The Alcatraz Mystery: Why We Still Don't Know Their Fate

In 1962, three inmates escaped from Alcatraz and vanished into San Francisco Bay. More than six decades later, what happened to Frank Morris, John Anglin and Clarence Anglin remains one of history’s most enduring mysteries. On the night of June 11, 1962, Frank Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin disappeared from their cells at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. Using an elaborate escape plan developed over months, the men made their way out of the prison and toward the cold waters of San Francisco Bay. By morning, they were gone. The FBI concluded that the escapees most likely died attempting the crossing. But no confirmed bodies were ever recovered, and questions surrounding their fate have persisted for decades. In this documentary, we reconstruct the 1962 Alcatraz escape from beginning to end and examine the evidence surrounding what happened after the three men left the island. We investigate how the escape was planned, how the men broke out of their cells, the improvised equipment they created, the route across Alcatraz, the conditions in San Francisco Bay, the FBI investigation, and the evidence used to argue that they did not survive. But we also examine the other side of the mystery: later modelling of the Bay's tides and currents, claims from the Anglin family, the controversial photograph allegedly taken in Brazil in 1975, and the handwritten letter that surfaced decades after the escape. Did Frank Morris and the Anglin brothers die in San Francisco Bay? Or did three men accomplish the impossible — escaping America's most notorious prison and disappearing for good? This is the story of the Escape from Alcatraz. CHAPTERS 00:00 — The Morning Count 01:10 — The Rock 02:26 — Behind the Wall 03:47 — June 11th, 1962 05:20 — The Search 06:20 — The Case for Drowning 07:21 — The Case for Survival 09:11 — What can Actually Be Proven 10:08 — The Epilogue The What Remains explores history through cinematic storytelling, investigating the people, crimes, mysteries and events that shaped our world. Subscribe for original documentaries exploring history, historical mysteries, true crime and extraordinary real stories. History. Mystery. Crime. The stories that remain.