The Intelligent Prisoner Who Escaped from Alcatraz, Where No One Escaped: Who is Frank Lee Morris?

Frank Lee Morris, an intelligent person with an IQ score of 133, managed to escape from Alcatraz Prison (Rock), from which no one else managed to escape, with a genius idea, together with the Anglin brothers, in 1962. This prison, whose image was damaged 1 year after this escape, was closed in 1963 and is now used as a museum. Since he could not be caught, his escape dates were accepted as his death dates. Authorities think they drowned, but there is no evidence of this. They were sentenced to life imprisonment.

Morris has planned everything so cleverly; After escaping, they went to Angel Island, where the current was less, with the boat they made themselves, not directly to San Francisco, but all the teams searched for them on the beaches of San Francisco and could not find anything. No one knew where they were escaping until Allen West, who was the 4th man in this escape they planned and could not dig the tunnel in his room in time because he was slow, revealed this plan after the escape. Following Allen West's statements, a boat, shovels, and footprints were found on the beaches of Angel Island, and a stolen car was reported in that area on the morning of the night they escaped.

In June 1962, inmates Clarence Anglin, John Anglin, and Frank Morris escaped from Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, a maximum-security prison located on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay, California, United States. Late on the night of June 11 or early morning of June 12, the three men tucked papier-mâché heads resembling their own likenesses into their beds, broke out of the main prison building via ventilation ducts and an unused utility corridor, and departed the island aboard an improvised inflatable raft to an uncertain fate. A fourth conspirator, Allen West, failed in his escape attempt and remained on the island.

The case of this escape is still not closed; Evidence, evidence, death, or life has still not been found. In the early days of the incident, police blacked out evidence and reported that there were no boots or footprints on the other island. However, other police officers who came to duty discovered the facts of these documents later.

Alcatraz Island has "hosted" many famous criminals. some of those; Names such as Al Capone, Doc Barker, "Machine Gun" George Kelly, Robert Franklin Stroud, known as the "Bird Man" or the Alcatraz Birdman, Floyd Hamilton, the driver of the duo Bonnie and Clyde, and Alvin Karpis.

In Alcatraz, where the convicts were named by numbers, there were no privileges other than very simple basic needs. Even to benefit from the prison library, one had to be a prisoner who had not caused any problems for at least five years. The prison conditions, where escape from the island surrounded by extreme currents were very difficult, resembled prison camps. Nothing was given other than shelter, food, clothing, and medical aid. most prisoners spent 23 hours a day in their cells. However, if the opportunity arose, they could go out for about an hour as cleaners. The doors and windows in the main building were closed with iron bars. There were armed guards here and at the watchtower. The island was surrounded by cold gulf waters and plenty of sharks.

Frank Morris, like every prisoner, started looking for ways to escape from Alcatraz when he first arrived. The guards state that he is a very intelligent person, but due to the complicated situation in his family, he got involved in bad things when he was younger. Frank Morris, John Anglin, and Clarence Anglin had met before in another prison. Security in Alcatraz was at the highest level, all prisoners stayed in single cells. The guards were on duty alternately throughout the day.

In fact, in addition to Frank Morris, John Anglin, and Clarence Anglin, Allen West was also involved in the escape plan. But Allen West could not escape from Alcatraz because he was left behind because he was moving too slowly. Frank Morris was the leader of the group, the escape plan was entirely his own. After making long observations, Morris realized that the walls of Alcatraz were getting old and that the walls were eroded by the sea hitting the walls. Morris scraped the wall with a tool and thus took the first step of escape.

Frank Morris and his team broke through the cell wall, replaced it with a model they made from magazines, and went out of the cell. so the guards never noticed that there was a hole in the wall.

It is said that almost everyone in Alcatraz helped Morris and his team escape. Morris went to the prisoners who performed various duties in Alcatraz and received help from them. For example, it is known that they received help from an Alcatraz prisoner who worked as a barber for the mannequins they prepared.

On the other hand, it is known that the prisoner who distributed books and magazines gave extra books and magazines to Morris and his team for the model. Morris and his team found a way to get out of the cell. After drilling the wall in their cell, they climbed up through the cell wall and reached the roof. But this was the most important point because when they reached the roof, there was the San Francisco Bay with its cold and harsh waves.

It was impossible to escape from Alcatraz during the day, the guards were constantly on guard and counted at regular intervals. They had to escape at night. The guards only kept watch at night and did not take a census. After escaping, they needed to find a way not to be noticed immediately, so they came up with the idea of making a mannequin instead of themselves. They combined the models they made from magazines and books with the hair they bought from the barber to make them more believable and put them in their beds the night they were going to escape. To get out of the cell, they pierced the ventilation channel in the cell and placed the same wall they made from magazines and books into the channel, so the guards never noticed that the wall had a hole.

Morris and his team came up with an idea to cross the road, which was very difficult under the conditions they were in; They were going to build a boat to cross. It took some time to make it, so Morris and his team made a boat out of raincoats and used about 50 raincoats. Morris and his team made perfect mannequins to place themselves in their place overnight, placed these mannequins on their beds, and climbed up through the hole they opened. After going out of the cell, they removed the iron bars under the roof. Since they did this work at night, they were very careful and quiet, and the guards never noticed. They reached the roof after cutting the iron bars there. Then, on the night of June 11, 1962, they escaped to Alcatraz, never to return.

Clint Eastwood played Frank Morris in the 1979 movie Escape from Alcatraz.

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Wanted

https://www.usmarshals.gov/what-we-do/fugitive-apprehension/profiled-fugitives/frank-lee-morris