Alcatraz
On January 3, 1960, Morris was shipped to Alcatraz, where he became prisoner #AZ1441. Morris reportedly began devising his escape within a year of his arrival at Alcatraz. There were three others involved: John Anglin, his brother Clarence Anglin and Allen West (who masterminded the plot but was the only conspirator who did not participate in the escape, as he was unable to finish removing the ventilator grill in his cell in time to join the escape when it was eventually carried out). The escape was long and complicated. Over a period of two years, Morris, West and the Anglin brothers created a raft and lifelike dummies, and stole tools to dig with. So many escape materials had been used by the conspirators that they had created a workshop above their cell row.
Allen West was painting above his cell and asked prison guards if he could cover the area with blankets. West explained his painting area was extremely dusty and dust was falling down on the prison floor. These blankets completely covered West's workshop area. By May 1962, they had dug through the vents at the back of the cells, working in shifts, with someone keeping lookout while others dug. On the night of June 11, 1962, the attempt went ahead. The group placed the dummies in their beds, escaped through the vents at the back of their cells and into the utility corridor. They then proceeded onto the roof and down to the bay. There they boarded the raft they had constructed and disappeared into the night.
The following morning prison officers found dummies lying in the beds and the prisoners missing. Parts of the raft and life preservers were later found in the bay together with a waterproof bag containing personal effects of the Anglins. The authorities were certain the men had drowned. They cited the fact that "the individuals' personal effects were the only belongings they had, and the men would have drowned before leaving them behind."
When authorities searched for bodies, they found none. Harlem crime boss, Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson claimed to have known of the plot and told authorities that he had arranged for a boat to pick the men up from the bay. However, his testimony was given little credit due to his background and prior attempts of lying to gain favor or plea deals. The FBI said in their report that on July 17, 1962, a Norwegian ship spotted a body floating in the bay 20 miles northwest of the Golden Gate Bridge. Although they did not retrieve the body and did not report the sighting until October, they told the police the body was dressed in clothes that prisoners on Alcatraz used, and that the body resembled Frank Morris.
According to the 2011 National Geographic documentary, Vanished from Alcatraz, bones from a human were found eight months after the escape on the shore near the place where the Norwegian ship had spotted a body. The bones were recovered and buried and on Vanished from Alcatraz, the bones were dug up, and DNA from the bones was compared to one of Morris' paternal relatives. The DNA did not match and so the bones were not Morris', although it is not certain if they belonged to the floating body at all.
In the end, authorities pointed out that the chances of the prisoners surviving the trip across the bay were slim. At the time, there was no discovery of robberies or car thefts that could have been attributed to them, and the men were habitual criminals yet were never arrested again. The FBI officially closed the case on December 31, 1979, concluding that "no credible evidence emerged to suggest the men were still alive" (though there have been many subsequent reconstructions and yearly triathlon events are held to commemorate the event). There have been sightings of the three men over the years which provides circumstantial evidence that they might have survived. If Morris did survive the escape and is still alive today, he would be 86 years old.
Read more about this topic: Frank Morris (prisoner)