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Subscribe to RSSBank robbers John and Clarence Anglin made multiple escape attempts from lesser prisons after their 1958 conviction. So they were sent to the ultimate lockup of the day: Alcatraz.
On June 11, 1962, the brothers escaped with another man. Did they drown or are they still on the run today?
This summer for the 50th anniversary of their escape, Marie Anglin Widner -- sister to Clarence and John -- along with her sons are planning a trip to San Francisco to visit the famed prison, where they will honor their escapee kin, NBC/ABC station WALB of Albany, Ga., reported on its website.
John and Clarence Anglin robbed a bank in Columbia, Ala., with toy guns in 1958. A few days later, they were captured in Cincinnati and sentenced to long prison terms. Their escape attempts eventually landed them at Alcatraz.
"The only reason they put them in Alcatraz was because they could not keep them anywhere else they put them," Widner, of Lee County, Ga., told WALB. "They kept getting away."
At Alcatraz, the brothers met Frank Morris, the mastermind of the operation, which involved elaborate digging and handcrafted dummies and life rafts. Authorities believed the men probably drowned in the cold, turbulent waters around Alcatraz.
But not Widner, who told WALB that her brothers did not die during the escape. "We know they are OK," she said.
If the brothers survived the swim, they would be the only people to successfully escape The Rock. They would be in their 80s today.
Widner's sons David and Ken recall FBI visits to the house and bugged phone lines. They told WALB that the feds stopped by just months ago.
The family is hoping to persuade the government to return some of the brothers' items.
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This article includes reporting from NBCBayArea.com and msnbc.com staff.
Leave a Comment:
Would love to know the rest of this story.
alwaysanother, to answer your question about dannyboy's post...BECAUSE.
These are the kind of folks that deserved to be honored. Aren't they?
Man, what a screwed up society.
I agree - "honor" is a poor choice of words when we're discussing criminals.
I've been to the Rock several times though and it is a good story. Seems relatively harmless 50 years later. If they died during the escape (as I'm sure they did), no great loss to society. If they somehow survived, they apparently haven't bothered anyone since then, so no great burden on society either.
In this case, after seeing Clint's movie "Escape from Alcatraz", I've always hoped and pretty much believed they made it. Other clues tend to confirm my suspicions like WHY, if the "authorities were SURE they died" would we hear comments like... FBI visits to the house and bugged phone lines. The family told WALB that the feds stopped by just months ago.
It sure seems SOME AUTHORITIES have NOT been so sure and still have their suspicions.
They weren't murderers but they obviously broke enough laws to get put in Alcatraz. So, if they did survive, they did so looking over their shoulders for 50 years and that seems more than punishment enough.
Of course the cops think there is a definite possibility that they survived despite their assertion that they drowned. If the cops had any proof that they three drowned it would have been all over the news and Alcatraz would not have been shut down.
Once they realized that The Rock was escapable they decided that it wasn't cost effective to keep open.
The reason they stopped by a few months ago was because they still believe that the escapees could be alive. And there is nothing more annoying than somebody outwitting the FBI.
If the movie is anywhere near accurate, what happened to the 4th guy? Anybody know?
wghky, I don't remember the Eastwood movie well enough to even remember a 'fourth' guy. However, as a fourth guy isn't mentioned in the story above, I would suspect that in the film the 'fourth' guy was a plot device to move the story along.
The closest I've ever been to any famous rock, was watching the movie Doom, staring "The Rock".
They obviously arn't repeat offenders. And on the merit alone of having escaped the Rock, they should just let them go, and finish out their lives. They can'd do nothing at 80 anyway, I'm only half their age and this life wears me out. Give them a freakin medal. What they did wasn't good, nor breaking out of prison, but it's sort of funny in a way. They arn't murderers or nothin, so just let em go!