President Donald Trump has stated that he never escaped from Alcatraz and mentioned plans to reopen prisons on the island, which has been closed for more than 60 years. Historically speaking, his assertion is not accurate.
1937: The First Notable Escape
On December 16, 1937, inmates Theodore Cole and Ralph Law made a daring escape from the prison, described as a “miraculous feat.” Cole, 25, and Law, 32, spent months confined in a prison mat shop. Seizing the opportunity presented by thick fog, they climbed out of a window and vanished into the bay on makeshift rafts crafted from two large, airtight oil cans. Reports indicated that they planned to pack civilian clothes in one can to change once they reached shore.
Initially believed to have perished, a 1941 story suggested that they might have been “living comfortably” in a hideout in South America.
1962 Escape
The most notorious escape from Alcatraz happened on June 11, 1962, when Frank Morris, along with brothers John and Clarence Anglin, vanished from the prison in a meticulously planned breakout. Morris, known for his intelligence with an IQ reportedly around 133, had been sent to Alcatraz multiple times due to previous escape attempts.
On that fateful night, the trio executed what would become the most famous escape in U.S. prison history. They spent six months preparing, using makeshift tools like sharp spoons, cardboard, and glue to tunnel through their cell walls, covering their work with painted cardboard panels. Their rafts were crafted from over 50 rubber raincoats, sealed with steam pipes, and they created a realistic dummy head from papier-mâché and real hair to fool the guards during nightly check-ins.
On the night of their escape, they crawled through ventilation ducts, climbed to the roof, descended pipes, and navigated through barbed wire before launching their homemade raft into the icy waters of San Francisco Bay. After that, they were never seen again.
The next morning, guards found a convincing dummy head lying in one of the beds, leading to a massive manhunt involving the FBI, Coast Guard, and military police. Some items, including oars and sealed packets containing photographs, were later recovered, but no bodies were found.
“Haha, we made it.”
One week after the escape, a postcard arrived at Alcatraz, with the message, “Haha, we made it,” signed by “Frank, Jim, Clarence.” The FBI dismissed the card as a hoax.
Over the years, numerous tips have come in, with some claiming to have seen the escapees in South America or suggesting that Anglin had family contacts. The FBI eventually closed the case in 1979, designating the men as “presumed dead,” yet the U.S. Marshals Service has not given up, maintaining their case files to this day.
Alcatraz was officially closed in 1963 due to high operational costs and deteriorating infrastructure.
