Back on June 11, 1962, Frank Lee Morris, along with brothers John and Clarence Anglin, bid farewell to Alcatraz Island, San Francisco, California under the cover of night. And over the next 64 years, dozens of legends have grown up around the mystery of what happened to these three men, and hundreds of armchair sleuths have come up with their own theories (including me), but only a very few officials have the facts that haven’t been released to the public.
I won’t go into any of that. A huge amount has already been published. But I do want to highlight my three theories as to why I think these men survived their daring escape.
My Top Three Theories
1 — Destiny Collides: Frank Morris had an IQ of 133+, and paired with a couple brothers who toughened their hides swimming in the winter waters of Lake Michigan in their youth, it seems inevitable that the three would partner up on the most daring escape to ever happen on an island prison in the middle of a frigid bay.
2 — Survival: There had been many escape attempts from Alcatraz, but the men had either been recaptured, or shot in the water. Only one man made it to the mainland. John Paul Scott had been working with fellow inmate, Darl Lee Parker, on culinary duty in a storage room below the kitchen when they hatched their escape plans.
On the night of December 16, 1962, just six months since the Morris and Anglin Brother’s escape, the two men bent the bars of a latrine window in their cell block and climbed down a rope into the San Francisco Bay. The men were discovered missing at 5:47pm during a routine cell check and guards were immediately dispatched across the island. Darl Parker was found thirty minutes later just off Alcatraz Island on a small rocky outcrop called Little Alcatraz, clinging for his life in the icy cold bay waters.
John Scott was discovered later in the evening at 7pm by Army MPs from the Precidio. Scott had reached the mainland at Fort Point, part of the Presidio grounds, on the southern side of the Golden Gate Bridge, half naked and in a state of life-threatening shock. He was taken to Letterman General Hospital, now Letterman Digital Arts Center that has served as the combined home of Industrial Light & Magic, Lucasfilm Games, Lucasfilm Animation, and Lucasfilm’s marketing, online, and licensing units since 2005. One Scott had recovered, he was returned to Alcatraz.
While Scott had been returned to his cell, he proved once and for all that the mainland could be reached, in spite of all the warnings of the Bay being full of man eating sharks!
3 — Going Underground: Alcatraz Island is full of tunnels and warrens dating back to the 1860s and the American Civil War. Fort Alcatraz was also known as the Alcatraz Citadel. During the Civil War, these tunnels and warrens were used to cross the island undertected in case of attack (see fyi).
After the Civil War, much of the fort had been razed and a new prison was raised. Visitors to the prison today can find a couple entrances down into the Citadel remains. There are a couple public access tunnels, but many of those on the island have been sealed off in some way. Like the morgue building that’s only ever been used once which was built at the entrance to one of the longer tunnels and still accessible should a blockade be removed.
It’s my theory that Morris and the Anglins used at least one of these tunnels to cross the island during their escape. Most escapees had used the same routes to the same ‘hoping off’ area. I think Morris knew this and suggested they enter the water at another point, and to keep from being detected rushing across the island, they used at least one of the tunnels to do so.
It’s also my theory that one of the men scattered some debris into the Bay to throw off the guards, while they waited on the other side of the island to make their escape at another time of night or early morning while everyone was looking for them elsewhere.
FYI — San Francisco was never attacked during the American Civil War. While the city and the federal government feared Confederate strikes, particularly concerning Pacific gold shipments and Confederate privateers, no actual battle or bombardment took place in San Francisco, nor had they in any part of California.
Are any of my theories on the money or way off the mark? I don’t know, but what I do know is that only three men knew exactly what happened that night, and until or unless we hear from them directly, we’ll never know for sure.
What we do know for sure is that warrants for arrest can’t remain open in perpetuity. Typically, the US Marshals Service maintains these, as their job is searching for and arresting fugitives from justice.
It’s noted in historic files that the FBI closed their files on Morris and the Anglins in 1979, assuming they were taken by sharks in the water. Those files were then turned over to the US Marshals who continue their searches until the fugitives are either captured, killed, or turn 100 years of age.
That brings us to today. On Sept 1st, Frank Morris turned 100, and as a birthday gift from the US Marshals, his arrest warrant has now expired.
So…
Olly olly oxen free! You can come out now, Frank. You’re safe! Tell us where you’ve been and what you’ve been up to.
Do my readers have any theories about what happened to Alcatraz’s most legendary escapees? Share them in the comments here. Let’s strike up a conversation.
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As you may know, my current WIP/Work in Progress is a story called Slaughter for Hire and takes my detective, Jack Slaughter, onto Alcatraz to investigate a case he’s been hired to work. Until this book is released, I encourage you to meet Jack in the first book, Slaughtered…now adapted for the big screen and currently being shopped. You can find more info about me and my series here on this site.
Don't forget, Christmas is just around the corner! The gift of the first three books in my series would make an awesome gift for anyone who loves thrillers. This series maintains a 4.8 out of 5 rank on both Amazon and Goodreads!
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