Escape From Alcatraz: Prison Marks 50th Anniversary Of Fabled Escape [Video]

Fifty years ago, Frank Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin escaped from the unescapable prison Alcatraz. Well, they might have. Prison officials insist that the three inmates perished in the icy cold waters of the San Fransisco Bay, but their bodies were never found.

According to the SF Gate, 36 prisoners tried to escape the island prison before it closed in 1963. Only three, the Anglin brothers and Morris, remain unaccounted for. Authorities insist that the prisoners drowned during their escape but the U.S. Marshals Service still has active warrants out for their arrest.

U.S. Marshal Michael Dyke, said:

“We have to operate under the assumption they made it… (If we ever catch them) I’d have to compliment them because it was very meticulous what they did, how they escaped from here.”

According to the Denver Post, Morris and the Anglin brothers dug holes in their cells with spoons and forks. They eventually tunneled through to a utility corner where they were able to climb up to the roof through a vent. There they assembled a raft out of 50 cotton rain coats. The trio also constructed mannequin heads out of paper and hair stolen from the prison barber shop. The heads were used as decoys during their escape.

Here’s a video about the three prisoners escaping from Alcatraz.

Marie Widner and Mearl Taylor, sisters of the Anglin brothers, traveled to Alcatraz today for a press conference. Both sisters, now in their 70s, insist that their brothers made it out alive. Widner said:

“I’ve always believed they made it, and I haven’t changed my mind about that… If they are not alive, then why is the government still looking for them?”

Do you think Frank Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin survived their escape from Alcatraz?