Alcatraz prison officials have consistently kept the mantra “no successful escapees ever”, but family members of two of the three men who escaped in 1962 are claiming otherwise. But even if they’re found alive, global laws could prevent the brothers from being extradited to the States. The story was made into the 1979 film Escape From Alcatraz starring Clint Eastwood. In fact, new evidence that they survived has spawned a History Channel special and inspired a retired U.S. marshal to revive the investigation, the New York Post reports. But the cards are neither stamped nor dated.
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They also have evidence that they were alive during the Seventies and could be living in South America.
The Anglins’ nephew David, 48, and Ken Widner, 45, say they want the real story publicised while their mother, the Alzatraz escapees’ sister, is still alive.
The story began in 1960, when John Anglin – one of 14 children born to a poor family in Georgia – was sent to Alcatraz. The show has a surprise quest star, Boston crime boss Whitey Bulger.
After creating realistic papier-maché heads to leave in their beds they shimmied through a tiny hole in the wall before climbing onto the roof. This bit of dark history starts with Alcatraz, the fortress sitting on a pile of rocks in San Francisco Bay, and ends in an escape of three men, all presumed drowned in the cold waters of the bay separating the prison from the mainland. A pile of bones on the coast was believed to be their remains. But now, more than 50 years later, new leads are being presented by the Anglin family, who are cooperating with authorities for the first time. There was no match.
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A handwriting expert says they are legitimate, but it is not known when they were written.
