Vanished from the Rock: The 1962 Alcatraz Escape

Three men. A raft made of more than 50 stolen raincoats. Dummy heads in their beds. And no bodies ever found. This is the true story of the June 1962 Alcatraz escape: a case the FBI closed in 1979, and three men the U.S. Marshals still list as wanted. On the night of June 11, 1962, Frank Lee Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin slipped through holes they had dug behind their cell vents, climbed to the roof of America's most feared prison, and paddled out into the cold, fast water of San Francisco Bay. The next morning, guards found sculpted heads with real human hair on their pillows. The men were never seen again. In this episode we open the case file: how they cut through the walls with spoon handles and a vacuum-cleaner motor, how they built a raft and life vests in a secret workshop above the cell block, why the fourth man, Allen West, was left behind, what washed up on Angel Island and outside the Golden Gate, why the FBI concluded they most likely did not survive, and the 2013 letter signed "John Anglin" that claimed "we all made it that night, but barely." ▶ SUBSCRIBE for real cases, solved and unsolved:    / @evidencedrawer   💬 Do you think Morris and the Anglins made it to shore? Tell us in the comments. 👍 Like and share this with someone who loves a real mystery. 🔔 Turn on notifications so you never miss a new file from the drawer. CHAPTERS 0:00 The empty cells 0:45 The Rock: America's toughest prison 1:19 Frank Morris and the Anglin brothers 1:54 Digging through the walls 2:24 The secret workshop and the raincoat raft 3:12 The dummy heads 3:33 The night of June 11, 1962 4:04 The plan: Angel Island and Raccoon Strait 4:17 Allen West, the man left behind 4:30 The manhunt and what washed up 4:56 The FBI's conclusion 5:27 The 2013 "John Anglin" letter 6:18 Missing, presumed drowned CASE FILE: QUICK FACTS • Escape: night of June 11, 1962, discovered at the morning count on June 12 • Escapees: Frank Lee Morris (1441), John William Anglin (1476), Clarence Anglin (1485) • Raft: about 6 x 14 feet, made from more than 50 prison raincoats • Water: 50-55°F, strong currents, at least 1¼ miles to shore • FBI file closed: December 31, 1979, then handed to the U.S. Marshals • Official status: missing, presumed drowned. The Marshals still list all three as wanted. • Alcatraz, 1934-1963: 36 men tried 14 escapes SOURCES FBI, "Alcatraz Escape": fbi.gov/history/cases-and-criminals/alcatraz-escape Federal Bureau of Prisons, "Alcatraz": bop.gov/about/history/alcatraz.jsp U.S. Marshals fugitive profile: usmarshals.gov/what-we-do/fugitive-apprehension/profiled-fugitives/frank-lee-morris FBI on the decoy heads (2018): fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/sanfrancisco/news/press-releases/fbi-presents-national-park-service-with-3d-printed-copies-of-escape-from-alcatraz-decoy-heads CBS on the 2013 letter: cbsnews.com/news/alcatraz-inmates-survived-infamous-1962-escape-letter-suggests/ Visit the real cells, Alcatraz Island (National Park Service): nps.gov/alca ARCHIVE AND PHOTOS Universal Newsreel, June 14, 1962 and March 25, 1963, National Archives (IDs 234274618, 234274699). U.S. Navy film, 1969, National Archives. FBI evidence photos and renderings, FBI and U.S. Marshals Service. Museum objects, National Park Service, Golden Gate NRA. HABS photos, Library of Congress. 1956 map, USGS. CREATIVE COMMONS (via Wikimedia Commons) Michele Pierangeli, "Alcatraz cell doors closing," CC BY 3.0. YouTube user "Editor," "Alcatraz Island" (2011), CC BY 3.0. Jdreed, "Alcatraz Island, March 1962," CC BY 3.0. Daniel Ramirez, "Alcatraz with Angel Island behind," CC BY 2.0. The wub, "Alcatraz and the Golden Gate in fog," CC BY 4.0. HarshLight, "Golden Gate from the cellhouse window," CC BY 2.0. Samantha Marx, "Escape cell vent," CC BY 2.0. William Warby, "Cell vent hole under the sink," CC BY 2.0. Public domain: Benlechlitner, Jester7777, Brocken Inaglory. Licenses: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ · creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ · creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Narration: ElevenLabs. Music: Suno. Evidence Drawer tells real cases from official records and archives. Where sources disagree, we say so. MORE FROM EVIDENCE DRAWER TikTok: tiktok.com/@evidencedrawer Instagram: instagram.com/evidencedrawer/ Facebook: facebook.com/evidencedrawer Related: Escape from Alcatraz, Frank Morris, the Anglin brothers, Alcatraz Island history, unsolved prison escapes, FBI case files, U.S. Marshals fugitives. #truecrime #alcatraz #unsolvedmysteries #escapefromalcatraz #fbi #coldcase #history #mystery #documentary #evidencedrawer