They Escaped With Spoons. The FBI Never Found Them

During the 7:15 count on the morning of 12 June 1962, an officer at Alcatraz reached into a cell to wake a man who wouldn't get up. The head rolled onto the floor. It was cement, paint and real hair, and three men were gone. We rebuilt the night from the FBI's own case file: 17 parts, released under the Freedom of Information Act. You see the FBI's own pages and photographs, and 3D reconstructions built from the file's measurements, photographs and statements. Where the records disagree, we show you both versions. CHAPTERS 0:00 Cold open: the 7:15 count 2:08 1. The Rock 3:32 2. Four Men 6:31 3. Six Months of Spoons 16:53 4. Monday Night 22:07 5. What the Bay Gave Back 25:02 6. The Water 30:10 7. After SOURCES FBI, "Alcatraz Escape" case file, parts 1-17 (FOIA release): https://vault.fbi.gov/Alcatraz%20Escape The same file, mirrored with searchable text: https://archive.org/details/Alcatraz-FBI FBI San Francisco, 15 Nov 2018, the 3D-printed copies of the decoy heads: https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-... U.S. Marshals Service, the open case (Frank Lee Morris, John William Anglin, Clarence Anglin): https://www.usmarshals.gov/what-we-do... NOAA tidal current predictions for San Francisco Bay, and NOAA's hourly airport weather for 11-12 June 1962 (our drift model): https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/ TU Delft / Deltares, 2014 hydraulic model of the escape: https://www.tudelft.nl/en/2014/tu-del... CBS San Francisco (KPIX 5), 22 Jan 2018, on the 2013 letter: https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/... Cellhouse photograph, 1986: Library of Congress, Historic American Buildings Survey. HOW WE MADE IT The 3D scenes are reconstructions, and the physics in them is simulated. The claims of the inmate who stayed behind are his account, not established fact. The episode accuses no one of anything beyond what the record shows, and no officer is named. The narration, 3D, music and sound were made for this channel. The archival photographs and documents are US government works in the public domain. A new case every two weeks. If you have a case you want rebuilt from the record, tell us in the comments. #TrueCrime #Alcatraz #FBIFiles