12,310 --> 00:06:14,370 And right in here is the utility corridor 124 00:06:14,380 --> 00:06:16,510 between the cell blocks. 125 00:06:16,510 --> 00:06:18,280 They crawl out of their vent 126 00:06:18,280 --> 00:06:20,210 and then scale the wall, 127 00:06:20,220 --> 00:06:22,620 using this tangled set of pipes here, 128 00:06:22,620 --> 00:06:25,490 all the way up onto the roof of the cell block. 129 00:06:25,490 --> 00:06:27,390 Once outside the prison, 130 00:06:27,390 --> 00:06:29,520 they allegedly crossed the Bay 131 00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:32,390 using a homemade raft. 132 00:06:32,390 --> 00:06:36,200 Morris and the Anglins were never seen again. 133 00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:38,930 What came next was America's largest manhunt 134 00:06:38,930 --> 00:06:41,500 since the search for the Lindbergh baby. 135 00:06:47,710 --> 00:06:49,680 There aren't that many people still around 136 00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:51,640 who were actually on Alcatraz 137 00:06:51,650 --> 00:06:53,610 the night Morris and the Anglins broke out. 138 00:06:53,620 --> 00:06:55,980 Remember, this is more than 50 years ago. 139 00:06:55,980 --> 00:06:59,120 But I tracked down someone who lived on the island 140 00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:01,320 at the time and remembers the morning 141 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:04,060 after the escape like it was yesterday. 142 00:07:06,060 --> 00:07:07,830 Jolene? 143 00:07:07,830 --> 00:07:09,130 How you doing? -Hi. 144 00:07:09,130 --> 00:07:12,400 Jolene Babyak is the daughter of the assistant warden, 145 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:14,070 who was the highest ranking official 146 00:07:14,070 --> 00:07:16,600 on the island the night of the escape. 147 00:07:16,610 --> 00:07:18,640 She witnessed the tension and panic 148 00:07:18,640 --> 00:07:22,480 that took over as soon as the inmates went missing. 149 00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:25,380 So the night of the escape, what happens that night? 150 00:07:25,380 --> 00:07:27,510 The night of the escape, nothing happened. 151 00:07:27,520 --> 00:07:30,150 Mm-hmm. So the action really starts the next day. 152 00:07:30,150 --> 00:07:32,620 Right. Around 7:15 in the morning, 153 00:07:32,620 --> 00:07:34,490 I was awakened by the siren, 154 00:07:34,490 --> 00:07:36,420 which I had never heard before. 155 00:07:36,420 --> 00:07:39,230 It was that air raid that you hear in movies. 156 00:07:39,230 --> 00:07:40,960 And it was a dominating sound. 157 00:07:40,960 --> 00:07:43,960 You know, my first thought was, "It can't be an escape attempt." 158 00:07:43,970 --> 00:07:46,000 And I met my mother on the stairs. 159 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:49,070 And she said, "Get dressed. There's been an escape." 160 00:07:49,070 --> 00:07:50,400 You were supposed to go into your house, 161 00:07:50,410 --> 00:07:51,770 lock the door, 162 00:07:51,770 --> 00:07:53,510 and not come out until there was some sort of all-clear. 163 00:07:53,510 --> 00:07:54,710 Where is your father now? 164 00:07:54,710 --> 00:07:56,410 You know, before they blow the siren, 165 00:07:56,410 --> 00:07:57,680 they call the head guy. 166 00:07:57,680 --> 00:08:00,380 Mm-hmm. This is a bad day in a warden's business. 167 00:08:00,380 --> 00:08:01,950 Right. At 7:00 in the morning, 168 00:08:01,950 --> 00:08:03,450 it's not gonna be good. -Mm-hmm. 169 00:08:03,450 --> 00:08:07,420 And they told him that they found three men missing 170 00:08:07,420 --> 00:08:09,490 and instructed them to blow the siren. 171 00:08:09,490 --> 00:08:11,290 You have to notify all the cities. 172 00:08:11,290 --> 00:08:15,300 You have to notify the FBI, Coast Guard, Washington, D.C. 173 00:08:15,300 --> 00:08:17,660 And by about 8:00, 8:30, 174 00:08:17,670 --> 00:08:21,830 you had an air, land, and sea search. 175 00:08:21,840 --> 00:08:24,300 So, with the island on lockdown, 176 00:08:24,310 --> 00:08:27,340 the manhunt kicked into high gear. 177 00:08:27,340 --> 00:08:29,580 You could see the boats around the Bay. 178 00:08:29,580 --> 00:08:32,050 You could certainly hear the helicopters overhead. 179 00:08:32,050 --> 00:08:34,350 And I would imagine the whole place is on lockdown. 180 00:08:34,350 --> 00:08:35,920 You're not going anywhere. -Right. 181 00:08:35,920 --> 00:08:37,880 Little did you know you were suddenly caught 182 00:08:37,890 --> 00:08:40,090 in one of the epic events of American history. 183 00:08:40,090 --> 00:08:41,850 Yeah. I mean, it's really amazing. 184 00:08:41,860 --> 00:08:43,260 I mean, I was a bystander. 185 00:08:43,260 --> 00:08:45,490 My dad was really much more involved. 186 00:08:45,490 --> 00:08:46,960 But then, you know, it turned out to be 187 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:48,730 a classic escape attempt. 188 00:08:48,730 --> 00:08:51,230 Sure. 189 00:08:57,010 --> 00:08:58,300 In a matter of hours, 190 00:08:58,310 --> 00:08:59,940 the search area expanded 191 00:08:59,940 --> 00:09:02,510 to include all of San Francisco Bay, 192 00:09:02,510 --> 00:09:04,680 including the cities and towns surrounding it. 193 00:09:04,680 --> 00:09:08,880 The Bay is massive -- 325 miles of shoreline, 194 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:10,720 bordered by three cities, 195 00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:13,750 9 counties, and 101 municipalities. 196 00:09:13,760 --> 00:09:18,490 And Morris and the Anglins had a 12-hour head start. 197 00:09:18,490 --> 00:09:20,660 Searching for these escapees 198 00:09:20,660 --> 00:09:23,800 was like locating a needle in a haystack. 199 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:26,830 But how impossible was this? 200 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:29,340 Well, there's one way to find out. 201 00:09:31,510 --> 00:09:33,370 The Coast Guard and the FBI 202 00:09:33,380 --> 00:09:35,910 pressed into service every boat and plane 203 00:09:35,910 --> 00:09:37,580 they could get their hands on. 204 00:09:37,580 --> 00:09:39,510 Aaron. -Hey, Don. 205 00:09:39,510 --> 00:09:42,920 I'm teaming up this morning with seaplane pilot Aaron Singer 206 00:09:42,920 --> 00:09:45,590 to get a bird's-eye view of the search area. 207 00:09:45,590 --> 00:09:48,590 ¶ 208 00:09:56,530 --> 00:10:00,970 I am astonished by the scope of what I'm seeing. 209 00:10:09,910 --> 00:10:13,750 There it is, the infamous Rock. 210 00:10:13,750 --> 00:10:16,250 Incredible. 211 00:10:18,620 --> 00:10:21,050 So you've done your own search and rescue, yeah? 212 00:10:21,060 --> 00:10:23,220 I have. Tell me what that's like. 213 00:10:23,220 --> 00:10:25,360 You know, you'll have a pilot and you'll have a spotter 214 00:10:25,360 --> 00:10:27,560 where you're taking this huge search area. 215 00:10:27,560 --> 00:10:31,930 And you have to break it down into little pieces. 216 00:10:31,930 --> 00:10:34,500 And then you take each little piece, 217 00:10:34,500 --> 00:10:37,040 and you have to comb it meter by meter. 218 00:10:41,310 --> 00:10:44,380 So let's say it's June 12th. 219 00:10:44,380 --> 00:10:46,180 What am I seeing? 220 00:10:46,180 --> 00:10:50,250 In June of 1962, they probably had low fog, 221 00:10:50,250 --> 00:10:52,450 wind blowing like snot out here. 222 00:10:52,450 --> 00:10:54,250 I mean, they had difficult conditions. 223 00:10:54,260 --> 00:10:57,960 At the time, helicopters weren't exactly reliable in the 1960s. 224 00:10:57,960 --> 00:10:59,990 Plus, there's a lot more seaplanes around. 225 00:10:59,990 --> 00:11:02,630 So they probably had more aircraft 226 00:11:02,630 --> 00:11:04,630 doing that work than helicopters. 227 00:11:04,630 --> 00:11:07,030 Right. Right. Right. 228 00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:10,070 Gazing out over this vastness of water, 229 00:11:10,070 --> 00:11:13,940 I can see why the mystery continues today. 230 00:11:13,940 --> 00:11:16,140 Morris and the Anglins could have drowned, 231 00:11:16,140 --> 00:11:18,380 been swept out to sea by the currents, 232 00:11:18,380 --> 00:11:21,650 or somehow paddled themselves to dry land. 233 00:11:25,220 --> 00:11:28,220 How hard is it to find somebody when you're up here in the air? 234 00:11:28,220 --> 00:11:29,560 Well, it's pretty difficult. 235 00:11:29,560 --> 00:11:32,260 You have so much stuff happening on the water, 236 00:11:32,260 --> 00:11:35,530 white caps, swells, shore birds. 237 00:11:35,530 --> 00:11:36,930 In that particular case, 238 00:11:36,930 --> 00:11:39,500 those guys were trying to stay out of sight. 239 00:11:39,500 --> 00:11:42,670 So it's a lot of things that you have to try 240 00:11:42,670 --> 00:11:45,170 and find that needle in the haystack. 241 00:11:47,880 --> 00:11:49,840 If they'd gone to shore, 242 00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:51,410 would you have any possibility 243 00:11:51,410 --> 00:11:53,580 of seeing them there from the air? 244 00:11:53,580 --> 00:11:56,280 The problem was, of course, if they got to shore, 245 00:11:56,280 --> 00:11:59,020 it's a lot easier for them to blend into the city. 246 00:11:59,020 --> 00:12:01,750 I mean, the city was here. If they did get to shore, 247 00:12:01,760 --> 00:12:03,460 it was probably over by then. 248 00:12:03,460 --> 00:12:05,760 Look at the size of this bay. 249 00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:07,560 I mean, they could have gone anywhere. 250 00:12:11,280 --> 00:12:12,820 I'm on the trail of the three 251 00:12:12,820 --> 00:12:17,090 most infamous prison escapees in history... 252 00:12:17,090 --> 00:12:19,320 Wow, it's incredible. 253 00:12:19,320 --> 00:12:22,730 ...who, on the night of June 12, 1962, 254 00:12:22,730 --> 00:12:24,490 broke out of Alcatraz, 255 00:12:24,500 --> 00:12:27,400 never to be seen again. 256 00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:30,370 They could have gone anywhere. 257 00:12:30,370 --> 00:12:32,640 Now, more than 50 years later, 258 00:12:32,640 --> 00:12:34,140 questions still remain 259 00:12:34,140 --> 00:12:36,340 about what really happened that night. 260 00:12:36,340 --> 00:12:41,810 After all, the three men have never been found, dead or alive. 261 00:12:41,810 --> 00:12:43,710 It's time to dig deeper. 262 00:12:43,720 --> 00:12:46,180 And to do that, we need to first understand 263 00:12:46,180 --> 00:12:48,680 who these men really were. 264 00:12:48,690 --> 00:12:52,290 Let's start with the inmate I find most fascinating, 265 00:12:52,290 --> 00:12:54,820 Frank Morris. 266 00:12:58,100 --> 00:13:00,700 Orphaned at the young age of 11, 267 00:13:00,700 --> 00:13:02,270 his life of crime started 268 00:13:02,270 --> 00:13:05,540 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 Do you want subtitles for any video? -=[ ai.OpenSubtitles.com ]=-