Modern Mysteries

Alcatraz escapee sends a letter to the police

By T.K. Randall
January 24, 2018 ·  14 comments

Did all three escapees really survive ? Image Credit: CC BY-SA 3.0 Centpacrr Located in San Francisco Bay and surrounded by treacherous tidal currents, the prison's impenetrable walls and closely guarded cells made it practically impossible to escape from.

This didn't stop bank robbers Clarence Anglin, John Anglin and Frank Morris from giving it a go, however. On June 11th 1962, the men pulled off one of the most audacious escapes in history.

To escape their cells, the men spent six months painstakingly digging a tunnel out of the concrete using sharpened spoons. To keep the guards off their backs on the night of their escape they fashioned dummy heads from soap, paper and hair to place in their beds.

Once they managed to reach the water's edge, the men put together an inflatable raft made from raincoats and set off in to the fast-flowing water in an effort to reach safety.Their fate would go on to remain a mystery for more than 50 years.

Now though, in a major breakthrough, a letter from an individual claiming to be John Anglin himself has turned up out of the blue at the San Francisco Police Department's Richmond station:

"My name is John Anglin. I escape from Alcatraz in June 1962 with my brother Clarence and Frank Morris. I'm 83 years old and in bad shape. I have cancer. Yes we all made it that night but barely! If you announce on TV that I will be promised to first go to jail for no more than a year and get medical attention, I will write back to let you know exactly where I am. This is no joke..."

The FBI conducted a forensic analysis of the letter however the results were inconclusive.

"There is absolutely no reason to believe that any of them would have changed their lifestyle and became completely law abiding citizens after this escape," the U.S. Marshals Service stated.

Source: CBS Local | Comments (14)

Tags: Alcatraz