Original subtitles

Narrator: alcatraz -- the most Famous prison in the world,

Where america's most notorious Criminals are incarcerated.

Harp: when you break the rules, You go to jail.

When you break the rules In jail, you go to alcatraz.

Narrator: known as "The rock," Designed to be inescapable...

Komas: this place was built Like a fortress.

You have to wonder how anybody Ever escaped from here.

...Only the most fearless Would dare to try.

All these layers of security, The thick concrete walls --

This was a place for the hard Of the hardest criminals.

Narrator: Now investigators use

Innovative Radar scanning equipment

To uncover The island's secret past.

Komas: these prisoners Are telling us

Something about their time here.

Narrator: What really lies behind

The prison's Unbreakable reputation?

Wow. It's completely destroyed.

Narrator: to solve the mysteries Of alcatraz,

We'll break into This iconic jail,

Blowing up its cell doors

And stripping away Its barbed wire-topped walls

To reveal what finally breaks The rock.

--captions by vitac-- Www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by Discovery communications

♪♪

Alcatraz stands More than a mile

Out into the waters of San francisco bay,

Its iconic prison block a beacon Of crime and punishment.

For decades, this island is home

To the most wanted men In america --

Al capone, machine gun kelly,

Robert stroud, "The birdman."

The convicts that came here Couldn't be held anywhere else.

Narrator: What engineering secrets

Lie behind Its legendary reputation?

The rock is designed as a prison Inside a prison.

The outer wall Is over 2 feet thick.

Inside are over 300 cells Stacked three stories high,

And a 2-ton steel door Blocks the only exit.

♪♪

Outside, 12-foot-tall fences Topped with razor wire,

All surrounded By six tall watchtowers

With guards who shoot to kill.

Alcatraz is the original Supermax penitentiary,

But why is the world's First maximum security prison

Built here?

In the 1800s, alcatraz island Is home to a military fort.

Historic buildings expert Tanya komas wants to find out

If this mysterious structure Influences the later prison.

She uses Ground-penetrating radar

To search For its hidden remains.

We've been able to scan The wreck yard here,

And this scan shows us something

That we sort of knew Might be there,

And the science Was able to confirm it.

What we're looking at here Is the recreation yard.

The steps are here.

There's the stairs And the cell houses up above.

There is an actual structure

Running east-west Right beneath the wreck yard.

Narrator: the scan locates A long earthen mound.

Running beneath it Is a masonry magazine,

A structure used To store ammunition.

This scan shows us that Right under our feet here

Is the historic Military fortress.

♪♪

It's a part of a much bigger System of structures

On this island.

Narrator: in its prime, 200 soldiers operate

The extensive arsenal of Alcatraz's military fortress.

Tanya thinks this Earlier occupation of the island

Shapes the development Of the modern prison building.

♪♪

Buried under the main cellblocks Lie the most substantial remains

Of the military fort Embedded into the bedrock.

Bare rooms, Some just 4 feet wide,

With thin rifle slits For windows,

Look out to a dry moat.

This compound is made entirely From brick,

But intriguingly, Scratched out graffiti, names

And dates reveal that these Rooms once held people captive.

Does alcatraz's reputation As a brutal lockup

Go back much further Than we think?

♪♪

Built in 1859, This underground basement

Is part of the main Defensive stronghold.

♪♪

Tanya has unique access To explore this dungeon.

Komas: it would have Been horrific

To be in a cell like this.

There are stories of people

Sleeping on their hands And knees

To avoid too much contact With the cold concrete.

You wouldn't even know What time of day it is.

This would not have been The place to be.

Narrator: Laser scanning reveals

The true extent Of this hidden world.

Built directly into the rock,

The citadel is an incredible Feat of engineering.

This 3-d laser scan Takes us down

Into what's beneath The modern prison.

This brick structure

Was the largest structure On the island

At that point In the island's history.

This model is a great way To visualize

Not only how the basement of The citadel was used,

But these three spaces were Among the first prison cells

On alcatraz island.

Narrator: During the military occupation,

Engineers realized that The citadel is

Much better suited As a military prison.

By the end of the century, These small brick rooms

Are filled With nearly 50 prisoners.

The island's function as A prison is firmly established.

♪♪

How does alcatraz go from being A tiny military prison

To the huge federal penitentiary We see today?

♪♪

The answer could lie with The darkest chapter

In san francisco's history.

In 1906, a massive earthquake,

7.9 on the richter scale, Destroys most of the city.

But it leaves alcatraz standing.

♪♪

Tanya thinks this is a key To what makes alcatraz

The prime location For a maximum security prison.

To find out more about What happens during the quake,

Tanya heads To meet geologist jack mayer.

So why did alcatraz Stand so strong

When the rest of the city Shook and fell?

Well, this was the problem.

This is the bay mud Under san francisco.

We know it's bay mud Because of these shells.

This stuff is extremely soft.

When it's wet, it liquefies.

Put under pressure, It shakes,

And it shakes violently And unpredictably.

That's the foundation Of san francisco.

That's amazing.

No wonder the devastation Of the earthquake.

This is the stuff that fell Apart when the earthquake came,

And the buildings on top Really didn't stand a chance.

Narrator: most of san francisco Stands on land

Reclaimed from the ocean.

♪♪

The bay mud Allows the city to grow,

But this soil is wet and soft.

The 1906 quake turns the ground Into quicksand.

More than 28,000 buildings Are destroyed,

Including four Of the city's prisons.

Lines of evacuated convicts Walked the streets,

But the citadel in alcatraz sits Directly on hard rock.

The shock waves pass through it,

And it survives the quake With barely a scratch.

Alcatraz is the last functioning Prison in san francisco,

So the city ships its prisoners To the rock.

♪♪

This is the geology of Alcatraz -- no sand, no mud.

It's solid rock.

It's easy to see How this would have performed

In the earthquake.

It would've stayed strong The entire time.

♪♪

Narrator: the island's bedrock Lays the foundations

For its unbreakable reputation.

Soon after the quake, the iconic Prison we see today is built.

In 1934, the island becomes A federal penitentiary,

Home to convicts No other prison can hold.

But in the rush to build

The world's first super prison Here,

Do engineers Make fatal mistakes?

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: alcatraz island In san francisco bay --

Convicts who have broken out

Of every other prison In the u.S. Are brought here.

To get ready for them,

Engineers overhaul the building To maximum security.

Harp: they completely revamped The place.

It was fortified like A modern-day prison.

Narrator: they install New hardened steel bars

On every window and door,

And a mechanical locking system

With no keys For prisoners to steal.

Harp: it's that whole mind-set Of control.

Once you're on alcatraz, They own you.

Narrator: they arm the guards

With the most up-to-date Weapons.

This new super prison is said To be escape-proof.

[ door clanks, bird calls ]

You get on this island, There's no getting off.

Narrator: but in 1937, Just three years after it opens,

Two convicts, Theodore cole and ralph roe,

Find a chink in its armor.

Rather than targeting The main cellblock,

They turn their attention To the industries building.

It's the block Where the prisoners work,

And it sits on the edge Of the island.

The men get to work In the blacksmith's workshop.

After many weeks of sawing Through the steel,

Cole and roe tear out two bars

And punch out Unreinforced glass.

Squeezing through The 9-inch gap,

They drop down Behind a 10-foot fence

Topped with barbed wire

And follow it to a small gate.

[ metal clangs ]

They smash the lock With a stolen wrench,

And, the theory goes, They use old car tires

To cushion the 20-foot jump Down onto the hard rock

And old fuel canisters To float off the island.

How could they escape The most secure jail on earth

In broad daylight?

♪♪

Retired fbi agent jeff harp Has spent a career

Putting bad guys behind bars.

He investigates alcatraz's Escape attempts.

Harp: you had to be A very determined prisoner

To get out of this place.

Narrator: he wants to find out

If the prison's Famous reputation

Hides a fatal flaw In its construction.

Jeff believes that the workshop Is a weak spot

That helps cole and roe To escape.

Harp: they had access to All sorts of tools and equipment

To build things While they were thinking about

How they might be able To escape.

Narrator: a 3-d model reveals

How the men turned the block's Floor plan to their advantage.

So as you can see from The design of the this building,

Prisoners had A lot of places to hide.

As the guard's making His pathway up this wall here,

He can't see into these rooms

Until he's directly in front Of the doorways.

Narrator: the industries Building is l-shaped,

The ground floor Divided into eight sections.

It's poorly designed.

It's not functional from A law enforcement perspective.

Narrator: the workshop itself Provides the tools the men need.

They slowly saw through window Bars using stolen hacksaws.

So each time the guard had His back turned,

The inmate would be able To go back to the window

And cut on the steel bar Little by little.

Narrator: the prisoners jump out Of the window.

What they do next seems Incredible.

The breakout point Is just 30 feet away

From the guards on the roof,

So the escapees creep along The side of the building

To hide from view.

But once they reach the coast,

The guards on The western watchtower

Should easily spot them,

So how do they manage to Stay out of view?

♪♪

Jeff thinks that the bay's Unusual weather

Helps to conceal The men's escape.

From the case files, We found out

That the fog on that day Was unusually thick,

So it's quite possible that cole And roe deliberately waited

That day for the heavy fog To come into san francisco.

Narrator: san francisco Is one of the foggiest cities

On the planet.

Sea mist can become so dense That it hides

Even the gigantic Golden gate bridge.

♪♪

Jeff visits an outdoor Weather simulator to find out

If fog is the key To cole and roe's success.

Between these two piers, We have a fog simulator

That spews out seawater

To simulate the fog In san francisco.

Narrator: jeff is going to carry Out a test to try to replicate

What he thinks happens During the escape.

Harp: once the fog starts, We'll be able to determine

How effective it was At concealing their movement.

Narrator: The fog machine fires up.

♪♪

Jeff's test subject Walks down the bridge.

After a dozen paces, She vanishes.

Harp: she has completely Disappeared on the bridge.

We're going to measure that out And see what that distance is.

15.4 meters.

This would be a really effective Concealment and cover

For the individuals Who were trying

To escape from the prison That day.

Narrator: the test reveals How fog could render

The prison's watchtowers Useless,

But the same weather That helps cole and roe

Escape the rock Soon turns against them.

♪♪

The fog was effective At concealing their movement,

But once they got out to sea, It was their enemy

Because they could not see Where they were going.

Narrator: back in 1937,

Fbi investigators conclude That the men drowned.

The case is closed.

Alcatraz quietly gets A new industries block

With no dead corners And new harder steel bars.

This time, authorities think There really is no way out.

But do they make Another simple design mistake

In trying to outwit America's toughest cons?

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: alcatraz --

The toughest place to do time.

After an overhaul, The prison is ready

To hold the worst criminals In america.

These guys are outlaws.

As soon as they step foot On this island,

They've got to be thinking About escape.

Narrator: historic buildings Expert tanya komas investigates

How engineers try to seal Every weak point in alcatraz.

But building on a rocky island Is a real challenge.

Tanya discovers How the workers cut corners.

Komas: Construction on an island

Meant that materials are Hard to get.

When the cell bars Were replaced in the prison,

Rather than discard them, They were used

As reinforcing Into the concrete.

Good old prison labor, Right here.

♪♪

Narrator: despite this, alcatraz Is still a formidable fortress.

The guards step up security to Unprecedented levels.

There was three guards For every one prisoner,

Which is unheard of For that time.

Narrator: In 1937, the island gets

A more secure Industries building.

Now authorities think They finally have

The ultimate Escape-proof prison.

Well, when the inmates Walked on this island,

They saw this place.

They knew that it was going To be a challenge

To ever break out of here.

♪♪

Narrator: What few know is that

The new alcatraz Still has a fatal flaw.

And on friday the 13th, 1939,

Five men exploit this weakness,

Led by one of america's Most dangerous men,

Arthur "Doc" barker.

When the guards aren't looking,

The five men target Their cell bars.

[ doors clank ]

They use blades To cut through the steel

And swing the bars open.

All five inmates are now able To escape to their cells.

In the corridor, They face a concrete wall

With thick steel grilles Covering the windows,

But they break A 1-inch-thick bar clean off

And smash through The iron window frame.

[ metal clanks ]

They've broken the block.

How do they manage to beat

The unbreakable steel Of alcatraz?

Jeff harp examines the evidence.

Harp: these five guys were In the isolation block, d-block.

It was supposed to be The most secure block

In the whole penitentiary.

Narrator: The notorious d-block

Houses convicts Who break the rules.

Here, they spend 24 hours a day In isolation.

But the evidence shows That the cells aren't as tough

As they should be.

Harp: When I read the fbi document,

I see that d-block, where The worst prisoners are kept,

Is made of ordinary steel bars.

Narrator: when engineers upgrade The prison to maximum security,

They fit most cells with Strengthened tool-proof bars.

But incredibly, those in d-block Retain the original steel,

A hangover of the prison's Military past.

Over time, little by little,

These guys would've been able To saw through these bars

Because it was so soft.

Narrator: the men use Smuggled hacksaw blades,

Working undetected Night after night.

But this is only stage one Of their escape.

So after they broke out Of their cells,

They had a new challenge They had to face,

And they came up against The windows with hardened steel.

Narrator: Unlike their cell bars,

The windows in the main block Do get the upgrade.

Thick, tool-proof bars now block Their route to the outside,

Yet still, The men find a way out.

Harp: it looks like they had Some sort of a tool,

Where they had pried open The window

And were able To snap those bars.

Narrator: fbi documents reveal That the men create

A homemade screw jack,

Essentially a large screw With a bolt on the end.

They turn the screw Until finally,

The bar snaps right off.

♪♪

Just after 3:00 a.M.,

The men attempt The last part of their plan.

They squeeze through the window And sprint for the cliffs,

Avoiding the gaze of the guards.

Then they split up.

Mccain and young Start work on a raft,

Making it from 3-inch timber, Driftwood, and a chair.

They tie it all together With torn bedsheets.

Barker and stamphill Head around the coast

To collect more driftwood,

While martin scales the cliffs At the point

Facing san francisco And starts swimming alone,

But at 4:00 a.M., the guards Notice they're missing

And launch a manhunt.

Three men surrender, But two try to swim...

[ rapid gunfire ]...And the guards open fire.

Only four men eventually return To the cells.

Doc barker dies in a hospital From gunshot wounds.

After the failed escape,

D-block finally Gets its security upgrade.

Engineers put hardened Steel bars on every cell,

Convinced it's now impossible To escape the prison cellblock.

Over the next 23 years, 20 more convicts try and fail

To break out of the prison.

Each winds up dead Or back in their cells.

But in 1962, three men hatch A plan to pull off

The most audacious prison break In history.

Komas: this is right where they Were able to dig out

And then climb right up there.

Narrator: some people claim It takes them to freedom.

♪♪

Are they the only men To escape from alcatraz?

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: in the 1960s,

Alcatraz is the most secure Prison in the world,

Home to convicts that No other penitentiary can hold.

Dozens try to escape.

All fail to break the rock.

But on the morning of June 12, 1962,

One daring prison break

Threatens to ruin Its perfect record.

♪♪

During a routine head count, Guards sound the alarm.

Frank morris And john and clarence anglin

Are missing.

The escape begins at lights out.

To fool the guards,

The prisoners Use dummy heads with real hair

Stolen from The prison barbershop.

Under the sink, A fake cardboard vent

Reveals a gaping hole In the concrete

Carved out of over months.

Crawling Into the utility corridor,

They climb 30 feet up the pipes

And bend the bars On a ceiling grille

To break onto the roof.

Sliding 50 feet down a pipe And scaling a barbed wire fence,

Morris and the anglin brothers Reach the ocean,

Never to be seen again.

Historic buildings expert Tanya komas

Specializes In working with concrete.

She thinks a key to This breakout

Lies with a structural flaw In the walls themselves.

She has come to The engineering laboratory

At the university of california In berkeley,

Which specializes in testing Different types of concrete.

Komas: concrete is a simple mix

Of sand, cement, rocks, And water.

It's very important that they be

In the right proportions, Though.

You put in a little too Much water

To make it easier to work with,

And you've greatly reduced Its strength.

Narrator: first, she needs to Look at the evidence.

Komas: we're looking at one Of the vents that the prisoners

Chiseled their way out of.

Now if you're One of the visitors

Who walk by this cell In alcatraz,

This might look like Normal concrete.

But looking closer, You can see large stones,

A lot of them, Very close together.

Narrator: alcatraz-style Concrete looks rough and ready.

Tanya uses a compression machine

To compare it With a modern sample.

Komas: I have two concrete Samples here.

One is a good proportion Of materials properly mixed,

And the other, We know to be a poor mix --

Not well-blended materials And not the right proportions.

Narrator: the compression Machine will steadily

Apply pressure To the concrete sample

Up to the point Where the concrete fails.

♪♪

First, the modern concrete.

Let's start the test.

Narrator: the pressure applied Is measured in pounds.

[ whirring ]

You can see, it's already Climbing pretty quickly.

We're now at 75,000 pounds Of pressure on this sample,

And it's still holding strong.

Okay, we're at 120,000 pounds Of pressure now.

[ cracking ]

We're starting to see A little bit of crumbling.

It's starting to fail.

♪♪

Narrator: the sample withstands An incredible 128,000 pounds.

Komas: that's really High-strength concrete.

That is approximately 40, 42 automobiles of pressure.

Narrator: and now the type of Concrete used at alcatraz.

♪♪

[ whirring ]

Komas: 40,000 pounds.

65,000.

[ cracking ]

It's already shown some failure.

♪♪

70,000.

♪♪

Whoa. There we go.

Wow. Look at this.

Only about half of the force Of the other sample,

And it's completely destroyed.

Narrator: this sample fails And crumbles

At just 70,000 pounds.

So if you're a prisoner On alcatraz,

This would be the kind Of concrete

You would want in your cell.

♪♪

The guys were able To use homemade tools --

Spoons, chisels, and a very Small, kind of crude motor

From a vacuum cleaner.

That was enough to Chisel your way to freedom.

Narrator: it is prisoners, Not engineers,

Who build the cellblock in 1909.

Over half a century later,

Prisoners during the escape Were potentially assisted

By their predecessors Who created this structure.

Narrator: Poor construction means

The concrete is weak From the start,

But tanya is convinced

That it should still be able To withstand

The convicts chipping it away With just homemade tools.

♪♪

She has special access Inside alcatraz

To examine the original hole

That one of the anglin brothers Escapes through.

Komas: this is cellblock b.

♪♪

So what we're looking at Is the hole

That one of the escapees Broke out of.

You can see that the concrete Has just been

Completely destroyed.

This is one of the sounds We love to hear

In the concrete world When you're doing repair is...

[ hollow tapping ]That hollow,

The sound of cracking Inside of that concrete.

That would've made it Much easier for them

To chip away at it And get the grate out

And then climb right up there.

Narrator: tanya thinks The problem with the concrete

Lies with the sea air That surrounds the prison.

Steel reinforcements embedded In the walls

Are slowly being exposed To the elements.

Tanya and her team

From the concrete preservation Institute

Are in a race to preserve The island's structures.

Komas: if you look here, This bar has corroded,

Popped the concrete right off.

We're in this very aggressive Seaside environment.

The salt gets in, and you just Have steel corrosion.

Narrator: saltwater gets into The smallest of cracks

And corrodes steel five times Faster than fresh water.

Komas: the steel rusts,

And it can expand Up to six times its size.

What that does is put internal Pressure on the concrete,

Causes cracks, and pushes The concrete right off.

Narrator: salt attacks alcatraz From all angles.

Alcatraz uses seawater To flush the toilets.

It trickles from leaky pipes And seeps into the walls.

The salt rusts The reinforcing steel bars.

They expand, Cracking the concrete.

Officials believe An island location

Is one of the prison's Greatest advantages.

No one anticipates it is, In fact,

One of its biggest weaknesses.

Komas: the design and Construction of this building,

The unbreakable alcatraz,

Is what ended up being A key factor

In one of the most notorious Prison escapes ever known.

Narrator: Morris and the anglin brothers

Don't just spend their time Chiseling away at the concrete.

They also find an ingenious way

To execute the rest Of their escape.

During their daytime Cleaning duties,

They hang sheets On the top floor

To stop dust Falling into the prison,

Cleverly obscuring The guards' view.

Every night for six weeks,

The inmates take turns To escape their cells

And climb to the workshop To work on the escape equipment.

Inspired by An engineering magazine,

They design a raft Made from 50 raincoats.

They use steam from pipes To bond them together.

They make life jackets

And transform an accordion Into a pump,

Ready for a quick getaway On the big night.

♪♪

Once again, the cellblock's Design aids an escape,

But morris and The anglin brothers

Still have to Get off the island.

As they race to the shoreline,

Their hopes are now pinned On their homemade raft.

The waters around alcatraz Are its last line of defense.

Prison authorities believe No one can conquer

San francisco bay.

But is relying on the island's Isolated location

Their greatest mistake?

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: in 1962,

The federal penitentiary On alcatraz

Holds more than 250 convicts.

No one has ever Successfully escaped.

But on june 11th,

The rock's unbreakable Reputation hangs in the balance.

Three escaped convicts --

Frank morris and brothers John and clarence anglin --

Stand at the water's edge.

They have an improvised raft Made from raincoats.

Freedom is within reach,

But these are Treacherous waters.

Draining away the bay Reveals hidden dangers.

Across the rocky seafloor

Are caverns and peaks The height of houses

That churn the tides into fast, Unpredictable currents

Around alcatraz.

Averaging just 17 feet deep,

The tides sweep the water Out towards the bridge,

Where a perilous ravine Plummets 360 feet.

It forces 20 times more water Through the narrow channel

Than cascades Over niagara falls.

Do the inmates Overcome these deadly currents,

Or do they get washed out Into the open ocean?

Physician dr. Tom nuckton Is an authority

On swimming in the bay.

He knows just how dangerous These waters are.

Tom is going to use This huge scale model,

Built by the u.S. Corps Of army engineers,

To chart the men's escape route.

This simulator, just outside The city in sausalito,

Replicates the currents In the entire san francisco bay.

Nuckton: This model is really impressive.

You can see alcatraz here, The shallow areas.

Narrator: tom investigates The tides around alcatraz island

At the time of the escape.

Nuckton: So we can put this boat...

In the water

Right about where we think The prisoners got in the water,

And we can squirt a little dye.

Okay, we have a boat That represents

The raft of the prisoners,

And some dye that shows The outgoing tide

That the prisoners would have Had to contend with.

Narrator: The currents push the boat

Towards the golden gate bridge.

Nuckton: they'd be swept right Out into the pacific ocean,

And you can still see the dye. Look how quickly it's moving.

Narrator: the model shows The most likely scenario --

The currents sweep the little Raft straight out to sea.

But these waters Can be unpredictable,

Depending on The exact time of day.

Tom thinks there is a window Of opportunity

When a changing tide could help Steer a raft to safety.

So the san francisco bay has Flood tides coming in

And ebb tides going out.

From this simulation, If they got in the water

At the precisely right time, About 11:30 at night,

They could've ridden the ebb Out toward the golden gate

And then paddled Toward horseshoe bay

In the marin headlands.

Narrator: if frank morris And the anglin brothers

Time it exactly right,

They could use the shifting Tides to paddle to shore.

But tom thinks it's likely The men have to swim

At least part of the journey.

If that homemade raft failed, If it didn't work,

And they ended up in the water,

They would've been in Serious trouble.

♪♪

Narrator: plunging into The icy water instantly triggers

A gasping response, Drawing water into the lungs.

You can drown instantly.

At the same time, Your blood vessels constrict,

Pushing your heart rate up,

Risking cardiac arrest Within 2 minutes.

If you survive that, Within 10 minutes,

The blood stops flowing

To the muscles In your arms and legs.

You lose coordination, And swimming becomes impossible.

Just one in three people Survive to this stage.

After an hour, The heart slows down,

Starving the brain of oxygen, And you pass out.

The official report concludes

That the men drown After their raft fails.

The rock retains Its perfect reputation,

But the case remains open.

Many wonder, "Do the men Beat the odds and survive?"

An extraordinary discovery More than 50 years later

Could hold the answer.

Narrator: in 1962,

Three prisoners set off In a makeshift raft

From alcatraz island.

Most investigators assume The men drowned,

But the bodies of frank morris, John anglin,

And his brother clarence Are never found.

57 years later, The case remains open,

And there's one man left On the job --

U.S. Marshal michael dyke.

I still get some leads Called in,

People believing They came across one of them

Or that their next door neighbor Could be one of them.

So there's all kinds of theories That you could possibly imagine.

Narrator: It's michael's job

To keep an open mind about The escape.

One theory is that the men Drowned just off angel island.

So approximately 24 hours After the, we believe,

The escapees left the island On the night of june 12th,

Right around the corner Up over here on angel island,

They found a paddle That was floating

About 100 yards off the shore.

Narrator: A homemade life jacket

And photos belonging to The anglin brothers

Are also discovered Drifting in the bay.

Dyke: possibly, The escapees drowned,

And as they were drowning,

They discarded items Just to lighten their load

To try and swim better.

Narrator: But another possibility

Is that the men fake Their own deaths.

According to an accomplice,

Angel island is where they plan To come ashore.

Dyke: People believe the escapees

Might've discarded these items

To make it look like They possibly did drown,

'cause if they were believed To be dead,

Why keep looking for 'em?

[ wind whistling ]

Narrator: for more than 50 years, the trail stays cold.

♪♪

But in 2013, a letter sent

To the san francisco Police department

Claims to be From john anglin himself.

So when this letter First came out,

A lot of us speculated

That the escape Might've been successful.

And this letter, basically,

Is written by someone Claiming to be john anglin.

He's claiming to be 83 years old, in bad shape.

Narrator: The letter is intriguing.

If genuine, it would blow This cold case wide open.

I'm always skeptical of Most of the stuff

That comes across my desk Regarding this case,

'cause so much stuff I've seen has been made up.

But I don't ever Discount things, either.

Narrator: certain statements In the letter sound convincing.

Dna and fingerprint analysis Proves inconclusive,

So fbi specialists Examine the handwriting.

Does it match that Of the young john anglin?

Dyke: Most people when they age,

Their handwriting stays Pretty much the same as it was.

It just becomes less smooth.

Narrator: the closer Michael looks at the letter,

The more he's convinced It's a fake.

Dyke: so this j is Absolutely nothing like the way

John anglin writes his letter j When he writes his name down,

'cause we have Numerous examples of that.

The phraseology doesn't match John anglin's examples.

It's not even close.

Narrator: For michael, the search For the truth goes on.

It's a mystery Because nobody really knows

What happened to these guys.

Narrator: some believe that The escape ruins

The rock's Unblemished reputation.

But in 1962, the prison is Already living on borrowed time.

Dyke: there's some that say It made alcatraz look bad

Because of the escape, But at the time,

There was already rumors Among the guard staff

That alcatraz would close Probably in the near future

Because it was so expensive

To upgrade it To modern prison standards.

Narrator: in 1963, A year after the escape,

Alcatraz closes,

Its reputation no longer able to Mask its crumbling architecture.

Today, teams work to rebuild And protect alcatraz.

Alcatraz's greatest battle Has always been with itself.

Komas: alcatraz island -- This is an iconic building.

The roots of its brutal history Are buried right underneath it.

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Narrator: for 160 years,

Alcatraz is a jail Like no other.

During the civil war, It locks up prisoners of war.

In the 1930s, it holds America's most wanted criminals.

But after being hailed as Escape-proof, it cannot survive.

Alcatraz, this icon Of crime and punishment,

Is a victim of its own success.

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