Alleged Alcatraz Escapee Sent Letter To FBI 50 Years Later Informing Them That He Survived

Until March 1963, the notorious Alcatraz prison was the most secure prison in America and housed the most dangerous inmates of the nation.

Alcatraz's security came from its island location, that made it almost impossible to escape from. However, that did not stop 36 prisoners from attempting it. Although they're all believed to have failed, three of them got extremely close to managing it in 1962.

Brothers Frank Morris, John and Clarence Anglin, managed to escape by working tirelessly for more than six months to widen the ventilation ducts in their cells by using discarded saw blades, stolen spoons, as well as a drill created from a vacuum cleaner motor.

The smart trio disguised all the noise they made with Morris' accordion playing. They also hid their tracks by covering the ducts with paint and cardboard. Once they managed to get out of their cells, they set to work building a raft to get off the island.

That involved creating life jackets and a raft from 50 raincoats, that they stitched together using steam from the pipes. They finally made a set of paddles from scrap wood before attempting what seemed to be an unsuccessful great escape.

They even made dummy heads to place in their beds with real human hair taken from the prison barber.

The heads were constructed from a paper-mâché-like mix of soap and toilet paper, and paint.

Once the dummy heads were in place, the brothers descended 50 feet out of Alcatraz by sliding down a pipe before they jumped the fence at the prison guard's searchlights blind spot. They then inflated their raft and made their bid for freedom.

After that point, it isn't known what happened to the men. While searching for them, the FBI discovered remnants of the raft and concluded that they had all drowned.

However, hints have trickled in over the years indicate that they did achieve the impossible and escaped.

In 2012, the Anglins' family said they had all survived, although they had "cut ties" with them.

One sibling revealed their existence on his deathbed saying he had been in touch with them from 1963 until 1987. He even provided the picture below which he said shows them alive in 1975.

Maybe more tellingly, John Anglin sent a letter to the FBI 50 years after his escape in 2013, explaining he'd hand himself over for a small prison sentence on the condition that he was provided with the medical treatment he needed at the time.

Despite being received in 2013, the letter has only recently been released to the public.

Check out the video below to see the evidence:

Here's what the letter said:

"My name is John Anglin. I escape [sic] 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! Frank passed away in October 2005. His grave is in Alexandria under another name. My brother died in 2011.

If you announce on T.V. that I will be promised first to get medical attention, I will write back to let you know exactly where I am. This is no joke this is for real and honest truth."

The letter was then verified for fingerprints and evidence of DNA. It was also compared with John's handwriting sample taken from prison, although all of these tests proved inconclusive - suggesting that it could be genuine.

The brothers were imprisoned between 15-20 years for robbery. They were moved to Alcatraz after many escape attempts from other prisons in a bid to keep them imprisoned for the duration of their sentence.

A US Marshall's spokesperson told KPIX 5, "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."

Given that John was dying when he was writing the letter, and his two brothers had already passed away, it's unlikely that we'll ever know for sure if the infamous 1962 escape was ever pulled off. However, if it was, well, that is something I will keep in mind if I ever get a chance to see Alcatraz.

Reference: Viral Thread