All language subtitles for Unsolved.Mysteries.S01E17.480p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-PLAYREADY_track3_[und]

This program is about
unsolved mysteries.

Whenever possible, the
actual family members

and police officials
have participated

in recreating the events.

What you are about to see
is not a news broadcast.

[music playing]

Alcatraz, a rock.

For over 29 years, the nation's
most notorious prison-- a home

for such master criminals as
Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly,

and its Birdman, Robert
Stroud-- Alcatraz

stands in the middle of San
Francisco's icy cold bay,

a treacherous moat that was
the best guarantee that nobody

would successfully escape.

And nobody did until
June the 11th, 1962.

On that night, three men
broke out of their cell house

and vanished into the
waves of a homemade raft.

John Anglin, his brother
Clarence and Frank Morris,

the brilliant mastermind of the
escape, were never seen again.

10 days later, authorities
discovered pieces of the raft.

It had broken up at sea.

The three convicts appeared
to have swum for it.

Did they make it?

The debate continues.

If they went into the water
with the primitive flotation

equipment that they had, they
were drowned within 30 minutes.

They succumbed to
hypothermia and drowned.

I'd stake my life on it, that
they're out there in the bar

right now.

Or their bones are out there.

I felt that they
didn't make it.

But I thought we'd find a body.

And we didn't find a body.

I think they made it.

If you call the Bureau
of Prisons today,

they will tell you no one
escaped from Alcatraz.

They made it.

In the 25 years that have
passed since that June night,

no trace of Frank Morris, John
Anglin and Clarence Anglin

has ever been found.

They may still be at large and
perhaps are still in hiding.

Tonight, in a special 90
minute edition of "Unsolved

Mysteries", we will
see exactly how

the inmates conceived
and executed

their ingenious escape.

We will follow the exact
route they took as they broke

through the walls of Alcatraz.

And just as they faced the icy
waters of the San Francisco

Bay, we have asked triathlon
swimmer, Dave Horning

to attempt to duplicate their
dangerous swim to freedom.

We've also got a replica of
the convicts' makeshift raft

to see if they could
possibly survive

the one of the half mile
trip across the Bay.

Renowned endurance
swimmer Diana Nyad

will closely track Dave
and the raft's progress

from our camera boat
just a few feet away.

We'll also take you inside
the walls of Alcatraz,

where society's
most incorrigible

criminals, including Al
Capone, are finally tamed.

So join me for this 90
minute special edition

of "The Unsolved
Mysteries from Alcatraz."

[music playing]

In August of 1934,
Alcatraz opened its doors.

Its inmates, the most
troublesome, escape prone

cons in the system, were
gathered from prisons

around the country.

Alcatraz's first
convicts were loaded

on special armored trains.

Shackled to their benches,
they made the slow journey

to Tiburon on San Francisco Bay.

The guards were so
concerned about an escape

that, once there,
the railroad cars

themselves were
loaded onto barges

and taken across to the Rock.

The men were not allowed
out of these train cars

until they stepped on
the dock of Alcatraz.

On Alcatraz, inmates
who behave themselves

were given the privilege of
working a few hours a day

in the industries building.

There in the laundry,
Al Capone, who had once

made $100,000 a week looting
Chicago's underworld,

earned $0.07 an hour
pressing and folding

the clothes of military
personnel and the inmates.

It was possibly the first
honest job he ever had.

And Alcatraz was the
first institution to truly

tame the cunning gangland boss.

Capone was convicted of
income tax evasion in 1931.

Initially he was
jailed in Chicago.

And then Atlanta, but was
able to bribe authorities

for special privileges.

He had a carpeted
cell, a smoking jacket,

and was even offered a
ticker tape machine to keep

track of his investments.

At Alcatraz, however, he endured
the same Spartan conditions

as everyone else.

Al Capone was a very
good inmate on Alcatraz.

Unfortunately,
some of the inmates

were very jealous of him because
of his millions of dollars.

And he was treated very
badly by the inmates.

One inmate stabbed him one
time in the barbershop.

During Capone's first
two years at Alcatraz,

the warden established a
policy forbidding the inmates

to speak to one another.

This strict rule of
silence was impossible

for the boisterous Capone.

On at least three
occasions he was caught

talking to other inmates.

And it was here that
he paid the penalty,

confinement on isolation row.

Its 200 pound doors of steel
blocked out all the light.

They forced the inmate
to sit in a tiny cell

in pitch black dark
with no human contact

for 24 hours a day.

And if a convict was
particularly troublesome,

his bed, blankets and
clothes would be confiscated,

and he had to endure
the ordeal naked.

When Capone entered Alcatraz,
he was diagnosed with syphilis.

Capone wouldn't believe
it, and paid other convicts

to take his medicine.

After a few years, the guards
noticed that the syphilis

was affecting his brain.

His speech deteriorated,
and from time to time

he would put his
clothes on backwards.

Eventually, Capone
was completely

disabled by the disease.

He died on January 25th, 1947,
eight years after his release

from Alcatraz.

One of the Rock's
most famous residents

was Robert Stroud, who
served a life sentence

for two murder convictions.

Stroud initially was
incarcerated at Leavenworth,

where he spent his time in
solitary confinement studying

birds and wrote two
books on their diseases.

His life was
chronicled in a movie

called "The Birdman
of Alcatraz,"

starring Burt Lancaster.

It painted a heroic
picture of Stroud

as an oppressed
convict tormented

by prison officials who
wanted to confiscate

the 300 birds he had collected.

Robert Stroud was a surly,
quiet, and morose individual.

he did very little talking.

Very few of the
inmates talked to him.

And most of them disliked him.

Stroud was a very
intelligent man.

With only a third
grade education,

he could read and write about
three or four languages.

But he was psychotic,
very demented

man, and at most times, very
difficult to get along with.

At Leavenworth, Stroud was
caught hiding 3 and 1/2 gallons

of grain alcohol which he
had distilled from bird seed

and from contraband
smuggled to him

in the bottoms of bird cages.

For this and other
offenses, he was transferred

to Alcatraz in 1942.

He had a lot of funny habits.

A lot of times he'd walk
around in his cell quite naked.

He'd also shave every
hair off his body.

And those were some of
the things that were

different than most inmates.

On the Rock, Stroud
was not allowed to keep

a single bird in his cell.

But apparently his
biographers felt

the title Birdman of
Alcatraz had a catchier ring

than Birdman of Leavenworth.

For 30 years,
Alcatraz with the most

dreaded prison in America--
tough, cold and virtually

escape proof.

14 escapes were attempted.

10 men died, and all the rest
were captured, except three.

Many former inmates believe
those three made it.

One of these inmates
was a suspected

collaborator, Clarence Carnes.

A confidential, close friend of
the escapees, Clarence Carnes

spent 13 years on Alcatraz
and was the youngest person

in confinement, arriving in 1946
when he was just 18 years old.

That same year Clarence
became embroiled

in the bloodiest escape
attempt in Alcatraz's history.

A desperate bid that
resulted in the deaths of two

guards and three inmates.

Two other inmates were executed
for their role in the murders,

but Carnes was
spared and instead

received a life sentence.

Don DeNevi, a professor at
Merritt College in Oakland,

co-wrote a manuscript
with Clarence Carnes.

This was a first insider's
account of the escape.

Clarence passed away last year.

But DeNevi shares his
collaborator's opinion.

These guys made it.

They made it because
Clarence said they did,

and I trust that.

If you call the Bureau
of Prisons today,

they will tell you no one
escaped from Alcatraz.

They made it.

This is an embarrassment.

Who's going to admit to that?

In Clarences' manuscript, he
wrote, "cowardice at Alcatraz

was a thing you didn't
run into very often.

Most had proven long
before they got there

that they weren't cowards."

The daring escape of Frank
Morris and the Anglin brothers,

against the longest odds
that could possibly exist,

is telling proof that Clarence
knew what he was talking about.

Alcatraz had a deservedly
formidable reputation.

The ratio of guard to
inmate was the highest

of any prison in
the country, one

guard to every three convicts.

Alcatraz was the last stop
in the federal prison system,

and only the worst
troublemakers were sent there.

There were few privileges.

For the first two
years of operation,

prisoners were not even
allowed to talk to one another.

Out of a 24 hour day, 23 were
spent in a solitary cell.

The inmates were counted
at least 14 times a day.

But no man made security
precautions could begin

to match Alcatraz's most
distinguished feature--

the Bay that surrounds it.

Alcatraz were opened
because it was hoped to be,

and we believe that has
been, the inescapable prison.

Alcatraz was never
considered escape proof.

It was considered to be
a very difficult place

to escape from, for one
reason and one reason only.

And that was the water
that lay between the island

and the mainland.

Or in the other direction, from
the island and Angel Island.

That was the only thing that
made it difficult to escape

from Alcatraz, was that water.

The water was there.

That was the barrier.

Alcatraz's state of
the art security included

a master control
room that oversaw

the three-tiered cellblocks.

There each prisoner was
assigned to his own cell.

Guards prowled restlessly,
looking for signs of trouble.

25.

23.

27.

24.

You got so many
counts you make a day.

And you've got to count bodies.

And we had a lot
of official counts.

And then we had a lot
of unofficial counts

which the office of [inaudible]
was supposed to take.

So what my opinion is, if
you can beat the count,

you can escape from any place.

If you can't beat the count,
you're going to get caught.

One of the hallmarks of
Alcatraz's rigid security

was the sporadic shakedowns
of the prisoners' cells.

Want to open up 143?

Clarence Carnes
was often targeted,

as he worked in
the prison library

and distributed reading
material to the board prisoners.

Come out of there.

Shakedown time.

Authorities suspected that
he used this job as a cover

to circulate contraband.

Materials they were correct.

Carnes was the most
important inmate on Alcatraz.

He had gained the respect of
virtually all the other inmates

because he knew how to
keep his mouth shut.

He was, in a sense, the
godfather of Alcatraz.

Those who needed information,
those who wanted advice

sought Carnes out.

OK, close it up.

Clarence was invited to
participate in the escape.

But as he was under such
close scrutiny, he declined.

He did remain close to the
plot, a plot that began

with a robber named Allen West.

West was a close
friend of Carnes,

and was assigned to
paint the top tier

and ceiling of the cell
block at the prison.

One day while working
there, he discovered

a way to access
the prison's roof

through a ventilation shaft.

West noticed that
the ventilation duct

through the cell house roof
was constructed in such a way

so that there were
crossbars in between.

You couldn't cut the bars.

But West discovered
that all you had to do

was cut the entire duct
from its surrounding support

and just shove the
whole thing out.

By October of 1961, West
had begun planning his escape.

He enlisted the help
of the Anglin brothers.

They had been at the
prison for 1 and 1/2 years

and had a history of escapes
from other institutions.

The Anglins were expert
raftsmen because they'd

grown up in the Florida swamps.

They knew how to
construct rafts.

They knew how to
negotiate currents.

They were expert
swimmers as well.

Perhaps the most
pivotal figure in the plot

was another bank robber
named Frank Morris.

According to prison records,
he had an IQ of 133,

approaching the genius range.

His cell was next to West.

And once he was
bought into the plan,

he put his intellect
to good use.

Morris also had a record
of other escape attempts.

He had been at Alcatraz
for 1 and 1/2 Years

Morris, if you
could use the term,

was the intellectual type.

He was a thinker.

Anything connected
with this escape

that had any real brains behind
it can be credited to Morris.

While they found a way
to break through the roof,

the prisoners still
had no way to get

to the top of the cellblock
from their first floor cells.

But Clarence Carnes knew a way.

During those few hours of
freedom during the 1946 escape,

Clarence had
discovered this utility

corridor that ran the length
and the height of the cellblock.

Inside the corridor were
heating and water pipes

that formed a makeshift ladder.

It was a dangerous climb, but
it was the only way the convicts

could reach the roof.

Word began to circulate
through the prison grapevine

that an escape was on.

It seemed everyone
but the guards

knew that something was up.

Carnes' job made it possible
for him to pass information

to the four ringleaders.

It was not what might be
called general knowledge,

but I think that
there was quite a few

of the other inmates that
were aware that an escape

attempt was being made.

And it's surprising
to me that this could

be the case without
some information

getting to the authorities.

The convicts on Alcatraz,
even if the whole population

knew about it, you can almost
be guaranteed that the guards

would never hear about it.

That's just the way the
cons on the Rock were.

In preparing for their
escape, the convicts

took advantage of one of
Alcatraz's few luxuries.

In the early part
of the evening,

there was what they
call a music hour.

And anybody who had a string
instrument could play.

When that music is
playing, it kind of

has an effect of
deafening the officer

who is making his inspections.

And the inmates that were
digging were just digging away.

You think if somebody
is going to escape,

they're going to escape
out through the front.

It never entered my
mind that somebody'd

go back through the corridor.

I don't know why.

It's like I guess you
don't use the backdoor.

In between headcounts,
the Anglins, West and Morris

dug out the rear of
their respective cells.

West also used the time to
craft false ventilation fronts

to hide their escape materials.

In order to evade the
incessant headcounts

while they prepared
their escape,

the convicts devised
a brilliant ploy.

They decided that they would
have to make dummy heads to be

in their bunks in
case one of them

was not in there when
the guard would go by.

And this was at a time when
the lights were turned low,

and it would be difficult
to recognize other than see

that a face was in the bed.

Morris asked me about
how you mix flesh tone.

Because see I'm an artist.

I did a lot of oil
painting on Alcatraz.

He asked me a number of times,
and I began to wonder, why is

he so interested in flesh tone?

And then I begin to
put it all together--

because they needed a flesh
tone color for the dummy heads.

The construction
of these dummies

took place after the lights
had been extinguished.

The dummies themselves were
made from soap, concrete powder,

and stolen paint.

One of the Anglins
worked in the barbershop

and provided the hair that gave
them an extra touch of realism.

This is one of the actual
dummies the men created,

still preserved by the
National Maritime Museum

across the Bay in San Francisco.

Now these are two drills
used by the convicts.

They're constructed from
barber shears and parts

from a vacuum cleaner.

They are thought
to have been used

to drill through the huge
duct leading to the roof.

These are the actual
spoon handles, which

authorities believe were used to
dig through the convicts' cell

walls.

By the time the convicts
had crafted these items,

they'd managed to surmount
many of the obstacles standing

between them and freedom.

But huge ones remained.

They still had to
find a place to hide

while they used the drills
to cut through to the roof.

Additionally, in the midst of
the prison's tight security

and close scrutiny, they had to
find some private space where

they could build their raft.

Allen West came up
with a solution.

Hey, what's going on up there?

When West was painting,
some material would get

down and get scattered around.

And so I don't know who gave the
orders that he would be allowed

to hang some blankets
up alongside of there

so that this material would
not get thrown over the side.

In retrospect, it gave those
people a place to work.

For eight months
the cell house roof

is blanketed off, giving
the inmates complete privacy

to drill out the
ventilation shaft

and collect the items they
needed for their escape.

Morris and the Anglins
would take turns climbing

to this workspace,
the dummies left

on their pillows enabled them
to evade the nightly headcount.

Each night, with a
look out in place,

they would make the
hazardous climb to the roof.

In his manuscript,
Carnes writes,

"many times through
the years I had met

men who had tried to escape.

But their flaw had been too
little planning and being

too hasty to try to get away.

They had not been thoroughly
in their thinking,

and that's what defeated
them on Alcatraz."

The four men who
painstakingly prepared

their daring escape that winter
in 1962 made no such mistakes.

They can hear you
all the way up here.

Quiet.

Shut up and keep filing.

Yeah.

Making any progress?

Some.

Back in 1962, the Anglins,
Frank Morris and Allen West

spent nine months preparing
for their impending swim.

And as winter
passed into spring,

they made their final plans.

For To patrolling guards,
the spring of 1962

was like any other.

But the inmates
knew differently.

And right under the
gaze of their keepers,

they helped the four escapees
in their preparations.

One by one, other
convicts surreptitiously

passed the escapees the
raincoats they needed to build

their raft and life jackets.

At night the men made their
life preservers in their cells

and hid them in the partially
dug out escape tunnels.

In this secret workspace
hidden by the blankets,

the Anglins and Morris took
turns assembling their raft.

They were getting close,
very close to the time

when they would be ready.

June 11th, 1962-- the lights
had been extinguished.

The time to escape
had finally arrived.

Allen.

Allen.

Yep.

Time to go.

Quietly, the Anglins
made the, by now,

routine trip to their workspace.

And for the first time, West
tried to slip through the hole

in his cell wall.

Frank.

What the hell's
the matter with you?

I can't get through.

The hole's too small.

Everybody's
upstairs ready to go.

West had his exit
carved out to the point

where all he needed was
to punch his way through.

Suddenly there's
an iron bar that

had been used as part of
the reinforced masonry

when the cell house had
originally been built

and that no one knew was there.

Where's West?

His hole's not big enough.

He needs more help.

No way.

We're leaving.

Leaving the instigator of
the plan behind, the Anglins

and Morris finally, in the
words of Clarence Carnes,

"saw the moon" for the
first time in decades.

They were almost free.

The convicts descended
from a corner of the roof

by way of an exhaust pipe
adjoining the kitchen.

Ironically, though
prepared for every security

breach inside the prison,
security outside was weak.

Nobody noticed the men as they
carried their raft and life

preservers closer to
the beach, the last step

before the most grueling
part of the journey.

Only one fence stood between
them and the 54 degree

waters of San Francisco Bay.

It was so carefully planned.

The utilizing of dummy faces,
the making of the life jackets,

the making of a raft-- I
don't know of any escape

from a prison which had
more ingenuity utilized.

The escapees were confronted
by one final hurdle--

how to quietly inflate
their huge raft.

Their solution was perhaps
the most ingenious yet.

Frank Morris had received
a small accordion

call a concertina for use
during the daily music hour.

They had taken the keys
out of the concertina.

And therefore, you
could put your hand

on one strap of the concertina
and push it up and down.

It would operate
just like a bellows.

Very remarkable
exercise of patience

and stick-to-itiveness.

The only weak point
in this escape

was the failure to really
take serious consideration

of that water out there.

The record of previous
escapes should

have been sufficient to deter
them from tackling that water.

It's impossible to
beat that water.

That was the mistake.

Frank Morris, John
Anglin and Clarence Anglin

made it off the Rock.

What happened to them
next remains a mystery.

The following day it
was business as usual

on Alcatraz, beginning
with a morning headcount.

It's a dummy!

It's a dummy in 152!

Clarence Anglin, John Anglin
and Frank Morris had escaped.

[helicopter buzzing]

Immediately an
extensive search began,

one of the largest manhunts in
the country since the Lindbergh

kidnapping 25 years earlier.

We were ordered to go out
in the Bay and, of course,

start looking around the Island.

And then over on Angel
Island, scanning the beaches

to see if anything
that pertained to them

might have washed up.

And then it became evident that
we weren't going to find them.

Whether they had made it or
not, no one knew for sure.

Authorities believe
that the men were

headed for nearby Angel Island.

But for 24 hours
nothing was found.

Then remnants of the escapees
raft began to surface,

and so, too, did a
controversy on whether or not

the men survived.

The day after the
escape, a homemade oar

was discovered floating between
Alcatraz and Angel Island.

This paddle matched one
that the convicts had

left behind in the cellblock.

On June 14th, two days
after the breakout,

a rubber-wrapped packet
was also discovered

floating near Angel Island.

It contained an
address book, 80 family

photographs, and a money
order that belonged

to one of the escapees.

My conclusion
would be that it was

items that these people needed.

These were keepsakes
of these men.

This was all they
had in this world.

When I seen that, I said, well,
I think they didn't make it.

Because I think it's something
they would even possibly risk

their life to save.

On the 15th of June,
a prison raincoat

was found floating near the
North Shore of San Francisco.

On the 22nd, 10 days
after the escape,

pieces of the convicts raft
were found only 50 yards

off the east shore of Alcatraz.

I feel sincerely that the
flotation equipment that they

had came apart on them.

And that instead of being
able to ride above the water,

they were submerged
in the water.

Don Eberly was the FBI agent
in charge of the investigation.

Probably the earliest
they could have gotten

into the water would be 10:30.

The outgoing tide started
that night at 10 o'clock.

And that outgoing
tide is very strong.

And I firmly believe that they
were taken by the currents

into the Pacific Ocean.

The day of the
escape, a Norwegian ship

spotted a body floating 20 miles
past the Golden Gate Bridge.

Though unable to retrieve
it, the description

matched that of Frank Morris.

They cited what he had on, and
it coincided with the apparel

of the escapees.

There is some evidence to
suggest that at least one

of the men survived.

The day after the escape, a
man claiming to be John Anglin

called a San
Francisco lawyer known

to represent Alcatraz inmates.

The attorney in question
was out of the office.

So the call was transferred
to another attorney,

Eugenia McGowan.

The person called,
and the receptionist

put him through to me.

And he said, I'm
John Anglin, and I

want you to contact
the US Marshall's

office to set up a meeting.

And I said for what purpose?

And he said, in effect,
don't ask questions.

Just do as I tell you.

Call the US Marshall's
office to set up a meeting.

And I said, well, I'm not going
to do that unless I know why.

And he said, do
you know who I am?

And I said, no.

He said, read the
newspaper, and he hung up.

The FBI set up a phone tap
in Eugenia McGowan's office,

hoping the man would call back.

He never did.

And they eventually
ended the surveillance,

dismissing the call as a prank.

A few weeks after the
break, Clarence Carnes

claimed he received a
postcard from the escapees.

In it they gave the
pre-arranged code words

that confirmed their success.

The card read, gone fishing.

If they had made it to
shore, the first thing

they would have had to do was to
take something off of somebody.

They would have
had to get a car.

Or they would have
had to get money.

They would have had to
do something that would

have certainly been noticed.

There were no reports
of robberies or car thefts

attributable to the escapees.

However, the men
may have been helped

by someone on the outside.

Players believe the convicts
secure the aid of an Alcatraz

inmate named Bumpy Johnson.

Clarence shared with me
that Elsworth "Bumpy" Johnson,

black Capone of Harlem,
underworld King of Harlem,

had arranged for a boat
to be out there to pick

the Anglins and Morris up.

Now it would have been
pitch black out there,

but my guess is that
they did get to that boat

that was waiting for them.

According to Clarence
Carnes, the boat then

took the convicts to Pier
13 in San Francisco's

Hunters Point district.

My feeling is that that's
just something that Carnes has

dreamed up and that there is
not the slightest possibility

there's any truth in it.

My opinion of
Clarence Carnes is

that he's an inmate of Alcatraz
and any information we received

from him would have to be
taken with a grain of salt,

because of his background.

And that you would
have to assiduously

verify everything that he said.

So far there's never
been any indication

that what he had said has
any truth concerning the fact

that they have escaped.

Come on, West.

Co-conspirator Allen
West was questioned

about these outside contacts.

He denied they existed.

[cell closing]

West wouldn't have copped out.

He wouldn't have copped out.

You know, West was people.

He was solid people.

And I don't believe
he ever, to this day,

I don't believe he
ever told them nothing.

Today the FBI and
prison authorities

have not changed their opinion.

They believed the men
drowned within minutes

of hitting the water.

The escape was just another
dismal failure in our opinion.

Of course, we never are
cocksure enough to say,

well, we know they're dead.

But we were pretty
sure that they

were dead, because there was
no trace of them whatsoever.

However, they're still
on the missing list

and not the dead list.

Six months after the escape of
Morris and the Anglin brothers,

another attempt proved that they
could have survived the swim.

It began in the store room,
located underneath the kitchen.

Over a period of time
that must have been years,

a succession of convicts sawed
away at the bars on a window.

Some believe they used a
spatula stolen from the kitchen.

Another theory is that the
inmates used pieces of string,

covered them in wax,
and then dipped them

into ordinary kitchen
cleanser, making

a crude and fragile file.

Imagine the frustration of
trying to saw through steel

with a piece of string.

But by December of
1962, two men were

ready to make the final cut.

John Prescott and Lee Parker,
two convicted bank robbers,

made the last cuts on the
bars on December 14th, 1962.

The cold waters
quickly convinced

Parker to give up the swim.

But Scott was undaunted.

He was carried by the
current over three miles

to the south base of
the Golden Gate Bridge,

where he washed ashore
half frozen and nearly dead

onto a rocky beach.

Some children, thinking
he had fallen off a boat,

alerted authorities.

Scott was immediately
taken into custody.

His escape attempt is
the only known case

of an inmate surviving
the frigid waters, which

that December would have
been the same temperature

as the water in the Bay today.

On Alcatraz, one
of the few privileges

granted to inmates
was a prison library.

And it was here,
according to authorities,

that the Anglin
brothers and Morris

had access to two magazines that
may have aided their escape.

The March 1962 issue
of "Popular Mechanics"

continued an article on
water-tight sailing jackets.

And the May 1962 edition
of "Sports Illustrated"

featured an article on
makeshift rubberized boats.

Police authorities
believe that the men

modeled their life jackets
and raft on these articles.

Was this crudely made
raft sturdy enough

to survive the forceful
currents of the Bay?

And if the raft did fail,
could the escapees have

made it to shore by swimming?

To test the likelihood
of the raft's survival,

we've constructed a similar
raft out of raincoats.

Three experienced
kayakers will attempt

to paddle this raft to shore.

To test the theory that
the convicts had to abandon

the raft and swim
to shore, we've

asked endurance
swimmer Dave Horning

to brave the frigid waters
surrounding Alcatraz

and swim to a San
Francisco beach.

Diana Nyad is standing
by with our team

of rafters who are just about
ready to begin their journey.

The only thing that
we're not duplicating

accurately from the day of
the escape is the time of day.

They left at night.

Would that have made a
tremendous difference?

I don't think a
tremendous difference.

But I think it is to our
advantage in that we can see

and make a plan for
the first few obstacles

that they had to overcome.

First of which is this
eight foot seawall,

which has these very
sharp and slippery,

leg-breaking rocks below.

The second is that we can
see the swirling eddies

and currents that
are around Alcatraz,

and we can make a plan as
to how to get out of here.

I think the convicts really
didn't know where the current

was going to take them.

Well, I thank
you all very much

for your adventuresome spirits.

And we'll be checking in
with you all the way along.

We've switched now to
our swimmer Dave Horning.

And Dave has swum some of
the coldest bodies of water

in the world, including
in the Soviet Union.

Tell people at
home who have never

been immersed in
dangerously cold

water what happens to the body.

As I go into the
water here this morning,

it will be like
an embracing shock

which will go through my body
initially when I hit the water.

And there will be some
question in my mind in regards

to how long I'll be able to
last in this 47 degree water.

OK, now that's you.

You're very experienced
in cold water.

Now what about these
three convicts?

I understand that
they were not even

allowed to take cold
showers on Alcatraz,

for fear that they
might acclimate

themselves to the Bay.

So what do you think their
chances might have been?

Well, I think
they had a chance

to stay in the water for a
certain amount of time because

of the fact that they had a
certain thing going for them

known as motivation, motivation
to get off of Alcatraz

and escape from the Rock.

Once they hit that
water, that motivation

would concentrate
them into being

able to generate some
adrenaline to keep them going.

And once that
adrenaline sunk in,

that would help
keep them insulated

for a certain period of time.

But once they started
to really succumb

to the effects of
the cold water,

who knows what would happen?

OK, well, we thank you very
much and good luck to you.

The swimmer and rafter will
be off in just a few minutes.

And Bob, all I can
really say is that I'm

just so very happy it's not
going to be me in the water

today.

Back to you.

Thank you, Diana.

The route these
men will be taking

will be the same
route it is believed

the 1962 escapees followed.

The escapees left from the
eastern shore of the island,

approximately here.

If they were attempting
to swim to Angel Island,

about 1 and 1/2 miles away,
as the authorities believe,

the currents would have carried
them away from the island,

out toward the Pacific Ocean.

If they were lucky,
they made it ashore

at the Golden Gate Bridge.

Dave is facing the
same conditions,

but his plan is to cut across
the strong currents here

and swim ashore at Crissy Field.

Our swimmer and rafters
are now in position.

Diana will give them
the signal to start.

Diana, is everyone ready?

Well, Bob, I'd say we're
just less than a minute away

from getting under way here.

Let me quickly set
the scene for you.

We have a number of
camera crews out here,

including one up in a blimp
to get the aerial view.

We also have a couple
of paramedic teams.

And this is why-- the water
temperature at 47 degrees

is colder than the ice water
you keep in your refrigerator.

And that means that upon
entry, the body dramatically

and immediately loses heat.

And if you're in
there for too long,

you go into a state
of hypothermia,

meaning that the bloodstream and
the core organs cannot function

properly anymore, and
literally you can go

into a state of cardiac arrest.

So I don't care how
expert a swimmer you are,

you take this situation
very seriously.

Let me check on shore now to see
if Dave and our three rafters

are just about ready to embark.

Dave, are you ready?

Rafters, all set?

Good luck, be safe, everybody.

And we'll count from
three, two, one, go!

We have asked Dave to wear
an underwater microphone

so that we can
communicate with him

if any problem should arise.

You'll notice from
the very beginning

that Dave will keep up a
very, very rapid stroke pace.

And that's because he is going
to be chilled, almost shocked,

when he first enters the water.

And he wants to generate
a great deal of heat.

The rafters are going to have
even more problem staying warm,

because they've got
to just kind of float

and kick behind them with
that cumbersome raft.

Now David told me before that
he's probably going to get

to shore in about 45 minutes.

But let's be accurate
about the convicts.

We look at Dave over here
stroking very powerfully,

and even though a couple of the
convicts, the Anglin brothers

were from Florida, and I
understand very good swimmers,

still they weren't in
this kind of condition.

Obviously, they
hadn't swum in years.

They weren't used to cold water.

So they were not going to be
stroking as powerfully as this.

Now if you look
back at the rafters

and see just how slowly
they are progressing,

this is probably more realistic
to what went on that night

in 1962.

You might have had
three powerful people,

but still they weren't
used to the cold.

It was nighttime.

They didn't know precisely
where they were going.

So I think that this progress
that the rafters are doing

is probably very similar
to what we could expect.

And they're probably,
if they make it, going

to take more like two hours.

And that would be just at
the edge of hypothermia.

Later on, we'll be able
to see if we talk to him

that his face will
be quite stiff.

His mouth will look as
if it's somewhat frozen.

And the signs of hypothermia
that a trainer would look

for as he's swimming is
if he becomes confused,

if he swims around in circles,
if he hallucinates and is

telling you that he's seeing
things that aren't really

there, that's your sign to
take your swimmer out and get

him warm.

We are now 20 minutes into
Dave Horning's attempt to swim

from Alcatraz to San Francisco.

For years, the
guards on Alcatraz

told inmates that
the Bay was infested

with man-eating sharks.

Marine biologist Leighton
Taylor says that that is a myth.

There are not
man-eating sharks

here in San Francisco Bay.

There certainly are just
outside the Golden Gate

on the outer coastal beaches.

And I'd really guess
that the guards probably

told the prisoners about
the attacks in the 1950s

and so forth and probably
really put the fear of God

in the prisoners about sharks.

But it's not true
that San Francisco

is a shark-infested bay.

Has there ever been a
shark attack inside the Bay?

No.

There are sharks in
San Francisco Bay.

But they're mud dwellers,
and they're on the bottom.

And by the time a prisoner
got to the bottom,

he was out of the
picture by then anyway.

Thank you.

Even though inmates believed
there were sharks in the Bay,

this didn't stop some
convicts from trying

to make a break for freedom.

The first escape attempt
was in 1936, just two

years after the prison opened.

Joseph Bowers received a 25 year
sentence for stealing $16.63,

because he robbed a store
in the same building

as a post office,
a federal offense.

He was given the maximum
sentence with little likelihood

of parole.

From the island of Alcatraz,
the city of San Francisco

seems just an arm's reach away.

On April 27, 1936, Bowers was
working at this incinerator.

This must have been one
of the most tempting spots

to try to escape.

Suddenly, Bowers
appeared to go berserk

and began to scale the fence.

An alert guard spotted Bowers
from a catwalk close by.

He yelled at him to
stop and fired two

warning shots over his head.

Bowers made it over
the top of the fence

and began to clamber
down the other side.

The guard, now aiming to
stop him, fired again.

Bowers was hit.

Wounded, he relaxed
his grip on the fence

and fell 60 feet to his death.

In December of 1937,
another escape was tried.

This was no impulse-- rather,
a carefully planned scheme that

might have been successful.

Theodore Cole was 25, with a 50
year sentence for kidnapping.

His partner was Ralph
Roe, a 37-year-old bank

robber with a long criminal
record and a 99 year sentence.

On December 16th,
1937, the two men

were making mats in
the industrial building

north of the cell block.

Even for San Francisco,
it was a foggy, cool day.

At approximately one
o'clock in the afternoon,

they sawed out a shop window
and broke through a fence.

The current was swift
that day, running

at eight miles per hour.

Grabbing hold of
a five gallon can,

they attempted to
swim to freedom.

The Roe and Cole
escape in 1937

was one that I think
was impossible to make.

The tide was
running very swiftly

out towards the Golden Gate.

The water is 55 degrees.

Alvan Carpus, an
inmate, told me that he

watched Roe and Cole escape.

And as he looked out,
he could see the bodies

slipping into the Bay.

And he believed they drowned.

Just recently, John Stanley,
a San Francisco reporter,

discovered this 1941 article
in the files of "The San

Francisco Chronicle."

It claims that Roe and Cole
survived, fled to South

America, and then
using a secret code,

contacted their confidants
back at Alcatraz.

Federal officials still maintain
that Roe and Cole had perished.

Perhaps the story was a
hoax concocted by inmates.

But to this day,
Roe and Cole are

officially listed as missing.

This newsreel documents the
bloodiest of all the escape

attempts on Alcatraz.

It began on May 2nd, 1946.

San Francisco Bay.

Here for nearly 40 hours
of murderous mutiny,

armed convicts shot
it out with guards.

Ringleaders were Bernard Paul
Coy, Louisville bank robber;

Joe Cretzer, in cold
blood, he shot down

an armed guard in
an orgy of murder;

Marv Hubbard, a
Tennessee kidnapper.

With one rifle
and one automatic,

they waged a desperate
but futile fight.

You can see the
smoke from rifle fire

and tear gas bombings
as guards fought

to rescue prison officials held
as hostages in cellblock C.

It all began here on the
north end of the cellblock,

when convicts Coy and
Hubbard jumped on armed guard

William Miller, taking
his keys and locking

him in an empty cell.

Coy greased his body and climbed
to the top of the cellblock

where the bars were weakest.

Using a homemade tool, he
managed to spread the bars

and squeeze through
into the gun gallery.

Over the next few hours, the
convicts captured nine guards

and held them hostage
here in these two cells.

Hour after hour,
guards and convicts

exchanged gunfire
as crowds gathered

to watch from the
hills of San Francisco.

a detachment of Marines
scaled the walls

and dropped concussion
grenades into the cellblock

from the roof.

On the second day, two teams of
guards entered the cellblock.

In a furious shootout,
the hostages were rescued

and the ringleaders killed.

To the guards, all credit.

Two of their number
were killed, 15 wounded.

Assistant Warden Miller shot by
Coy, scarred, perhaps for life.

For the criminal ringleaders,
this gruesome end.

Coy, Cretzer and Hubbard
fingerprinted as they

lie on slabs in the morgue.

Theirs is the final reward
for a life of crime.

Here's a quick update on
both the swimmer and rafters.

Dave Horning, just
off my shoulder here,

is about 35 minutes
into the swim.

And I would say he's
made it 2/3 of the way,

just taking a quick
look back there to see

just how far he had gone.

Quickly, to let you know
how the rafters are doing

at the moment, now that
they have broken free

from the shore of
Alcatraz, they're actually

making much better progress.

I keep going back and forth
with the potential scenario

of those convicts that night.

Just a few minutes ago I
thought, they're barely moving.

They're never going to
make it to land anywhere.

Now they've actually been able
to catch the current somewhat.

They're going maybe
a mile and a half

to maybe even close
to two miles an hour.

So I'm switching back the
other way again and thinking

maybe they could have made it.

I understand that the
rafters are getting very cold

and frustrated that they
aren't making much progress--

that they're only
still a quarter

of a mile away from Alcatraz.

Let's go to Diana.

We have three
men here who have

kayaked all over the world.

They're young.

They're strong, in
excellent shape.

And they're having a
great deal of difficulty

making any progress.

And you can see they're
being thrown around

by the tide, left and right.

Probably what was happening that
night to the convicts out here

was just some desperation, not
a goal of getting somewhere,

but just to get anywhere.

I'm sure the convicts didn't
have much traffic out here

on the Bay, but our swimmer
and rafters today are

having a great deal of traffic.

We've got barges, tugboats,
tourist boats, et cetera, not

to mention a number of seals.

So it's somewhat
entertaining, though they're

casting quite a bit of wake.

Just to check on Dave's
medical condition,

we've asked him a few simple
questions like his name.

The same way that
referees in boxing

ask the fighters if
they're coherent.

He's responded very
well, but evidently he

is cramping in one leg.

Cramps can be very, very
serious in the water,

but we still assume that
he's going to be OK.

Dave is only a few yards
away from completing his swim.

Diana, how's he doing?

The one thing
I'm concerned about

is not the cold but
the cramp in his leg.

We still assume that, since
he's closing in on the beach,

that he's going to be OK.

And we should mention
here, we've talked

so much about hypothermia.

Your core temperature
actually goes

down even further once you get
out from a spell in cold water.

So when he gets
out of here, we're

going to be able to talk
to him very briefly.

But three or four
minutes after that,

he's going to have to get warm.

And the way he does it is put
on a pair of running shoes

and go for a jog and
generate his own heat.

It's actually the
best way to do it.

Well, it looks conclusive.

Dave is literally 20
yards from the shore.

Lifeguards have now
entered the water

with him for the last
few feet, especially

having reported a cramp.

Just to make sure that
he's able to walk out.

He seems to be just fine.

We'll have a word with him
in just 30 seconds or so.

[applause]

That was really cold.

All right, Dave.

I know we don't have
much time before you

get your running shoes on.

Tell me your experience.

First of all, you came in in
just a little bit over an hour.

How was it out there?

It was great.

When I first hit the water,
the cold shock of the water

definitely was embracing.

Halfway through the swim,
my feet and legs went numb.

And in the final
10 to 15 minutes,

both legs totally
cramped up, and I

really had to wonder whether
I'd be able to make it in.

I can hear just the way
you're talking in a slightly bit

of slurred speech.

Is your mouth quite
frozen in place?

Slurred definitely
due to the cold chin.

I'm glad I didn't have to
stay in more than at least

another hour.

Well, listen, this
brings us to your opinion

now that you've done it.

Do you believe they
could have made it.

There's no question in my mind
that they could have made it.

The question is how
they would have felt.

It's the coffee
that probably would

have been their motivation.

OK, well, listen, we thank you
so much for your brave effort

today.

And I'm going to reserve
my opinion later.

Because Dave Horning
is one thing.

The rafters are another thing.

So we're going to go
back out and check

and see how they actually do.

Wow, what a beautiful day.

Dave has succeeded in
the swim to Crissy Field.

However, the rafters have
only reached this point,

a quarter mile off Alcatraz.

Let's go back to Diana for
an update on the rafters.

They are not doing well.

They just haven't
made much progress.

They came around
Alcatraz very quickly,

but now they're kind
of stuck in the front

of the island, maybe kept in
by that incoming flood tide.

Come on over, Bill.

Yeah.

So I know you're strong.

It must not be you guys.

What's happening out there?

We're actually
fairly comfortable,

but we're not getting anywhere.

And the boat is
starting to fall apart.

And we think even with the--
we have certain advantages

with the type of rig we have.

And if we're trying to really
assess how the convicts did,

we don't think
they did very well.

We have a little more
modern clothing on.

And think that given the
situation when they left,

at night, didn't know
where they were going.

They're in pretty weak
condition from not having

much exercise at the prison.

They probably at least
were very uncomfortable,

more likely got hypothermia,
and just didn't get anywhere.

We were actually very confident
when we were leaving Alcatraz,

and the boat was
in good condition.

But the more-- the more time
we had to think about it,

the more unlikely the
whole possibility of them

surviving seems.

These guys were career
convicts and they

haven't shown up since.

And you would think
over 20 some odd years,

they would have probably
committed another crime

and gotten caught.

So I have a feeling they
were pretty screwed.

Did the Anglin
brothers and Frank Morris

survive their daring escape?

Based on what we've seen today,
it certainly is possible.

Yet it seems odd that
in the last 27 years,

so few clues have surfaced
to prove that they made it.

Whether or not the men
survived, their escape

compromised the
reputation of Alcatraz,

and less than a year
later the prison closed.

For that reason alone, it can be
said the men did beat the Rock.

Our thanks to Diana Nyad.

Congratulations, Dave.

Thank you very much for
you brave men on the raft.

Join us again next week
for another edition

of "Unsolved Mysteries."