Alcatraz was built to be unbreakable.
→ Shark-infested waters
→ Armed guards at every tower
→ Icy currents that could kill in minutes
For decades, it held America’s worst.
No one ever escaped.
Until June 11, 1962.
Here’s the legendary story of the greatest prison break ever:
👇🧵
Alcatraz sat stranded in the middle of San Francisco Bay.
A fortress of concrete and steel, surrounded by freezing tides.
Inside? America’s most dangerous men—
Al Capone.
Machine Gun Kelly.
Robert Stroud.
No boats. No bridges. No way out.
Or so they thought. https://t.co/3o8H9O1Lmp
Then came three unlikely legends:
• Frank Morris — an escape genius with a 133 IQ
• John Anglin — a lifer with powerful swimming skills
• Clarence Anglin — John’s brother, just as deadly in the water
They weren’t inmates.
They were planners.
They were patient. https://t.co/SEixi1pk2A
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This wasn’t a rushed job.
Frank Morris spent over a year engineering the escape.
He recruited the Anglin brothers and one more man—Allen West.
Together, they pulled off one of the most brilliant prison breaks in history.
Here’s how: https://t.co/3EH1Btpfzc
Step 1: Chip away.
They dug through air vents with spoons stolen from the mess hall.
Step 2: Create decoys.
They crafted dummy heads out of soap, toilet paper, cement dust—and even real hair from the prison barber. https://t.co/MY37TRb5d8
Step 3: Build a raft.
Using over 50 raincoats, they stitched and sealed together a makeshift inflatable raft using hot steam pipes.
Step 4: Find the exit.
They discovered an unguarded ventilation shaft that led to the roof.
Now, all they had to do… was get out. https://t.co/To8EOKzDcy
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Every night at 9:30 PM, the prison played music.
They used that window to hammer and dig in silence.
After months of work, they finally had a tunnel to a secret corridor.
June 11, 1962: Escape night.
At 9:30 PM, Frank and the Anglin brothers crawled through their vents.
They climbed pipes to the roof, unscrewed a vent cover using a handmade wrench…
and vanished into the night.
Allen West? His hole wasn’t wide enough. He was left behind. https://t.co/CEXHZa7h6E
The trio slid down a 45-foot drainpipe, crossed the yard, scaled a 15-foot fence, and reached the water.
By 11:00 PM, their raincoat raft was afloat.
And then—they were gone. https://t.co/wMKVXA6sky
The next morning, 7:15 AM:
Guards found the dummy heads in the beds.
Panic. Alarms. Total lockdown.
The prison was flipped upside down.
But the men were already far from the island.
Or were they? https://t.co/IyGZAtSFzL
The manhunt began immediately:
🛥️ Coast Guard
🔍 FBI
🕵️ U.S. Marshals
They searched every inch of the Bay.
Soon, clues began washing ashore... https://t.co/WsE4oA5OuT
🗓️ June 12 — A paddle turned up near Angel Island.
🗓️ June 14 — A sealed bag with personal photos and numbers was found.
🗓️ June 22 — A life vest with teeth marks on the air valve floated ashore.
🗓️ July — A ship spotted a body in a prison uniform… 20 miles from the Golden Gate.
The body was never recovered.
In 1979, the FBI officially gave up.
Presumed drowned.
But the story didn’t end there...
2015 — A photo emerged from Brazil.
Two men, resembling the Anglin brothers.
2018 — The FBI received a letter.
Signed by “John Anglin.”
He claimed they made it out.
Frank Morris had died in 2005.
They tested the letter. No proof. No prints. https://t.co/HpIofQ2MCf
Even MythBusters gave it a shot in 2003:
✅ Same raft, same method
✅ Same bay, same currents
✅ They made it to land
Their verdict?
The escape was absolutely possible. https://t.co/j6urghFsTU
So now the question is:
Did they survive?
Or did the cold tides claim them?
You decide.
👇 Let’s hear your theory. https://t.co/oQX6J1kKXE
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Before we continue, I want to thank @meetgamma for partnering with me on this post.
50M+ users are already using Gamma not only to create AI presentations, but also websites, social media content, documents, and more.
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