Morris and the Anglin brothers started preparing for their escape months prior to their escape in June 1962. The intelligent men began their strategy with saw blades and sharpening spoons from the prison cafeteria to widen the air vents in their cells until the openings were large enough for them to shimmy through. The inescapable prison was starting to deteriorate and the three inmates used the crumbling walls of the building to their advantage. They covered their digging by crafting a ventilation duct made of cardboard and other items. Behind their cell block was an unguarded corridor that stored different utilities and from there they climbed to the roof of the cells in the building. They then constructed a small workshop where they made
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Morris and the Anglin brothers had no choice except to leave Allen West behind after taking too long to remove his cell’s ventilator grill. The escapees climbed thirty feet to the cellhouse’s roof from pipes and duct shafts, and fifty feet down pipes to the ground. After reaching the ground and the San Francisco Bay, Morris and the Anglin brothers were never seen or heard from again. West eventually made it to the rooftop of the cellhouse, but by that time his fellow inmates completely vanished. According to West, the plan was to use the raft to make it to Angel Island to rest, and then reentering the bay from the opposite side heading towards Marin County. Before going their separate ways, they planned on stealing a car, robbing a clothing store, and creating new identities. There were no reports of a missing car or burglary within twelve days of the escape in Marian County. This supports the authorities’ claim that their escape attempt failed and that they never successfully made it to freedom. Author Sarah Pruitt states, “Though the FBI still maintains active arrest warrants for all three men, they are officially listed as missing and presumed drowned, victims of the frigid waters and swift currents of San Francisco Bay.” Even though they were presumed that they drowned, their bodies were never found and still raise conspiracies that Morris and the Anglin brothers may have survived the impossible
Morris and the Anglin brothers had no choice except to leave Allen West behind after taking too long to remove his cell’s ventilator grill. The escapees climbed thirty feet to the cellhouse’s roof from pipes and duct shafts, and fifty feet down pipes to the ground. After reaching the ground and the San Francisco Bay, Morris and the Anglin brothers were never seen or heard from again. West eventually made it to the rooftop of the cellhouse, but by that time his fellow inmates completely vanished. According to West, the plan was to use the raft to make it to Angel Island to rest, and then reentering the bay from the opposite side heading towards Marin County. Before going their separate ways, they planned on stealing a car, robbing a clothing store, and creating new identities. There were no reports of a missing car or burglary within twelve days of the escape in Marian County. This supports the authorities’ claim that their escape attempt failed and that they never successfully made it to freedom. Author Sarah Pruitt states, “Though the FBI still maintains active arrest warrants for all three men, they are officially listed as missing and presumed drowned, victims of the frigid waters and swift currents of San Francisco Bay.” Even though they were presumed that they drowned, their bodies were never found and still raise conspiracies that Morris and the Anglin brothers may have survived the impossible